DIY Genealogy: Saving Letters - Why Do It?
A Family of Letter-Writers. In this first post in a mini-series on saving letters, I describe my philosophy and summarize my method for saving inherited family letters. My goal for saving letters? To improve being able to access the data they contain in order to use that data for family research. I come from a family of letter-writers. At first puzzled about what to do with the box of family letters I inherited -- but sensing their potential -- over the years I sought advice on how to "deal" with inherited documents like letters. I took what resonated with my own situation and materials and incorporated it into my personal method for creating and maintaing a family archive. Disclaimer: I am a genealogy enthusiast not a professional genealogist or archivist; as such, a professional's methods may differ from mine, or may be more comprehensive. If you have something in your family collection that you are unsure about or you think might need particular care, I encourage yo