A home movie of President and Mrs. Kennedy, filmed the night before he died in Dallas in 1963, came to light this week.  Roy Botello had kept the film reel stored away in a living room drawer in his San Antonio home for decades, but recently decided  to donate his film to a Dallas museum dedicated to Kennedy’s assassination. You can read more here.

Why should you care about additional footage of the Kennedys? Because it’s a reminder that memories are important. Your memories, whether they include an evening at a banquet with the Kennedys, or just summers your family spent at the lake.

Images are a powerful memory prompt. Give your memories a fighting chance. Store your film and photos in a dry, dark place not prone to mold or temperature extremes. (Botello’s living room drawer was a good choice, actually.)

Scan the originals. Get your home movies transferred to HD-DVD or Blu-ray, and as the technology changes, transfer them again. In many families, an “archivist” emerges who houses the family photo collection and shares them digitally for all to enjoy.

Here are two blatantly promotional links to firms that will help your family’s archivist. These are my friends; I can vouch for the quality of their services.

Sally Jacobs, The Practical Archivist, will help you organize, preserve and share your family’s memories. Eugene Gekhter and his staff at FilmTransfer.com can help with the home movies, if you’re lucky enough to have them.

Who knows–something in your collection might be important to history.  What could it be? There’s something you could write on…