Rouviere Media

The quality of your family museum will depend on the quality of the historical research behind it. This requires an understanding of the history of your family, and a knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of your collection. Before you begin to plan your museum, research your family and analyze documents, photographs,  heirlooms, maps,  illustrations, books, monuments,  sites and buildings connected with your family’s history until you have a good basic understanding of both your family history and your collection. Write 3-4 pages summarizing your family history. This is the tool that will help you plan and create your displays.  Put this document in a file folder to which you will add basic materials as you plan your museum.

Here is an example of the first page of my summary:

My husband and I are descended from pioneer  families who made their way West  between  1850 and 1885 and settled in Colorado and Utah.

My grandfather’s parents were Cyprien and Euphrasie Rouviere, who immigrated from France in 1874 after he served in the Franco-Prussian War. They moved from Ohio to western Colorado and settled down to ranch there in the 1880s. They built their land into a prosperous ranch and raised six children who also became ranchers in the same area.

My grandmother’s grandparents were Elijah Adams and Ella McGregor. Elijah was a Civil War veteran on the Union side. After the war, they migrated across the United States as he built buildings associated with the building of the railroad west. In the 1880s, they settled down  in western  Colorado to ranch. They had eight daughters and two sons, who all established their own ranching families in the same area. My grandmother was descended from one of the daughters, who inherited her parents’ ranch and his position as postmistress in the area. My grandmother was raised on the same ranch and also became the local postmistress. She and her husband ran the ranch for the rest of their lives.

My husband is descended from a Mormon pioneer  family which played key roles in the history of the Mormon people.  His great great grandfather Hugh McClellan helped build the Mormon Temple in Nauvoo, Illinois, and later was a bishop in the Winter Quarters area during the Mormon pioneer trek west.  His great grandfather William McClellan was a member of the Mormon Battalion. Later, the family participated in numerous historic events in the settling of the Mormon West. Family members served Mormon missions and held leadership positions in the Mormon Church in Utah while farming for their livelihood.

My family were communicators. They ran the local post office, were local newspaper  correspondents and ran the telephone switchboard in Powderhorn, Colorado, where their ranch was located.

Our family members were prominent  ranchers and dairy farmers for four generations, so horses and cattle and the culture associated with ranching were an important part of their history.

The women  in our families were accomplished, sometimes professional seamstresses who made beautiful and delicate handmade items.

Children were important in our pioneer  families. Some of the families were large and children were loved and cherished.

The women  in our families were good cooks, and an important part of the culture was big ranch and farm dinners.

In our generation, we have adopted four children from Korea and China and we lived in China for 13 years as journalists.

Next week, how to use the history you have written...