“Creating and Sustaining Your Family Newsletter: Genealogy Rich Source Material” Janis Minor Forté, © Aug. 2016 All rights reserved, Fortejm@yahoo.com

The value of family newsletters is documented in the vast array of newsletter collections housed in local, state and national libraries, and archives across the nation. Family newsletters provide a rich source of historical information on the growth, development and achievement of a family. From first person interviews to documentation of family events, these treasured publications provide a ‘geographic narrative and photo-genealogy’ of kinship and extended family groups. Following the death of an elder, boxes of family newsletters are often found in the attic or basement of the ancestral home in grandma’s keepsake trunk. Family newsletters immortalize a multitude of family events. In them, the birth, marriages, and death of kin is routinely cited. These legacies otherwise might be lost in time and forgotten in memory. While family newsletters record the linage of the surname, their historic value is also accredited in the immigration, migration and expansion of the nuclear family, their communities and their social networks. Who went off to war? Who was the first to attend college? Who was named beauty queen? Was Grandpa a union activist? What branch of the family migrated from the original home ground westward to a new homestead? These actions and activities are all documented in family newsletters. Traditionally family newsletters contain a variety of news articles and columns which feature the interest, skills and legacy of the family and its individual members. From Aunt Mary’s ‘Good Cookin’ cook books to Aunt Jeanann’s award winning quilt patterns to Uncle William’s homeopathic remedies. Newsletters of the past kept the kin group in communication across the country miles. Contemporary newsletters may be produced via old school newsprint format or the new technology of on-line publications. The production format is at the discretion of the editor in sync with the mission statement and the family group profile. Using the template of a now nineteen year old family newsletter, this presentation will discuss its development and evolution. How it was created, its articles and columns and how it is sustained. This presentation provides a case study of the methodologies, techniques and strategies of creating and sustaining a family newsletter. This discussion will help you decide the format of your publication. This lecture will also discuss ‘the business of the newsletter’. The administrative, management and operational policies, along with the critical issues of designing an impactful publication are just some of the mandatory dictates. The mission statement decisions of whom or what is on the front page are all considerations of importance in family dynamics. The lecture will also present a variety of design formats. From Microsoft Word Doc, to Google forms, to Desktop Publishing, it’s your format choice. Managing the layout, controlling the format and structuring content are issues that require on-going oversite. By recording the lives and events of kin folks in the context of their environment, historic family newsletters provide a treasure trove of genealogical and environmental information for future generations

to harvest. As genealogists, we can rely on the point-in-time information revealed in these historic publications and design one for the legacy. Creating and sustaining your family newsletter will carry that family legacy into the future.

“Creating and Sustaining Your Family Newsletter: Genealogy Rich Source Material” Janis Minor Forté, © Aug. 2016 All rights reserved, Fortejm@yahoo.com

Presentation Outline

Introduction Background of ‘Tellin’ It Like It Tis’: The Driver Family Communicator Why create a Family Newsletter?

- Preserving family history/legacy o Immortalize members/surnames

‘Ancestors’ without futures. o Document events

‘Hero in the Family’ Jackie Robinson Little League

- Developing and Maintaining Contact - Telling the story of the

o Geographic and Photo-genealogy Where they are – What they look like

Getting Started - Approach like cleaning house - Compartmentalize Tasks,

The Business of the Family Newsletter - Administration/Governing Authority

o Developing Operating Policies Mission Statement

o Finance and Money Management Subscriptions or

Donations Layout and Design Strategies

- Types of Columns o Columnist(s) and frequency

- Publication Issues o How many per household

Format - Layout Template

o Microsoft WORD o Google Doc o Desk Top Publishing o Both/Mix?

- Newsletter ‘must haves’ o Front Page

Headliner Banner Edition Indication Date Mission Statement

o Font Style and Size: old eyes vs young eyes Graphics Photo Artwork

o Back Page Return Address

Copyright Circulation and Distribution Issues

- Who are Newsletter Recipients? o Direct family, e.g. Descendants of Jane o Extended family o How many per household o Hard copy, U. S. mail o Electronic e-mail

Storage, Preservation & Retrieval Old School vs. New Technology

o Library/Archives – hard copies o Electronic – on-line

Where are your back-ups? • Hard Drive? • External Drive? • Cloud?

“Creating and Sustaining Your Family Newsletter: Genealogy Rich Source Material” Janis Minor Forté, © Aug. 2016 All rights reserved, Fortejm@yahoo.com

Bibliography Books: Anselmo, Donna, Marketing DeMystified, A Self-Teaching Guide, McGraw-Hill, 2010 Benjamin, Susan F., Instant Marketing for Almost Free, Sourcebook, Inc. 2007 Wilson, Kenneth and Wauson, Jennifer, The AMA Handbook of Business, American Management Association, New York, N.Y., 2011 Newsletters: New York, Suffrage Newsletter, Mills, Harriet May, Editor April 1909 “Tellin’ It Like It Tis”- The Driver Family Communicator, Chicago, Ill., Dec. 1997 “Tellin’ It Like It Tis”- The Driver Family Communicator, (ten year Anniversary Edition), Chicago, Ill, July Aug. 2012 “Tellin’ It Like It Tis”- The Driver Family Communicator, (tenth year Anniversary Edition), Chicago, Ill, Sept. Oct. 2012 “Tellin’ It Like It Tis”- The Driver Family Communicator, Chicago, Ill, July, Aug. Sept. 2015, Newsletter Library/Archives Allen County Public Library, Ft. Wayne, Ind. Chicago Public Library, Woodson Regional Library, Patricia Liddell Research Special Collection, Chicago, Ill. Chicago Public Library, Harold Washington Main, Social Service Section, Chicago, Ill. Naperville Public Library, Naperville, Ill. Websites: Fulton Post Card, New York, http://fultonhistory.com/Fulton.html, last accessed, Oct. 2015 Library of Congress, Newsletter Catalogue Record, Digital Collection, log.gov Heritage Quest, PERiodical Source Index, via your public library, Last accessed, Oct. 2015