A bonfire raged in the backyard as Phyllis carried out another load of papers and ephemera from her mother’s home. It was 1960 and Phyllis’ mother, May, had died earlier in the week. Her death had been somewhat unexpected, and Phyllis had boarded the first plane bound for New Jersey shortly after she received the news from her uncle. After the funeral, cleaning out the house became Phyllis’ job; her only sister Shirley had to work.

Her mother had been a pack rat. She had been a school teacher throughout her life and had saved newspaper clippings related to every student she had ever taught. Paper seemed to overflow from several rooms of the old Victorian home. The closets seemed to have no floors. In one closet, Phyllis found a long braid of her mother’s hair, her father’s band uniform from World War I, and her mother’s trousseau.

Many of these items ultimately became fuel for the bonfire outside. Shirley planned to take most of the furniture, but Phyllis was limited to what she could carry on the plane. She was able to save some family papers and many photos, but most of the paper went up in smoke. Phyllis spent many tearful moments throwing childhood memorabilia into the fire that day. In a fit of rage, with her fists raised in the air, she cursed the events of the previous days that left her disposing of a lifetime collection of her mother’s possessions.

Phyllis is my mother. She has related details of this story to me on a number of occasions, and I’ve always felt a tear in my heart when I picture her in front of the bonfire in anguish because her mother had died and left her with such a mess. And the genealogist in me can’t help but wonder what vital papers were burned back in 1960 when my mother was left to dispose of her mother’s houseful of papers and memorabilia.

On a similar note, I often wonder what was in my great-grandmother Presley’s house when her daughter (May’s sister) got tired of living there alone and called the junk man to haul everything away. My mother shudders at that thought because of the antiques that were so easily disposed of; I shudder because of all the family papers that were most likely disposed of as well.

I once heard a story of a vice president of a candy company in Fort Wayne, Indiana who had a life-long interest in genealogy. He spent more than twenty-five years collecting and compiling data. His company was moderately successful, so he took a very early retirement and worked on his many family lines nearly full-time. He had more than 40,000 individuals in his Personal Ancestral File program when he died just a couple of years following his retirement. Unfortunately, his estranged wife dumped all his computer files and began throwing away his document folders and other genealogical papers before she stopped to consider that the material might be of some value. She contacted the Allen County Public Library, but while the librarians salvaged some material, most of the man’s work was lost.

Looking at these three examples, how much of this fairly recent family history could have been saved with some forethought on the part of my immediate family? And how much of this man’s lifelong work could have been saved? Similarly, how many other people’s precious research has been lost because of relatives disposing of it in thoughtless ways?

This doesn’t have to happen to you or your descendants. You can tackle the problem from a couple logical directions: 1) formal estate planning, or 2) personally organizing and identifying your research for future relocation or disposal.

Last year my husband and I had new wills drawn up because we had relocated and our situation had changed. Our lawyer drew up a basic will that contains a section about specific gifts. We chose to have this section mention that a list may be created that specifies gifts of tangible personal property, but that the list is separate from the will and should be considered an amendment. This allowed us to sign the will, but also gave us time to create the lists for disposition of our personal property.

If you choose to go this route, your list can be as simple as a handwritten note describing what you want done with your property, or it can be as elaborate as a typed list with specific instructions on each piece of personal property you own. The method is not as important as the actual creation of the document. If you tell others what you want done with your family history papers, there’s a much better chance that your wishes will be obeyed than if you had left everything to chance. In addition to creating this list, discuss your wishes with family members so they will know that you want certain items to go to certain people or organizations. In the process, you may discover a closet genealogist in your family who will be willing to continue your work.

If you are considering donating your family history collection to a repository, you’ll need to find one that will take your collection. For some researchers, the decision will be obvious. If you and your family have always lived in one area, for instance, you might consider the local museum, library, or historical society as the logical destination. You’ll need to do some research to determine if your local repository accepts donations, and if so, what kinds of donations and under what conditions. While I’m not from the area I now live in, some of my ancestors and many of my husband’s ancestors lived in the Detroit area. I will probably donate my collection–or a copy of my work–to the Burton Historical Collection in the Detroit Public Library. I already know that the organization is interested in donations of personal papers.

