Monday, February 24, 2014

EWGS Writing Contest............ One More Time!

Oral Family History can be Lost in Three Generations

Aaron Holt, archives technician at the National Archives Fort Worth, said it is not unusual for genealogists today to have conflicting stories about an ancestor if oral history was not passed down in a deliberate way through the generations.

“I tell people all the time that it only takes three generations to lose a piece of oral family history,” Holt said. “It must be purposely and accurately repeated over and over again through the generations to be preserved for a genealogist today.”

If that piece of oral history is about an ancestor’s death, Holt said the chance of the truth being lost is even greater.

You can read more, including Holt's recommendations, in an article by Judy Everett Ramos in the Examiner at 
http://goo.gl/MhJra5.


Dick Eastman is the Spread-The-Word Guru, no doubt about it. I copied this bit from one of his recent newsletters because it was so apropos to our writing contest. I've asked you to consider crafting an entry for our EWGS writing contest for many reasons, but the main and best reason is that by writing the story of how your family came to the Pacific Northwest, you are helping to save that story for all of your posterity. 

Click to the EWGS website www.EWGSI.org for more information about your entry and who to send it to. And if you need help with editing, no problem!

Isn't this something that you really should do? It will be fun, I guarantee :-) 

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