Family History for Right Now

Several years ago, there was much ado about Bruce Feiler's article in the New York Times entitled "The Stories that Bind Us."  In it he talked about how family history stories give kids resilience.  His assertions were based on some studies done in the Psychology Department of Emory University.  There, in the Emory Center for Myth and Ritual in American Life, Marshall Duke, Robyn Fivush, Jennifer Bohanek, noticed that children who knew more about their family history did better in therapy.  They created the "Do You Know" test with 20 questions about family history.  They found that the children who scored the highest on on the test also scored higher in tests of feeling like they have a sense of control in their world, lower levels of anxiety and more resilience.  

A sense of control in the world, lower levels of anxiety and more resilience!! Exactly what we all need--no matter what age you are--in these surprising, challenging, crazy pandemic times.  

Now is the perfect moment for each of us to look to our ancestors for strength and inspiration.  Now is the perfect time to instill those stories in our family members to lower anxiety and produce more resilience.  When you tell a family story, in person, over social media or over video conferencing, you are creating more peace in the midst of the storm.

SO, we've decided to look to our ancestors with you, over social media, our newsletter and etc. with the hashtag #ResilientRoots.  We hope you will join us and share your ancestor's stories of faith, resilience, patience, perseverance, flexibility, optimism, kindness, grace and connection.  We're excited to share ours with you.  I think we can all find the hope we need already inside us.  It is in the very DNA they gave us.  

Watch over the next couple of weeks:

Here on the blog

On Instagram

On Facebook

On Twitter

And On Our Newsletter

To read more: 

My previous writings about the science behind family history: https://zapthegrandmagap.blogspot.com/search/label/Science

Bruce Feiler's RootsTech Keynote: https://youtu.be/i8sZl-Ny2D0

Fivush, Robyn. Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia; Bohanek, Jennifer G. University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Duke, Marshall.  Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia.  “The Intergenerational Self: Subjective Perspective and Family History.” in F. Sani (Ed.) Individual and Collective Self-Continuity.  Mahwah, NH: Erlbaum, 2007. Available at https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/ad62/42da2284543ed3fe161049f941b3f0a43daf.pdf

Fivush, Robyn. Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia; Bohanek, Jennifer G. University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Zayman, Widaad. Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia.  “Personal and intergenerational narratives in relation to adolescents’ well-being.” In T. Habermas (ed.). The development of autobiographical reasoning in adolescence and beyond. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 131. 45-57. 

Holiday Family History Activites

The kids are home from school for a couple of weeks.  Or maybe you have grandkids visiting?  I'm sure you'll do some fun things together, but I hope you'll also incorporate your family history.  As I've said many many times before, family history is the one thing that your family shares, that no one else shares with you.  It brings so many healthy benefits to your descendants and it is the best team building exercise there is.  So here are a few ideas about how to incorporate a little family history into your holiday break.  

And speaking of breaks.. we will only have a skeleton staff on call until we all come back into the office on January 8th.  Our team has worked incredibly hard this last couple of months to make sure all of our clients have the perfect holiday gift.  So we feel that they really need and deserve some time off to spend with their families.  If you need a chart soon, feel free to send your information in for a free consultation at https://familychartmasters.com/consult but just know that we'll be a little slower through the holidays.  If you need it soon though--feel free to tell us what your deadline is.  We'll always work really hard to meet any deadlines you have.  

And now on to the ideas...

1. Watch your family history together.  Ready for a nice relaxing movie all wrapped up in blankets and drinking cocoa?  How about picking one with a family history theme?  Maybe there is a show with ties to your family history.. such as Fiddler on the Roof or Gone with the Wind.  Or you could choose a show that celebrates family history such as Disney's Moana or Coco.  

Make a gingerbread house of a historic place in your family

2. Cook your family history together.  I've shared many times how much my family's holiday cooking takes in our family history.  This year I bought some Krankenkake molds and we're going to try this new recipe together.  As you cook together, or eat together, make sure you pass on the history behind your tradition.  

 

3. Fill out a chart together.  With our new 2019 on-trend designs, you can inspire descendants to new genealogical heights as you work on a chart for their own home together.  Filling out a chart can prompt story telling and explanations that may not come up otherwise.  The perfect takeaway from Grandma's house.  

4. Talk about the heirlooms you have (and maybe gift them to family members).  Maybe you have some holiday heirlooms on display.  Or maybe you have a box set aside that needs to be organized.  Get your family involved in family history by giving them ownership and helping them see the interesting assets you have in your family.  

5. Check out more ideas in our Zap the Grandma Gap books.  The Zap the Grandma Gap books and workbooks are chock full of ideas for family activities that work with kids of all ages (even my Dad)  Order the physical books or get them quickly in eBook form at zapthegrandmagap.com

Let me know how it goes at janet@familychartmasters.com.  And watch the blog--I'll report back too.  Have a wonderful holiday break!

A Gift From Grandpa

George Alvin Carpenter About 1958

My father's father, George Alvin Carpenter was a great scholar.  He was a university professor who spent his career at UC Berkley and then retired and taught 15 more years at Brigham Young University.  He was an agricultural economist who helped rebuild the economy in Europe after World War II.  He was involved in research and teaching his whole life.

But he was not a genealogist.  His father Joseph Hatten Carpenter was.  Joseph was a prolific genealogist who I've written about before.  I suspect that my Grandfather Alvin spent most of his life feeling that his father had done everything that was necessary with our family's history.  I don't think he was really very interested.

