Passing It On

Happy birthday to us!

It was exactly one year ago today that "Passing It On" made its maiden voyage into the blogosphere. Now, 172 posts later, we’re still around and plan to be around for many more ramblings about family history and related genealogical issues. In fact, we plan to launch a monthly Passing It On newsletter next week. If you’d like to receive a copy, shoot me an e-mail and I’ll add you to the distribution list.

For old times’ sake, here’s a link to our first post.

Don Crowdis, the 93-year-old blogger mentioned in that initial post, appears to have stopped blogging but centenarian Olive Riley of Australia hasn’t. With help from assistant Mike Rubbo, the 108-year-old Olive has cranked out dozens of posts at her Life of Riley blog.

While you’re checking Olive out, I think I’ll have another slice of cake. And a hearty thank you to every reader, subscriber and commenter who offered words of encouragement over the past 12 months. It’s been fun.

Larry Lehmer is a personal historian who helps people preserve their family histories. If you’d like to know more, check out his web site or send him an e-mail.

Flickr photo courtesy of TheMunkyHouse.

Saving the seeds of your family tree

It’s the ultimate backup: a three-room condo dug 400 feet deep into the permafrost of a Norwegian mountain, its steel and concrete design engineered to withstand earthquakes and a direct nuclear strike.

It’s the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, a modern-day Noah’s Ark, intended to be a backup for the world’s 1,400 seed banks. With a capacity of 4.5 million seeds, Svalbard can keep seeds for 1,000 years in its subzero vaults. Even if the power fails, seeds stored there should be viable for two centuries.

Svalbard was inaugurated this week, too late to save the seed banks wiped out by war in Iraq and Afghanistan or by a typhoon in the Philippines.

Reading about the Svalbard project got me thinking about how I save the seeds of my own family’s history. We all know the value of backing up our electronic files, but how many of us actually do it? Just as the death of a loved one robs us of an opportunity to tap into their wealth of family knowledge, the crash of a hard drive could wipe out decades of work in an instant.

Take a few minutes to consider how you protect your precious files. Satisfied? If not, you might want to consider using an online storage site (for a fee) or an online e-mail site like Gmail or Yahoo (free). Other options can be found on my earlier post on the subject.

Larry Lehmer is a personal historian who helps people preserve their family histories. To learn more, visit his web site or send him an e-mail.

Photo of entrance to Svalbard Global Seed Vault courtesy of sophsrome.

The mass media are your friends

The mass media are good friends of genealogists and personal historians. Newspapers, in particular, are rich sources of information because of their role in recording history, especially local history.

It was as a newspaper reporter that I came to appreciate the value of the stories of ordinary people. As I’ve pointed out in presentations, I have had the privilege of interviewing many luminaries in their field, from baseball stars Hank Aaron and Bob Feller to tennis star Ivan Lendl to country music maverick Waylon Jennings to rock and roll legend Dion DiMucci. But it was the stories of people whose names you wouldn’t recognize that stuck with me.

Newspapers and magazines are full of fascinating stories about ordinary people doing extraordinary things. Thanks to their efforts, virtually every aspect of American culture has been preserved at a stunning breadth and depth.

But relatively few papers take on the subjects of genealogy or family history directly. You’ll find a few “Remember When?” or “On This Date” kind of pieces, but little direct discussion of what is proclaimed America’s No. 2 hobby – researching family history.

One such paper is the Albuquerque Tribune, which has featured the work of Mary Penner in her Lineage Lessons column. Until this week, that is.

The Tribune, like many afternoon papers, found it difficult to survive in the modern 24-hour news cycle world. Staffers at the E.W. Scripps paper were told this week that the paper would cease publication after its Feb. 23 edition.

Penner can still be found at her personal web site, but I’m certain many of her print readers will be disappointed by the move. On the other hand, the Vancouver (B.C.) Sun is soliciting brief family histories for publication. (Disclaimer: Newspaper links are notoriously fickle. Check them out soon before they disappear.)

What’s it like in your part of the world? Does your local newspaper have a regular genealogy or family history presence? I look forward to your comments.

Larry Lehmer is a personal historian who helps people preserve their family histories. To learn more, visit his web site or send him an e-mail.

Flickr photo courtesy of SnapShot1951.

