Genealogy: What Matters to You?
The New York Times recently published an opinion piece by author John Sedgwick with a title that refers to an old, familiar conflict: “The Historians Versus the Genealogists.”[1] Sedgwick begins by describing how historians typically view genealogists.
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About Author
Aaron Goodwin
Aaron is a genealogist and house historian specializing in New York City research across all time periods, from the Dutch colonial era to the 20th century. His book, New York City Municipal Archives: An Authorized Guide for Family Historians, won the National Genealogical Society’s 2017 Award for Excellence: Genealogical Methods and Sources. He is also editor of NGS Monthly, former contributing editor of the New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, and former editor of the Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine. In 2011, he received the American Society of Genealogists’ Scholar Award.
My journey into genealogy began out of a desire to complete a small family tree in my daughter’s baby book. After finding out that my own grandparents knew even less about their families than I knew, my drive shifted to learning as much as I could before they were no longer with us and to share that information with them. As with other people, the reason for continuing in the search evolves.
I started doing research when I inherited histories for three of my four grandparents’ families and felt it was only fair to add the fourth. What I’ve learned is that the history we’ve learned (and which I have studied in an academic context) is incredibly biased, and that I disagree profoundly with the assessment that what we learn of history is “what matters”. So many individual stories raise questions of “why”, and questions of how many other people dealt with the same problems. These stories matter, because often the same conditions and conflicts exist in our lives today, and we have no background for dealing with them.
My interests, whether in TV shows I watched or books I read, always centered around history and/or investigation. It was about a week into my tinkering with creating a family tree on Ancestry that the light bulb went on, I had the ah-ha moment, genealogy was the perfect combination of those two passions. My journey into the world of genealogy began.
Genealogy ties the past to the present. The Filles du Roi, the War of 1812, the raid of Harper’s Ferry are events we can learn about; tying an ancestor to these events enables us to go beyond just learning and into understanding and relating to important moments in history. History immediately transforms from words on page to a human story. It’s one thing to read about a battle fought in 1812, it’s another to discuss the battle over a glass of wine with the General’s 4th great-granddaughter.
Genealogists pick up where Historians leave off. Historians tell us that 2,400 men fought at the Battle of Trenton on December 26, 1776. Genealogists tell us what those men did next. Where did they settle? Did they purchase land with their war pensions? Did they pursue an occupation based on skills they learned in the army?
I recently did some research for a dear friend and colleague. One of her Dutch ancestors purchased land on the tip of Manhattan from the natives in the early 1600s. He built a home, farm, and a tavern on his property that bordered on a road he called Paerlstraet. She read the report in her office located on the 12th floor of a building located at the corner of State and Pearl street. This highlights that the phrase “it’s a small world” relates to time as well. We learn through genealogical research that time spans in history are more compressed than we think and the results of actions and decisions made in the past, no matter how long ago, are still playing out today.
I disagree with Sedgwick’s assessment that history and genealogy are two radically divergent takes on the past. They are complementary studies running in parallel. Historians review the play while Genealogists review the actors.
I started doing genealogy because my mother was so sure that one of her “gone with the wind” stories about her paternal ancestors was true. Well, of course it wasn’t — but doing genealogy is sort of like getting trapped in a jigsaw puzzle-spider trap with no end. And endlessly fascinating, not just your own families but the historical times and events they lived in and through — and which you never really learn about in school. To be fair, there really isn’t enough time for history teachers in school to even begin to touch on what you learn while doing genealogy; but what you can learn, historically, while doing “your” genealogy is endlessly fascinating, and can give you a whole different perspective on the past. I agree with Andrea Georger (above): “I disagree with Sedgwick’s assessment that history and genealogy are two radically divergent takes on the past. They are complementary studies running in parallel. Historians review the play while Genealogists review the actors.” And the two, together, are “endlessly fascinating”.
I began my pursuit of family connections at age 15 when I found a list of people in my fathers family bible with birth, marriage and death dates and the names of their spouses. Who were these people? It is forty one years later and I love untwisting the puzzle pieces and putting the families together, and like Aaron sometimes find someone totally unrelated but so interesting I can’t help but dive into their family’s life and discover some truly extraordinary people.
For me the pursuit of my husband’s roots and my own family ancestors has been also been a pursuit of the history so intricately tied to their lives.
I was in a store yesterday and came across your book. The illustration on the front just pulled me in and I wondered if I had read something about it or heard of it on a podcast. I became distracted by my own shopping but now I will go back and pick it up.
Thanks,
Jeanette
As with so many other respondents, my interest in genealogy started with my own family and some inherited work from my grandfather. But as I’ve looked into the families of clients, I’ve had a new perspective on the various bits of history, society and geography that they touched. It’s really brought history to life because instead of dealing in generalities like “many men fought in the war,” I’m dealing with specifics like “George fought in the war.” And I can follow the evidence of what happens to him as he does so, and what happened to the family he left behind. It’s putting an individual face on the larger picture.
I have a degree in History that started with a love of wondering about my family. My grandmother sat with me and told me stories of how the family came from the old country of Germany. She laughed about how if my great grandfather was alive he would be 105! I wanted to know more and was lucky enough to have a high school history teacher who not only encouraged my love of history, but who also encouraged me to explore genealogy to learn the “human” details about the people. This was in 1973 well before the days of internet research capabilities, when we got our information from family members, books, photos, and family friends. They were able to take events and day to day lives and add the 5 journalistic “W’s” that we historians use and added that human touch that genealogists use to round out their stories. I taught 30 min lessons to K – 3 graders and I would always bring in a plate with the food the people might eat, some examples of clothes, and even toys young children might play with. The kids loved it, asked a lot of history questions and also would ask things like “do you think my grandmother wore that? do you think my mom could bake something like that for me or even I have a toy that looks kind of like that.” The blending of history and genealogy is a perfect match for giving us not just facts, lessons, and stories, but that human quality that helps us to understand where we are from, why we do the things we do, where we might be headed, and provides that connection that shows our ancestors laughed, cried, and lived just like we do, just in another time. I am a firm believer that if you want to unlock the whole story find someone who can help you do just that and most times you will find their eyes will light up as much as yours do.
Thank you for such a interesting article. My personal response to the question is that you cannot have one without the other. Meaning Genealogy work IS history! All history is made of personal stories which lead to larger stories and finally to history itself. It seems that the Times author only got interested in his Genealogy when his family history matched his world view. I for one, am interested in both, but really in the end, “self knowledge is priceless”. I want to know it all, because the more I know about my Ancestors, the more I know myself and finally, the more future Generations will know about themselves.
Aaron, what is most profound, to me, since becoming a certified genealogist, is how ignorant I am of a lot of American history. Sadly, our history is not taught correctly and in some places, now, not at all in America.
I have a passion for our revolutionary history, all the hundreds of events, the everyday folks that lived then, and what they went through. There are thousands of individual stories out there in millions of records. I feel sad that our children are losing our history by leaps and bounds and I feel helpless that our country’s current culture is denying our children their heritage. So I will carry on telling my family story, person by person, hopeing that in the future someone will read my writing and a spark will be lit. Hey that is MY great grandfather! He fought in the Revolutionary War, therefore I exist!