The Idaho Falls FamilySearch Center is celebrating National Family History Month this October by helping visitors discover their ancestors and preserve family memories through free research assistance, printed family trees and digitization services.
In an interview with BYU-Idaho Radio, volunteer Don Sparhawk explained that the center offers computers and equipment visitors can use to research their families and preserve photographs and other records. Volunteers are available to guide visitors through the process.
“Anybody can come and we can show you how to use the equipment, how to use FamilySearch, and everything that we do is free and run by volunteers,” Sparhawk said.
Sparhawk’s interest in volunteering grew from his own experience researching his family. His wife had spent years working on his family history, and after retiring, he decided it was his turn to learn more about his ancestors. He learned to use FamilySearch and spent several years researching before deciding to share what he had learned.
“And then I decided, well, I should help other people learn about their families,” Sparhawk said.
Now serving as a service missionary at the center, Sparhawk volunteers every Tuesday, helping visitors find information and navigate their family research.
Throughout October, the center is hosting a monthlong open house. Visitors can receive free color fan charts showing up to seven generations of their families. For those whose family information is already in FamilySearch, volunteers can print a fan chart. Others can receive help researching relatives and filling in missing information.
The center also offers equipment to digitize photographs, slides, journals, videos and Super 8 film. Once digitized, those materials can be shared with relatives, and photographs can be added to FamilySearch. Some equipment may require a reservation.
Visitors can also search an index of local photography collections by family name. If matching negatives are available, volunteers can digitize them so families can receive copies of photographs that they may never have seen.
“We don’t do all the work for them, but we show them how to do it, and then they can either come in and work at our computers at the center, or they can work on it at home,” Sparhawk said.
For anyone beginning their research, Sparhawk recommends bringing relatives’ names, birth dates, death dates and any other known family information. Those details can help volunteers locate existing records or add new information.
The October open house continues through Oct. 31 at the Idaho Falls FamilySearch Center, located at 750 W. Elva St. The center is open six days a week.