Danish people rule! (And other life lessons)

Since claiming my own tiny slice of the blogosphere nearly a year ago, I’ve found that there are plenty of talented, interesting bloggers out here. Some of those that I read regularly write about genealogy and family history, many others do not. Lately, some of those in the latter category have posted items of interest to those who share my interest in family history. Here’s a recap:

• Peggy Payne’s post this week in her Boldness Blog told of how she and her husband split appearances one weekend in which they were to attend a wedding and a funeral. The friend getting married was 65; the friend who died was 44. Peggy’s lessons from the experience: “One: it's never too late. Two: don't delay.”

• I think Brian Clark’s guest post over at zenhabits follows up on Peggy’s “don’t delay” lesson. Using a legendary 1976 concert by the Sex Pistols in Manchester, England, as his backdrop, Brian makes the case that spotting trends and having great ideas is not enough. It’s action that separates the wannabes from the doers. Perhaps you know of someone who’s talked about wanting to do their family history but waited until it was too late.

• The always-interesting Shelly Kneupper Tucker tackled the topic of ageism in a recent post at her This Eclectic Life blog. It seems ageism has joined racism and sexism in the current race to the White House. Some in our modern American culture value youth over the wisdom of their elders but, as Shelly points out, Benjamin Franklin was 70 when he helped draft the Declaration of Independence. The average age of the signers of that document was 45, making them elder statesmen of that time.

• I missed the 60 Minutes report last week on how happy people are in Denmark, but thanks to Philip Brewer at Wise Bread, I can learn why this is so. I always thought of my Danish grandparents as happy people, even though they left that country in their early 20s. Can you imagine Americans being happy with the hefty taxes the Danes pay?

My lesson from these assorted posts is simple: Get moving on my own family history, value the wisdom of my elders and celebrate my Danish heritage. And, although it’s never too late, don’t delay. Thanks Peggy.

Larry Lehmer is a personal historian who helps people preserve their family histories. To learn more, visit his web site or send him an e-mail.

Flickr photo courtesy of robotsaresosex.

We are what we wear, dang it!

I plead guilty. Although I’ve surely exceeded my limit on citations by the fashion police, I must plead guilty again. Yes, that was me wearing those clashing stripes and checks. Or whatever.

Fashion is one of those social graces that has somehow eluded me. Blame it on my gender, friends, upbringing or social standing, but I’m rarely described as “nattily attired.” One of the troubling facts about fashion is that it’s so obvious in the photos that often represent us in our family histories. What will my great grandchildren think of me, knowing me as they will only by the record I leave behind?

I’ve always taken a rather independent view of style. I’ve never agonized about lapel or tie width, although I must admit to a preference for bold stripe ties as opposed to, let’s say, floral patterns. I tried to stay on the cusp of fashion through much of the 1970s, though, prancing around in blue- and red-checked, bell-bottom slacks, for example. My downfall was that I hated to throw away a perfectly decent pair of pants even though they were past their fashion expiration date.

The way I figured it, I was in a win-win situation, no matter what I wore. If everyone else was wearing the same style, then I was totally hip and cool. If I was the odd man out, that was cool, too. I was then cutting edge, ahead of the rest of the pack, though some would argue it was just the opposite.

Fortunately, most of my sportswriting brethren had much the same attitude and I was right at home in my working hours. It was only when I got home that my wife reminded me that I dressed like fashionally challenged Norman Buntz, played by actor Dennis Franz in the short-lived television series, Beverly Hills Buntz.

My own sartorial shortcomings aside, when I picture many of my ancestors, I tend to visualize them in a specific outfit. I always see my carpenter grandfather in a long-sleeved plaid shirt, sleeves unbuttoned and rolled up around his elbows with a pencil stuck behind his ear. I always see my other grandfather sitting in a black leather chair, neatly pressed slacks and a white shirt, smoking his pipe.

How do you picture your ancestors?

Larry Lehmer is a personal historian who helps people preserve their family histories. To learn more, visit his web site or send him an e-mail.

Flickr photo courtesy of tspauld.

FWOOOM: How do you handle a blast of family history?

In my role as personal historian, I have the privilege of hearing lots of family stories from lots of interesting people. Of course, we personal historians believe everyone’s story is interesting and worth saving for future generations.

Most of the stories I collect from people cover about five generations, ranging from grandchildren to grandparents, though it occasionally goes an additional generation or two. Only one of my interview subjects has had personal stories to share of relatives who were living as far back as the Civil War years. Good genealogical research can help fill in a family’s history far beyond grandparents and great grandparents.

