What This Is

The Harker Family Archive is a family history wiki built from oral history recordings, personal documents, life sketches, diaries, and genealogical records. It is organized into two types of pages: Person pages, which are encyclopedic entries for individuals, and Episode pages, which tell the distinct stories and event sequences of family life.

The archive is centered on the oral history of Norman John Harker, recorded in eleven sessions between 2024 and 2025, but is designed to grow into a multi-generational encyclopedia spanning all four family lines.

Family Lines

Harker — originating in Lincolnshire, England; LDS converts who emigrated to Utah Territory and settled in southeastern Idaho. Phillips — the family of Marilyn Phillips Harker. Lovell — Hi and Velda Lovell of Idaho Falls, Gayl Lovell Harker's family. Swenson — Royal and Tressa Swenson of Malad, Idaho, Janiel Swenson Phillips's family.

Sources

The primary source is eleven corrected transcripts of oral history sessions conducted by Kevin Harker with Norman John Harker (NJH-KVH-01 through NJH-KVH-11). Corroborating sources include the Marilyn Phillips Harker autobiography (2003), the Don Phillips life sketch, the Janiel Swenson Phillips story, the Tressa Bailey Swenson diary, the Velda Perry Lovell autobiography, the Joseph Harker personal history, the Susannah Sneath Harker biography, and a RootsMagic GEDCOM export covering 5,359 individuals, all linked to FamilySearch.

Editorial Standards

Facts are cited to their source. Where sources conflict, the discrepancy is documented and left unresolved until confirmed by a family member. No name, identity, or factual claim is changed by inference alone. Pages marked [stub] exist to support cross-linking but contain only minimal content.

Contact

Maintained by Eric Harker. Corrections, additions, and family documents can be sent to ejharker@gmail.com.