Review: Planning A Future For Your Family’s Past

Planning a Future for Your Family’s Past
By Marian Burk Wood
Published by CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform: 2016
Second Edition published 2021.
Available at Amazon
98 pp.

Did You Inherit a Genealogical Mess?

Truth be told, I have inherited about five genealogical messes. And while I’m thrilled to have the items, I’ll admit that years later I’m still wading through and trying to make sense of them all.

It has been difficult to know how or where to get started, much less what the final outcome should look like.

I’d be willing to bet that the majority of us have barely scratched the surface of organizing our family history for use during our own lifetime.

And I’d also bet that even fewer of us have considered what we will do with our research, documents, photographs, heirlooms, and other ephemera after we’re gone.

Thankfully, author Marian Burk Wood offers solutions to both of these problems in her book Planning a Future for Your Family’s Past.

Follow the PASS Plan

Planning a Future for Your Family’s Past is organized in four main sections according to Marian’s 4-step PASS process:

• Prepare by organizing materials
• Allocate ownership
• Set up a genealogical “will”
• Share with heirs

Step 1 – Prepare

Step 1 discusses the importance of getting prepared by organizing your family history materials. In the first chapter, several strategies for sorting items are presented, starting with a rough sort and moving into more specific sorts by category.

In chapter 2, suggestions of how to store the sorted items temporarily during the sort, and then permanently, are presented.

Chapter 3 deals with the age-old problem of what to do with photos, negatives, slides, digital images, and movies. Suggestions for sorting, sharing, downsizing, and storing these items are given.

Organizing digital files and emails are discussed in chapter 4. Not only does the author address the importance of digitizing physical items – especially those that are fragile and at risk of deterioration – but she also offers suggestions for organizing your digital files and emails (I’ll bet most of us don’t think about preserving emails). Having a backup plan for digital items is stressed.

Once your items are sorted and organized, it is time to take inventory. Chapter 5 addresses why this is so important and offers suggestions for how to inventory and index your items.

Chapter 6 covers various ways to record your family tree, including family group sheets, pedigree charts, and family trees created using software or a website online.

Step 2 – Allocate

Step 2 of the PASS system covers allocating ownership of physical family heirlooms and ephemera, such as photo albums, certificates and awards, and more.

Chapter 7 goes back to sorting, but this time it involves separating out items that you may not want to keep.

You may not have room for specific items in your home, or they may not even belong to your family, so chapter 8 discusses how to find homes for these artifacts. Marian shares her process for successfully donating heirlooms to institutions such as museums and historical societies (and yes, there IS a process).

Step 3 – Set Up a Will

Who will inherit your family history collection when you’re gone? Step 3 of the PASS system is to set up a genealogical “will.”

You will first need to identify the person (or persons) who wants it. While it might be hard for a family historian to imagine, not everyone wants the responsibility – or “the stuff” – of inheriting a genealogical collection. Chapter 9 addresses how to find one or more custodians for your collection.

Chapter 10 covers the whys and hows of creating a genealogical will and includes sample wording as well as a discussion of what to include and instructions for future heirs.

Step 4 – Share

The best part of family history is, of course, sharing, and step 4 of the PASS system is all about how to share what you’ve learned with the next generation.

I’m sure we’ve all struggled with finding ways to interest non-genealogist family members – as well as young people – in our beloved genealogy research. In chapter 11, the author offers suggestions for making family history “come alive” for these disinterested family members.

The book concludes with a list of online resources to help you implement the PASS plan. Sample forms are included to help create your genealogical will, set up an inventory and index, and keep track of cousins with whom you’ve connected.

My Impression

Following Marian Burk Wood’s PASS system of organizing, allocating, preparing, and sharing your precious family history will eliminate the overwhelm that is preventing you from getting started. It will help you “eat the organizational elephant” one bite at a time.

At just 98 pages, including resource lists and index, Planning a Future for Your Family’s Past is a pleasant read in plain, conversational English. Slow reader that I am, I managed to finish the book in just 2 days.

I thoroughly enjoyed every chapter of Planning a Future for Your Family’s Past, and I can’t wait to start implementing the PASS plan for my own family history!

About the Author

Marian Burk Wood is a marketing expert turned college textbook author, with an MBA from Long Island University and a BA from CUNY. She is a popular speaker on genealogy topics and blogs about genealogy at https://climbingmyfamilytree.blogspot.com.

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