Nat’l Genealogical Society Conference in SLC in 2010Posted by admin on December 8th, 2009

Great news for all you family history nuts in Utah! The National Genealogical Society will be holding its annual Family History Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah at the Salt Palace Convention Center on April 28 to May 1, 2010. The conference is expected to deliver workshops and speakers on family history work international and American. The conference will even include a mini-performance by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

Sounds like fun to me! Anyone else planning on being there?



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Family History Tourism?Posted by admin on November 21st, 2009

I met a couple last night who, upon the discovering the names and vital information for their ancestors in England, took a summer vacation to the actual parish from whence the records came. They visited the church that had held the records for centuries. They walked the cobbled streets that had likely felt the soles of their ancestors almost every day for the length of their mortal life. They insisted that this experience had done more for their understanding of their forebears than any record ever could. This got me thinking about the usefulness of family history tourism.

There seem to be a lot of things we can get out of visiting places that we just can’t get from reading their vital dates. A few summers ago, I took my family to Hawaii to the North Shore that had been home to my family since the 1800s. The people I met all had something to say about my forebears. I walked in the place where my grandparents had been married. We drove past the sugar factory my grandfather built and managed. In the air, the trees, and in the water, I seemed to feel a kinship. 

I had heard all of these stories before, but being in the actual places made it real for me. Every place I went seemed to drive home the fact that my ancestors were real people, with real lives full of events large and small. 

So, what do you think? Is it worth the plane ticket to draw closer to your roots? Can you get that feeling of kinship in any other way?



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Is finding health risks in family history such a good thing?Posted by admin on October 23rd, 2009

If you google ‘family history’ in the news section, you’re likely to get a bunch of results about how scientists are linking breast cancer, schizophrenia, and a host of other maladies to family history. Millions of dollars, it seems, are being spent every year on research that seeks to find the warning signs of illnesses in our ancestors, probably with the ultimate goal of eliminating or counteracting these diseases at or before birth. Anyone who has seen the superb sci fi movie Gattaca, however, knows that this kind of over-forecasting can get out of control.

 
For the uninitiated, Gattaca tells the story of a young man who, according to his DNA, is predicted to die at age thirty-something of heart failure. Also, because he was conceived naturally- unlike most of his counterparts-, he is treated as a lower class and is limited to menial work. Going into space- his lifelong dream- is forbidden for him. In short, genetics have become another form of harsh discrimination.
 
Is this where our society is headed? Will we be so hasty to make genetic forecasts that we will limit others and ourselves? 
 
I like to believe that, DNA notwithstanding, it is our choices that make us who we are, it is the good or bad influences we choose to let into our lives that determine our strength or weakness. People born with deformed legs can scale the highest mountains. Men who can’t talk or even move can unravel the mysteries of the universe. 
 
I hope we will never get too carried away with genetic prophecy or with treating maladies for that matter. Sickness is a difficult, but often instructive, part of life.


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