Family History

The Decatur Daily’s article on “Exploring Their Roots” talks about how the Jones family preserves their family history by involving the whole family, including the younger generation, by making their family reunions as family affair.

Catherine Miller knows what it takes to put on a big family reunion — good food, family history books with old photos, games and fun, T-shirts, goody bags and door prizes. But the most important part is providing time for relatives — especially younger family members — to learn about each other and their extended family.

…Only Walter Jones has living sons and daughters, said Miller, reunion president. One of them — her uncle Willie E. Jones — was reunion treasurer. “It’s very important to keep getting together. We’re just about down to cousins in the Jones family.”

It’s important for younger members of the family to know their roots,” she said. “We’re not going to be here that long, so if we don’t teach them now…

“There’s been a couple of times my children have run into people who are in the family and didn’t know who they were — and they could marry them, if they didn’t know.”

Red-bound family history booklets showed the branches of the family tree, as did 250 red and black reunion T-shirts…Miller, 62, a breast cancer survivor and Delphi retiree, relied on cousin Barbara Cook and uncle Willie E. Jones as reunion helpers. Her children — Melvin Harris, 40; Darren Harris, 39, and twins Sharanda and Sharonda Harris, 22-year-old students at The University of Alabama at Birmingham — also helped.

Now she has 13 grandchildren and one great-granddaughter — 8-year-old Shasha, who was a winner of the 1950s dance contest during the reunion. Trips to Point Mallard for water fun, horseshoes, badminton, dominoes and other games were part of the reunion, too.

Fanny Mitchell of Florence, 82, won a prize as the oldest family member attending, while Willie E. Jones’ 6-month-old great-granddaughter, Hannah Jones of Decatur, was the youngest.

Involving the entire family in the family reunion plans is step one to a successful family reunion. Instead of putting all the work on the shoulders of one person, delegate it. Miller and her family have a chair person, treasurer, a few handling the family history and research, and various people handling and coordinating the games and activities, including arrangements for food. The more who are involved, the more fun it is for all.

There is a lot of news around today on DNA tests to prove your lineage. It’s still early days in the technology, but it has opened up a huge front for genealogists and family history researchers. The Pasadena Star News recently published “Family History Gets a Boost”, making some interesting points on DNA roots research.

The latest tool for genealogists has spurred interest in the subject so much that it is currently the No. 1 hobby in the country, said Miriam Benell, one of the founding members of the Whittier Area Genealogical Society (WAGS).

…The practice of using DNA in genealogy was started in 2000 by Family Tree DNA, a Texas-based group that is affiliated with the University of Arizona, where all its tests are performed.

It now houses the largest database of DNA in the country, with more than 100,000 records…Tests can place a person’s genetics into one of several ancient migrations of humans from Africa.

According to the National Geographic Web site, scientists call the common male ancestor “Adam” but point out that he was not literally the first male human. Instead, Adam, who lived in Africa 60,000 years ago, is the only male whose descendants survived to the present day.

“It’s well-established science that we’re all related to the same black man and woman out of Africa about 200,000 years ago,” Miller said. “I’ve had some people get angry at me for telling them that in my DNA seminars. It’s a very touchy subject.”

First, genealogy research is the number one most popular hobby. Wow! That’s exciting. The more people involved, the more information available to help each other find our ancestors.

Second, why would finding the genealogical “source” for human beings be a touchy subject? Must be a racial thing. What a minute, we’re all the same race! Isn’t that what this is saying? Wow!

Third, it’s a fact. Not just a scientific fact, but a provable fact. The more people’s DNA that gets tested, the more this fact is proved, over and over again. I think it’s exciting. Maybe they’ll find that the man was an African and the woman was from outer space. Wouldn’t that make more than a few people upset? 😉 Gives intelligent design fans pause. Talk about your touchy subjects!

Okay, I’m making fun of something serious, but also exciting. The idea of researching our genealogical roots back 60,000 years is amazing.

Though, having stood in a cave in the Middle East claimed to have over 200,000 years of continuous human occupation, 60,000 years is a drop in the life bucket.

What if we could go back to our genetic relatives 200,000 years ago? What would their lives be like? Inside of the Carmel Caves, they have a short docu-drama giving us a glimpse of what their lives were like living inside of the cave, dependent upon them for protection from the elements and the wildlife. Actors with dirty faces and long beards and hair did their best to give us a glimpse of a day or two in the life of these cave dwellers.

I’m thrilled to find information on a relative from 100 years ago. Tracing family back 200,000, let alone 60,000 years, is amazing. And exciting.

Touchy? As my mother says so frequently, “Get over it.” And get to know your relatives. They are all around you, and in every color, shape and size.

Nature News reports how “Family Albums Highlight Climate Change”, showcasing the pictures of the facts we already know.

Climate researchers and ecologists are usually known for using complex computer simulations to study environmental change. But Boston University researchers are using more humble sources to determine the effects of climate change on local flora and fauna.

For the past three years, Richard Primack and Abraham Miller-Rushing have asked Massachusetts residents with long memories and a record-keeping habit to show how rising temperatures over the decades have changed the nature around them.

The data they have collected from amateur naturalists, farmers, landscape gardeners and photographers show that trees are sprouting leaves earlier in spring, birds are changing their migratory habits, and the patterns of flowers’ blooming is changing.

As I’ve been pouring through and scanning old family history photo albums, I’ve been fascinated with the pictures of family trips to the Columbia Ice Fields in Canada, images of Northern Wisconsin, all over the Olympic and Cascade mountain ranges in Washington State, and other trips to national parks throughout the Western United States. While some of these old photographs are within my life time, many are 25-50 years older. When I compare what I’ve photographed today with the photographs and postcards of these famous natural areas from yesteryear, I’m stunned by the changes.

I will be posting some of those comparisons soon so you can see the differences of what these places looked like then and now.

And if you have images of the Boston area throughout history, contact the Boston University. They are looking for help to show and prove the effect of climate change on their area.