Over the years, I have been on the receiving end of several family treasures, including a family Bible, my grandmother’s diary, a spoon from her wedding silverware, a set of quilt blocks she stitched, my uncle’s baby book dating from 1908, and my father’s bronze toddler shoes. These items have special meaning to me, and they add a very human touch to the paper records I have compiled.
The hallway is dimly lit and Eugene finds his way to the back stairwell—the stairwell that leads down to the kitchen area; down to the back alley; down to where Viola is working on the laundry porch of the hotel. Taking four steps, Eugene spies Viola. She is beautiful, even in that drab gray dress uniform. He takes another step and the stair squeaks under his weight.
If you use DSL or cable modems at home, how do you secure your PC from hackers on the outside?
Among the records that come to mind when researching family history are vital records. These documents are the ones to which we most often look to pull together our family groups.
Writing? The mere thought strikes fear into some minds, while conjuring visions of drudgery into other minds. However, writing is often the only way to make an accurate record of the research we’ve done on our family history. Standard genealogical forms and even the more sophisticated genealogical computer programs seldom allow for out-of-the-ordinary situations.
Consider the following scenario: You are new to the hobby of genealogy. You learn from a friend that your local public library has a nice collection of genealogy books. You go to the library and climb the stairs to the third floor where the section is located. In front of you is a stack of books neatly arranged alphabetically by a family’s last name.
Graduate student Melissa Woodson scanned the museum’s quilt inventory list, looking for a project for her textiles analysis class.
The quilts listed belong to the International Quilt Study Center (IQSC), attached to the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, which has as its mission the collection, conservation, exhibition, and study of quilts.
You’ll learn more than the names of the bride and groom’s parents with Catholic marriage records. Sometimes they hold the key to an immigrant’s place of origin.
You don’t have to read romance novels to find compelling love stories; there is one at the beginning of each branch of your family tree. Have you ever watched a couple talk about the first time they met? The fondness and memories are in their voices and in their expressions. Those same feelings are visible in many of your ancestral wedding photographs, if you pay attention.
Children ought to know what it was that went into their making, to know that life is a braided cord of humanity stretching up from time long gone, and that it cannot be defined by the span of a single journey from diaper to shroud.
—Russell Baker
Reading this passage from Growing Up, you can’t help but reflect on your own past.