By Staff
Recently I read an article entitled, "Don't Chuck Granny into the Dumpster!" The point made in this article is just what I have been advocating for a long time. Don't throw history away. Save it for the future. When a family member passes on they leave behind homes, furnishings, cars and they often leave behind family souvenirs, keepsakes and mementos. To some this may seem like junk, useless clutter to be dumped as soon as possible.
But before you do anything rash, consider that your family or ancestors must have considered these things valuable and priceless if they decided to hang on to them all of these years.
Unfortunately many of us don't begin to take an interest in our ancestral roots until it is a bit too late when elderly family members are no longer around to ask about things. That "junk" may therefore be one of their last remaining links to family history. Every effort should be taken to safeguard whatever possible for posterity.
What should you keep? Most definitely baptismal and birth certificates, marriage certificates, passports, bibles, funeral cards, obituaries and medical records. If possible an oral narration by the oldest living family member can be recorded or written down for future reference.
Even if your younger generation shows little interest in family heritage at the present, some day some grandchild or great-grandchild may suddenly start to wonder about his or her family roots. Maybe a teacher will assign an ancestral history or family tree project. If these keepsakes are kept they may lead to some interesting discoveries about the family.
Some one asked at the Museum recently, "what is the Museum doing to preserve current history?" Obituaries are clipped from newspapers, stories of local residents are also collected. Old documents are recovered from the internet when possible, Abstracts, maps, letters are kept in files. The Museum has copies of all Cass County history books as well as cemetery records for all of the cemeteries. Files are kept on all things Edwardsburg.
Stored at the Museum are records of organizations with the very earliest roots in Edwardsburg. The Lions and Lioness Clubs, American Legion, Monday Evening Club, some Masonic Lodge history, the papers from the Edwardsburg Business and Professional Women's Club, the Edwardsburg Service Club and the Men's Club, and the Edwardsburg Conservation Club. Many pictures are included in these records. There are Boy Scout and Girl Scout items and uniforms. All of these collections tell stories of Edwardsburg residents. Anyone interested or wishing to do research is encouraged to come to the Museum and help keep these records in order.
The Museum is still doing fall interviews with current residents and recording them for the future. These residents keep Edwardsburg alive with their interesting tales of their lives in the Edwardsburg area.
So don't unclutter your house too much, save those old papers and newspapers and some magazines, put them in a box and store them in an attic for an amazing treasure for someone in the future to discover.
Remember, "Don't throw Granny in the dumpster!"
She is a third generation Edwardsburg resident.