Question pack

Questions to Ask Your Grandmother About Her Childhood

Specific interview questions about a grandmother's childhood: the house she grew up in, her family, school days, and the world around her.

Most grandmothers will answer any question you ask. The trouble is that broad questions get broad answers: ask "what was your childhood like?" and you'll hear "oh, it was fine, we didn't have much." The questions below are specific on purpose. They point at rooms, meals, sounds, and particular people, because that's where real memories live.

You don't need all of them. Pick five or six for a visit or a phone call, and let her wander. The detours are usually the best part.

The house she grew up in

What did the kitchen in your childhood home look like?
Where did you sleep, and who did you share the room with?
What sounds do you remember from the house — a clock, a radio, a screen door?
What was your job around the house, and did you actually do it?
Was there a spot in the house or yard that was yours?
What did winter mean in that house — how did you keep warm?

Her family

What did your mother do all day? And your father?
Which relative were you closest to, and what did you do together?
What did Sunday look like in your family?
What was a meal that showed up on the table again and again?
Who was the strictest adult in your life, and what was the rule you remember?
Was there anyone in the family people spoke about in a lowered voice?

School and friends

How did you get to school, and who did you walk or ride with?
Which teacher do you still remember, and why?
What did you and your friends do when there was nothing to do?
What got you in trouble at school?
Who was your best friend, and do you know what became of her?
What did you want to be when you grew up?

The world she grew up in

What did your family have that the neighbors didn't — or the other way around?
What news event from your childhood do you remember hearing about?
What did a treat cost — a movie, a soda, candy?
What was in town then that's gone now?
What could children do then that would worry parents today?
What smells or songs take you straight back to being a girl?

How to use these questions

Ask one question and then stay quiet. The silence after an answer is where the second, better story usually comes from. If she says "I don't remember," try narrowing it: not "what was school like," but "what did you carry your lunch in?"

Write down or record what you hear. Details fade between visits, and the way she says it matters as much as what she says.