New Course: American World War II Ancestors – Part 1

Often in genealogical research we concentrate on researching those who lived in much earlier times. However, documenting the lives of our more recent ancestors is equally important. 2014 marks the 70th Anniversary of World War II’s D-Day. In honor of this anniversary, The National Institute for Genealogical Studies is proud to announce the latest course by author and World War II researcher Jennifer Holik, Research: American World War II Ancestors – Part 1 . Part 1 of this course begins with what led to the start of World War II, how the U.S. became involved and the military records available. Contrary to popular belief, they did not all burn in the 1973 fire! This course will move from military records for the Navy, Coast Guard and Marines to civilian jobs including the USO, Merchant Marines and others. You will learn how to research the service of your military ancestors through numerous sources. Through this research you can then write the story of your ancestor’s life. Continue your journey into World War II military records in The National Institute for Genealogical Studies course,  Research: American World War II Ancestors – Part 2 course coming soon. In Research: American World War II Ancestors – Part 1, author Jennifer Holik takes family historians from research to the actual telling of their ancestor’s story. She shares, “researching the lives and writing the stories of my World War II ancestors has become a passion the last two years. Personally, most of my World War II ancestors…

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Your Ancestor the Hero

By Shannon Bennett, Student Well I am almost done. Really digging into the meat and potatoes of the Demystifying Culture and Folklore course now. Plus, we discuss one of my favorite mythologists, Joseph Campbell. Ah, hero myths, we should all be familiar with that concept thanks to Star Wars and Harry Potter. Now, before you go away and start thinking that I am going off the deep end and there is no way we can draw comparisons between family stories and a classic hero myth, let me tell you that you are wrong.  You can. Legends, myths, and folklore don’t have to be old. They also don’t have to be false. You can find them in your own history and this last section of the course shows you how. We learn that “the hero is one who develops his/her skill, talent, etc. and takes the journey to prove that part of his/her life; then returns to the community (or family) to use the lessons learned to better the group.” I am sure many of you can think of an ancestor who would fall into that description. For myself I can think of several. Most of my hero ancestors were immigrants or those who left what they knew in a colony and ventured further west into unexplored territories. Think about those people. What they left behind and what they had to overcome. They just didn’t go out there did they? Most of them had a skill or trade that was useful…

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Scottish Virtual Meeting Today

Are you working on your Scottish genealogy? Join Sheena for a Virtual Meeting. Come and ask questions about our Scottish courses and your research. Thursday, May 15th at 6:00 PM EDT Sheena Tait will be hosting the Scottish Virtual Meeting. Time zones: Thursday, May 15th – 6:00 PM Eastern; 5:00 PM Central; 3:00 PM Pacific;11:00 PM in London, England; Friday, May 16th – 8:00 AM in Sydney, Australia MEETING LOCATION: http://genealogicalstudies.adobeconnect.com/scottish/ (NOTE: No user name or password required. Please type in your first and last name; then click “Enter as a Guest”.)

The Many Facets of the Family Story

By Shannon Bennett, Student Have you ever thought about how many points of view there are within one family story? Each person who was there heard, saw, felt, or interpreted the situation differently. Just ask your family about an event from when you were a child. I bet that while similar, they are all different. These next two modules (Modules 3 and 4 of Demystifying Culture & Folklore ) touched on aspects of this phenomena.  Course author Jean Wilcox Hibben made this point at the beginning of Module 4: “As genealogists, it is our responsibility to analyze the family story … the truth or falsehood(s) with it.” Many people want to believe that everything told to them by an ancestor has to be 100% true. You know, it might be, from their point of view. But you have to think about it, who has another side? If it was a story passed down, was the whole story told or only part? Everyone has something to hide, so were facts fudged or exaggerated? Hibben drives these points home through examples of her own family.  Examples that I can see in mine as well. What I found fascinating was using Bormann’s Theory of Symbolic Convergence to understand my family and its stories better. Jean Wilcox Hibben put it simply: “by studying the paradigm of the communication of a group, a researcher can analyze the history of the unit [family] and assess its dynamics.”  Communication is always key, how did our family groups communicate…

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Learning More About Family History and Culture

By Shannon Bennett, Student Wow!  This course, Demystifying Culture & Folklore started off with a bang.  Lots of information and a page turner to boot.  It’s hard to believe that I am even more excited now than I was before the first day started.  However, if you remember my introduction post to this course, I am a self-confessed myth and folklore geek. What I liked, and I didn’t get from the undergrad courses I took, is that this is firmly family centered.  How we take those standard terms, throes, and ideas then turn the magnifying glass on ourselves and our family, not another culture.  Well, I guess in some ways we are doing that too since many of us are descendants of immigrants. From the beginning we were told to examine our family and explore our roots to see: That was a big task, a daunting task some would say.  Honestly it takes a lot of guts to really analyze your family and come to an understanding about what they did and why they did it. Thankfully the instructor, professional genealogist and folklorist Jean Wilcox Hibben, does not throw you into the deep end.  Each section began with a list of terms and their definitions.  Terms which lead to discussion and understanding of how everything from material goods, unspoken customs, and assumptions affected the lives of our ancestors. The exercises in these modules worked in conjunction with the new terms I read as well.  Instead of thinking about long dead civilizations…

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