Start with the people who remember

Ask older relatives what they know about the move. Why did the family leave? Who came first? Who stayed behind? What did they bring? Where did they live when they arrived?

Collect the records

• Passports and travel documents
• Ship manifests or border records
• Naturalization or citizenship papers
• Old addresses and employment records
• Letters sent between countries
• Photographs from before and after the move

Preserve the reason behind the move

The most meaningful part may never appear in an official record. Families moved for work, safety, marriage, opportunity, war, education and countless other reasons. Capture what relatives remember and clearly label what is known, what is family tradition and what still needs verification.

Show what changed after arrival

Document the first home, first jobs, neighborhoods, language changes, community organizations, traditions that continued and traditions that changed.

Connect records to the people

An immigration document becomes much more useful when it sits beside the person’s photographs, memories and family relationships. That is the difference between collecting records and preserving a story.

See how Family Histories connects people, stories and records.