Written by Generation Archives. You do not need a formal style manual for this. A sentence your cousin can follow is enough. The same note works in any family tree program.
How to cite a family photo, letter, or interview
A date on a family tree is only as good as the reason you believe it. "Aunt June said so in 2019" and "the back of the wedding photo" are both real sources. They are not the same kind of real. Writing the source down takes less time than reconstructing it after June is gone and the photo album has moved to another house.
A citation is a trail, not an essay
You are trying to answer three questions:
- What is the thing you looked at?
- Who has it, or where is the copy?
- What did it say?
One or two sentences do that. You can be more formal later if you want. Consistency matters more than commas.
Photos
A useful photo note names the people, the occasion if you know it, who identified them, and where the picture lives.
Example: "Black and white photo of Margaret Hale and her sister Edith, written on the back in pencil as 'Margaret and Edith, Regina, about 1952.' Identified by their niece June Hale, 12 March 2019. Original print held by June Hale. Scan in the family photo folder as hale-margaret-1952.jpg."
If nobody is sure of the year, say that. "Thought to be the early 1950s" is a citation. A bare "1952" copied onto twenty websites is how a guess becomes a fact.
Write on a copy, or in the tree, not in ink across the only print. If you label a scan, keep the file name stable so the note still points at it.
Letters, cards, and clippings
Quote the line that matters and describe the paper.
Example: "Letter from Thomas Hale to his son Robert, 4 June 1968, page 2: 'your mother was born in Moosomin.' Original letter in the blue shoebox held by Robert's daughter. Photo of the page saved as hale-letter-1968.jpg."
A funeral card can carry a full birth date that no one in the family had written anywhere else. Cite the card, who printed it if it says, and who owns it. A newspaper clipping should include the paper's name and the date of the paper if the clipping still has them. If the date was cut off, say the date is missing.
Interviews
An interview is a source. Treat it like one.
Example: "Phone conversation with June Hale, 12 March 2019, notes typed the same day by her nephew. June said her mother Margaret was born in March, 'either 1931 or 1932,' in Regina, and that the family Bible that had the date was lost in a move."
The hedge is part of the citation. If you drop the "either," you have changed what June said. Record who asked, who answered, the date, and whether you have notes, a recording, or only a memory of the call. A recording is better than notes. Notes taken the same day are better than a recollection a month later.
Ask before you record. A note that says "June agreed to the recording" belongs with the file.
When two sources disagree
Keep both citations. Do not average them into a third date nobody stated. "Funeral card says 12 March 1931. June Hale, interview 12 March 2019, recalled 1931 or 1932." A later record can pick a winner. Until then, the disagreement is the honest state of the research.
Put the citation on the person it supports, or in a note next to the fact, not in a drawer of unsorted files with no names. The point of the sentence is that someone else can find the same photo or call the same person.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need footnotes?
No. A plain sentence with the item, the person who has it, and the date you saw it is a citation. Footnotes are optional.
What if the only source is my own memory?
Say so. "Remembered by the author, October 2026, from childhood visits. Not checked against a record." That warns the next person, including you, that it still needs a source.
Should I cite a public family tree I found online?
Yes, as a clue, and say you have not verified it. Name the site and the date you looked. An unsourced online tree is not proof of a date. It is a lead.
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