I’ve posted before on the difference between genealogy and family history, describing family history as putting some fruit on the family tree. In my effort to expand my genealogical skills, I’ve recently started working on my own family by using the Family Tree Maker 2008 program.

Seeking data on the Internet was once described to me as trying to take a sip of water from a fire hydrant. Modern genealogical research is much the same. There’s so much data available that sorting through it all to find what one is looking for is a challenge.

I’ve already traced my paternal grandmother’s family to 17th century England and Ireland with a reasonable amount of confidence. Real genealogists (just like real journalists) don’t accept things at face value. They dig until they have sufficient evidence that what they believe to be true is, in fact, the real deal.

Although I haven’t reached that level of expertise yet, I’ve spotted a few errors in some other people’s work. One fairly elaborate tree, for example, gave my grandmother a non-existent brother. I’m not certain how important my grandmother figures into that family’s history, but that would be a major mistake in my own family’s lineage. On the other hand, I’m struggling to find a woman my grandmother insisted was a sister to her dad’s mother.

I have a lot to learn, but one lesson is very clear: it’s wise to exercise a good bit of caution and skepticism when venturing into the unknown.

Larry Lehmer is a personal historian who helps people write their family histories. To learn more, visit his web site or send him an e-mail.

Flickr photo courtesy of Joseph Robertson.

How I’d like to look, into that little book

It’s a busy week ahead, what with Lincoln’s Birthday, Valentine’s Day and Random Acts of Kindness Week unfolding in the next seven days. What better time to talk about journaling?

Although there’s no evidence that Lincoln ever kept a diary, he was known to scribble notes on paper and stuff them in his hat before finding a more suitable storage location. To me, that’s a form of journaling.

One of the beauties of recording your own thoughts on a regular basis is that there is no right way or wrong way to do it. One of the drawbacks is that once something is written down, you lose a certain amount of control over how your thoughts might be perceived by others.

It’s important to consider both your intended and unintended audience when practicing journaling. Those sweet-sounding words to your honey today may not be received as well by future sweeties, for example. Therefore, you should always write when you’re relaxed and thinking clearly. Never write when you’re angry or not in control of yourself.

I have a friend who once started a journal to document her unrecognized contributions on her job in case she had a confrontation with management. She expanded it to her personal life and kept it going for years. When she sat down years later to write her life story, she was shocked by the bitter tone imposed by her on-the-job woes. While virtually unusable as a reference document, it raised the question in her mind as to what her family was feeling in those difficult times.

In this cyber age, many people have turned to the blogosphere as a form of electronic journal. I much prefer the intimacy and privacy of a written journal to the irretrievable cyber shout out.

Here are a few places you can go to learn more about journaling:

• Notebookism. If you care about how your journal looks, this is the place to go. Good tips, too.

• Genea-Musings. San Diego genealogist Randy Seaver regularly posts excerpts from his great-grandmother’s diary.

• Kucachoocrafts. For those artsy folks who want to make their own journals.

• Ourstrangeworld. A fascinating article about how a recently discovered young reporter’s diary offers new insights into the 1937 disappearance of aviatrix Amelia Earhart.

Larry Lehmer is a personal historian who helps people preserve their family histories. To learn more, visit his web site or send him an e-mail.

Flickr photo courtesy of ronin_beav.

Your life story: Short like this

Thinking of writing your memoirs? That’s a pretty tall order, cramming a lifetime into a few hundred pages. Here’s an even tougher assignment: do it in six words.

That’s the length of this sentence. Your whole life in six words.

Smith Magazine and Twitter teamed up for a contest inviting people to accept this challenge and was flooded with 11,000 entries. The result is a book that hit the shelves this week, “Not Quite What I was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure.”

Try it yourself. Given enough time, you might come up with something you’re satisfied with, but chances are you’ll need several sequels to your original memoir before you’ve done your life justice.

Here’s what I came up with in my first try: “Should have listened to me more.” This refers to my tendency to weigh all sides of an issue before making a decision. There have been many times when I deferred to the judgments of others rather than following my own instincts, only to regret it.

Check out this nifty video on Amazon for some of the entries that made the cut. Here are a few of them:

Brought it to a boil, often – Mario Batali
Revenge is living well, without you – Joyce Carol Oates
Not a good Christian, but trying – Alexander Tsai
Thought I would have more impact – Kevin Clark
Everyone who loved me is dead – Ellen Fanning
Without me, it is just aweso – Chris Madigan
She kissed me and said yes! – Ricardo Saramago
I managed not to destroy anything – Tucker Frazier

A tip of the hat to my courageous blogging friend Terry Thornton who has gone public with his quest to lose weight, posting his progress weekly, even after loading up on beignets and Cafe au Lait at Café Du Monde during a visit to New Orleans. You’re a brave man, Terry, and an inspiration. Keep it up.

