tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527613590529958801.post2362187745375114957..comments2024-03-07T23:20:49.790-07:00Comments on Genealogy's Star: Don't rely on icons and stereotypes in historical researchJames Tannerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02989059644120454647noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527613590529958801.post-32918920332989048542011-04-26T18:12:16.171-07:002011-04-26T18:12:16.171-07:00I love this statement, "Many times those bric...I love this statement, "Many times those brick walls are in our own minds..."!! I ran into that when I couldn't find a death certificate for my great-great-grandmother - long story, but it just never occurred to me that she hadn't died where she was buried...what was she doing, gasp, TRAVELING?!?!? Thanks for the great reminders in this post.Diana Ritchiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05954839264299339937noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527613590529958801.post-13166267182201993012011-04-23T13:35:37.532-07:002011-04-23T13:35:37.532-07:00This is an interesting and important point, James....This is an interesting and important point, James. So often our view of history is flawed by reliance on the icons and stereotypes you describe. In thirty years teaching US History I ran into far too many students who made a mistake that any genealogist would recognize right away. They said that their ancestors came to this country by way of Ellis Island right after the Civil War. Of course the Ellis Island’s immigration station wasn’t opened until 1892, so either their ancestors arrived later or didn’t come through Ellis Island. I encountered the same thing with Chinese students in the San Francisco Bay Area who said ancestors had come through Angel Island in the 1880s when Angel Island didn’t open until 1910. The reason for their confusion was obvious. These were the two best known most iconic immigration stations on their respective coasts. But their ancestors’ stories got a lot more interesting when the students began to look at what they really experienced. <br />One of the things the increased interest in social history and oral history in the last fifty years has done is to make it possible to actually see what the experience of average people was really like at a particular time and place. They, in effect, allow us to take the Saguaro out of the Sahara as we try to understand our historical past.Biff Barneshttp://www.storiestotellbooks.comnoreply@blogger.com