If you ever get the feeling that your interest in family history isn't a main stream interest. Think again. I just used Google to search the news for "family history" and came up with a very interesting array of family history stories in the news. One of these was published on Tuesday - the rest are even more recent. the majority are American (that's a function of which news sources Google indexes), but they also represent Pakistan and Australia.
Houston Chronicle, Texas
Carolyn Grovey-Brown, 58, remembers when she was a child walking through the home her great-grandfather built. Family pictures hang on the dark wooden walls of the long, narrow hallway. She walks down the stretch, looking at the pictures and realizing there is a name, a story and history behind each face. She passes her grandfather's bedroom that smells of liniment and orange peels. She looks outside and sees the back porch and a smoking room where her grandparents preserve vegetables. She thinks to herself that this property is more than a house. It is history. History important to not only her family, but to the area and to the memory of slavery.
PakTribune, Pakistan
People with a family history of suicide and mental illness are more likely to attempt suicide than their peers with no such family history, according to Danish researchers. The findings could prove useful in suicide prevention programs targeting adolescents and young adults, the authors of the study note. Researchers from Aarhus University studied the family histories of 4,262 people between the ages of 9 and 45 who committed suicide and a group of "controls," 80,238 people in the general population who did not commit suicide. People who had a parent, sibling or other close relative commit suicide were found to be more than twice as likely to commit suicide than others with no family history of suicide.
Kilmore Star, Australia
UNRAVELLING family histories can seem daunting, which is why it’s worth visiting the local library ... to learn about the tools and techniques available... Yarra Plenty Regional Library ... has prepared workshops to help people trace their family trees for Family History Month. “... more people are coming into the library to use our resources and ... researching family history is more popular than ever...” Online databases have changed how people delve into their family histories, as shown by the popularity of websites ... these new tools allowed people to satisfy a natural curiosity. “People trace their family history for many reasons – to know where they came from, for a sense of identity and place in the world, and to join other people at the library with a similar interest.”
NWI Times, Indiana
One of the things a doctor is interested in when seeing a patient for the first time or making a diagnosis is that patient's family health history. While medical conditions of family members aren't always known, they should be. If you don't know the cause of death of your grandparents or what illnesses or conditions may have affected an aunt or uncle, you might want to ask some questions and do some investigating. Notifying your doctor of certain conditions that seem to run in your family can make a difference in your treatment.
Coshocton Tributne, Ohio
4-H member Ryan Appis of Coshocton was honored at the Ohio State Fair for earning an Outstanding of the Day in the 4-H project of “Family History Treasure Hunt: Year 2” during 4-H Family Life Day. He was then named a state winner and presented the top award of a 4-H Clock Trophy. Participants brought their completed project book and a display signifying their project accomplishments. Next, exhibitors were judged based on knowledge, skill, and understanding. Appis explained his genealogy research of his mother's family back to 1605 and father's lineage to 1800. As part of his “Family History Treasure Hunt” project, he and his family traveled to West Virginia to visit with relatives and research at various courthouses and cemeteries.
WBKO, Kentucky
Logan County commemorates the Aug... the day African-Americans were set free and were no longer considered slaves. Now, Logan County honors this rich history every day with a museum and research center dedicated to black history.... Now everyone in the area can learn about black history through the Western Kentucky African-American Research Center "It was an idea of a lot of older people and local teachers that the history of this area hadn't been exposed the way it should be"...One of the interesting aspects the center brings to light is the rich history of a Russellville community back in the 1800s, called the "Black Bottom." "Former slaves moved here and Civil War soldiers too. They set up churches and businesses in the area. It's been an African-American community for probably 135 to 140-years," Morrow explained. He said the center also allows African-Americans to research their own origins. "There you can research your family history and church history. We're set up to help anybody research anything that has anything to do with African-American history in the region," Morrow said.
News-Record, Greensboro. North Carolina
Wadsworth Congregational Church is on the National Register of Historic Places. Founded in 1870, it has a storied history: A slave runs away from Guilford County, earns a college degree with help from a famous poet, returns to the county after the Civil War, buys land from the family of his former master and builds a church. ...Notice of the Star of David, etched in a highly visible glass pane. That pane with the universal symbol of Judaism faces the old Temple Emanuel synagogue across Greene Street. First Presbyterian gave the temple hundreds of dollars when it built there in 1924. Later, the synagogue responded by helping First Presbyterian retire the debt on its building. ... The Piedmont Triad also is home to one-room meeting houses of the Amish, who migrated here from places such as Pennsylvania, some in vans and U-Haul trucks, setting up enclaves in Caswell and Yadkin counties and living their faith out in horse-drawn buggies and with only minimal and necessary uses of electricity. Their friendliness is well-known, but what draws visitors to places like the Shiloh General Store in Hamptonville in Yadkin County -- Amish and non-Amish alike -- at lunchtime are the home-made baked goods and jams, the oversized sandwiches and the natural spices. The Amish also set up to sell their wares in other places around the Piedmont Triad, such as the Farmer's Market on Yanceyville Street in Greensboro. Genealogy buffs might want to check out the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' Family History Center ... The Mormon church is known for its collection of census data and other records to help members discover their lineage. If getting away from it all -- within an hour radius of just about anywhere in the Triad -- sounds unrealistic: it's not.
In kinship,
Judii - for the Mennonite Historical Society of Alberta
Pretty useful, yes? So - look over your files and see if one of these records might shed new or confirming light on information in them. An index to household heads can be found online. If you can't determine which is the correct household for the family you're pursuing, let us know and we can do some additional checking for you.
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