My grandma passed years ago, I now possess some of the odds and ends no one in the family has strong enough attachment to hold on to.
There are a few things I suspect might be of historical value to some folks. Like high school yearbooks; I’ve reached out to her high school to see if they need a physical copy. Other than that, any advice for where to search for interested parties? Geneology hobbyists? Universities doing anthropology research? I’m willing to put in a few attempts. After a couple attempts and “noes”, I’m fine trashing the stuff.
Yearbooks, government records, teachers license, to the more personal, diaries, photographs that I have less expectation of finding someone interested in them.
Any advice on where to search, fellow lemmies? I am US-based.
Edit: thanks, I’ll def add local museums, libraries, and historical societies to the list. Anyone with any geneology hobby experience? What little I’ve been exposed to them, they’re absolute sleuths, I just don’t know ways to find contacts other than cold calling a random individual. I’m assuming if they do organize, it’s more online since searches for local chapters of some sort hasn’t gotten me anywhere yet.
Antique dealer? Online market aa a giveaway?
If she happens to have an entry on Ancestry, the person maintaining that record might want to scan that info in and attach it to that entry.
Ah, that’s good. I am not familiar with Ancestry.com at all so I would not have thought of that one. Ty.
Why would you not keep and value you for yourself and your future family? You can start a genealogy collection.
Can I ask for what state and city? Curious if there would be overlap with my genealogy work.
It’s been a few years since she passed, everyone has had a chance to pick out anything they want to keep. Photos and diaries still left have been digitized and shared with any family member who want copies.
I’m actually first to toss physical nostalgic memorabilia, which is why everything ended up with me; other family members want me to make the stuff go away without having to trash it themselves. I accept my family role. Just the idea of doing geneology as a hobby gives me hives, that is absolutely not me or my personality. I think it is super cool and support other people enjoying it, thank goodness everyone is not like me.
I appreciate the offer to take a look, but I’m not going to share the things through Lemmy. I keep this account pseudonymous.
Sorry, I meant since you are asking who would be interested in the material if said material was nearby what I am looking at. For instance is it southern? If not then that’s a no.
Ah I got you. Such a shame no one wants the photos and diaries… those are seriously cool to have.
Also, I would like to say genealogy is super cool. I got into it by doing a two week ancestry trial and finding details is addicting. If you hate the idea of research or archival work then that deals the deal though.
Good luck pal
Ah, not southern. Family came in through East Coast ports, moved West along the Great Lakes, settled in the Midwest.
The city’s archives might take it.
I’m in the same boat. I ended up with quite a bit of my grandparent’s belongings when they passed. My grandfather was a decorated Navy pilot among other things.
I have his actual flight suit, patents he had, documents regarding his career in and out of the Navy, and a bunch of other stuff. I contacted my local aviation museum, library, etc. and got zero interest.
I fell down a rabbit hole on ancestry.com and while I did find some distant relatives (including a half sister I didn’t know about) I couldn’t find anyone interested in taking anything I have sitting in my garage.
If you want any tips with genealogy, I might be able to answer some questions. As for the “stuff”, I’m also open to suggestions.
IIRC you can attached scanned/photographed content to his profile entry. So at least it’s saved somewhere.
First place I would start is your local historical society. That would be your local nexus of all the people that might find that stuff interesting. Every author, researcher, and college student writing a paper that looked at your home town has gone through the historical society at least once, so they have the best chance of referring you to someone who might interested. Then history department of the closest colleges and universities you have to you.
That’s the best I can think of though
deleted by creator
There are organizations like Daughters/Sons of American Revolution/Confederacy and other history organizations.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Daughters_of_the_Confederacy
The United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) is an American lineage-based neo-Confederate[2] hereditary association for female descendants of Confederate Civil War soldiers engaging in the commemoration of these ancestors, the funding of monuments to them, and the promotion of the pseudohistorical Lost Cause ideology and corresponding white supremacy.
Yeah, probably not that one 😬. For multiple reasons but greatest among them, my grandma would come back to haunt my ass if I did.
if no one in the family wants any of it… check with the local (where she lived or was from) public library (ours has a history room and a genealogy research room) and with a local museum or historical society (we have one of those too).
Depending on where you are, you might find a local county or city historical society or a local history museum, they might want a lot of that stuff, including like the personal papers and diaries and things.
