What did you say, Aunt Ola?

American Visions, April-May, 1995 by Char McCargo Bab

My Aunt Ola loves sweets. You give her some, and she just talks on and on and on.

You want to know details like that about the people you interview. You want to know whether they are easy to interview, whether they hold secrets, whether they just don't want to be bothered. You also want to know what they like. That always breaks the ice.

What method will you use to interview your relatives? Aunt Ola was cautious about being on the phone, because she did not grow up with a phone in her house. So we communicated through letters.

With older people, using a camcorder for interviewing might not be an appropriate method. It's intimidating. The machine is there: Oh, they've got to get dressed up; they've got to make sure their wigs are on right, and they act as if they've got to be smelling good.

Always rely on a pad and pencil--for unexpected interviews or for situations where noise prohibits the use of recording devices. Later, type a copy of your notes and send it to your interviewee or read it to him or her to verify its accuracy.

Listed below are examples of interview questions that can help you further your genealogical research. Ideally, these questions should be asked of and about all relatives. Keep in mind that you want to ask clear and concise questions that will lead you to other sources of information and documents.

What was your full name at birth? Don't assume that the name by which you know the person is the name he or she was given at birth. Nicknames are common throughout genealogical research, and you want to know the person's nickname and given name. John could have told a census taker that his name is Johnny Boy, making Johnny Boy his name in the census.

Who were children in the family named after? A naming pattern might lead you back to the 1850s, for example, and it can be especially helpful to families with a common surname.

Were you born in a hospital, or were you born at home? Believe it or not, some people way back were born in a hospital, and that's documented information. Don't assume that because people are dirt old, they were born at home.

When and where were you born and brought up? Your relatives might have been born in one place and then taken to another state, another county. Don't expect that because this person says she was born in Raleigh, N.C., that you're going to find loads of records in Raleigh. She could have moved to Winston-Salem.

What were your parents like? How did they make a living? Let's say they were farmers in the summertime. What did they do in the winter? Did they go North to get jobs? How much money did they make? You want to get a feel for the period. You want to know if this person made 50 cents an hour or 50 cents a day. You want to know how much that 50 cents was actually worth.

Are your parents living today? if not, you want to know what state, county and township they're buried in. You need that information in order to obtain vital statistics and death records, and it applies to all deceased relatives, not just parents. Where did your parents live as children? What were their hometowns like? Can you describe their homes?

Who were your best friends, and what did you do together? This question is important because if you cannot find relatives, you may be able to find their friends, or you may subsequently be able to interview a friend who can give you insight on a deceased person's history.

When did you first meet your husband or wife, and under what circumstances? People get hitched for different reasons. Sometimes they are pushed together by parents and hold little love (and a lot of other feelings) for their spouses. What was he (she) like when you first met? What attracted you to her (him)? That's a follow-up to the above question, designed to find out whether this was a relationship based on love. How old were you both?

How many of your children are living today? You want to wrap up the interview by saying: "Bring out the photo, album." It's important that you gain a visual image of your relatives, for then they become part of you. That is the juice to keep you going--to be able to identify those people as people and not as pieces of information on paper. When you review these pictures with Aunt Ola, for instance, try to notice any decline in her voice or any difference in body language. This could indicate the existence of inner secrets, especially when Ola's voice gets low and she starts mumbling. You just say, "What did you say, Aunt Ola?"

S. Char McCargo Bah is a genealogist in Alexandria, Va. This article is taken from her lecture at a meeting of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society, April 30, 1994, in Washington, D.C.