Larry Lehmer is a personal historian who helps people preserve their family histories. To learn more, check out his web site or send him an e-mail.

Flickr photo of Ernest Hemingway's six-word memoir courtesy of k-ideas.

How about some stories with that dinner?

Dinner time is story time in America. At least it used to be.

There was a time in our not-so-distant past that families would gather at the dinner table each night to share their experiences of the day while dining. While family dinners are far less common today, a 2005 study by Emory University showed that they’re no less important in developing valuable, strong family ties.

So, it should come as no surprise that the 41st Carnival of Genealogy that focused on family dinners drew a huge response. The carnival topic was: If you could have dinner with four of your ancestors who would they be and why? Most of the bloggers who took part are well steeped in genealogical knowledge and it shows as their dream dinner often includes ancestors of far-flung and disparate branches of their family tree.

I didn’t participate, even though I thought it was a great topic. My guests would have been a bit closer to home – my grandparents. Although I have vivid memories of each, they are almost exclusively about my relationships with them. The questions I would ask today are much different from those I asked when I had the opportunity. One dinner would barely scratch the surface.

As you ponder who would be on your guest list, you might want to check out what Carnival participants said about their fantasy meals.

Have you seen the PBS program “African American Lives 2” that’s currently airing? After catching the first two parts of this four-part series this week, I wonder how I missed the original show, which aired in 2006. Hosted by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., researchers dig into the past of a dozen African Americans, including Chris Rock, Tina Turner and Morgan Freeman, and usually come up with some obscure, educational, entertaining facts about 19th century ancestors. It’s a generous contribution to Black History Month.

Thanks to Nicholas Osborn at the ever-fascinating Square America site you can view an eclectic collection of snapshots of the Africa-American experience. Just click on the “Current Exbibitions” photo. Warning: This site is highly addictive!

For those among us who are old enough to remember the manipulative campaign that Dick Clark foisted upon America’s teenagers a half century go involving a 15-year-old “singer” who was known by a single name, please note that Fabian Forte turned 65 this week. Sigh!

Larry Lehmer is a personal historian who helps people preserve their family histories. To learn more, visit his web site or send him an e-mail.

Flickr photo courtesy of animefx.

Super-sizing your expectations: Has it happened to you?

Today is Monday but to call it that seems awfully mundane, coming as it does between Super Bowl Sunday and Super Tuesday. Shouldn’t it at least be called Super Monday?

We Americans are super at using the word super. We have our Superman, Super 8s and Super Mario, not to mention our propensity to super-size our fast food. By choosing to use the word, we create a parallel set of expectations. We raise the bar when we levy the super tag.

The trouble with many Super Bowls is that they’ve fallen far short of the expectation. This year’s game lived up to the hype, but what about the rest of the production? The game has come a long way in the 42 years since $12 would get you a seat at the game. Many people watch the game for its commercials, widely touted as the most creative (and expensive) you’ll see all year.

Frankly, I thought very few of this year’s ads were exceptional. Many were boring, dumb or outright offensive and no one can accuse Bud Light of raising the bar too high. Check them out yourself here.

Expectations are a huge part of your family history. We gauge much of our success or failure by plotting our results against our expectations. Or the expectations of others.

As children, our goals frequently are created by parents, teachers and others of influence in our lives. I had friends whose parents paid them a sliding scale for grades that met or exceeded expectations. Other friends were motivated by the fear of what would happen to them if they fell short.

In many families, children are expected to follow in their parents’ footsteps, whether that be operating the family farm, taking over the family business or carrying on the family tradition in a particular occupation, such as law or medicine. Perhaps you know of offspring who rebelled at this notion for a while, yet ultimately slipped back into the familial pattern.

In my era, many young women were dissuaded from attending college, partly because so many occupations were largely closed to them at that time but more likely because previous generations truly believed that women were destined to be wives and mothers exclusively.

Look over your family history and identify those people whose successes exceeded the known expectations of that time. These are among the true pioneers of your family.

Larry Lehmer is a personal historian who helps people preserve their family histories. To learn more, visit his web site or send him an e-mail.

Flickr photo courtesy of guzi4real.