Tremblay Genealogy – Interview Ideas – Ed's Rerouted Parade of Home(page)s

The following topics are from the Biography Assistant at Family Tree Maker, which, while created to help biography writers, can also be applied to oral history interviews. These questions apply to a living male.

Introduction

What did his parents name him? Was he named after anyone? By what name was he usually called?

Ancestry

How far back could his family trace its roots? From where was the information collected? Who gathered the information together?
What details were collected about his past family members? Was a lot of information available, or just names and dates?
Do any family trees exist on his ancestry? If yes, do you know who created them? How large are they?
What did his ancestors look like? Are there any pictures of his ancestors? Which ones? How old are these pictures? Where are they kept?
What nationalities did his family include? Just one, or several? What languages did his ancestors speak? Did he learn to speak these languages as a child?
Did his family have a strong sense of their ethnic background? What ethnic traditions did his family carry out? Did he celebrate specific holidays, eat special foods, or dress in a particular way?
Who were the first members of his family to come to the U.S.? Where did they come from? Why did they leave their homeland? When did they arrive? Where did they settle? Why? How did they get there?
Did he ever live in or visit his family’s country of origin? If yes, describe the experience. Did he feel at home there?
What level of education did his ancestors receive? Where did they learn–in the home or at school? Was education always important in his family or not?
Was his family religious? What religions did his ancestors practice? Did he grow up practicing this religion too?
Was there a traditional occupation in his family? What did his ancestors do?
What size were his ancestors’ families? Large or small? Was this common for the time period?
What were his ancestors’ finances like? Were they well off? Were any assets passed down from generation to generation?
What kind of medical history did his family have? Did any illnesses run in the family? Were people in the family generally heavy? How long did his ancestors live?
What heirlooms were in his family? Where did they come from? To whom did they belong in the past? Where are they now?
Describe his parents. What did they look like? What were their personality traits? Did he inherit any of this from them?
Give a brief description of what his parents did with their lives. Did he follow in their footsteps? What did he learn from them?
Describe his grandparents. What did they look like? What were their personality traits? Did he inherit any of this from them?
Give a brief description of what his grandparents did. What did he learn from them?
Are there any other relatives you want to write about? Did he have a favorite or least favorite relative? Describe this person. Were there any relatives he looked forward to seeing? How often did he get to see them?

Birth of Children

Was he single or married at the time? Did he and his partner plan the pregnancy or did it happen unexpectedly?
What was his reaction when his partner told him? Was he happy, proud, or confused?
Did he have career plans? Did his partner’s pregnancy change his career plans? What decisions did he and his partner have to make?
How did his family and friends react to the news? Were they excited for him? How did he celebrate the event?
How did his partner’s pregnancy change his life? Did he help out around the house? Did he go to Lamaze class? Was he more responsible or more careful with money?
Did he assist during the delivery? How did he feel when the baby was born? What kind of responsibilities did he have once the baby was home? How did being a parent change him?

Death and Losing Loved Ones

Driving

Education

Entertainment and Pop Culture

Family Relations

How many children were in his family? How many boys? How many girls?
What did he do with his siblings? Did he play together when they were young? Did he talk about friends, school, or other matters as they grew up?
Did he have to share a room with any of his brothers or sisters? If so, what was it like? Did he enjoy having the company, or did it seem like he never had any privacy?
Did he fight with his brothers or sisters a lot? If yes, what did they fight about? Attention? Friends? Chores? Clothes? What did his parents do when they fought?
Was there ever any teasing among him and his siblings? Did any of the jokes continue troughout their lives?
Was there one brother or sister he always felt he could count on? Someone he could always talk to? Did they always seem to be there when he needed protection? Did he think of this person as his best friend or guardian?
Did they borrow each other’s clothes? If yes, with or without permission? Did anything ever get ruined or stained when it shouldn’t have been worn? If yes, what happened?
What was the best part about having brothers and sisters? What was the worst?
Did they go to school together? How many years apart were they? Did they do things with the same crowd? If so, did it ever cause any kind of conflict? What was it? Whom with?
Did he ever date a brother’s or sister’s friend? If so, how did they feel about it? Did it cause problems between them? What kind? How did it all turn out?
Did the baby of the family seem to get away with murder? Was it he who was the baby?
Did he always seem to get blamed when something bad happened? Did he ever try to blame things on his siblings? If so, what were some of the incidents? Were his parents good about letting everyone tell their side of the story?
Was he and his siblings often asked to watch each other? What happened during these times? Was anyone bossy? Could he do anything he wanted?
Did he look up to one of his siblings with admiration? Did he want to be just like them? Did he turn out with similar or completely opposite personalities?
Did he feel his parents favored one of the children more than the others, or was everyone treated equally? Did he ever wonder what it would be like to be an only child? Did he ever wish he was? Why or why not?
If he was a middle child, did it seem like he was always too young but not old enough? Did the older ones always pick on him and leave the youngest alone? Did the youngest always blame him instead of the oldest?
Once they were grown, how did the relationship between him and his siblings change? Did they see each other very often?

