Friday, January 27, 2012

Friday Finds and Fun: 27 January 2012

Thanks to Kathleen at Moore-Mays.org for this one: The Evergreens Cemetery in Brooklyn. I have been using the Green-Wood Cemetery website for researching my husband’s families, but it didn’t occur to me that The Evergreens would also have a searchable database. I am really beginning to get into Brooklyn research the way I am into Southern research.




This week Marian Pierre-Louis asks “Where Do You Turn for Research Guidance?” and starts the list, which is filled out with lots of good resources suggested in the comments.  From another angle, however, I have been musing this week about how we can learn research techniques from published family narratives. I happen to have three: John Philip Colletta’a Only a Few Bones, which I am currently reading; Steve Luxenberg’s Annie’s Ghosts, which I read recently; and Leslie Albrecht Huber’s The Journey Takers, which I read a while back (and which is currently loaned out, so I do not have it in the picture and have to recall the details - probably imperfectly - from memory).

It is interesting to compare the different approaches the books take in presenting their research and what can be learned from them. All three have end notes and all devote separate sections to distinguish the “dramatis personae.”

The narrative part of Colletta’s book is almost exclusively occupied by the story he uncovered in his research, with both posited and documented details, and only occasional mentions or hints of the sources and evidence behind the story. It is an interesting story, but for anyone researching in the locations where the story is set the goldmine is in the extensive endnotes. The endnotes paint an equally fascinating picture of how wide a researcher actually has to cast his or her net to get the whole story.

Luxenberg incorporates his sources and techniques into his story, though the endnotes elaborate on the sources and provide additional historical background. We genealogists and family historians often think of ourselves as detectives, and Luxenburg’s tale is a variation on this - in this case, we have a researcher who has the skills of/thinks like an investigative reporter. In addition to listing a few rather surprising sources, Luxenburg drives home the other essential quality genealogists/researches must have in addition to analytical skill: persistence - persistence in the face of obstacles, persistence in spite of discouragement, persistence when confronted by evidence that gives the lie to everything you thought you knew, and persistence to the point of chutzpah when necessary.

Leslie Albrecht Huber’s The Journey Takers picks up the themes of persistence and casting our nets wide and moves them into the realm of space and time, i.e., taking the initiative to go as far afield as you need to - to your ancestor’s homeland - and, as the years pass, to stick to following your ancestors’ paths, despite the interruptions of “real life.” She studies the language (German) of some of her ancestors, visits as many ancestral locations as possible, and immerses herself in their lives of long ago, even when the present persists in trying to pull her away.

So in addition to techniques, all three books point to a kind of ultra-commitment to the pursuit of our ancestors, something like the extreme effort put forth by the best athletes: do as much as you can and then do more, find everything you can find and then search some more, immerse yourself completely.

8 comments:

  1. I'm glad I could help you out with the Brooklyn research! It's a very big help for me, so I know it must be for you too.

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    1. Kathleen - I am really in awe of some of the Brooklyn resources, plus NY Vital Records is really good about getting back with death certificates, for instance. At least now, when I find a new cemetery, I won't take it for granted - I'll go look for a website!

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  2. Looking forward to hearing more about what you are learning about Brooklyn research!

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    1. Jacqi - I'll try to post all the new Brooklyn "stuff" I learn about and find; who knows, maybe I'll even take a research trip there!

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  3. Our local genealogical society, Hamilton Co. (Ohio), brought John Philip Colletta for a full-day seminar a few years ago. It was because of him that I initially began blogging. He encouraged us to write our stories. I also got to hear Leslie Albrecht Huber speak at the OGS Conference last year. You brought back memories of both. They were so inspirational.

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    1. Kathy - I have heard both speak as well, and heard Steve Luxenberg when he spoke to the Fairfax Genealogical Society - all were excellent. Now to get the discipline to write my own family stories....

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  4. Seems like I remember reading Colletta's book a while back. I got to see him speak at a seminar several years ago as well. I enjoyed him immensely!

    Luxenberg's book is at my local library, hopefully I can scoop it up the next time I'm out there. I didn't find anything in the library on Huber unfortunately.

    Thanks for the info!

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    1. Dawn - I think you'll really like Luxenberg's book - there are a lot of elements of a mystery there. Lesley's book might be filed under Albrecht if the library has it.

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