Organization of family archives or personal records
Our ancestors, just like us today, created documents, either themselves or through others acting on their behalf - for example, notaries or judicial offices. Fortunately, some of this documentation has survived to the present day: correspondence, certificates, identity documents and passports, copies of wills, and much more.
You may therefore find yourself the fortunate owner of a small collection of records and documents of various kinds.
What is the difference between a family archive and a personal archive?
A family archive may contain administrative and financial records, particularly documentation relating to the management or protection of the family’s assets (often real estate), as well as correspondence and documents connected to individual family members. These may include letters and notes belonging to prominent members of the family, who may also have held public positions.
A personal archive, on the other hand, generally consists of a smaller amount of documentation, mainly relating to financial, property or administrative matters. In many cases, people did not preserve all of their correspondence, but kept only those documents that referred to inheritance, financial matters, or other issues concerning the family’s affairs.
Sometimes, personal documentation is accompanied by materials of various kinds or even personal objects and memorabilia. It is strongly recommended that these items be preserved together with the paper records, as they can form an important part of the historical and documentary context of the archive.
Organizing a collection of documents is a task that should be carried out by someone with the appropriate expertise.
Together, we will review everything your ancestors preserved and passed down to you. We'll look not only at how to organize these materials, but also at how to preserve them in the most appropriate way.
For further information on the importance of family archives, read the article L'importanza degli archivi familiari. Il caso di Simone Barcatta in the Post section.