• Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • Home
  • About
    • About Current
    • Masthead
  • Podcasts
  • Blogs
    • The Way of Improvement Leads Home
    • The Arena
  • Reviews
  • Membership
  • Your Account
  • Log In
  • Member Assistance Request

genealogy

Roots

John Fea   |  December 7, 2022

Every year in my United States history survey course we spend three or four class periods talking about the meaning of democracy in antebellum America. During a small seminar I introduce students to Alexis De Tocqueville, the author of Democracy...

(To access this content, become a member or log in.)

Episode 99: “Historicizing the Search for Roots”

John Fea   |  April 10, 2022

Do you do genealogical research? In this episode, historian Francesca Morgan talks about her new book A Nation of Descendants: Politics and the Practice of Genealogy in U.S. History. She discusses Americans’ fascination with tracking family lineage through three centuries and how the...

(To access this content, become a member or log in.)

1950 census data is about to be released

John Fea   |  March 31, 2022

On Friday (tomorrow) to be exact. Here is Michael Ruane at The Washington Post: On April 1, 1950, an army of 140,000 census enumerators, equipped with fountain pens and government forms, started fanning out across the country to paint a...

(To access this content, become a member or log in.)

How American Descendants of Slavery Are Connecting With Their Roots

John Fea   |  February 26, 2020

Check out DESCENDANTS, a Washington Post series about African-Americans searching for their roots.  Here is a description: For many Americans, blended ancestry is an integral part of their identity. The mosaic of hyphenated heritages preserves cultural connections beyond the United States,...

(To access this content, become a member or log in.)

Mormon Church Donates $2 Million to Help African Americans Trace Family History

John Fea   |  March 5, 2019

Read all about it at the Atlanta Black Star.  Here is a taste of Tanasia Kenney’s report: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced this week that it’s donating $2 million to the International African-American Museum in Charleston, S.C., to create...

(To access this content, become a member or log in.)

Historiann on “Who Do You Think You Are?”

John Fea   |  August 31, 2015

Always good to see a fellow history blogger on television!  Recently Historiann, aka Ann Little of Colorado State University, appeared as an expert historian on the television show “Who Do You Think You Are.”  She helped television personality Tom Bergeron...

(To access this content, become a member or log in.)

Quote of the Day

John Fea   |  June 26, 2015

“Far more people know that Ben Affleck is descended from slave-owners now than would have known if he had just cooperated as everyone else did.” –Kevin Gutzman, Western Connecticut State University (via Facebook). Need some context for this quote?  Try...

(To access this content, become a member or log in.)

Millions of New York History Records Available Free Online

John Fea   |  January 24, 2014

I just saw this article at The New York Times: An index to more than 10 million New York City birth, marriage and death records from 1866 to 1948 is available free online thanks to a collaboration between the city’s...

(To access this content, become a member or log in.)

The Obama Slave Ancestor Debate Continues

John Fea   |  August 13, 2012

This week’s edition of the History News Network includes a special forum on the recent research by Ancestry.com claiming that Barack Obama’s family tree on his mother’s side can be traced to a “slave” in colonial Virginia named John Punch....

(To access this content, become a member or log in.)

Obama May Have Ties to American Slavery…

John Fea   |  July 31, 2012

…on his mother’s side of the family. According to new genealogical research by Ancestry.com, Barack Obama’s family tree on his mother’s side can be traced to a slave in colonial Virginia named John Punch.  The New York Times is on...

(To access this content, become a member or log in.)

The Philip Vickers Fithian–William Tecumseh Sherman Connection

John Fea   |  May 30, 2012

It is amazing the things you find out (or others find out for you) about the historical characters who you spend a chunk of your life studying. Shortly after I published The Way of Improvement Leads Home: Philip Vickers Fithian...

(To access this content, become a member or log in.)

Weekend Edition: Monticello Through the Eyes of Jefferson’s Slaves

John Fea   |  March 12, 2012

National Public Radio’s “Weekend Edition” has a nice piece (audio and web) on the new exhibit currently housed at the Museum of American History called “Slavery at Jefferson’s Monticello: Paradox of Liberty.”  Here is a video that is part of...

(To access this content, become a member or log in.)

Writing Family History Papers

John Fea   |  February 5, 2011

I just came across this great post by history teacher Nate Kogan at his very interesting blog, The History Channel This is Not.  As part of his U.S. history survey course, Kogan has students research their family history.  Here is...

(To access this content, become a member or log in.)

A Day With Mayflower Descendants

John Fea   |  October 4, 2009

After The Way of Improvement Leads Home appeared in 2008, I began to receive invitations to speak at ancestral societies connected with the American Revolution. I usually accept the invitations. Philip Vickers Fithian is a character of special interest to...

(To access this content, become a member or log in.)

Genealogists

John Fea   |  July 10, 2008 1 Comment

Professional historians tend to have little patience for genealogists. It is not that they do not like what genealogists do. (In fact, I know many historians who are interested in the search for their family roots.). What bothers them is […]

Footer

Contact Forms

General Inquiries
Pitch Us
  • Manage Your Account
  • Member Assistance Request

Search

Subscribe via Email



Please wait...
Please enter all required fields Click to hide
Correct invalid entries Click to hide
Subscribe via Email


Please wait...
Please enter all required fields Click to hide
Correct invalid entries Click to hide