As I’ve blogged here before, I have an ancestor map hanging on the wall with pins in it for the birth and death/burial places for my direct-line ancestors, up to my third great grandparents. I enjoy looking at it and I love how it makes migration more visible.
I initially started with a map that I pinned over a bulletin board I already had. But that board was bowed. So I put the map onto a thin sheet of cork on top of a piece of foam core, and placed the whole little parfait into a DIY frame. But over time the edges of the map kept pulling out of the frame, so I ended up buying an identical framed map and repinning everything. (So my advice to you if you’re interested in starting a similar project is to cut straight to the pre-framed map.)
The other day I made one tiny enhancement that I wanted to share. The map came with short pushpins with colored heads. On the map, I use longer pins, also with colored heads, so that I can add flags to them indicating the person the pin represents. I took the short pushpins and put them in the areas that I have personally visited for my genealogy research. Primarily that’s cemeteries, though I have spent some time at repositories in Kentucky. Click on the link above to see a larger version of the photos where those shorter pins are more visible.
I was pleased to see that I was able to add four pushpins representing visits to Kentucky, Nebraska, Alabama and western Missouri. I’ve visited graves of ancestors in all four of my lines (Adams, Brown, Rasco and Jeffries). I hadn’t really realized that before this exercise and that makes me feel happy.
The next time I travel to a new place for research, I’ll be delighted to add a pin to the map!
Thanks for the great ideas. I’ve added the map to my to do list
Fantastic, Kendra!
Hi Janine. Love this idea! And I can certainly see how it would lead to a feeling of accomplishment, too. One question — you suggested going straight to the pre-framed map, but your link is to the unframed map. Does it also come framed?
Thanks for pointing that out, Jeanne! I thought I checked my links. Here’s the correct link and I’ve corrected it above. https://www.amazon.com/Craig-Frames-Wayfarer-Executive-Brazilian/dp/B01M29N96X
Love this! I am going to look into doing it. It will be a great reminder of repositories to revisit when I travel again.
Oh good, Laural! I hope you have as much fun with this as I do.
What a great idea!! Love it. Map for tracing. The check for how and why
Thanks, Helen! It’s so nice to have a visual reminder. I love looking up from my desk and seeing my ancestors represented by the flags on my map.
Great idea!! I have ordered a map. I like the idea of longer push pins also. Excited to have that visual over my desk.
Fantastic, Jean! I hope you have fun with it.
Thank you for the guidance on this! I am not Italian, by my daughter and her husband both are, and I have been delving into their histories. Finally I decided a map would be a great idea to see where all of the different lines started, and I appreciate your posts on what worked and what didn’t. Now I am going to start this with my own lines here in the US and in England as well!
So glad you found the posts helpful, Maggie. Have fun with this project!
Thank you for the map help, I have been wanting to start a map but wasn’t sure where to begin. With your ideas, I am excited to get started!!
I’m so glad you found this post helpful, Debra! Have fun with your map project!