I helped my grandma go through some of her stuff again today (it's a new weekly thing for us) and ended up taking a few things home, as always. My parents wedding announcement from our local paper, a letter from my grandpa, phonetically spelled letters I wrote to them in crayon, and two pairs of my great grandmother's old clip on earrings, pictured above, were just a few of the things I took home. I plan on using the earrings to jazz up some of the millions of pairs of ballet flats dancing in my closet and wearing the necklace to make myself feel fancy.
I also came home with the desire to be an archivist. My grandma has so many delicious family treasures hidden in all kinds of nooks around her house. Her father's dog tags, a teal plate from her great aunt's kitchen, the watch she got as a high school graduation present: these are all items we found in one dresser today. I love looking at these things with her and learning the stories behind them, but I know that I won't remember any of it in a few weeks, let alone a few years. And someday (hopefully very far off) my grandma and grandpa will be gone. The beautiful treasures my grandma has tucked away will still be there, but the stories and memories attached to them will be gone. I don't want to be left with just a pile of beautiful things when they are gone; I want to be able to tell their stories too.
I am going to do something about it, and I am going to do it now. I know how to document photos and stories (get grandma and grandpa to talk as we go through a pile of photos, take notes, ask questions, and have a tape recorder going the whole time) but how do I archive items that don't fit in an album? Sticking notes to items seems to messy and precarious. Right now I am thinking of this format:
1. Take a photo of an important item (or collection of items, if appropriate), and write down the information that grandma tells me about them.
2. Put the photo and description together in an album.
3. Categorize the items in the album (a section for jewelry, linens, kitchen, etc.) for location ease.
The only problem with this system is that there is never any sure way of knowing where the actual item is.
How do you organize your family's old treasures and stories?
