Dad and His Dechelette with a Snowball Fight

 

With snow on the ground here in New England, it's a good time to write about a piece of art featuring what seems to be a snowball fight.

My father, Harold D. Burk (1909-1978), was stationed close to Paris in the spring of 1945, a part of the U.S. Army Signal Corps helping the Allies secure the area as World War II was coming to a close.

When discharged in 1945, Dad brought home a few pieces of art that he had acquired in France.

This painting, which looks to my eyes like a spontaneous snowball fight, was painted by the "naive" French painter Louis Auguste Dechelette (1894-1964). Although I don't remember it hanging in my childhood home, I inherited it when Dad died.  

I packed the oil painting securely this week and sent it to a new home (as I've been doing with many artifacts from family history). I included a brief bio of Dad and his military career, which lasted from March of 1942 to October of 1945. It was autumn when Dad finally arrived home, but the snowball fight will go on forever in this Dechelette painting acquired while serving his country in France. 

"Stinking Cheese" and Other Family Tree Traditions

Among the artifacts handed down in my mother's family were bound books of typed notes from 30 years of Farkas Family Tree monthly meetings. Founded in 1933 to keep the bonds strong among Farkas siblings, in-laws, and cousins, the Tree association celebrated every occasion (birthdays, anniversaries, Thanksgiving, start of summer, end of summer, etc.) with food. Hosting duties rotated around the tree, and hosts outdid themselves in feeding the many relatives who attended each meeting. 

Children and adults alike filled their plates during the main meal, then adults stayed at the table for the "business meeting" which consisted of a treasurer's report (yearly dues: $5 per adult), secretary's report (reading minutes from previous meeting), entertainment committee report (organizing card parties, fishing trips, picnics), and constitution committee (as children of immigrants, they believed in clearly delineating how the Tree association would function). 

What the hosts served changed with the seasons. Even the two "Bachelor Brothers" (my great uncles, Julius Farkas and Peter Farkas) enjoyed hosting and putting out a mouth-watering spread. As shown above in an excerpt from the minutes, when they hosted in April of 1937, the brothers and their sister-in-law Sadie served: hot dogs, sauerkraut, pickled tongue, pastrami, breads, mustard, and "stinking cheese." The brothers operated a dairy shop specializing in cheese, and the "stinking cheese" they brought to most meetings was a running joke and treasured tradition for 30 years. 

In all weather, in all economic circumstances, the minutes make clear that the family embraced its tradition of eating together, playing together, and staying together. When the older generation began to pass away, the family mourned together. My maternal grandfather Teddy led a moment of silence every March, honoring the memory of Tree members who were gone--but never forgotten.

This is my "In the kitchen" post for week 5 of #52Ancestors. 

No Heirs for Your Family History? Recap

Ken Thomas, the longtime genealogy columnist for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, suggested I write about what to do if you have no obvious heirs for your family history. 

Based on his suggestion, I wrote a four-part series earlier this month. Here is a quick recap of ideas for how to donate or preserve your family's history for the sake of future generations. 

Background before making decisions

Before you make any final decisions, please read this page from the Society of American Archivists about donating your collection as a whole. Also look at this informative Family Search wiki page about what to do with a genealogy collection. If needed, I urge you to seek professional advice about particularly valuable, quite historic, uniquely specialized, older/archeological, or extremely fragile items in your collection.

Ideas for what to do

In Part 1, I wrote about trying to coordinate your preservation efforts with cousins and other relatives. Someone may be willing to accept all or part of your genealogy collection and keep it safe. In particular, consider how to safeguard some photos and memorabilia of family members without direct descendants--"no cousin left behind." And if you have fine china or silver, offer a place setting or a teaspoon or a teacup to each of your relatives.

In Part 2, I explained the process for identifying potential institutions that might be interested in accepting artifacts and/or possibly some of your genealogy materials. Each institution has its own collection priorities and procedures, so it's important to understand what each museum, library, archive, society, or university is interested in collecting and studying. For more about the actual donation process, see my post here.

