Writing about Family Photographs

Thursdays  | 10:00-11:30am | January 11, 25 

Family photographs offer rich opportunities for writing about family history. Please bring one or more family photos—either a physical copy or a mental image. In the first session we will discuss ways to write about family photos; then we will each generate ideas and share our ideas with the group. In the second session, each participant will have an opportunity to share a revised story about a photo and to receive feedback on the revised piece.  Duane Roen will introduce several writing activities for seeing the descriptive and narrative details found in those photos (so please bring paper and pen or a laptop).

Duane Roen has been tracing his roots since his teenage years, building a database with more than 32,000 ancestors. He and his wife, Maureen Roen, have also been recording their family history since 1978 by writing more than 19,000 daily journal entries on their children and other family members. Combining his professional and personal interests, Duane worked with colleagues to establish courses on writing and recording family history at Arizona State University. He also is founding coordinator of the Project for Writing and Recording Family History in the College of Integrative Sciences and Arts at ASU.

In partnership with Jewish Family & Children’s Service.