Genealogy Gift Guide
Gone are the days of meaningless gifts. Candles? Boring. Kitchen gadgets? Got 20 of ‘em.
If you want to wow that special person in your life with something truly meaningful, give the gift of family history.
And no, I’m not talking about a subscription to a research database (unless, of course, that’s what your genealogist-of-an-aunt wants this year!). Here’s a list of unique genealogy gifts you can give your family and friends for any occassion: both done-for-you services, and educational products that will keep-on-giving throughout the years.
An ancestor’s war records
For: the one who loves war memorabilia
Do you have a military buff in your family or friend group? Someone who has watched every Ken Burns documentary on the Civil War, perhaps, and can proudly recite their own ancestor’s involvement in a U.S. war? Consider giving them the gift of their own family’s military service: service records and pension records. These are incredible record sets that give mind-blowing detail into a service member’s experiences during war: where they were, what they did, how they got injured, and what happened to them after their service ended. These records bring military service to life.
While some records are available to see on Fold3, many Revolutionary War, War of 1812, and Civil War service files and pension records have yet to be rediscovered.
You can hire a genealogist to copy these records for you from the National Archives. Learn more here.
A self-paced genealogy course
For: the one with time on their hands
For those with a little more time on their hands who are itching to do genealogy, forget about a database subscription! Consider purchasing a self-paced genealogy course instead. Subscription databases encourage passive research: without hints, users often become lost and suddenly, months of subscription $$ flies out the window without being used. Courses, on the other hand, teach the genealogy research how-to and encourage students to step outside their comfort zones to learn new research skills. Education is a gift that keeps on giving!
Consider Origins Unlocked, a Roam Your Roots course focused specifically on immigration and naturalization records - a good choice for someone who is itching to take their family history research abroad to their ancestors’ countries of origin!
A genealogical research report
For: the curious one
A fairly straight-forward family history gift is a done-for-you genealogical research report. This would be a perfect gift for the curious person who wants to know more about their family history, but really is not interested in researching themselves. When you work with a genealogist to build your report, you can specify what exactly you want to know and how much you’d like to spend - making it a perfectly flexible gift idea!
You can learn more about this service offered through Roam Your Roots and read sample reports >> here <<
A DNA deep-dive
For: the one who wants questions finally answered
Not every adoptee or person with questions about their biological roots are looking for answers. Some things are better left unsaid and undiscovered. But for those who do want their questions answered, consider hiring a genealogist to look into DNA matches and identify family members.
How does this work? Pretty similar to what you’ve seen on true crime documentaries, but in actuality, oftentimes much easier, since law enforcement can only use one DNA database (Gedmatch) while a genealogist hired to find a family member can use, with their client’s permission, the client’s accounts wherever they tested their DNA.
If you are interested in exploring this research as a gift for someone you know, consider reaching out to contract Roam Your Roots for research services.
Research templates
For: the organized researcher
You’ve heard of templates before: personal finance gurus offer budget excel spreadsheet templates, social media marketers offer done-for-you Instagram assets, etc. These are typically low-cost yet unique gift ideas for a person who is on a journey to better themselves in some way, applying someone else’s strategies to their own situation.
And guess what? Genealogy research templates exist! Consider the Travel Planning Toolkit, which will help you organize your research when planning for a research trip or heritage travel.