Paperdoll Journal Roots

Paperdoll Journal began as a vision for a blog to hold my thoughts and discoveries while researching my family history. The idea came from wanting to share and connect with others researching as well as connecting with professional genealogists, librarians, archivists, preservationists and historians. Since my interest in public history is broad, I easily fell into several research rabbit holes over the past two years without ever finding my blogging voice.

​From what I hear, I’m not the only family history enthusiast who suffers from this same research overload agony. There are thousands of us that get distracted while researching and are still relentlessly committed to uncovering family legacies and bringing lost stories to light. That’s why I spend hours putting this blog together so you and I can move beyond the research and begin crafting and sharing amazing heartfelt documented family history stories.

Since last year, I have already discovered:

• a matrilineal line of Free Black women and children dating back to 1790
• 2 foremothers born into slavery,
• 1 forefather born into slavery,
• over 10 ancestors born into slavery,
• 1 forefather and a cousin that were Civil War Navy colored troop veterans,
• 2 family lines with brick walls in front of a Revolutionary War Patriot,
• 1 Buffalo Soldier forefather,
• World War II draft records for both grandfathers and over 15 relatives,
• documented a family tree with over 1000 relatives,
• the experience of completing a 5 city research trip,
• how to share my passion by volunteering over 120 hours helping over 10 family history enthusiats document their tree,
• became a Citizen Archivist at the National Archives,
• a community, and joined multiple historical societies, the African American History group at the Washington DC Family History Center, the National Genealogical Society, and the Association of Professional Genealogists.

There’s more, too, but generally I’m getting my research in order, clearing out duplicate family tree entries, documenting births, deaths and relationships, adding photographs of relatives, and getting into a writing routine.

Now it's not always practical to keep research in perfect order or waiting to get every detail on a relative before moving on. So you might consider these steps on a weekly/monthly basis, for example:

1. weekly: Set aside an evening or day (say Saturday morning) when you review and clear out ancestry hints, go over your research to-do/project list, note and clear out family history email, make one family history story outline.
2. monthly: On the first day of the month, review your research habits and see what you need to focus on for the next month, update your family history event calendar and save necessary dates, complete one family history story including a note on your research methods and best practices to share with relatives, research support circle and or social media.

This is just an example and of course you may do something different more suited for your needs.

As a reminder, doing the research isn’t enough, you need to explore your family history beyond the research, like looking up the fashion and home decor trends of a certain period or preparing family recipes and much more. Gathering family history is an honor to your ancestors. It’s a wonderful thing to tell their stories for the joy of sharing with future generations and best of all being able to know and feel your family history connections.

Enjoy the stories you are telling, the release of procrastination, and the pride in building a legacy.