African Oral History Project

Audio Transcript

Properly enter dates in Legacy

• Dates need to be consistent in format.
• Follow the following format when adding a date: Day Month (3 letter abbreviation) Year (4 digit).
• Example: 19 Jul 1948.
• If an estimated date is used, use the following format: EST Year.
• Example: EST 1948.

NOTE: Select if the individual is living or dead.

Estimate birth, marriage, and death dates in Legacy when exact dates are unknown as follows:

• A father marries when he is 20 years old.
• A mother marries when she is 18 years old.
• The first child is born one year after the marriage of the parents.
• Each succeeding child is born 2 years apart.
• The estimated date of death is 65 years after the date of birth.

A few notes:

• Using the above guidelines, you should be able to estimate an entire family's dates using just one known date.
• It is important to enter an exact or estimated death date for anyone not living. Enter a burial date only if the exact burial date is known. Do not estimate a burial date.

Example:

You know the birth date of the second child (in a family with 3 children) is 15 Feb 1943. (Or EST 1943)

• The first child was born EST 1941. (2 years before the second child.)
• The parents were married EST 1940. (1 year before the first child was born.)
• The father was born EST 1921. (20 years before the first child.)
• The mother was born EST 1923. (18 years before the first child.)
• The third child was born EST 1945. (2 years after the second child was born.)
• The father died EST 1986. (65 years after he was born.)
• The mother died EST 1988. (65 years after she was born.)
• The first child died EST 2006.
• The second child died child EST 2008.
• The third child died EST 2010.