However, I do remember once, when I was about 7 or so, my Grandfather sat all of his grandchildren down on the swing on his back porch and told us about our family history.  I was the oldest, my cousins were probably between 2 and 4 years old.  I remember Grandpa was trying to tell us something important, but it was really boring.  I didn't understand much.  But I remember Grandpa was really proud of his heritage.

About 1973.  I'm on the left with my cousins on the porch swing.  If my memory is right, this is the day my grandfather tried to tell us about our family history.

Being a university professor, I know Grandpa was perfectly capable of real research and he could have been a good genealogist.  However my Grandfather performed only one genealogical act in his life that I know of. He wrote a history of his father, Joseph Hatten Carpenter--the genealogist.  This book is only 145 one sided pages.  But that one small act had a great impact on me. 

The book was published when I was 10 years old.  Because I was one of the descendants, I got my very own copy.  It sat on the little white bookshelf in my room and on quiet nights, I would pull it out, and read about Joseph.  Even though I have many ancestors who were actually quite famous, Joseph was the one I knew the most about, and I became quite connected to him.  When the time came that I wanted to learn more about my family history, you can guess who I was connected to, and where I wanted to spend my time first.  I've traveled to the family history sites and archives researching along this line and I've learned alot about my patriarchal family because of this small book my Grandfather wrote. 

Grandpa passed the year I turned 16. It is hard to quantify the effect he had on my life.  Certainly my ethic for education came from him and that has been a huge influence in my life.  I could go on and on about other things I've learned from him.  But this small book has been a real treasure. 

When I started lecturing at Family History Conferences, my very first lecture was "Where to Start When It Is All Done,"  I talked about the family history my Great-Grandfather Joseph collected and what I've been able to do with it.  In that lecture, I often showed this book of my Grandfather's and talked about what an impact it had on my life and my family history work.  Diving into Family History when alot of work has already been done is challenging--just like it was for my Grandfather Alvin.  I tried to encourage the attendees by showing them his book and describing what an impact it had on me.  I told them that if they only accomplished one thing, it would be worth it in the lives of their descendants.  According to my records, I've given that lecture 34 times from coast to coast and my copy of Alvin's book has come along with me. 

But the most amazing thing happened last month.  My son Matthew has been helping my Dad go through his family history boxes.  And they found this:  A copy of the book that my Grandfather had actually signed to me.  It reads in part:

I hope that you will enjoy reading about some of his wonderful accomplishments.  May you learn to appreciate the great heritage you have as his great-grand-daughter.  With love and best wishes, your grandfather, G. Alvin Carpenter.

When they gave it to me I just cried.  It was like a pat on the back from my Grandfather for the work that I have put into this industry, trying to help people with this important work.  I felt like I had been fulfilling my Grandfather's wishes, to learn about our amazing heritage and honor his legacy.  And even though he never saw it in this life, I had learned to appreciate this history that was so important to him. 

Had I always had this copy of the book, I don't know that it would have had such an impact on me.  So you never know... you never know where the trail of breadcrumbs will lead your descendants.  How blessed I am for the people who went ahead of me and blazed that trail. 

What's in Your Attic and What to Do About It.

This Thursday I get to present a Virtual Chapter meeting for the Utah Genealogical Association with my Dad.  We've given this presentation at RootsTech and at the BYU Family History Conference and I really enjoy presenting this one because it is something that we all deal with.  How do we work together to deal with all the stuff we've inherited?

Here is the description:

Great Grandfather was a wonderful genealogist, but even with the best plan, three generations later some of his treasures are now hard for family members to find.  This Father and Daughter team wants to do better.  What is the best plan for digitizing and archiving the items in their family history boxes?  Where do they find the time and resources to implement that plan?  Where do we put the most important items so that all of the family can find them?  How do they make sure that all future generations have access to the stories, artifacts and pictures that bring recent and current generations to life?  

And here are the bios:

Don A Carpenter has a PhD in higher education administration from the University of Utah and B.A. and M.A. degrees from BYU.  He retired as Associate Commissioner for the Utah System of Higher Education (State Board of Regents).  He also served as Assistant Dean at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles.  Don was president of the National Council of State Directors of Community Colleges, president of the National Association of State Approving Agencies, and  president of the  Jordan (Utah) School Board.  He currently serves as a volunteer collecting histories at the LDS Church History Library.

Janet Carpenter Hovorka received a B.A. in History and a Master's in Library and Information Science from BYU.  She and her husband Kim own Family ChartMasters the official printers for most of the genealogy software and database companies and GenealogyDOTcoach, a new online service that helps family history enthusiasts connect to professionals to get the specific help they need.  Janet is also the author of the Zap The Grandma Gap book and workbooks to help people connect with their family by connecting them to their family history.  Janet shares her passion for the nutrition family history brings to the soul on her two blogs and has written for numerous genealogy publications. She is a past President of the Utah Genealogical Association and teaches library science, business and genealogy courses at Salt Lake Community College.  


You can register at https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7882703811691568897

The UGA Virtual Chapter meets online on the third Thursday evening of each month, except December.  Free to the public, you can register for the live presentation by clicking on the link above or go to virtual.ugagenealogy.org.  You will receive an email confirmation and link to access the meeting when it starts.  Archived videos of these presentation are available to UGA members on the website.  If you would like to join the UGA. only $35 per year, go to ugagenealogy.org and select the option "Join UGA!"