Anecdotes

How did he get along with his parents? Did he spend a lot of time with them while growing up? Why or why not?
What was special about his relationship with his parents? Was he close to them? Did he feel that he had the best parents?
What did he and his parents disagree about? House rules? Curfews? Did he think they were too strict?
What did he do with his parents? Did they have family outings? Did they spend evenings together?
Did he talk to his parents much? Could he discuss anything with them?
After he had grown up, what was his favorite memory about his parents?
What influence did his parents have on him? What did they teach him?
Did he have any ongoing family problems? What were they? Did it bring him closer to his family or push the family apart? Were the problems ever resolved?
Did he spend a lot of time with his grandparents when he was growing up? Did he see one set more often than the other? Why? What kind of relationship did he have with them?
What did he do with his grandparents? Were they still fairly young and active when he knew them, or did they just spend quiet times together?
After he had grown up, what was his favorite memory about his grandparents?
Was there a special relative in his family that he got along with well? Maybe an aunt or cousin? Why was that person special to him? How often did he get to see this person? What did they do together?

Family Traditions

Foreign Events

Friendships

Gender Issues

Holidays

Hometown

Inventions and Innovations

Looking Over a Lifetime

Marriage

How and where did he meet his spouse? Describe the situation. Did he know that this was the person he would marry?
Describe his engagement. Who proposed? Was it traditional? Was the proposal a surprise or was it expected? What was their reaction?
Did his parents approve of their engagement? Why or why not? What effect did it have on him and his sweetheart? Did his parents’ opinion change after the wedding?
How long was his engagement? Did it seem to last forever or did time just fly by?
What was their wedding like? Did they have a large ceremony, a small ceremony, or did they elope? Was it a religious ceremony? Where was the ceremony held? In a church, garden, or home? Did anything out of the ordinary happen during the ceremony? What was it?
Who attended the wedding? Were their family and friends present? Did anyone participate in the ceremony? How did they choose them? Did they have a flower girl or a ring bearer? Who?
Was the reception memorable? Was food served, or just cake? Was there dancing? How many people did they invite?
Did they have any traditional customs or rituals at the reception? What?
Did they go on a honeymoon? Where did they travel? Describe the vacation. What was most memorable?
What expectations did they have regarding marriage? For example, did they think they wouldn’t argue after they got married, because they never saw their parents argue? How did their expectations change as their marriage matured?
Did they go into marriage thinking they could change something about the other? What were some of those things and how did it work out? Did they change or did they learn to live with each other?
Did they go through any major adjustments when they were first married? How did they work through the issues of joint finances, housing, and living with another person?
Describe the various stages of their marriage. Were there any high points that stand out? What about any low points? In what ways did their marriage grow stronger or weaker from these times?
When did he first meet his in-laws? Were they accepting? Did they welcome him into the family? Describe the adjustment of entering into a new family. Was it easy or difficult?
How did they spend their holidays? Did they trade off between families? Was their time divided equally?
Did he feel he had to give up anything when he got married? His home, career, independence, friends?
What did he think he gained from getting married? A lifetime companion, more time with the one he loved, or financial security?
Describe his spouse. Was his spouse romantic, considerate, or stubborn?
What were the roles in their marriage? Was one person the breadwinner, the homemaker, or the decision-maker? Were the roles intertwined? Did they change over time? In what ways?
What did they have in common? What were their differences? In what ways did they make them compatible and incompatible?
What issues did they argue about when they were first married? Money, politics, child rearing, religion? As their marriage matured, did they argue about the same issues?
If they never divorced, what was their secret? How were they able to stay together? What advice could they give to others?
If he had it to do all over again, what changes would he make? Why?

Medical History

Military: Family Life & Service

Moving

Natural Disasters

What kind of natural disaster took place? Where and when did it take place? What was the outcome?
Who was affected by the disaster? Was he or someone he knew involved?
If he was in the disaster, what were his feelings at the time? Did he know it was coming or was it unexpected? Was he prepared? What were his actions? Describe the situation before and after the event.
If he wasn’t in the disaster, how did he first find out about it? What was his reaction? Why was it of interest to him?
Was there anything he did to help out? Volunteer his time or money? Describe what he did. How did it feel to be involved?
What damage was done? Did he see the damage in person? Was there any insurance involved? Did the government help?
Did any injuries or deaths result from the disaster?
How long after the event occurred did life get back to normal? Or did it ever get back to normal?
Did anything he learned from this event make him change his lifestyle?

Occupation

Personality and Values

Pets

Physical Characteristics

Raising a Family

Did he start raising a family when he had planned to? Did it come later or sooner in life than he expected?
Did he raise his children alone or with someone? Was there a marriage, divorce, or death that ever changed this?
Where did he live during this time? Did he think it was a good area to raise a family? Why or why not?
Did his family move around very much or did they reside in the same area for a long time? Was this by choice?
How did he provide for his family? Was it hard to make ends meet or were they well off?
Were there any special measures he took in raising his family? Did he have ways of ensuring their safety or well being?
How did he determine what rules his family should abide by? Were they effective? Did they change as time went on? How? Did they stem from the way he was raised?
Did he and other family members agree on how children should be raised? If not, how did it work out?
What day-to-day activities did he do with his children? Was he with them constantly or did he work during this time?
Did his child or children go to nursery school or preschool? What influenced his decision to enroll them? Was he happy with his decision? Was it hard on him to see his child first go to school?
What values did he try to instill in his children? Did he succeed?
Did he take his family on any special trips? Where did they go? Did they enjoy spending this time together?
Was his family close or distant? Did his children confide in him or did they keep secrets?
What difficult issues did he encounter while raising a family? Performance in school, dating and sex, going to college, alcohol and drugs, or getting married? Did they ever have arguments about these things?
Did any of his children go away to college or the service? What emotions did he go through during this time?
Under what circumstances did his child or children leave home? Was he happy or sad to see them go? Did their relationship get better or worse after this?
After his children had grown, what did he think was the best part about raising a family?

Recreation

Relationships and Dating

Religion

Traveling

Prohibition Era

Prohibition was declared on January 17, 1920, how did he and others react? Did it affect a business that he had? Did they think that alcohol consumption was something the government should control?
Did he belong to a temperance society or association that worked for the passage of this amendment? What part did he play in the activities of the society?
Did his family and friends comply with the law? Why or why not? What types of people were on each side of the issue? If they didn’t comply with the law, what did they do? Go to a speak-easy where they could get liquor? Make their own liquor?
At the time, did he believe Prohibition made people want to drink more since it was against the law? Was this something daring or dangerous to do amongst his friends?
Al Capone was a famous gangster in this era. Was he afraid of him or other gangsters who were involved with illegal liquor? Did he think that Prohibition gave them more power?
During the Prohibition Era, many changes took place in society. For example, younger women changed their style of dress, opting for short skirts, makeup, and bobbed hair. What did he think of this shift in tastes?
The 1920’s are also known as the Age of Jazz. Was this the kind of music that he listened to and danced to? If so, who were his favorite musicians of the time?
The law prohibiting alcohol was repealed in 1933 by President Roosevelt. Was this a good idea in his opinion? Was he relieved? Why or why not?

The Great Depression

In later years, what was the first thing that came into his mind when he heard the word “Depression”? What feelings and memories did this word bring back?
Did his family or friends invest in the stock market? Did he or anyone he knew lose money in the stock market? What did this money loss mean?
How quickly were the effects of the stock market crash felt in his household, if at all? Did he notice what was happening because of the effects it had on his family or because of the effects it had on others?
Did he experience bank panics? What happened at these times? Did he lose money or was he unable to get use of his money because of a panic?
What did he have to do without during the Depression? New clothes? Money for entertainment?Meat? Or was his family still fairly comfortable?
How did he feel when he became aware of the magnitude of the economic difficulties? Was he afraid for himself and his family or was he confident that he would make it through? How did his expectations measure up to reality?
About 25% of the work force was unemployed at the height of the Depression. How were his family and friends affected in this aspect? Were they out of jobs for extended periods of time or did they have steady work?
Without steady work, what was done to get money? Did he have to sell any of his possessions? How did it feel to do this? Was it hard to part with some items or was he just happy to have the money? What was sold first?
Did his family move to find work in another part of the state or country? If so, were they successful? How did it feel to face the unknown?
Did his family move in with relatives or did he take in relatives who were having difficulties? What was it like having extra people in the household? Was there any resentment among the different family members?
Did he or anyone he knew become homeless? What happened? Did he or they move into a “Hooverville”? What were the conditions there? What was the mood of the inhabitants?
What did his family think about accepting or giving charity? Did they not like to accept help from others? Did they think that people should fend for themselves? Were they happy to give or receive what they could?
Even during the height of the Depression, many people who could scrape together enough money still went to the movies. Did he do this? Why? Was it a way to escape reality?
In later years, what did he remember about the movie stars of the era? Did they seem as glamorous then as we tend to characterize them now? Did he or others resent their lifestyles when so many people were desperately poor?
How were holidays celebrated during the Depression? Did he still eat special foods or give and receive gifts when appropriate? Did they pass by without anyone noticing? How had the mood changed?
What did he think were some of the major causes of the Depression? Did he think that it was caused by over-speculation in the stock market or bad bank loans? What else might have added to the problems?
Why did he think that it lasted for so long? Were the policies of Hoover and FDR effective or ineffective? What would he have done in the President’s place?
What were his opinions of Hoover and his policies? What was he doing right and what was he doing wrong?
Did he think that FDR would do a better job than Hoover? Why or why not?
Before the stock market crashed, were people generally optimistic about the future? How long was it after the Depression before optimism returned?

World War II

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