How FamilySearch’s New Partnership Can Provide an In-depth Look at Ancestors

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By Kaitlyn Bancroft, Church News

Latter-day Saint Kendall Hulet spent much of his career at Ancestry.com, learning the ins and outs of family history research.

But eventually, he wanted to take family history research a step further — wanted to help people know who their ancestors truly were, beyond basic facts like names and dates.

That’s why, in early 2023, Hulet launched family history company Storied, which allows users to a build a “social graph” of information from their ancestors’ friends, teachers, religious leaders and others who influenced them.

And now, Latter-day Saint FamilySearch users can access Storied to create fuller, richer accounts of their ancestors’ lives.

On November 18, FamilySearch announced a collaboration with Storied allowing Latter-day Saint FamilySearch users to receive free Storied subscriptions. They can subscribe at www.familysearch.org/en/access/storied.

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Storied’s worldwide records collection dates back to 1607 and includes nearly a billion records, including newspapers, obituaries, birth and marriage announcements, as well as census, immigration and military information.

But it’s the “social graph” feature that sets Storied apart from other family history companies. For instance, if a user’s grandfather served in World War II, Storied might connect the user to someone else who served in their grandfather’s unit. By reading that person’s account of the war, the Storied user can gain greater insight about what their grandfather’s life was like at that time, Hulet said.

“So many stories aren’t just family. ... You could be connected through so many different ways, not just blood relationships, and then that allows us to facilitate all kinds of new discoveries that you otherwise couldn’t get,” Hulet said.

‘Let’s Focus on Storytelling’

Hulet said the idea for Storied came from a 2013 New York Times article: “The Stories That Bind Us” by Bruce Feiler.

In it, Feiler presents research showing that a child with a “strong family narrative” — who knows stories about their ancestors, beyond lists of names and dates — is more resilient than a child who isn’t as familiar with their family history.

The concept stuck with Hulet, and he began considering ways that people could develop strong family narratives through the lens of genealogy.

Now, with the new FamilySearch collaboration, Hulet said FamilySearch users can import their photos, memories and other data directly to Storied. From there, they can try out Storied’s family group feature, which allows users to invite other family members to collaborate on shared stories and family trees. “It’s almost like Facebook meets FamilySearch.”

For users who might feel overwhelmed by writing out family stories, Hulet said the Story Assist feature — an artificial intelligence tool — can help get them started. Story prompts are also available to inspire someone to get writing.

He added that Storied is especially appealing to young people, who are less interested in reading long texts about their ancestors and much more likely to interact with photos, videos and anecdotes that bring their ancestors to life.

“Stories are really way more engaging,” Hulet said. “That’s how we communicate. ... Let’s focus on storytelling and bring family history to life through stories, and it will have all these amazing benefits like making families stronger.”