Family activities
A family's activities can usually be found in previous research -- documents such as family histories, local histories, and manuscript collections. For help with locating previous research, see the topic Previous research. In addition, you can find family activities on any of the documents listed below. If you have the minimum information required to find one of these documents, select the name of that document. The items in the list are ordered from most to least important. If you do not have the minimum information required, read the paragraph below this list.
Make sure to check photo albums, scrapbooks, and diaries, at home. You also may find old shirts, hats, or pins that indicate membership in a particular club. See the topic Finding information at home for more information.
You could try contacting organizations such as Kiwanis, the Rotary Club, Lion's Club, Scouts, ethnic organizations, labor unions, occupational organizations, and charitable organizations in the area where your ancestors lived. They may have membership records from the time when your ancestor lived there.
Finding family activities with newspapers
The directories listed below will help you find the current owners of old newspapers from the time and place when the obituary or other article was published. If the individual spoke a foreign language, check to see if there was a newspaper in that language, too. Once you have located the current owners, you can request to search the appropriate copies. The current owners should be able to direct you in your search. In addition to looking for newspapers in a specific locality, check for ethnic newspapers that the family may have subscribed to.
- Ayer Directory of Newspapers and Periodicals, available at most community libraries.
- Winifred Gregory's American Newspaper, available at community and genealogical libraries
The Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) microfiche. The OCLC has a database of the U.S. Newspaper Program National Union List. You can access the OCLC at most university libraries and some community libraries.
Finding the minimum information for newspapers
To find family activities in the newspaper, you must at least know the names of family members, the state and city or town where the family lived (or where the articles were likely to have been published), and a time frame. Obituaries often list activities, too. To find an obituary, you must at least know the full name of the individual at time of death, the approximate date of death, and the state and city or town where the death took place (or where the obituary was likely to have been published).
Get help finding some of the minimum information by selecting one of the following items:
Finding family activities with mortician's records
A mortician's records often contain a wealth of information about the deceased. The more recent the records, the more likely you are to find information about family activities.
Contact the morticians in the area where your ancestor lived at the time of their death. You can find the names of morticians in phone books, or through The National Directory of Morticians. Larger libraries may have this directory, or your local mortician may be willing to help you. It is possible that the family mortician is no longer in business. Ask morticians who are currently in the area if they know of any previous morticians and where their records may be. You can also check for the records of previous morticians with the county or town clerk, and in local libraries and genealogical societies.
Once you contact prospective morticians, they should be able to tell you if they have records under the name of the deceased.
Finding the minimum information for mortician's records
To find family activities in mortician's records, you must at least know the name of the deceased and the place and date of death.
Get help finding some of the minimum information by selecting one of the following items: