Write Your Family History Now

Transcript:

Host (Heather Haunert):
Hi everyone, and welcome to The Family Treehouse, a podcast series brought to you by Storied — a platform for genealogy, storytelling, or both. I am your host, Heather Haunert, and today I am very excited to have a very special guest with us: Devon Noel Lee from The Family History Fanatics.

When I looked at your biography before we started, I found something that just floored me. It says you are a woman who wrote a rough draft of 120 ancestors in just one year and published 60 scrapbooks, one memoir, and two ancestral biographies. I think, Devon, that you must be a superwoman. Welcome to the show!

Guest (Devon Noel Lee):
[laughs] I’m not Superwoman — I was just very much inspired by a sense of urgency.

Host:
That is just incredible. Well, welcome! Why don’t you tell us a little bit about your background — how you got started in the field of family history and storytelling?

Guest:
Okay, I’ll try to be brief, because I am the social one on Family History Fanatics, so I can talk forever.

My interest in family history began when I was a teenager. My mom told me stories of my relatives. We lived in Texas, but they all lived in Ohio. This was before the internet, and my family weren’t letter writers or phone callers — phone calls were expensive. So all I had to rely on was my mom and her stories.

As a teenager, I started a project to earn a religious award — similar to the Girl Scouts’ or Eagle Scouts’ highest honor in our church. You got to select your project, and I chose family history. Spoiler alert: I never actually finished that award, but I have been doing that project ever since.

Because my mom was a storyteller, I gravitated toward storytelling. In high school, I dabbled a little in the school newspaper until I had to choose between band and newspaper — and band won. Later, in college, my mom started a newspaper, and I began writing articles for her.

Now, mind you, I am terrible at spelling. I still am to this day. People find errors all over Family History Fanatics and my new channel, Write Your Family History. But I learned the art of storytelling from my mom and from journalism, and that’s where I am today.

Host:
I tell people all the time — I used to teach high school English — it’s more about just getting the story down. I don’t care if things are misspelled or not grammatically perfect. People fear being judged for their writing.

Guest:
I have a philosophy: An imperfectly written story — written down or even verbalized — is better than a perfectly crafted story in somebody’s head… who’s dead.

Host:
Absolutely. And even one sentence from an ancestor, no matter how it looks, would be priceless. Why do you think storytelling is such an important part of family history?

Guest:
It’s all about connection and belonging. People often want to connect themselves to someone famous. Me? I’m connected to a drunk, a breadman, and a professor — and I love all three.

I know stories about each of them. There’s also a woman who adopted my grandmother in the 1920s — she couldn’t have children of her own. When I heard her story, I fell in love with her, and I understood why my grandmother adored her.

There’s the story of my grandmother discovering she was adopted — she was in the bathtub, her older sister ran in and said, “Lela, we’re adopted.” My grandmother just said, “I don’t care. Mom’s Mom, Dad’s Dad.”

These stories let me see personalities reflected in myself or my kids. Even tragic stories can create empathy and understanding. My husband had an ancestor who lost everything after a flood during the California Gold Rush — his wife, children, business. He turned to petty crime. His son decided to change the family name to escape the shame. Those stories — good, bad, ugly — give us connection and belonging.

Host:
And I think personally, I like the colorful stories, because they make family history even more interesting.

Guest:
Right! Speaking of colorful — I remember being in a workshop and saying, “You don’t have angel women who aren’t perfect,” and this Southern woman said, “Oh no, my grandma was an angel.” And I thought — I bet if you go back, she has a few stories to tell.

We appreciate the angelic nature of people when we see what they’ve gone through. I like real stories — colorful or not. I want them to be real and accurate, not “authentic” in the overused sense, but true to who they were.

Host:
How do you go about writing a story? Do you have a plan or system, or do you just freeball it?

Guest:
It depends on what I’m writing. For personal history, I love using photos as prompts. There’s a scrapbooker named Debbie Hodge who says, “Give photos their stories.” I do the who, what, when, why, and how — then add backstory.

When I’m writing about an ancestor, I go record by record, sentence by sentence, using my Recipe for Writing Family History process. I even have a book about it on Amazon. It’s about getting to a first draft, then polishing it.

Host:
Do you prefer short pieces, or longer biographies?

Guest:
It depends. Some ancestors might get a 90-page biography, others a short sketch. Sketches don’t have to be boring. Scope, depth, and your experience level matter. Beginners should start with more recent ancestors and short pieces, then work up to longer ones.

Host:
Can you share any tools you use?

Guest:
For a recent scrapbook redo, I actually used Storied’s story assist to expand bullet points into a pretty good draft. For writing improvement, I use Grammarly — it helps catch passive voice and offers rewrite suggestions, though you have to keep your own voice.

Host:
How might a newbie use historical records to tell a story?

Guest:
First, transcribe the record. Then turn the facts into sentences. Add familial context, then geographical context, then historical context. For example, noting that someone was born the day Trotsky was banished gives you a time period instantly.

Host:
What’s a favorite family story of yours?

Guest:
Picking a favorite is like picking a favorite kid. My long-time favorite is my mom learning to dance by standing on her dad’s feet as they waltzed around the living room. My newest favorite is about a multiple great-aunt — a female doctor in the 1800s who mentored one of the first Black female doctors in Cincinnati. I’m still researching it, but it’s fascinating.

Host:
That is incredible! And yes, genealogy never really ends. There’s always another story or record to find.

Guest:
Exactly. Records can run out for one person, but new ones are always coming online. It’s a great time to be a genealogist.

Host:
Before we wrap up, what’s your advice for absolute beginners?

Guest:
For beginner researchers: Preserve the perishable — photos, stories, documents. Label them, digitize them, and share them before they’re lost.

For beginner writers: Tell your inner grammar teacher to sit in the corner. Get the story out first — you can fix grammar later. Use photos for prompts, speak your story if you can’t type, and go record by record for ancestors. You’ll never have writer’s block if you start that way.

Host:
I love that. Devon, your passion shines through, and you are a wealth of information. Thank you so much for being here.

Guest:
My pleasure. Anytime you want me back to talk about writing, I’m there.

Host:
Until next time, friends — embrace the power of your family’s untold tales and embark on a journey of discovery. Let the ink flow and the words dance as you weave together the threads of your ancestors’ lives. Start writing your family stories today and let their voices echo through the generations to come at Storied.com.

Have a great day, everyone.

[Music]

Narrator:
And that brings us to the end of this episode of The Family Treehouse, where we celebrate the power of storytelling and preserving our family legacies. Storied is more than just a platform for sharing stories — dive into historical records and newspapers, discover the hidden gems that bring your ancestors to life, and add branches to your family tree. Thank you for joining us on this storytelling journey. Your stories matter — and through Storied, they have the power to resonate across time and touch the hearts of generations to come.

Keep uncovering your family’s history, and keep the spirit of storytelling alive with Storied.