The Family Tree
By Terence L. Day
Terence L. Day, genealogist and journalist, is on the Washington State University faculty. He welcomes e-mail at genealogy@moscow.com, or regular mail in care of the Tri-City Herald City newsroom, P.O. Box 2608, Tri-Cities, WA 99302-2608.
Thanksgiving is prime time for family history
This column was published Nov. 12, 2000
All six of my children plan to descend soon on Pullman to celebrate another traditional Thanksgiving gathering. Six children, spouses, grandchildren galore. Our house will be a mad house and we wouldn't have it any other way.
Children from Baltimore, Boise, Seattle and Kennewick, and two from Pullman, will join us old folks. There will be a turkey in one oven, a ham in another and enough food to boost commodity prices for farmers. The Pilgrims never ate this good.
As long as I can remember, Thanksgiving has been a gathering time for my tribe.
When we Day boys were growing up on (and in) the Columbia River back in the 1940s, we did our own version of "over the river and through the woods."
It was more accurately a matter of along the river and through the sagebrush to Aunt Nettie's and Uncle Frank's house that we went. The Montagues had a farm on the Columbia River, just north of Hover. We lived on a farm upriver just outside Kennewick.
The Montagues and the Days both lost their homes to the Corps of Engineers when McNary Dam was built, but for several years, we Day boys held eating contests at the Montagues on Thanksgiving Day.
The pleasant memories will never fade.
Later, as we were married and raising our own families those of us who remained in the Northwest gathered for Thanksgiving, first at Mom's and Dad's home, then for many years we had a tradition of passing hosting honors around, alternating between a Western Washington home and one in Eastern Washington.
Now graying and portly, we are establishing our own Thanksgiving traditions with our adult children. Whenever and wherever we gather, it's not only eating time, but story time. No, not tall tales, but family history.
I hope it's the same with your family. If it gathers, it's a great time to talk family history.
But if your family is large, it may not be a good time to conduct interviews, unless your guests will be around for a few days and you can make some quiet time.
Usually interviews are best conducted one-on-one, without anyone else around.
But here's an idea everyone can put to good use, even during the most hectic holiday. Instead of trying to interview someone, just get a few interested relatives together in the living room, or around a table, and talk about family history.
Don't try to tape record or videotape the conversation. Don't even take notes. Just have a good conversation and encourage everyone to share stories and feelings.
Then, go off to a quiet room, whip out that notebook and go to work. Write furiously.
Don't worry about anything but getting down ideas.
You're not going to write up any history from these notes, they're just a guide to a future project.
What you want to get down is the gist of things that you would like to interview Aunt Sally or Grandpa Joe about on some future occasion, not far in the future.
Then, if your subject lives nearby, you will make an appointment to visit them and do a somewhat formal interview under more favorable circumstances.
If they live too far away for a convenient visit, do the interview by telephone.
Now, don't let anyone get away with telling you there aren't any interesting stories in your family.
Who hasn't wondered what life was like for their grandparents when they were newlyweds?
What was life like for Grandma before she got her first microwave? Or bread-making machine?
How did your parents celebrate Thanksgiving when they were children?
What Thanksgiving traditions has your family handed down over the generations?
What new ones have been added?