Genealogy - INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

FOR LEARNING ABOUT YOUR FAMILY

by Joelle Steele

The following are some of the kinds of questions you might want
to use in your interviews. Note also that these same questions can be
used to trigger your own memories when you are compiling your
memoirs or family history from your own personal knowledge.

Some people might not want to reveal everything, and so don't be
surprised if they just shrug and ignore a question altogether. Other
people might really want to go into some detail on a particular topic.
The responses you get will depend on the individual and will probably
vary greatly.

Feel free to expand on any of these questions when you
ask them. Only you will know what information you already have and
what you still need to learn.

These questions will help you in tracing your ancestry, will provide
you with information about those ancestors, and will help you
uncover a wealth of anecdotal information about your ancestors –
information that will make them come alive.

ANCESTRY
What were the names of your parents, grandparents, greatgrandparents?
When and where were they born?
When did they come to America?
Who came first to America?
How did they finance their trip?
What port did they come through?
What ship(s) did they travel on?
Were they married here or in the Old Country?
How long were they married?
Were either of them married previously?
What was their marriage like?
What did they do for a living?
Where did they live?
What kind of house or apartment did they live in?
Did they own their own house?
What are the addresses where they lived?
What was their health like?
How many children did they have?
What were their children’s names?
When were their children born and when did they die?
What religion did your parents practice?
What was the level of education of your parents?
Where did they go to school?
What kinds of jobs did they have?
Did they have money or did they struggle a lot?
What stories do you remember about them?
What were their personalities like?
What kinds of hobbies or interests did they have?

CHILDHOOD & TEEN YEARS
When and where were you born?
Where did you live as a child?
What did you look like?
What are the addresses of the places you lived?
What was the weather like where you lived?
What were the towns like where you lived?
What was your relationship like with your parents?
Did you live near other relatives?
What was your relationship like with other relatives?
How was your family different from others?
What foods did you grow up eating?
What were your favorite foods?
What did you like to do when you were a child, a teenager?
Did you have any pets?
What kinds of hobbies or interests did you have?
Did you have private instruction outside of public school?
Where did you go to elementary school? High school?
What were your favorite subjects in school?
What kind of a student were you?
Did you have any favorite teachers?
What kinds of school activities did you participate in?
Who were your friends in elementary school? High school?
What was your neighborhood like?
Who were your neighbors?
When did you learn to drive?
Who taught you to drive?
What kind of car did you learn in?
When did you get your first car?
When did you start dating? Who was your first date?
Did you have a steady girlfriend/boyfriend?
What did you like to do for fun?
Where did your family go on vacations?
What was your health like as a child? A teenager?
What was your daily life like as a child or teenager?
What kinds of rules did your family have?
Were you a problem child? Smoking? Drinking? Drugs? Cutting class?
What are some of the things that happened to you when you were young?
What was the most important things that happened to you when you were young?
What was the worst thing that happened when you were young?
What did you dream about doing when you got out of high school?
Who were your childhood heroes and role models?
What did you like best about your childhood?
Was your childhood a happy one or a not so happy one, and why?
What is your happiest memory of your childhood years?

ADULT YEARS
Did you go to college or a trade school? Where?
How was your education paid for?
What did you study? How did you decide what to study?
What kind of a student were you?
What was your first job?
What other jobs did you have?
What jobs did you like the most? The least? Why?
What was your financial condition like over the years?
Where did you live first when you moved away from home?
Did you live with a roommate(s)? Alone?
What was it like to be away from your parents for the first time?
Who else did you live with after moving away from your parents?
Did you have a car? What kind of car was it?
Did you have any girlfriends/boyfriends?
Who were your closest friends?
What things did you like to do with your friends?
What was your relationship like with your parents as an adult?
What kinds of hobbies or interests did you have as an adult?
What kinds of goals and dreams did you pursue, or not pursue?
Where did you travel as an adult?
Who did you travel with?
When and how did you meet your spouse?
What first attracted you to him/her?
What was your courtship like?
When did you decide to get married?
What was your wedding like?
Where did you go for your honeymoon?
Where did you live as newlyweds?
When did you have your first child?
What was it like becoming a parent for the first time?
How did you perceive your role as a parent?
Did you enjoy being a parent?
Do you feel you were a good parent, a bad one, so-so?
What parenting mistakes did you make?
How did you correct those mistakes?
What dreams did you have for your children?
How did you help your children realize their dreams?
Did you see any family traits in your children?
What did you like to do together as a family?
What are your fondest memories of your children?
How did you discipline your children?
How did you praise your children?
What was different between your upbringing and your children's?
What was the most important thing you wanted your
children to learn from you?
What were your greatest concerns regarding your adult
children and their lives?
What are the things that you admire about each of your children?
What did you learn from your children?
Where did you live, addresses and cities?
When did you buy your (first) house?
What is the most important thing you learned from being married?
What was the hardest thing about being married?
What did you love most about your spouse?
If you were widowed, describe that experience?
If you later remarried, how did that relationship come about?
If you divorced, what was that like?
If you then remarried, how did that all enfold?
What was your second spouse like?
What was your second marriage like?
Did you ever have stepchildren? Adopted children? Foster kids?
How did you feel about your stepchildren? Adopted children? Foster children?
If you are a grandparent, describe how you felt when your first grandchild was born.
What was your role in the life of your grandchildren?
What did you teach your grandchildren?
What did you learn from your grandchildren?
Were you ever in the military? What branch of the service?
Did you fight in a war(s)?
What was life in the military like, especially during wartime?
What rank did you earn? Any medals or honors?
Were you ever injured or seriously ill as an adult?
Do you know of any family diseases or tendencies towards certain diseases?
What type of religious beliefs have you embraced in your life?
Do you feel those beliefs have served you well?
Did you ever have doubts about your chosen faith?
What were your biggest fears in life?
Did you do volunteer work or belong to any clubs?
What kinds of volunteer work did you do?
In what ways have you changed as a person from childhood
to adult to senior citizen?
What are some of the life lessons you learned as an adult?
What kinds of crises or struggles did you face as an adult?
What did you learn from living through those crises and struggles?
What changes in your life affected you the most?
How did the death of your parents affect you?
If you could live your life again, what would you do differently?
Do you have any regrets about anything in your life?
What changes did you see in the world during your life?
What technology evolved that changed the world as you knew it?
How did those changes affect you in your life?
What do you most want your family to know about you?
What do you most want them to remember you for?
What kind of person are you today?
What dreams and goals do you still hope to fulfill in your life?
What is the hardest thing about growing older?
What is the biggest challenge in being a senior citizen?
What is the best thing about growing older?
When did you retire, or did you retire?
How do you most like to spend your days?
What is most important to you in life now?
What are your most prized possessions?
What is your favorite thing to reminisce about?
What things in your life have given you the most inspiration?
How do you feel about your world and the world at large?
What do you predict will happen in the world in the years to come?
What would you still most like to see or experience
For what are you most grateful for today?