Archives can be a great tool to get to know more about the place, community, people, or family that you’re from. “Archival research” doesn’t mean just one thing, though. You can go a more traditional route of visiting a local archive, or you could try a different path: look through family photo albums, home videos, or other materials that may be around your or your family’s home. Interview family and friends about their lives. Do research online. There are many options out there for memory work.
To get started, Read “The Tragedy of MacNolia Cox” by Michael Romain to learn about how poet A. Van Jordan used primary sources like diary entries and birth and death certificates to research for his book of poems M-A-C-N-O-L-I-A.