Note: This article by Miles Meyer originally appeared in the Miles’ Genealogy Tips blog site and is used with the author’s permission.

Sometimes, as a blogger with a smaller following, I wonder how my posts affect people or may be used to inspire them in their research. When my son was younger, we home schooled him and many of his homework assignments centered around family history and how his ancestors interacted with historic events. Topics such as the Irish Potato Famine, German migrations, the Civil War, and the westward advance of the pioneers were easily tracked through his ancestors’ stories.

Immigrants arriving at Ellis Island (1911)

Today I received an email from a mother who has been homeschooling her children through the COVID pandemic. They had been watching a show on PBS about immigration and Ellis Island and she had told her children about their great great grandmother who came to the United States through Ellis Island. Most of my ancestors came to the country prior to the opening of Ellis Island but I have written about Ellis Island records in several of my blog posts. Her children came across one of my blog posts in their research and found some information that helped point them in the right direction for their assignment.

As a teacher at heart (16 years as an adjunct professor) and a previous Boy Scout leader, I have a great passion for helping people learn, whether that be the sciences (marine science, biology, conservation ecology) or about their family history and I really appreciated the email that I received telling me how my blog had inspired them to continue their research. They also suggested that I look at another website that they found in their research “New York City History: Ellis Island” (https://www.yourlawyer.com/library/new-york-city-history-ellis-island/). That website lays out the history of Ellis Island and why it is a significant landmark to New York City and the nation.

When we are researching our family history we need to go beyond the names, places and dates. We need to understand the times they lived, the cultures that surrounded them, and the events of their lives. Many of our ancestors survived the Spanish Flu epidemic a little over 100 years ago. Some of our ancestors died during that epidemic. Many of our ancestors lived through the Great Depression. Others fought and died in World War I and World War II. I had previously been working on a blog where I told the stories of my ancestors in context of their times. My OurAncestories blog is located at http://ourancestories.blogspot.com and hasn’t been very active for the last four years. I do need to go back and start telling their stories again.

Remember, family history can be an inspiring and educational hobby. We can learn about the times of our ancestors, the challenges they faced, and realize that if they could do it so can we. I challenge each of you to focus on your last 4-generations and begin to tell their stories so that your children and grandchildren will remember them for what they accomplished.