In our RootsTech 2022 series on how people are connecting in today’s world, we have focused on the meaningful connections people make with their loved ones, friends, neighbors, and even strangers. We’ve shared stories of connecting through storytelling, traditions, volunteering, and music.
But what about people who lived long ago—our ancestors? They were real people too. Their lives, circumstances and choices influenced us in ways we may not even realize—our beliefs, values, the places we live, the foods we eat, the things we enjoy.
Many people around the world feel the pull to learn more about the generations who came before them. They want to feel connected with them.
Here are examples of how three people remember and connect meaningfully with their ancestors.
Connecting through Crafting
Crafting is more than a hobby—more even than a business—for Jeanne Morton of Ohio, United States. Whether she is sewing, quilting, making jewelry, or transforming vintage books and memorabilia into one-of-a-kind journals, she’s paying homage to the past.
“My creations are an expression of my love for family, tradition, and the keepsakes handed down to the next generation,” she explains. “I especially love finding and using old scraps of linens, lace, letters, photos, recipes, sheet music, advertisements, or handwritten notes. When I find things that were long forgotten—or discarded because of stains and holes or tears—I can feel the love that was poured into them at one time. I can sense the memories they witnessed.”
Jeanne takes vintage items and keepsakes and repurposes them into new items, such as gift tags or journals in which someone can save memories or reflect on their family history. She recalls collecting and repurposing some memorabilia left by a teacher. “I tried to tell her story in the pages of a journal, leaving lots of blank space for writing,” she says. “The journal had class photos, including photos of her with her fellow teachers, and a thank you note from one of her students.”
Copies of Jeanne's own family's vintage photos and memorabilia find their way into her designs too. Recently, Jeanne helped her sister create a recipe journal from their grandmother’s old cookbook, which the sisters fondly recall from their childhood.
“I love to turn these precious old memories into new crafts,” she concludes. “They help me celebrate and remember and share the people who have mattered the most to me and other lives that have gone before mine.”
Learning about Local Heroes
Long ago, the community that is now Lawnside, New Jersey, United States, served as a refuge for people who were escaping slavery. Today, local elementary school students and teachers are connecting with the past by exploring the proud legacy of their hometown history.
“We are trying to connect them to their environment and create citizen learners,” says says Shamele Jordon, host of the Genealogy Quick Start show, who has been working with teachers to develop the project-based curriculum. Students take selfies in front of local historical landmarks. They have virtually visited places such as an 1844 home of African American residents who were active on the Underground Railroad. A now-retired teacher told of the influence of a local doctor and showed the scar from the smallpox vaccination he gave her decades ago.
“It warmed my heart to see the little ones excited about town history in general,” says Shamele. “But when their own family was involved, their lights were even more bright! There is a little guy who is related to the Civil War Medal of Honor Winner John Lawson,” whose grave the students visited. “He is also connected to other entities like the local fire department.”
Shamele loves to see pride bloom in the eyes of students as they learn about the hardships and successes of those who came before. Whether or not the students can claim these forebears as ancestors, they claim them as heroes who share their African heritage and identity.
Discovering the Dead
Sylvia McClean, who lives in the Northern Ireland countryside, connects with her ancestors by researching her family tree and meeting fellow descendants. “Sometimes we connect through FamilySearch and sometimes through DNA,” she explains.
FamilySearch has a shared family tree, where Sylvia collaborates with others who are researching the same ancestors. It wasn’t easy for her at the start. For a time, she was mistaken about the identity of her paternal grandfather. “My grandparents were all dead before I was born, and my dad didn’t keep in touch much with his family,” she says. “Then I connected with a relative who found my correct grandfather, and the information came in thick and fast after that. I’ve had many contacts through DNA who have helped me work out who they are and how we fit together.”
“My great-great-grandfather was the only one to stay in Ireland and take care of the family farm,” she continues. “Nearly everyone else went to Canada or the United States, and that’s where I find a lot of my DNA matches. But I’ve also discovered three second cousins who live within five minutes of me, who I never knew about! The beach where I take my granddaughters horseback riding is just a couple of minutes away from my great-great-grandmother’s home.”
“I find myself thinking of my ancestors always,” she concludes. “Family history makes me know the kind of people I’ve come from. I have stood on graves and sobbed my heart out for people I’ve never known. I can identify with them; I can see myself in them. I bring their story to life and validate who they were, but they teach me who I am too.”
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