Family Archaeology: Anyone who has a farm knows that it is a treasure trove of days gone past

By Eileen P. Corcoran

What’s better on a summer day than digging around in the dirt? It was a joy for me this summer when my nieces and nephews, visiting from outside Vermont, wanted to do a little “archaeology” in the backyard. Not only is my degree in anthropology, but I happen to be from one of those multi-generational Vermont farm families. Anyone who has a farm knows that it is a treasure trove of days gone past, containing everything from kitchen trash piles to items lost in the barnyard, to what we affectionately call the “farmer’s graveyard” of old tools, building materials, and what is probably best described as junk that got tossed “down back.” All of this offered opportunities for the younger kids, and perhaps some of us who are not the youngest generation anymore, to explore the past and uncover memories to share.

We got our galoshes and tick spray and headed out to find treasure both more and less buried. Though my young relatives did not have the patience for real archaeological methods, we managed to unearth items sure to make Indiana Jones jealous, such as old nails and rusty tin.

Realizing the treasures in the ground were not nearly as exciting as those seen on TV, we continued by looking through some of the trove of antiques we have in the house. It was amazing to see my mom, my nieces and nephews, and myself, three generations, talking and learning about history in a very personal way. The artifacts we found brought back stories, provided a chance to educate on how things used to be, and were a reminder that history is just yesterday. Who would have thought that the old Atari and toy cars from my youth would be just as amazing to the kids as the items from the late 19th century.

Our rummaging in the dirt and dresser drawers served as inspiration beyond just that day. We collected pocket watches and took them to the annual Watch & Clock Afternoon at Chimney Point State Historic Site with the Green Mountain Timekeepers, and we made a trip to the local cemetery to find relatives and make gravestone rubbings.

While genealogy can be a wonderful gateway into family history, there’s something tangible about exploring places, objects, and memorabilia that adds a sense of depth and understanding to the past and the individuals within it. While it can help, you don’t need to have a long
connection to a specific place to share family “archeology.” Consider doing some of these inter-generational activities
to preserve and share family history:

Interviews & writing prompts

What was everyone’s favorite subject in school? How about the most important historical event you witnessed? Create a set of questions or writing prompts that feature family or personal history and compare answers among the generations.

Home memory cafes or “share & compare”

Memory cafes are usually group programs that use objects to prompt memories. Grab something older from your home, or pictures from online, and have older generations share the memories they bring up. You can also use a prompt to share the objects or materials different generations used to do similar things. Such as “how did you talk to your friends?”

“At this age” photo share

Find photos of relatives of different generations at the same age. Compare what they were doing, what they were wearing, or where they were. Don’t have photographs of different generations? Write down what you know or remember or look online for examples from the same time.

Look at the land

Even if you haven’t lived in the same place for many generations, what can the clues on the land (or the buildings) tell you about who, or what, what was there before you? What do you think will remain from your presence on the land for future generations to find?

This article originally appeared in the Fall/Winter 2022 issue of our member magazine, History Connections. To get it and support the Vermont Historical Society, sign up as a member.