October is Family History Month

Family History Month

I love October for many reasons: changing colors of leaves, sweater weather, pumpkins, apples, mums, pumpkin spice everything, and family history.

In 2001, Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah proposed a resolution to designate October as National Family History Month.  The bill included a long list of reasons for designating the month of October as "Family History Month".   Below is a small portion of the bill:

Whereas the study of family history gives individuals a sense of their heritage and a sense of responsibility in carrying out a legacy that their ancestors began;

Whereas as individuals learn about their ancestors who worked so hard and sacrificed so much, their commitment to honor their ancestors' memory by doing good is increased;

Whereas interest in our personal family history transcends all cultural and religious affiliation; 

The complete bill introduced by Sen. Orrin Hatch and passed unanimously in the Senate can be found here.  

While every month of the year is a Family History Month to me😍, I really like having one month especially focused on Family History.

There are many ways to celebrate Family History Month.  Below are a few links to articles to help get started.

FamilySearch has a list of 31 Simple Ways to Celebrate Family History Month, click here to read.

Celebrating Family History Month with Ancestry.com, click here.

Personally, I think one of the most important family history activities anyone can participate in is preservation. This blog was created to preserve memories and promote Family History.  Anyone can create a Family Archive to preserve photos, documents, and artifacts.  Start with your immediate family then progress to extended family. Visit and interview relatives - write down stories.  Remember to share what you find with other family members.

Photos and documents can be digitized and uploaded to family history sites such as Ancestry.com, MyHeritage.com, and FamilySearch.org.  I try to preserve in as many places as possible.  One never knows when there might be a fire, tornado, hurricane, flood, theft, vandalism, etc.  

Photograph artifacts and memorabilia, then write a story about who the item belonged to and any memories about it.   There are several examples on this blog about preserving and sharing memories of "things".  
Shaving Mugs
Desert Rose Dishes 
Hymn Book 

🍂🍁Have fun with Family History Month🍁🍂