The Family Archive: Exploring Family Identities, Memories and Stories Through Curated Personal Possessions

Many families possess a 'family archive'; documents, photographs, heirlooms, scrapbooks, recipes and a whole range of other items that reveal insights into past generations and preserve family stories for future ones. They may never have thought of their collections as 'archives', but by retaining and preserving possessions kept in shoeboxes, under beds, on top of wardrobes and in garages, people use these items to mould a sense of family identity. This project explores the concept of the family archive through time, considering what, how and why families have archived personal items for private purposes. Making use of both historical case studies and contemporary focus groups, the project team will investigate how the family unit makes conscious use of curated possessions - including documents, images, objects and other materials - in order to develop a familial identity based on past and present generations, and how this is transmitted to future family members. The project will ask: what stories and memories do older family members pass to future generations through family possessions? How has this changed over time? How does this impact upon a family's collective identity? And how do families relate their own histories and memories to wider national and international historical events? In addressing these questions, we will explore the past, present and future of the 'family archive'.