Family Reunion Traditions to Start or Keep

01 / WHY THEY MATTER

Why Do Family Reunion Traditions Matter?

Traditions give relatives a reason to come back and a role once they arrive. They pass family history to children who never met the people in the old photos. A Temple University researcher who spent years at Black family reunions found benefits that the families themselves had not recognized, and built an institute to help others plan.

That researcher was Dr. Ione Vargus. According to Temple, she began studying reunions in 1986, collected data at 14 reunions from Boston to the Carolinas, and founded the Family Reunion Institute in 1990. AARP reported that the institute encourages families to share health information at reunions, because some conditions run in families.

02 / AFRICAN AMERICAN REUNIONS

What Are African American Family Reunion Traditions?

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture traces Black family reunions to the search for relatives separated by slavery. The museum names a printed program, a group photo and a T-shirt as hallmarks of the modern reunion. At these reunions, the museum says, family history is recounted and traditions are taught.

After Emancipation: Putting Families Back Together

The NMAAHC describes how, after emancipation, people searched for lost relatives through newspaper advertisements, letters and word of mouth. Vargus told Temple that “as soon as slavery ended, women and men went about trying to put the family back together,” and that many of those stories are told at reunions. The museum adds that Alex Haley’s Roots (1976) and its 1977 television adaptation revived interest in family history.

The Great Migration: Going Back Home

The University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Institute for Human Rights describes how the Great Migration (1910–1970) moved millions of Black Americans from the rural South to cities, and how reunions became anchors that drew relatives back home. Musicologist Tammy Kernodle, writing for The African American Lectionary, notes that church homecoming grew in importance as migration spread families out.

Traditions You May Recognize

• The reunion T-shirt and logo. The NMAAHC calls brightly colored T-shirts iconic of Black family reunions. One family’s logo it shows uses the adinkra symbol Sankofa, meaning “go back and get it.” See our family reunion T-shirt ideas.
• The banquet and Sunday worship. The Philadelphia Tribune described the King family’s reunion weekend: sightseeing, a picnic, an evening banquet, and relatives of several faiths worshipping together on Sunday morning. The organizer chose a nondenominational church so every faith in the family felt welcome.
• Elders and family history. UAB’s Institute for Human Rights describes elders sharing stories of migration, family land and relatives who raised children not their own.

No two families run a reunion the same way. Ask your elders what your family has always done.

03 / OTHER CULTURES

What Gathering Traditions Come From Other Cultures?

Many cultures have their own ways to gather kin and honor ancestors. Many families who observe Día de los Muertos build ofrendas, many Korean families hold charye rites at Chuseok, many Filipino families greet elders with the mano, and some Jewish and Irish families have formed family clubs and clan gatherings. If one is part of your heritage, bring it to the reunion.

Mexican and Latino: The Ofrenda

The Smithsonian American Art Museum explains that Día de los Muertos is celebrated on November 1 and 2 in Mexico and much of Latin America. Families visit gravesites and build ofrendas: altars with photos of relatives who have died, candles, sweets and favorite foods.

Korean: Charye at Chuseok

According to the Korea Tourism Organization, on the morning of Chuseok family members gather at the family’s head house for charye, a memorial service for their ancestors.

Filipino: The Mano

The USC Digital Folklore Archives records the mano po: a younger relative touches an elder’s hand to their forehead, to show respect and receive a blessing. It makes a natural opening greeting for the oldest relatives.

Jewish: Family Circles

Anthropologist William E. Mitchell studied the family circle, which first appeared among Eastern European Jewish immigrants in New York City in the early 1900s. Routledge, his publisher, describes it as relatives with common ancestors organized like a lodge, with elected officers, dues, meetings and committees. It suits a reunion short of volunteers; see family reunion dues.

Irish and Scottish: Clan Gatherings

FamilySearch notes that clan societies at Highland games help people connect with their family roots. Some Irish clans gather everyone who shares the surname. The O’Sullivan Clan says 1,848 people named O’Sullivan or Sullivan came together to set a world record.

A word of care: a ritual borrowed from a culture that isn’t your family’s can feel like a costume. Use these as prompts to ask what your own grandparents did.

04 / FOR ANY FAMILY

Which Family Reunion Traditions Work for Any Family?

A memorial table, a family history display, recognizing the oldest and youngest relatives, passing down an heirloom, a family recipe book and a group photo in the same spot every time. None needs a big budget, and each one gives a different generation a job to do.

• Memorial table. Photos of relatives who have died since the last reunion, names and years on a card, and a candle. Read the names aloud at the banquet. The Guardian notes that Black family reunions are a time to remember relatives who have passed.
• Family history display. Photo albums, a timeline and a printed family tree, placed near the food where people linger. See our family reunion family tree guide.
• Oldest and youngest. Introduce the eldest relative and the newest baby by name, and take their photo together.
• Heirloom handoff. A family Bible, a quilt or a homemade trophy passes to the next host, who brings it back next time.
• Recipe book. One recipe and its story from each household. AARP described a family that gathered and shared favorite recipes as a keepsake.
• Same-spot photo. Same steps, same pose. Over the years, the photos side by side tell the story.

For games and outings, see our family reunion activities.

05 / START THIS YEAR

Which Traditions Can You Start at This Year’s Reunion?

Start with one low-effort tradition and one that involves the whole family. A same-spot photo and an elders’ story hour cost nothing. A memorial table costs little more than frames and printing. Leave the recipe book and shirts for a year when you have a volunteer who wants to own them.

Cost levels are rough guides, not prices. Get quotes and fold shared costs into the dues.

06 / KEEPING IT GOING

How Do You Keep a Family Tradition Going?

Give each tradition a named keeper, write it into the program, and announce it in the invitation so relatives arrive ready. Keep a contact list by branch, because families are spread out. Collect photos and stories before the weekend, not during it, so the people who can’t travel still take part.

Name one roster keeper for each grandparent’s line, someone who knows who has moved, married or had a baby.

On AmazingReunion, each family branch has its own real-time chat room, alongside a room for the whole reunion, and relatives upload photos to a shared gallery. The family tree is free with no cap on people, and a relative who accepts an email invitation joins their branch’s chat room automatically. The merchandise store sells reunion shirts and souvenirs in sizes and colors.