10 Family History Questions to Ask Your Grandparents

When researching your family history, one of the greatest resources at your disposal are your living relatives. Your grandparents and other older relatives may just be your closest connection to earlier generations of your family.

When your grandparents pass, their knowledge and memories of your family’s history disappear forever.

Interviewing your elderly relatives now is not only great for capturing and preserving their stories for future generations, but also a wonderful way to get to know them better.

Here are some questions to ask your grandparents before it’s too late:

1. What were the names and birthdates of your siblings, parents and grandparents? Did any of them have nicknames?

2. When and where were you born? Did your parents share any stories with you about that day?

3. What is your earliest childhood memory? Happiest? Saddest?

4. What was your childhood like? What did you enjoy doing for fun?

5. What was school like for you growing up? Where did you go to school?

6. When and how did you meet grandpa/grandma?

7. Who was the oldest relative you remember as a child?

8. What did you want to be when you grew up? What jobs did you have?

9. What events most impacted your life growing up?

10. What would you say is your proudest achievement?

What questions would you add?

Check out some more tips for interviewing relatives here.