Do you watch the ancestry shows on TV or YouTube? You know the ones I’m talking about like “Finding Your Roots” or “Who do You Think You Are” (US or UK version). There are others. What draws you to them? Is it the list of ancestors? Lulu’s mother and father are, their parents were, their parents were and so on. I think probably not.  For me it is the stories they uncover in the search. It is sometimes the links to occupations or personality traits or talents.

Dame Judi Dench discovered a connection to Shakespeare. Not a blood relation but an ancestor that was connected to him. She was clearly excited given her love of Shakespeare. What about Sir Ian McKellen learning about an earlier actor in the family. Maybe the story of Jeremy Clarkson’s family who invented a glass making technology that changed the preservation of foods before refrigerators.

There have been other programs such as, “My Grandparents’ War.” Celebrities found the stories behind their grandparents’ war experiences. They discovered bravery, perseverance, reasons behind their hesitance to talk about their experiences or the limp they always had.

These are the stories I am drawn to even when I don’t know the people. The history, the genuine interest, excitement, awe of the celebrities to find out about their family’s past. This is what our next speaker will help us uncover. Sign up and learn from her.

Yes, these shows have people traversing the country and sometimes the globe to the sites of their ancestors. They have people. Historians, genealogists, experts in the locations, social history, time period, or the industries. What can we do to uncover some of our own stories?

We can start with the more recent history where we have stories from our own experiences, our parents, and our grandparents. Perhaps by practicing here we will have a peek at what we may be interested in finding further back in time. Take a trip to a museum. I used to volunteer at LeMay America’s Car Museum in Tacoma. I remember one woman coming in on a day they were giving rides, and she was so excited. They had the Model T out and she got to ride in it. It was the first car her father had and her first memory of being in a car. Tell that story.

That is really the next part, isn’t it? It isn’t just finding the story, it is telling it and passing it on. We have a unique opportunity to share our findings. We have research techniques that weren’t available when our parents or grandparents may have been putting things in baby books and family bibles. We have access to AI to help write the stories if we are not confident in doing it ourselves. Connect with a younger family member who is. Have them help you to write, illustrate, put into book form what you tell them. (Check out the last chapter of The Ancestry Detective by Pembroke.) Somehow find it, share it, and pass it on for generations that haven’t even arrived yet.

We are the historians! We are the storytellers! We are the leavers of our family legacies!

Heidi Geise, education@hqrl.com