In Part 3, I wrote about looking at your collection from the perspective of non-family eyes on your family's history. Neatness counts! Organization is the key, including a written family tree and other documents to help researchers navigate your collection and understand what it contains.

In Part 4, I discussed how to summarize the scope and significance of your family-history collection. Focus on how your ancestors' lives might be of interest to an institution and other researchers. Whether or not you donate any of your materials, do consider offering your family-tree information to an institution. 

Thanks so much to Ken Thomas for suggesting that I cover this very important and very timely topic.

For more about how to plan to keep your genealogy collection safe for the future, please check out my best-selling book, Planning a Future for Your Family's Past. Updated in Sept 2021!

No Heirs for Your Family History? Ideas, Part 2

If you have no family heirs to take over your genealogy collection in the distant future you join your ancestors, there may be other ways to save your family's history from being tossed in the trash or sold in a flea market. The key is to begin planning early and to think creatively.

My previous post was about approaching relatives to accept some or all of your family history, particularly photos, and about helping to save things from other cousins who have no heirs. Also I mentioned the idea of offering a single china setting (or a teacup, says reader Heather) to relatives.

This post is about researching possible non-family homes for your family's artifacts. NOTE: Seek out professional advice about highly valuable, quite historic, uniquely specialized, older/archeological, or extremely fragile items.  

Idea: Classify your artifact - where would it fit?

My aunt, Dorothy Schwartz (1919-2001), had no direct descendants. She was a WAC during World War II and led an interesting life--one worthy of being remembered. To keep her history alive, my sister and I wanted to donate some items we inherited (such as her Bronze Star citation and the written history of her WAC unit) to an appropriate institution. 

I began by classifying the artifacts in various ways: (1) the items relate to the Women's Army Corps, part of the U.S. Army; (2) they relate to a U.S. Army veteran; (3) they relate to World War II. 

Take a few minutes to classify your artifacts and see how many/which categories they fit into before you go looking for an institution that might be interested in accepting these items. 

In some cases, institutions are looking for specialized items for specific exhibits. The Norwalk CT Historical Society recently put out a call for artifacts related to an upcoming exhibit entitled "Miserable vagrants, petty thieves and scamps: a history of crime in Norwalk.” If that describes your ancestor, find out about the society's process (see illustration at right)!

Idea: Which institutions seem to be a good match?

Next, look at your classifications and search for institutions that have closely-related collections. Think about not only your top choice but your second choice.

I did online searches for the classification phrases Women's Army Corps, U.S. Army veterans, and World War II. Looking at the results, I read about the mission of each institution and also looked at what each institution is interested in collecting.

After doing this research, my conclusion was that the U.S. Army Women's Museum would be the best match for Sgt. Schwartz's artifacts. The website (see illustration at top, with a headshot of my aunt) offers these instructions, which I followed.

We are always actively seeking materials for our collection. If you would like to donate artifacts or archival materials please ensure you contact the Museum before sending anything. If you do not, it is possible the material will be sent directly back to you.

Idea: Understand the institution's process 

Be guided by the institution's process, which usually begins by asking you to make contact and describe the artifact before sending it. I was able to donate my items to the museum, after receiving approval to send them--along with a biographical sketch of my aunt, and her role in the WACs during World War II. My sister and I are happy that our aunt, Sgt. Schwartz, is now represented in the museum's collection.

However, if the institution replies that your artifact doesn't fit in the scope of its collection, or it already has other examples similar to yours, do ask for suggestions of other institutions that usually collect your artifact. Or move down the list of results from your own research and contact your second choice. 

To learn more about the general process of donating to any institution, please see my detailed blog post here.

My next post in this series will have ideas for what to do with your research and documents if you have no family heirs. Remember, these are only ideas--please adapt as appropriate to your situation. Also take a moment to read this Society of American Archivists article about donating your family history collection to an institution.

- This is my entry for the 6th Annual Genealogy Pot-Luck Picnic hosted by my gen friend Elizabeth Swanay O’Neal.