The Society of American Archivists has a useful Web site that may provide answers to your questions. The society’s publication, A Guide to Donating Your Personal or Family Papers to a Repository is posted at www.archivists.org/catalog/donating-familyrecs.html Use the guide to help you determine what items you have that may be of value to a repository, and how to proceed with the donation. For instance, if you don’t know where you would like to deposit your papers, the guide suggests speaking with an archivist at your state archives or historical society. Also, check one of the organizations listed on page 43 to see if your collection is appropriate for that repository.

"Because the research value of records may be diminished if items are removed or if the records are rearranged, donors are encouraged to contact the repository staff before weeding, discarding, or reorganizing their papers and records," warns the Society of American Archivists’ Guide.

If there are no constraints on how you should organize your documents, you’ll need to develop an appropriate filing system that will be usable to future researchers. Several publications and software programs are available to assist you with this task.

Developing a logical filing system is not an easy undertaking. Many of us begin with our genealogical files organized by family name or couple. This may be just the system that your receiving repository would like for your files, but it may not be the best system for you to manage all of your papers. That’s why you should do your research now, so you don’t need to keep reinventing the wheel in your attempts at document management.

One of the considerations for many of us is how to break out certain genealogical lines in case our papers need to be separated. In my case, with no children to pass my work down to, I need to have a method in place that will allow members of my family to take possession of relevant items, while allowing my husband’s family members to retain items of interest to them. Perhaps the most illustrative example is family photos. I have archivally stored all of the old family photos that I have collected from both sides of the family, keeping the Kelley photos in separate archival boxes from the Kerstens photos. Members from each side of the family will eventually be able to grab the appropriate boxes, with the photos numbered and catalogued in Clooz®.

Such a setup might work for you as well. The key to organizing a collection for future use is to create some form of catalog or index to the papers. This serves two purposes: 1) to help you find individual documents within the collection, and 2) to tell you and others about the contents of the documents in the collection. Think in terms of a library catalog. When you find an entry in the catalog for a book you might be interested in, the two main features you’ll pay close attention to are the description of the item and its location within that collection. With that information, you can quickly determine if it’s what you’re looking for and, if so, you can quickly retrieve it.

You may feel that your filing system is adequate and needs no modifications. Only you can determine that. Answering the following questions may help you decide if change is necessary or not. Be honest in your assessment.

1. If you aren’t there to assist, will someone else be able to determine where your genealogical collection is and how it’s organized?

2. Have you been using a genealogical software program to organize your family members and to document the events in their lives? If so, have you properly cited the data, referencing where you found the information, where a copy of the documentation is within your collection, and how reliable you consider the information?

3. Have you left written instructions for accessing any software files or offsite storage facility for whoever inherits your collection?

If you can answer yes to each of these questions, your filing system is in great shape. But if you can’t, today is the best day to start organizing with your legacy in mind. You’ll need to step back from researching to accomplish these tasks, but the results will put your mind at ease about the ultimate destination of your years of painstaking effort researching your family.

If you need a little help getting started on a family history, see the sidebar of books and audiotapes on page 41 that might be of some assistance.

Clooz®, by Ancestor Detective, LLC, is a software program for organizing genealogical documents. Tips for organizing are contained within the Clooz User’s Manual and the "How to Use Clooz" video. www.clooz.com

Managing a Genealogical Project, by William Dollarhide (GPC, 1988, 1999).

Organizing Your Family History Search: Efficient & Effective Ways to Gather and Protect Your Genealogical Research, by Sharon DeBartolo Carmack (Betterway Books, 1999).

Taming the Paper Tiger at Home, by Barbara Hemphill (Kiplinger Books, 1998). Also, Taming the Paper Tiger software by Monticello Enterprises helps you organize all of your papers within your filing system.

