“I could easily never have been a genealogist…there were so many things I was interested in.” Suzanne Russo Adams admits that although she has had a very interesting life, being a specialist in family history was not necessarily what she had planned.
Beginning with a Dead Language
Without realizing the work she would eventually do with genealogy, Suzanne’s journey began in the 7th grade. On the first day of school in a gifted and talented class in California, her teacher announced they would spend the next 2 years learning Latin. Suzanne remembers going home and crying to her parents, “He wants us to learn Latin! It is going to be hard. When in my life am I ever going to use Latin?”
Suzanne ended up loving Latin so much she became the valedictorian of her class. Mr. Gene Perkins, her middle school teacher, had a previous valedictorian student who attended Brigham Young University. He suggested the school as a good place to continue her studies. That was another step that was not a part of Suzanne’s original plan. Mr. Perkins had been right about Latin, so maybe BYU would be a possibility she should consider.
Just Another Class Offered at BYU
Fast forward to college at BYU, Suzanne eventually decided her focus would be political science and sociology. Along with finding room in her schedule for Latin and Italian, Suzanne decided to add a class she had never planned on taking. The family history and genealogy degree at BYU had just been brought back, and the class entitled Introduction to Family History sounded fun.
Little did Suzanne know, the intro class would be the beginning of a new obsession in her life. She became fascinated with family history and wanted to learn more. She discovered that her professor, George Ryskamp, had a class on Southern European research. After taking a genealogy course from Ryskamp, Suzanne promptly changed her major to family history and genealogy.
Professor Ryskamp and his wife Peggy were amazing mentors and encouraged internships in the archives in Italy. Suzanne worked with Professor Ryskamp as a research assistant and eventually completed an internship in the archives. The opportunity to be in Italy and experience the documents and research process firsthand really opened her eyes and expanded her learning. Suzanne knew she had found something that would change her life.
Researching Sicilian and Italian Ancestors—Using Old Latin Books
Suzanne fell in love with researching her ancestors…in particular her father’s Sicilian family. She had grown up living with her paternal grandparents. Her grandmother spoke Sicilian, and Suzanne found herself answering back in English. Suzanne loved the culture, the food, the language, everything about their big, loud family parties. She loved listening to the older folks tell stories about the "old country" and generations past. Still, she had never given much thought to researching those stories.
“Because of my Italian roots, I studied southern European family history and had the opportunity to travel to Italy for an internship. While there, I was able to research my roots on-site and also spend time with family. My travels there were in early 1998, before much family history was even on the internet. In those days, the registers I needed were preserved on microfilm, but it was intriguing to not be in front of a computer all day. I was able to visit churches and research my family in books, which just so happened to be written in Latin, because remember…‘when was I ever going to use Latin in my life?’”
A Miraculous Find in the Family History Department
Suzanne ended up graduating with a BA in family history and genealogy and a BS in sociology, illustrating her love for both living people and those who have died. Following Suzanne’s internship and graduation from college, she found herself in Utah interviewing with a then-new genealogy company, Ancestry.com. While there for her interview, she also arranged to meet with employees for a tour of the Family History Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (DBA FamilySearch International). In those early days for Suzanne and many of her colleagues, it was every family history major’s dream to work at FamilySearch or at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah. Unfortunately, there were limited job opportunities at that time with no current openings.
During her visit, they asked if Suzanne would like to take a look at some incoming microfilm. They were checking the film with a loupe to see if the frames were too light or too dark. When Suzanne looked at the header of the film, her eyes filled with tears. The film she was viewing was of her grandmother’s parish in Carini, Palermo, Italy. This was a place she had visited and researched during her internship. When Suzanne had researched the parish in Carini, she had only had 2–3 hours and wished she could spend more time. Staring back at her was information she had been looking for. Suzanne was astonished! Some call this genealogical serendipity. Suzanne felt like it was God telling her He was aware of her and her circumstances.
“Out of the more than 2 million microfilm available for research, it was my parish! It was the exact town where my family has lived for generations—the records dating back to the 1500s. I believe it was a little miracle.”
A Beginning to the Career She Loves
Suzanne went to work for the little start-up, Ancestry.com, with its 50 or so employees at the time. At Ancestry.com, she was the first person to write instructions on how to index genealogical data and put it online.
Suzanne held a variety of different positions while at Ancestry.com, ranging from content strategy, to operations, to conferences and public relations. Ancestry.com is now used by millions to research family histories. Suzanne felt blessed to work there for close to 12 years. She loved the work and the people she worked with.
A Family Involved in Family History
While working for Ancestry, Suzanne first met her future husband, Steve Adams, at a local singles activity. When they met, she told him about her employment in family history, and he casually commented, “Oh, my dad does a little genealogy.” His father had done more than a "little" genealogy. Steve’s father had been president of the Utah Genealogical Association and was even part of the organizing committee for the World Conference on Records in 1969. He also taught family history and library science at BYU. He worked at BYU in the Harold B. Lee Library and retired after years of working in Special Collections there.
“My husband grew up tromping through cemeteries, going to the FamilySearch Family History Library in downtown Salt Lake, and getting paid to make copies of film and books for his dad. Steve grew up around it all. I am so lucky. Because of this, he 'gets' my obsession and passion with family history.”
Steve and Suzanne are the parents of 4 beautiful children who will no doubt eventually have a love of their ancestors and genealogy. Suzanne loves the time they are able to spend together as a family. Trying to keep the traditions alive, they often cook together, making meatballs and spaghetti sauce. For Christmas they love to make ravioli, cannoli, and spedini with Grandma and Grandpa Russo.
Walking a Path That Seemed Prepared
After her bachelors, Suzanne completed a masters degree in European history at BYU. She is also an accredited genealogist through ICAPGen in Italian research. She has served on the boards of the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG), the Utah Genealogical Association (UGA), and as a commissioner for the International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists (ICAPGen). Suzanne is also the author of Finding Your Italian Ancestors: A Beginner’s Guide. She was also the head researcher for season 1 of NBC’s hit series “Who Do You Think You Are?”
For the last 11 years, Suzanne finally got the opportunity to work for FamilySearch, enabling her to do what she loves. She is currently a records content strategist, helping FamilySearch prioritize what genealogical records they will digitally preserve and make freely accessible online from year to year. Right now she also works specifically with Western European records, including those from Italy, Portugal, Spain, France, and the UK.
One of her favorite parts of her work is the occasional travel to visit the archives of different countries. She continues to use her Latin all the time as she does research for her family and the families of others in Catholic Church registers.
“No matter where in the world I am called to go or where I travel to, I come away with a love for the country, the people, and the culture. So true!”
Suzanne, along with her many talents, has helped many find out more about their families. Her life brings to mind a favorite Sufi poem which says, “Long ago God [and maybe Suzanne’s Italian ancestors] drew a circle in the sand exactly around the spot where [Suzanne] is standing right now. [She] was never not coming here. This was never not going to happen.”
As unplanned as Suzanne was for her life’s work, she says, “It’s amazing how I was being prepared from the time I was very young.” Suzanne believes that if we all focus on being who we are, it will become apparent what and where our talents lie. From this positivity, Suzanne definitely has found her destiny, and she loves it!
