Literary Las Vegas: Vicki Korn Niggemeyer

Summerlin author Vicki Korn Niggemeyer’s book, “Get Creative With Your Family History,” provides tips on gathering, preserving and conveying family legacies. Niggemeyer explores traditional methods of surrounding your family with history from photo albums and scrapbooks to family history books, but she doesn’t stop there. She includes unique ideas, such as family history games, vintage photo greeting cards, family fact-packed calendars and personal documentary films. Those who can find few clues to the past are encouraged to record today’s history as it happens for future generations.

Excerpt:

So why should we take the time and effort to go beyond the dull monotony of names and dates? Because the stories bring our ancestors to life! The stories put ancestors in a recognizable time period with specific events that they would have been aware of and lived through. The stories intensify their humanity. Even if you start with the current generation, your grandchildren, great-grandchildren and beyond will have a better understanding of who you were, the world you lived in and the kind of life you lived.

Getting creative with your family history should above all be fun, with the added benefit of creating tangible treasures.