Interwoven Heritage Services

11/24/2025

On Thursday, your table will be filled with all sorts of culinary delights. Let me suggest that you add one more item to your dinner plans: make a point of recording a slice of your family’s history.

Take advantage of the occasion. Friends and family are gathered around the table. Nostalgia pays a visit. Take out a digital recorder or use the recording feature on your smart phone to preserve some of the stories told by your family and friends.

You don’t have to do anything formal. Family stories will most likely come out on their own. But if you need some assistance, try this. Write each of the following questions or prompts on an index card or a piece of paper and then randomly pass them out at the dinner table. You can either have each person provide an answer for their own card, or if you have time, go around the table so each person has a chance to answer each question.

Click on the article for suggested questions and prompts.

Family history, personal history, life stories, legacy biographies, family heirloom inventory, oral history, organizational history and more are services provided by Interwoven Heritage Services.

10/23/2025

HOME. What idea does that word conjure up for you? Do you immediately think of a particular place or even a particular house or apartment? Or is it more nebulous than that?

I’ve been talking to a lot of people lately about what home means to them. For some, it is a community. The geographical place where you grew up, or where you spent a good chunk of time. Or maybe it is the community where you spent a smaller but pivotal part of your life.

In my unscientific study, more people thought of a specific residence. But not just any residence. A residence where they felt the most comfortable, where they could be themselves. One of the wisest people I know – my mother – told me, “Sometimes, a house is just a place to live – four walls and a roof. But a home becomes part of you.”

HOME. What idea does that word conjure up for you? Do you immediately think of a particular place or even a particular house or apartment? Or is it more nebulous than that? Home somehow intertwines the basic necessity of shelter with the essence of what makes you, you. How do you preserve this idea....

08/13/2025

Summertime memories… Catching fireflies in a mason jar. Strolling on the beach while the sun sets on the horizon. Going to a baseball game to root for your favorite Little Leaguer or your professional team of choice. Splashing in the pool with friends, playing Marco Polo. Taking that family vacation in the old station wagon or minivan. Squinting into the sun as your mother or father (or you!) take the 757th photo of the trip. Ah… the summer vacation photos!
Are you someone who takes hundreds of photographs during every trip you take? Or have you inherited a big pile of vacation prints from your parents or other loved ones? Here are some tips on what to do with all those vacation snaps to give them more value and meaning for years to come.

Family history, personal history, life stories, legacy biographies, family heirloom inventory, oral history, organizational history and more are services provided by Interwoven Heritage Services.

07/03/2025

With the July 4th holiday right around the corner, we often think about barbecues and fireworks, but the date also conjures up the ideas of patriotism and what it means to be American. But what is the quintessential American story? For me, the most American of American stories is the immigrant story. What immigrant stories do you have in your family history?

Family History Explorations: Honoring American immigrant stories. With the July 4th holiday right around the corner, we often think about barbecues and fireworks, but the date also conjures up the ideas of patriotism and what it means to be American. But what is the quintessential American story? Fo...

06/12/2025

When you are researching your family history, you undoubtedly look at census rolls, birth and death records, and marriage documents. But don’t forget to check out local newspapers. They can provide a wealth of important data.

When you are researching your family history, you undoubtedly look at census rolls, birth and death records, and marriage documents. But don’t forget to check out local newspapers. Newspapers can provide a wealth of information.

05/28/2025

Are you one of those people who has piles of documents, mounds of genealogy research, and boxes of photographs? Do you want to pull all that data together and write a family history that you can share with others and preserve for future generations? If you are serious about writing a family history, here are some tips that could help you get started on this large but very important undertaking.

Family history, personal history, life stories, legacy biographies, family heirloom inventory, oral history, organizational history and more are services provided by Interwoven Heritage Services. If you are serious about writing a family history, here are some tips that could help you get started on...

05/01/2025

Over the past several years, there have been many articles written about how grown children aren’t interested in keeping the older generation’s stuff—the family heirlooms, the furniture that family homes were built around, the items with sentimental value. It often causes trauma for both generations: the kids feel bad but don’t want to be saddled with things they don’t want, and the parents/grandparents are hurt that the items that they have held dear aren’t valued by their loved ones.

