How to Make a Family History Book

Document your family's rich history with photos, official records, stories and timelines in a beautifully designed family history book. Your ancestors' stories will captivate your relatives for generations.

How to Make an Engaging Family History Book

Whether you're creating a photo book for a family reunion or you simply want to gather the family's story in one place for anyone who wants to see it, your family history book will be an excellent way to engage and educate your relatives. Your family history book can focus on one family member, an entire line sharing the same last name, or even an entire family tree.

The goal: To preserve photos, stories and documents for future generations while ensuring that memories stay alive today.

To reach that goal, you'll need digital copies of photos and important documents, as well as a collection of family stories, recipes and memorabilia. Some people also choose to include important historical records, such as:

• Genealogy charts, like what you'd see in a family tree
• Census records
• Draft cards
• Ship manifests
• Immigration and naturalization paperwork
• Property maps
• Wills and tax documents, particularly very historic ones
• Tips for Creating an Amazing Family History Book Your Relatives Can't Put Down

There's no right or wrong way to share family history information - the wonderful thing is that you're sharing your discoveries in the first place. However, you can make your photo book more engaging and visually interesting if you use these seven tips:

1. Use large, easy-to-see photos, especially if you have a vintage collection.

2. Make it short enough to read in one sitting. While the family knowledge you have could fill a book - literally - keep it simple enough to engage people who aren't genealogy hobbyists.

3. Sort through all your stories and memories and only include those that really share a glimpse into peoples' lives. Choose stories that give readers a good impression of ancestors' characters, senses of humor and personalities.

4. Keep everything in chronological order. For simplicity's sake, start with the oldest generation you're including, and work your way forward in time. That way, when new generations join the family, you can create Volume II.

5. Combine stories, photos and documents in ways that give readers an overall picture of a person's life - and span multiple pages if you have enough information.

6. Get creative with your layouts. Use multiple photos on one page or create a dramatic effect by filling an entire page with just one photo.

7. Use footnotes if stories become too complex. You can include all your footnotes at the end of a page or set aside a section in the back of the book - that way, people who are interested in learning more can flip around to get more information.

Your family history book will be a wonderful tribute to your ancestors, and future generations will appreciate the time you took to compile all your research.

Have You Created a Family History Book With Mixbook?

If you've created a family history book with Mixbook, we'd love to see it - please share a link in the comments below. Your story and design can inspire other family historians, too!

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