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Scrapbooking Your Family History
by Mary Emma Allen

As I watch my 12-year old granddaughter pour over her photo album, adding pictures and decorative touches, I realize the value of saving one's photos and cataloguing those of past generations. When we began scrapbooking, I also didn't realize it would become such a family affair involving my daughter and granddaughter, sometimes my niece and her daughters.

Scrapbooking, one of the fastest growing activities or hobbies, draws families closer together as they sort pictures, reminisce about shared events, and research family members and ancestors they only know by photos in albums.

This ties in, too, with family history writing. You can include in the scrapbook tidbits of family stories or use the photos and decorations to illustrate the stories.

What is Scrapbooking?

Some have asked me, "What is scrapbooking?" At first, I thought it was simply pasting photos and/or clippings onto a blank page album, as I'd done as a child. However, in today's world, scrapbooking takes on a whole new meaning as we embellish those scrapbook and photo album pages with many decorative ideas.

Various companies make archival, acid free and photo safe papers, stickers, pens, stamping inks and glue that will not destroy the items you're saving. Instead they will help you preserve these items.

By utilizing decorative accompaniments, you can enhance your photos, tell a story with them, include memories about the various occasions. These albums become more than simply a place to paste your photos. You can keep the album pages very simple or greatly enhance them.

Various Scrapbook Ideas

Many people use the traditional size scrap book or photo album, about 12 x 12-inch or slightly smaller to which you can add extenders and pages. Others favor a three ring binder type of album.

However, there are many types of scrapbooks you can use to save your pictures and record family history. Simply make sure they are acid free and photo safe. These can vary in size and binding.

• Travel journal - In this you might record several trips throughout the years. Or you could keep a photo journal for one trip, using pictures and story.

  I've come across some notes my mom jotted down about a family trip in my childhood. Coincidentally I found a few photos of this trip. This small travel journal could involve my mom's journaling, my memories, and the photos enhanced with scrapbooking decorations.

• Wedding - Every bride wants an album of her wedding and often they're elaborate ones purchased from the photographer. However, even if you have one of these, you may desire to create smaller, less formal albums for bridal showers, get togethers, and the honeymoon.

• Special occasions such as anniversaries, birthdays, graduations, family reunions, etc. can be part of an album of one's life. However, these events often take up a scrapbook of their own.

  I've come across memorabilia and pictures from my grandparent's 50th wedding anniversary in 1938. With the aid of my daughter and granddaughter, I want to compile this collection into an album that will bring these ancestors "alive" to them, and build upon my memories.

• School days - A record of school days with report cards, awards, and special papers, along with photos and memories make interesting albums or scrapbooks.

• Baby's first year - These are very popular and with scrapbooking can be developed into fascinating records.

• Promotional - If you have a business or profession, you might want an album chronicling this. As an author, I have photos of book signings, workshops, conferences, and writing my books. It's fun to compile these events into a scrapbook.

• Ancestral - Albums in which you collect pictures, memories, stories, and data of ancestors can take many forms. My mom was a school teacher in a one-room schoolhouse when she married my dad. I have pictures and some of her recorded memories of these days which I want to save in an album that will tell her story.

  An album of the years my husband was an Air Force pilot and our travels during this time will make a record of that era of our life.

  My uncle took pictures of some of his experiences during World War II. Collecting these, along with memorabilia he saved, will chronicle a phase of his life of which he was very proud.

Copyright © 2003 Mary Emma Allen

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