many of us do genealogy to find idendity?

Question

i have done my genealogy religiously for some time now, and i know quite a bit. but why
we as americans, especially those if us whose family goes back a while in america, have a hard time identifying culturally. admit it, i do. we are so mixed with different family members of different nationality that we dont know who we can relate to.
whether you are decended of germans, irish, french, jews, native indians, we are all just looking for identity and knowledge.
do you agree, what are your reasons for genealogy? is it just to know, or are you looking for something in your family to be proud of.
being an american is alot to be proud of, but in such a diverse nation we want to be included in a group or two.
what do you think???

Answer 1

I am a charter member of genealogists anonymous. I am addicted to the satisfaction of finding what others think is unfindable. If someone walks within 20 feet of me, they are at risk of me trying to find their ancestors.
Sometimes I am awake in the middle of the night, and go to the computer to see if there is a challenge, someone wanting a lead or tip, to break their 'brick wall'.
I truly believe we all need a sense of 'belonging', if not just to our immediate family, then also in a broader sense of belonging/ getting along with others around us. Our ancestors were NOT all perfect, or braggable... sometimes just knowledge can lead to acceptance of them as fallible humans. Hopefully, we grow from knowledge.
There is a TREMENDOUS amount of conflict and dispute out there, that divides people. Genealogy (for me) is a haven from much of that.
I personally think that none of our cultures or heritages are 'worth' more pride than another, but knowing that many of us have diverse backgrounds can (if we allow it) make us more accepting and tolerant of others. Genealogy is technically about biological connections, but beyond that, we have spiritual connections, if we so choose. Without knowledge of our past, we tend to see ourselves only in terms of "now".. when you actually document and see how far back you go, it can broaden a sense of continuity.
It gives me an excuse to avoid housework.

Answer 2

I think it's partly to do with America still being fairly new as a country so there is no solid heritage, and the "melting pot" deal brings in a lot that tries to find a way to fit together.

The way I look at it, I think heritage is one of the big things people sacrificed by coming here. Even if people still hold on to their culture for a generation or two or three, at some point their kids are bound to get merged into the average American thing like everyone else and their background gets mixed and forgotten. Then people down the line gets stuck with wondering who they are and where their family originated from.

If we could fast forward a few thousand years, people would have become more a part of this land and see themselves as specifically from here (and probably no clue otherwise), but for the time being, it's not far off enough to feel that way.

Answer 3

I recently was reunited with family from Germany...it started my quest in wanting to know who these people were.
My mother was a war bride and left behind every thing from
Germany and never really left a lot for me to follow up on.
She passed away in February of this year and every since I have had a passion to find out who these people were and where I came from.

Answer 4

My research turned out to be an 8+ year addiction -
The grandparents on the the maternal side of my mother's mother were "HEPTIG" from Tiergarten (date to mid 1600's) & "STAAB" from Heigenbrueken, Aschaffenburg, Bavaria (date to 1500's).
But these greatgrandparents are of a "brick wall", my Mom's paternal grandfather was a "Charles REINBOLT" of Alsace-Lorraine, Germany (occupied by French or German from time to time) said to be German (although there are other variations including the French variation "REINBOLD") & his wife Catherine "BECK", was one of many others by the same name. I was unable to find anything other than a partial birthdate date for her (Dec. 1868, NY), date of death, and the burial plot for them.

My father's paternal side is really interesting, he was (deceased) a "SCLAFANI", the line dates back to 1083! - in Sicily, Italy (1st/2nd Crusade), from the Norman nobility (Roger D'Hauteville (aka. Ruggero di Altavilla) of which settled in Sicily. My 3rd paternal great grandparents were both SCLAFANI's (2nd cousins- possibly).
++++++
The maternal grandparents of my father were born in Sciacca, Agrigento, Sicily. With his mother being a "PETRUSA" (and her parents: PETRUSA & AVONA.
The PETRUSA name was also found to be from the Netherlands, Croatia & Slovenia.

~Di (aka. Suzanne)
[e-mail]

Answer 5

I've been tracing my family tree since I was a child. It started as a school project. I became fascinated with it. When I was in Bavaria, I had a sense of "belonging, " as that is where my great-grandfather is from.

Answer 6

that's what I discovered in college, and from my dad and mom; in case you have faith life started out with Adam and Eve interior the previous testomony.... then 5768 years, the Jewish New year. in accordance to my mom, who's conscious each little thing, the Greeks could have "condensed" the story whilst they recreated the classic Egyptians version of how life started out, and ignored the biggest factors of a few centuries or so.