When I started this year's Women's History Month posts, I mentioned that research is much more than looking for an ancestor's name/date/place. On the blog post Why Museums, I discussed what we should be looking for aside from those biographical facts. Genealogical research should help us tell stories of our ancestor's lives.
Part of telling stories is understanding context. Context according to Oxford Languages is
the circumstances that form the setting for an event, statement, or idea, and in terms of which it can be fully understood and assessed.
Telling a story is made easier when we better understand a time and place. We can then provide context for our reader (family). We learn context by reading, watching, and seeking out items (ephemera, heirlooms, material culture) from that time and place. So good research means finding needed records and the information that places our ancestors in time and place, helping us reconstruct their lives.
So far, I have focused on museums of all kinds, but all of the places I have mentioned have one commonality, they are all officially called a "museum." This weekend I want to take a look at two places that are not officially "museums," but I think they can help with adding that context to your family history story.
Tomorrow we explore the first of these. See you tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment