How to Find Your Family History on YouTube

by | May 26, 2021 | 01 What's New, Elevenses with Lisa, Video, YouTube | 3 comments

how to find family history on youtube

Pieces of your family history are on video on YouTube, and in this episode I’m showing you how to find them! Here’s what you’re going to learn:

  • Why you can almost be sure that there are videos on YouTube pertaining to your family’s history.
  • The best strategies for finding videos about your family history.
  • 7 things to do when you find a video about some part of your family history.

How to find family history related videos on YouTube

Can you really find family history related videos on YouTube? You bet you can! Thanks to the tremendous growth in online video, your chances are better than ever. Here’s how much online video has grown in recent years:

  • YouTube is now the second most popular search engine next to Google.com.
  • Cisco reports: 2014 64% of all Internet traffic was video. The prediction for 2021 is 85%.
  • More than 1 billion unique users visit YouTube each month to watch and upload video.
  • Digitizing video is easier and more affordable than ever.

So, what kind of videos can be found that have to do with your family history? Here are just a few examples:

Old home movies.
Perhaps uploaded by a close or distance family member, or a friend of the family who happened to capture your family in their home movies.

Vintage news reels and TV news broadcasts.
Your family members don’t have to be famous to show up in local news reports.

Corporate videos.
Companies often create instructional and promotional films.

Video tours.
Filmed at historical locations, churches, and other places where your ancestors may have lived.

Historical documentaries.
These can provide great background information about the times and places where your ancestors lived.

How to start finding family history videos on YouTube

The easiest way to get started is by selecting a person in your family tree. If you’re looking for actual  film footage of the person, you’ll want to focus on more recent people in your family. However, there’s a treasure trove of videos available on YouTube so don’t worry if you’re trying to learn more about an ancestor born in 1800. You can still find all kinds of videos that can shed more life on your ancestor’s world and the life they may have led.

Once you’ve selected an ancestor, make a list of things you know about them. Here are some examples of what you could look for:

  • Names of associate ancestors
  • Places where they lived
  • Where they went to school
  • Where they worked
  • Events they were involved in
  • Hobbies / Groups / Clubs
  • Friends / Associates
  • etc.

 

Search your ancestor’s name at YouTube

Start by searching for your ancestor’s name in the search field at YouTube. Example search: Will Ivy Baldwin

Review the results. Keep an eye out for film footage that looks older. Hover your mouse over the results to see if words appear that further explain why you received that video as result. You may see an indication that what you searched for appears in the text of the video description (found just below the video) or the captions. If they appear in the captions, that means that someone in the video said the name you searched for! Automated closed captions are fairly new so you will find that not all videos have captions.

Next add more keywords relevant to their life. Example: Will Ivy Baldwin tightrope

Use quotation marks to get exact matches on the important words. Example: Will Ivy “Baldwin” “tightrope”. (Learn more about search operators such as quotation marks in my book The Genealogist’s Google Toolbox.)

Try variations and search multiple times. Examples:

  • Will Ivy “Baldwin” “tightrope”
  • Will “Ivy Baldwin” “tightrope”
  • “Will Ivy Baldwin” “tightrope”
  • Will Ivy “Baldwin” “Colorado”

You can also search for the phrase Home Movie and a family surname. Example search: “Home movie” “Burkett”

What to do when you find a family history video on YouTube

#1 Add to your “Watch Later” YouTube playlist.
Click the plus sign under the video and check the box for Watch Later.”

#2 Create a new playlist and add the video.
Click the plus sign and then Create New Playlist. Consider creating a playlist for each surname you research.

Save video to Watchlist YouTube

Click the plus sign to save to your Watch List or create a new genealogy playlist.

#3 Share to Social Media, your website, etc.
Click Share under the video.

#4 Comment to collaborate.
Comments can be found below the video description. You’ll need to be signed into YouTube with a free Google account.

#5 Subscribe to get new uploaded videos.
The red SUBSCRIBE button can be found on every video and channel. After clicking it, click the bell icon to receive notifications of new videos from that channel.

#6 Search the YouTube Channel for more related videos.
There’s a good chance if the channel has one relevant video it will have another! Click the name of the channel below the video and then on the channel page click the magnifying glass search icon.

#7 Read the video description to learn more.
The channel “Creator” who uploaded the video probably added some additional information to the video description. Click SHOW MORE to see everything. Look for recommended related videos and playlists. You may also see more details on the content of the video which you can then use to expand your search.

Expanding Your Search to Find More Family History Videos

Now it’s time to dig back into our list and continue the search. Here are some examples of how to find videos.

Search for Ancestral Locations

Search for locations associate with your family history such as cities, counties, regions, states, countries. Even if your ancestors is not in the video, it could be very enlightening to see film footage from a place they talked about or wrote about. Watching a video about the place can help bring your family history to life.

Search examples:

Search for Events

Review old newspapers, journals, family interviews and more to come up with a list of events your family was involved with. It doesn’t have to be a big event. It could be as simple as a school talent show. It’s possible that someone else who attended took home movies.

Here are a few examples of events searched:

1946 roses parade

Today’s YouTube results for 1946 Rose Parade

Search for Occupations

Try search for the names of business where your ancestors worked. Add in locations such as town names. Try adding the word history to help YouTube find older film footage.

In this episode of Elevenses with Lisa I shared the example of searching for Olyphant PA fire history and finding Andrew O’Hotnicky and his son in an old newsreel film about the fire stations amazing dog.

Andrew O’Hotnicky on film on YouTube.

Post Your Own Family History Videos Online

Another great way to find old videos and home movies on YouTube is to upload your own. That may sound funny at first, but the truth is that if you’re looking for family history other people are too. When you upload a video, whether it’s an old home movie or a short video you made to tell the story of one of your ancestors, it’s great “cousin bait.” When someone else searches for the same family, your video will appear. This opens the door to them posting a comment and potentially sharing information.

If you don’t have old home movies to post, don’t worry. It’s easier and more affordable than ever to make your own videos. I’ve created several instructional videos to help you create exactly the kind of video you want Both are available exclusively for Genealogy Gems Premium Members (Learn more here about becoming a Premium Member):

  • Video Magic – a 3-part video series that walk you through crafting your story and getting it on video.
  • Elevenses with Lisa episode 16 How to Make a Family History Video with Adobe Spark walks you step-by-step through how to use a free app to make professionally looking videos.

Recording your own videos is faster, easier and less expensive than ever! You can have your own free YouTube channel with your free Google Account.

Resources

 

Questions and Comments

Please leave your questions and comments below. 

 

Can You Believe Google Earth is 10 Years Old?? Are You Using Google Earth for Genealogy Yet?

by | Jul 11, 2015 | 01 What's New, Google Earth, images, Maps

Google Earth 10 years old invitationTen years ago in June, Google Earth was born. The world put it right to work. Within months, recalls a Google Earth employee, “Hurricane Katrina showed us how useful mapping tools like Earth could be for crisis response efforts. Rescue workers compared before and after Satellite imagery in Google Earth to better locate where people were stranded.”

“In the years after,” the blog post continues, “with more than 2 billion downloads by people in nearly every country in the world, Earth has enabled people to discover new coral reefs, journey to the Moon and into deep space, find long-lost parents, clear landmines and much more.”

What about YOU? How have you harnessed the power of Google Earth for good?

What about using Google Earth for genealogy?

Google Earth for Genealogy classIn honor of Google Earth’s birthday, we invite you to watch a free video recording of a special presentation of Google Earth for Genealogy! Check out these blog posts, too:

Google Earth for Genealogy and Toolbox bundleReady to take Google Earth to the next level? Pick up your copies of the video CD series Google Earth for Genealogy at the Genealogy Gems Store.

Google Keep versus Evernote for Your Note-Taking Needs

by | May 19, 2015 | 01 What's New, Apps, Evernote, Google, images, Organization, Source Citation, Technology

organize app Evernote google keepGoogle Keep, Google’s note-taking app, is getting better. According to a post on an unofficial Google blog, “Google Keep now lets you add labels to your notes. Just click the 3-dot icon below the note and select ‘add label.’ There are 3 default labels (inspiration, personal, work), but you can add your own labels.” The post goes on to describe the navigation menu, show how to export notes to Google docs and create recurring reminders.

According to the post, “The new features are available in Google Keep’s web app, Chrome app and Android app (Google Keep 3.1).”

Google Keep Versus Evernote

How does Google Keep compare to Evernote? Well, I’m a longtime Evernote user who wrote a genealogist’s quick guide to using Evernote (see below) and provides the Ultimate Evernote Education to my Genealogy Gems Premium members. I might be just a bit biased when I say I still whole-heartedly prefer Evernote–but that’s because of what I do with Evernote, which is full-scale organization of my life and genealogy research across all my devices.

One tech writer’s post on Google Keep v Evernote indicates that she likes the simple functionality of Google Keep for quick notes. Yet, she writes, “I’m a big fan of Evernote as well, because of its strong organizing options–tags and saved searches, notebooks and stacked notes–but it can be overwhelming for simple note-taking. It is, however, cross-platform and, unlike Google Keep, more likely to stick around (former Google Reader users might be afraid to sign up for a new Google app that could be pulled suddenly).” I have to agree with this last comment. Actions speak louder than words, and they are evidence worth pondering.

Another post, though it’s a little older, sings a similar tune: “While there is some overlap [with Google Keep], Evernote is still a much more robust product with a bigger feature set and far greater device compatibility. Google Keep has an attractive user interface and is being met with a pretty positive response—an average rating of 4.4/5 stars in the Google Play store so far, but it’s presently nowhere near Evernote’s capabilities.”

Still a third writer has figured out how to use both apps, just for different tasks. For my part, reading through all these opinions reminded me how fortunate we are that technology gives us so many options to help us meet our needs. The challenge is figuring out how to use the powerful tools we have at our fingertips. That’s what we specialize in here at Genealogy Gems.

For me, I’m sticking with Evernote. One of the most compelling reasons in addition to many (cross-platform functionality, synchronization to all devices, OCR…) is that note-taking is Evernote’s primary focus. It’s not one of dozens of products (which is the boat that Google Keep and OneNote are aboard.) Instead, it is the singular purpose of Evernote’s research, development and execution. I like that kind of dedication when it comes to something as precious as my genealogy research notes.

Resources

Evernote for Genealogy Quick Reference GuideMy Evernote for Genealogy laminated quick guides for Windows or Mac will get you started right away and keep you going as an everyday quick reference guide.

How to Get Started in Evernote, and the Ultimate Evernote Education

How to Add Text to a Web Clipping in Evernote

Should Evernote be my Digital Archive?

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