Fifty Questions for Family
History Interviews
- What is your full name? Why did
your parents select this name for you? Did you have a nickname?
- When and where were you born?
- How did your family come to live
there?
- Were there other family members in
the area? Who?
- What was the house (apartment,
farm, etc.) like? How many rooms? Bathrooms? Did it have electricity?
Indoor plumbing? Telephones?
- Were there any special items in the
house that you remember?
- What is your earliest childhood
memory?
- Describe the personalities of your
family members.
- What kind of games did you play
growing up?
- What was your favorite toy and why?
- What was your favorite thing to do
for fun (movies, beach, etc.)?
- Did you have family chores? What
were they? Which was your least favorite?
- Did you receive an allowance? How
much? Did you save your money or spend it?
- What was school like for you as a
child? What were your best and worst subjects? Where did you attend
grade school? High school? College?
- What school activities and sports
did you participate in?
- Do you remember any fads from your
youth? Popular hairstyles? Clothes?
- Who were your childhood heroes?
- What were your favorite songs and
music?
- Did you have any pets? If so, what
kind and what were their names?
- What was your religion growing up?
What church, if any, did you attend?
- Were you ever mentioned in a
newspaper?
- Who were your friends when you were
growing up?
- What world events had the most
impact on you while you were growing up? Did any of them personally
affect your family?
- Describe a typical family dinner.
Did you all eat together as a family? Who did the cooking? What were
your favorite foods?
- How were holidays (birthdays,
Christmas, etc.) celebrated in your family? Did your family have special
traditions?
- How is the world today different
from what it was like when you were a child?
- Who was the oldest relative you
remember as a child? What do you remember about them?
- What do you know about your family
surname?
- Is there a naming tradition in your
family, such as always giving the firstborn son the name of his paternal
grandfather?
- What stories have come down to you
about your parents? Grandparents? More distant ancestors?
- Are there any stories about famous
or infamous relatives in your family?
- Have any recipes been passed down
to you from family members?
- Are there any physical
characteristics that run in your family?
- Are there any physical
characteristics that run in your family?
- What was the full name of your
spouse? Siblings? Parents?
- When and how did you meet your
spouse? What did you do on dates?
- What was it like when you proposed
(or were proposed to)? Where and when did it happen? How did you feel?
- Where and when did you get married?
- What memory stands out the most
from your wedding day?
- How would you describe your spouse?
What do (did) you admire most about them?
- What do you believe is the key to a
successful marriage?
- How did you find out your were
going to be a parent for the first time?
- Why did you choose your children's
names?
- What was your proudest moment as a
parent?
- What did your family enjoy doing
together?
- What was your profession and how
did you choose it?
- If you could have had any other
profession what would it have been? Why wasn't it your first choice?
- Of all the things you learned from
your parents, which do you feel was the most valuable?
- What accomplishments were you the
most proud of?
- What is the one thing you most want
people to remember about you?
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