Favorite Reads of the Week: 20 February 2016

Today I’m sharing my favorite blog posts and genealogy news from around the web. I am especially fascinated by the Wall Street Journal piece about growing heirloom variety flowers – the same varieties your ancestors may have grown. I looked at some heirloom flower seed packets at our local nursery today, but decided I needed to scour my family stories for mentions of plants before I buy any.

Also, I’m looking forward to the History Channel’s remake of the mini-series “Roots,” based on the 1976 book by Alex Haley. Although Haley was charged with plagiarism and also admitted that parts of the book were “faction,” Roots inspired millions of Americans to research their family trees. I thought the book was fascinating when I first read it. You can get a copy here: Roots: The Saga of an American Family (This is an affiliate link. If you click the link and purchase the item, we receive a small commission but it doesn’t change the price of the book.)

One of my favorite posts from a fellow blogger lately is “Genealogy is not for Old People” at Sharing the Past. The post talks about RootsTech and the opportunities available for innovators and developers in the genealogy industry. It ends with: “I wanted to instead take this opportunity to shout at all the innovators, engineers, technologists, investors, photographers, storytellers, artists and dreamers of the world. The past is your future. Genealogy is not for old people. It is for everyone. And there aren’t enough of you paying attention to it.” I came away from RootsTech with many of the same thoughts.

Without further ado, here’s the list: