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Putting family tree on paper
GENEALOGY Book traces ancestry
Spotsylvania County resident compiles impressive family history
Date published: 2/18/2007
By CATHY DYSON
Lots of people compile family histories, but few produce a book that looks like an encyclopedia.
But Mike Arndt decided it would be pointless to stuff six years of research into a shoe box.
He'd asked countless relatives to share their lives in words and pictures. He'd visited five states to look at documents, yearbooks and journals. He'd assembled almost 500 pages of stories and more than 700 photos.
He spent $2,500 to have his work printed and bound with a dark-blue hardback cover. The title, "Our Family By Ourselves," is inscribed in thick, gold-leaf type.
"I kicked around the thought of printing it myself," said the Spotsylvania County resident and computer specialist. "But the printer told me, 'You're probably only going to do this once, so you might as well do it right.'"
That could be his motto--if the 51-year-old didn't already have one.
In the introduction, Arndt wrote about wanting to recognize his grandfather's service during World War II. But time slipped away and his grandfather died.
"Since then, I have lived by one credo: regret what you did, not what you didn't do," Arndt wrote. "If I hadn't done this book now, I would have regretted it until my dying day."
'A wonderful book'
Arndt spent 22 years in the Marine Corps, then got a liberal-arts degree from Mary Washington College in 2002. He works in information technology with the National Park Service.
He got involved in documenting history on a small scale when his children were at Chancellor High School. For two years, he helped produce a scrapbook about the band's activities. He gave each member a copy.
Arndt wanted to do the same for his relatives. Most of his mother's family came from a small town in New Mexico. Some were born before the Land of Enchantment became a state in 1912.
Arndt researched stories of the dead and asked the living to give their accounts. His book goes beyond births and deaths to detail everyday events, as well as historical moments.
"It's a wonderful book. It really brings the family to life," said Donald Pfanz, staff historian at Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park and Arndt's co-worker. "I just wish everybody in America had a person in their family who could put together a book like this."
'Brushes with history'
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Talk to the living. Now: Almost every family has an aunt who knows names and dates. Start with her and the oldest generation. Record their stories. Identify people, places and dates in old photos.
Gather official data: Paperwork from anyone who served in the military or government is available from the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, online at Archives.gov/st-louis.
Set a deadline: So the project doesn't go on forever.
Be persistent: Send out questionnaires asking for basic biographical information as well as memories of historic moments, such as when John F. Kennedy was shot.
Print it professionally: Mike Arndt paid $2,500 for 77 hardback volumes with almost 500 pages. That's about $32 a book.
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Equipment: Mike Arndt bought a $19 scanner and took it with him on interviews. He also learned the Photoshop and Pagemaker computer programs.
Format: Arndt devoted a section to each of his 38 relatives and used every photo people gave him. All were reprinted in black and white. A section called "Our Families Over the Years" had 89 group photos.
Two questions: He asked himself what he wanted to know about his ancestors and what he wanted his descendants to know about him.
Final advice: Don't wait. Two relatives died before he finished his project. |
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Date published: 2/18/2007
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