While their motive may be nothing more than family pride, those who delve into their family's story and preserve what they learn are owed a great debt by historians. There's more to life than birth and death. Save grass roots history while the grass is green. Even if you don't have time to start digging at a library, tape record or videotape all the greats and grands in your family while they're still around to recollect how things used to be. Failing that, at least write down their stories.
People die, but stories live on.
Label and date those old family photographs. Memories fade faster than family snapshots. An old portrait with no name attached is something of a lost soul, doomed to eternal anonymity. Copy and transcribe old handwritten family letters, being careful to retain original spelling and punctuation. A letter is a window into the writer's mind and the events of the time.