In addition to photographs, there are also several types of documents that family historians preserve. In the past, we kept documents in photo albums, the family Bible and in other books. However, with the choices in media today, we can now scan documents and make a DVD as well as save the original documents.
Let’s look at what documents should be kept, how to preserve them and how to make a DVD of the documents. Copies of DVD’s can be shared with other family members. The original documents can be passed down to future generations.
Heirloom Documents
*Letters written to our ancestors. I have letters written to my grandmother from when my grandfather was in the war. He sent the letters home to her. She saved them for years and I do not want to discard them.
*Certificates and diplomas. I think it is great that my family saved the first college diploma in our family. It was a major accomplishment for our great-grandmother to graduate with a degree in Business.
*Handwritten songs or poems. It is nice to preserve handwritten songs or poetry. This is something very personal and special.
How to Preserve Documents
*Keep paper documents in a climate-controlled environment.
*Plastic protector sheets can be used to store documents if they are made of polyester, polypropylene or polyethylene.
*Make copies of newspaper clippings. Newsprint is highly acidic and deteriorates quickly.
Creating a DVD
Using “Windows DVD Maker” on “Windows Vista”, you can add photos and scanned documents to a DVD. Use the program to add the documents and photos from your collection. Burn them to a blank DVD-R. You can make copies to distribute to family.
Keeping heirloom documents gives future generations a piece of family history to cherish. It is important to many family historians to save documents, newspaper clippings, articles and photographs.
The important thing for us to remember is to keep all documents in waterproof containers. The containers should be stored in a climate controlled environment. These documents are important to us and we should be careful to protect them.
Related Articles:
Identifying Relatives in an Old Photo
Getting Autographs For Your Family Photo
Preserving the Handiwork of Your Ancestors