Memories not a Source [closed]

Question

I love the Memories boxes!

It's an easy way for my mother to log on and post her memories of her relatives and my fathers relatives, some of whom I've never met.

Fascinating family history that gives hints for further research!

She can't do the research and all things involved in genealogy, but she can give us her memories!

Answer 1

Actually genuine memories are a source - often a good one. But, like any other source, cannot always be taken for granted. Many paper sources are no more reliable.

Comments

I agree with you, Martin. I grill my 91 yr old mother for memories. I also realize the limitations of memories, some of which sent me down rabbit holes for years. There have been some studies over the past few decades on the reliability of oral history, confirming grains of truth, but also the addition of errata over centuries. But, then, even documents are prone to human error. This is not to say, “trust nothing,” but to make the attempt to confirm.