Estate Planning for Small Business Owners, by George C. Shattuck (Prentice Hall, 1993) is geared for small business owners who need help in assuring their business survives with a minimum of taxes.

Family Realities 2nd ed., by Lucy F. Wold and Ann F. Andersen (Harmony House, 1998) contains suggestions for estate planning, dividing family possessions, and assisting aging parents.

J.K. Lasser’s Consumer Guide to Protecting and Preserving Everything You Own, by Theodore E. Hughes and David Klein (Macmillan Spectrum, 1996) explains the vagaries of ownership, describes how to change ownership, and discusses assets that need special consideration, including personal property.

EstatePlanning.com at www.estateplanning.com can help you find an estate planning professional.

"Caring for Your Collections," Library of Congress Web site at lcweb.loc.gov/preserv/careothr.html has papers posted on preserving a variety of different types of collections and objects.

Caring for Your Family Treasures by Jane and Richard Long (Heritage Preservation, 2000) discusses safe materials and methods to preserve a wide variety of objects.

A Preservation Guide by Barbara Sagraves (Ancestry, 1995) gives general guidelines for archiving materials of various types, including computer files, and discusses disaster recovery methods.

Producing a Quality Family History, by Patricia Law Hatcher (Ancestry, 1996). This book will tell you whatever you need to know about creating that family history. Or, "Producing a Quality Family History," by Patricia Law Hatcher (lecture, annual conference, National Genealogical Society [NGS], Providence, Rhode Island, May 2000); audiocassette recording available as 00NGS-S184 (Hobart, Ind.: Repeat Performance, 2000).

The BCG Genealogical Standards Manual, by the Board for Certification of Genealogists (Ancestry, 2000). If you’re wondering if your research techniques and conclusions are up to BCG standards, check here.

"Writing Your Family History in Small, Manageable Pieces," by James W. Warren (lecture, annual conference, NGS, Providence, Rhode Island, May 2000); audiocassette recording available as 00NGS-S232 (Hobart, Ind.: Repeat Performance, 2000).

The Historical Genealogy Department of the Allen County Public Library encourages the deposit of personal papers and diaries in libraries and record repositories in the "home" geographic area of the family. The Department welcomes indexes, calendars, and transcripts of such materials for inclusion in its collections. The Department will also gladly serve as the repository of last resort for such collections if no suitable repository can be found in the "home" geographic area of the family. Monetary donations to assist with maintaining and growing the library’s collections are welcome. The Department also has an endowment fund to which family historians may contribute.

The Family History Library accepts family histories with genealogical information; court and probate records; vital records; genealogical periodicals; cemetery records; census records; and church records and histories. On a limited basis the library accepts local histories; passenger lists; indexes; naturalization records; military records; land records; newspaper extracts; directories; and well-organized collections of genealogical and research materials.

The library does not solicit financial donations. However, if persons choose to make unsolicited financial donations, they are gratefully accepted as long as the management of the library and the Family History Department are given full discretion in the use of the funds. Genealogical materials may be loaned to the library to be microfilmed. The copyright holder must grant the library permission to film the material. Once filmed, the microfilm copy is added to the library’s collection, and the original materials are returned to the owner.

The DAR takes personal papers collections without question. Despite the organization of the papers, the staff will attempt to arrange them in a useable fashion. Once organized, the collection will be added to analytical subject headings in the online catalog to provide the best access for users.

The general policy for acceptance of donations to the Sons of the American Revolution is that the material be historical (U.S. Colonial or Revolutionary periods) or genealogical. The staff prefers published books, but will accept other materials at its discretion. The donor should organize and bind all materials before presenting a collection for donation.

New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) actively seeks any and all donations of genealogical manuscripts and historical records for the benefit of genealogical research, despite the fact that much of its collection focuses on the New England region. The society employs professional archivists, librarians, and genealogists with the expertise to care for your documents and to promote their use. Collections are stored in a properly controlled environment.

Return to the Ancestry Magazine September/October 2001 Table of Contents.