Association of Personal Historians

Kitty Axelson-Berry founded the organization in 1995.{{cite news|url= http://www.bostonphoenix.com/boston/news_features/other_stories/multipage/documents/02119922.htm|author= Wright, Chris|title= Ordinary people|work= The Phoenix|location= Boston|date= January 17–24, 2002|accessdate= April 23, 2013|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130331084736/http://www.bostonphoenix.com/boston/news_features/other_stories/multipage/documents/02119922.htm|archive-date= March 31, 2013|url-status= dead}}

Personal historians record and present clients' memories and biographies in various formats, including books,audio, video, and personal websites.{{cite news|url= http://genealogy.about.com/b/2008/10/19/making-a-living-as-a-personal-historian.htm|author= Powell, Kimberly|title= Making a Living as a Personal Historian|work= About.com|date= October 19, 2008|accessdate= 23 April 2013|archive-date= 4 April 2013|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130404063618/http://genealogy.about.com/b/2008/10/19/making-a-living-as-a-personal-historian.htm|url-status= dead}} Prices are reported to vary widely, depending on the services offered in each case. The services of personal historians are also used in preparing histories of businesses and other organizations,{{cite news|url= http://www.rockymounttelegram.com/news/pnc-opens-banking-history-exhibit-1842303|author= Henderson, John|title= PNC opens banking history exhibit|work= Rocky Mount Telegram|date= February 7, 2013|accessdate= April 23, 2013|archive-date= September 24, 2015|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150924091850/http://www.rockymounttelegram.com/news/pnc-opens-banking-history-exhibit-1842303|url-status= dead}} and by wealth management companies to help improve bonds with their potential clients.{{cite news| url= https://www.reuters.com/article/us-advisers-history-idUSBRE8790MR20120810 |author=Cummings, Jennifer Hoyt |title= Bonding with clients through their ancestors|work= Reuters.com|date= August 10, 2012|accessdate=April 23, 2013}} Personal historians also provide input to publicly funded oral history projects.{{cite news| url= http://www.wickedlocal.com/wellesley/news/x2085734989/Local-veteran-recalls-service-in-mountain-division?photo=0#axzz2RD2PqDAd |author=Ryan, Steven |title=Local veteran recalls service in mountain division|work= Wellesley Townsman|date= May 28, 2009|accessdate= April 23, 2013}}

Personal historians have been described as comprising "journalists, psychotherapists, social workers, nurses, videographers, gerontologists, and people from other helping or writing professions",{{cite book| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=2gRGXy5VhRMC&dq=%22personal+historians%22&pg=PT194 |author1=Kunz, John A. |author2=Soltys, Florence Gray |title=Transformational Reminiscence: Life Story Work|publisher= Springer Publishing Company|date= 2007|isbn=9780826101051 }} as "retired teachers, journalists, genealogists, and therapists..." and as "social workers, journalists and others involved in communications... retirees who want to embark on a second career."{{cite news|url= https://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/12/jobs/12starts.html |author=Olsen, Patricia R. |title=Tales From the Past, Preserved for Families|work= New York Times| date= October 11, 2008|accessdate= April 23, 2013}} In each case they form "[g]enerally a one-person conglomerate of ghostwriter, editor, and publishing house...".

Personal history work has been reported to be booming in the US,{{cite news|url=http://www.themonthly.com/shopping-11-07.html |author=Trachten, Rachel |title=Making History: Personal historians document family stories so that future generations can remember them| work= The Monthly |location=East Bay|date=November 2007|accessdate= April 23, 2013}} as "a growing cottage industry of amateurs and professionals eager to preserve the experiences of older generations." Paula Stahel, APH President at the time, said in 2008: "We're seeing an increase both in the number of people who want to do personal historian work and an increase in the number of elders who want to be sure their stories are handed down."{{cite news| url=http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0527/p17s01-lifp.html |author=Gardner, Marilyn |title=Seniors record stories to preserve personal history|work= Christian Science Monitor|date= May 27, 2008| accessdate= April 23, 2013}}

All APH members are expected to abide by the organization's code of ethics.{{cite web|url= http://www.personalhistorians.org/about/code_ethics.php |website= APH|title=Code of ethics| accessdate= April 23, 2013}} Practitioners often have training in skills such as interviewing techniques, desktop publishing, video and/or audio production, as well as some knowledge of geriatrics or other disciplines.

The APH was governed by an elected, all-volunteer board of directors with overlapping two-year terms. The organization held an annual conference for its members.

The 2017 Board of Directors cited decreasing membership and a growing trend towards online networking and collaboration as reasons for dissolution.

Former members of APH and current personal historians are encouraged to use the phrase "personal history" and "personal historian" in search engines in order to find relevant social media groups. Trade associations exist for genealogists, photo archivists, ghostwriters, editors, and biographers, among others.{{citation needed|date=May 2017}}

• Writers and Editors blog (May 14, 2017) {{cite news|url= https://www.writersandeditors.com/blog.htm?post=780268 |author=McNees, Pat| title=Is it still a great time to become a personal historian?}}
• Writers and Editors blog (March 29, 2018) {{cite news|url= https://www.writersandeditors.com/blog.htm?post=1073156 |author=McNees, Pat| title=A short history of the Association of Personal Historians}}
• My Words Are Gonna Linger: The Art of Personal History, ed. Paula Stallings Yost and Pat McNees (Personal History Press 2009). {{ISBN|978-0982013403}}
• Start & Run a Personal History Business: Get Paid to Research Family Ancestry and Write Memoirs , by Jennifer Campbell (Self-Counsel Press 2010). {{ISBN|978-1770400580}}
• Tugend, Alina (August 31, 2016) [https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/01/business/smallbusiness/preserving-a-lifetime-of-memories-for-posterity-and-profit.html "Have a Story to Tell? Your Personal Memoirist Is Here"]. The New York Times.
• Magagnini, Stephen (October 25, 2015) [http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/history/article41412336.html "Writing Down Family Histories As Baby Boomers Look Back"]. The Sacramento Bee.
• {{cite news| url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/families-turn-to-professionals-to-document-their-stories/2013/12/09/b1810554-5615-11e3-8304-caf30787c0a9_story.html?wpisrc=emailtoafriend |author=Chandler, Michael Alison |title=Families turn to professionals to document their stories| newspaper=Washington Post|date= December 9, 2013}}
• {{cite news|url= http://www.comfortdying.com/the_beneficial_effects_of_life_story_and_legacy_activities_106152.htm |author=McNees, Pat McNees| title=The Beneficial Effects of Life Story and Legacy Activities|work= Geriatric Care Management Journal|date=Spring 2009}}
• {{cite news|url= https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/this-is-my-life-how-to-write-your-autobiography-9013945.html# |author=Usborne, Simon |title=This is my life: how to write your autobiography|work=The Independent|date= December 19, 2013}}

• Oral History Association

{{Reflist|2}}

• [https://personalhistorians.org/ PersonalHistorians.org], the Association of Personal Historians official website

Category:Oral history

Category:Family history

Category:Writers' organizations

Category:International trade associations

Category:Arts and media trade groups

Category:1995 establishments in the United States

Category:2017 disestablishments in the United States