The popular TV show “Who Do You Think You Are?” traces the ancestry of celebrities and finds out who the celebrities’ ancestors were and where they came from. The celebrities can’t wait to find out all about their ancestors. Unfortunately however, the records are most often scant so there is much the celebrities aren’t able to find out about their ancestors.
Like the celebrities I also would like to know much more about my ancestry than who they were and where they came from. I would love to know how they lived, thought and loved. I would particularly like to know more about my grand-mothers and great-grandmothers. I would love to know what joys they experienced and what hardships they had and what they thought about life and what their dreams and aspirations were. I’d also love to know whether or not they felt they achieved what they wanted to achieve or lived the life they wanted to live. But they didn’t document anything so whatever they experienced and learnt all went to the grave with them.
Years ago oral history and life stories were recorded by the educated few. These days however, with greater literacy and with the assistance of such things as voice activated tape recorders and computers, life stories can now be told by people from all walks of life and all levels of education and academic ability. So what are you waiting for? To be cont.—–