While I don’t have any sure-fire way to avoid this situation, I do think that some of the disconnect comes from a failure to communicate. Too often, the older generation doesn’t take the time to tell their offspring why an object is important to them or to the family’s history. At the same time, the younger generation too often doesn’t take the time to truly listen even when the history behind item is told to them.

Read on to see my suggestions to bridge the divide.

Over the past several years, there have been many articles written about how grown children aren’t interested in keeping the older generation’s stuff—the family heirlooms, the furniture that family homes were built around, the items with sentimental value. It often causes trauma for both gener...

04/09/2025

JUST RELEASED!

We are thrilled to announce that the book 𝑹𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝑴𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 𝑴𝒖𝒄𝒉𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔: 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑳𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑰𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝑴𝒂𝒓𝒈𝒊𝒆 𝑺𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝑯𝒂𝒚𝒘𝒐𝒐𝒅 is now available!

The book is based on 25 hours of interviews with Raleigh icon Margie Haywood before her death in 2015. Her daughter, Betsy Haywood, wrote the afterword to her mother's story.

You can find Margie's book at https://www.blurb.com/b/12310785

Fiercely independent. Unflinchingly loyal. Doggedly persistent. Endlessly devoted to family. Margie Story Haywood began her remarkable life in the midst of the Dustbowl in Oklahoma. As a young girl, she was sent—by herself—from Tulsa to Raleigh, to live in a town she had never seen, with an aunt and uncle she had never met. Margie made a new life in North Carolina's capital city—the city she came to call home—making life-long friends and establishing her reputation for her singular self-reliance.

Margie's life was filled with family and friends, endless efforts to fight for historic preservation, and a desire to do things her own way. She was known for bucking societal mores and forging her own path. Margie showed her intestinal fortitude, especially when courage and strength were needed in the face of unimaginable tragedy.

Margie's story is one of overcoming challenges, dealing with grief, finding solace in the simple things life has to offer, and sharing her passion for history. She often pointed to times when her life was a right much of a muchness, but she always found a way to keep on keeping on. Most of all, Margie Story Haywood's story is about a woman with an irrepressible zest for life.

Cover art by Kenneth Eugene Peters http://www.kennetheugenepeters.com/

04/02/2025

“There’s no better time than the present.” It is an old adage, but definitely a true one in this case.

If there is someone in your life who you feel should have his or her story preserved, my recommendation is to start the process as soon as possible. Too often I have heard someone lament, “I wish I had recorded my mom’s/dad’s/grandparents’ stories when I had the chance. Now it’s too late.”

I have heard many excuses for why people put off doing a personal history. If the obstacle is just one of timing or convenience, I strong urge you to find a way to make it a priority. Find the time. Create the opportunity.

Here’s how I respond to some frequent concerns that I have heard about starting a loved one’s personal history.

If there is someone in your life who you feel should have his or her story preserved, my recommendation is to start the process as soon as possible. Too often I have heard someone lament, “I wish I had recorded my mom’s/dad’s/grandparents’ stories when I had the chance. Now it’s too late.....

03/27/2025

It’s opening day for Major League Baseball today. In my house, that’s synonymous with a major holiday, an occasion to celebrate.

It also reminds me that, for many, baseball is a big part of the family story. It can even be part of the glue that binds a family together.

If you are working on a personal or family history, consider asking about whether baseball has played a large role in the personal/family story.

It’s opening day for Major League Baseball today. In my house, that’s synonymous with a major holiday, an occasion to celebrate.It also reminds me that, for many, baseball is a big part of the family story. It can even be part of the glue that binds a family together. It can be a shared experien...

03/26/2025

https://interwovenheritageservices.com/passion-for-personal-history/

Why do I love personal history? My experience with preserving my grandmother’s story led me to want to help others tell their own stories and preserve their family’s history.

03/28/2024

For baseball fans out there, happy Opening Day! There is nothing like a brand new year when anything is possible.

For those of us who wax poetic about baseball, we often bring up how it is a game that bring together fathers and sons. But today, I'd like to tip my hat to all those women out there who love to play the game, watch the action and root on their favorite players. Some of the biggest baseball fans I have know are women, starting with my grandmother pictured here with a baseball bat, her husband and fellow White Sox fan, and a puppy. What are your favorite stories about women and baseball?