Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is an interview with Suzanne Campbell Lowe. In 2005, Suzanne learned from a white cousin about her Campbell family’s connection — through slavery — to a black man named James Meredith. Over the course of the next several years, Suzanne’s white and black families have built their relationships and explored their descendancy from their common ancestor: a prominent white leader of the Confederacy named J.A.P. Campbell. Join us as we discuss Suzanne’s journey getting to know her black cousins and learning about African American research. Transcript Links Coming to the Table...
My Grandpa Two years ago, my Dad’s family gathered for an epic reunion. His parents, their 10 children and spouses, and over 50 of their grandchildren convened for several days of activities and evening programs. One evening included a songwriting activity that turned out to be entertaining and storytelling-inducing. Each family was given a piece of butcher paper and an assignment to re-write the lyrics to a familiar song to be about my dad’s family growing up. We chose “Popcorn Popping.” Each family separately came up with their verse and then the butcher paper was taped up to the...
When the family is all together at a reunion, it’s a great time to celebrate the family stories that we all share. We did this at my dad’s family reunion with his 9 siblings a couple years ago. I wrote about the ancestor skits we did in this post: How to Do an Ancestor Skit Night at Your Family Reunion. Seeing each other perform our family history stories was memorable and, at times, hilarious. Reading about our ancestor Elam Hollingsworth who one Native American called “head on fire” because of his red hair is one thing. But seeing your uncle (complete...
Family reunions are one of the most popular times to share family history. Hardly a year goes by that we don’t have some kind of reunion, and as you can probably guess, I make every effort to go because I don’t want to miss any fun family history moments! For this month’s Family History for Children blog link up, we’re inviting bloggers to share their memorable family reunion moments. What activities has your family done at reunions to engage all ages? How have you passed down important family stories, values, and heritage at these gatherings? Share your family’s reunion traditions...
When my family travels anywhere that has a connection to our past, we do our best to teach our children about their family history. Children can experience family history first hand when they do “field trips” to family sites. Experiencing the places of significance to our ancestors has great potential for being memorable and fun. In the very least, it will be a photo op to help you remember for years to come. Children are used to touching, exploring, and discovering their environments. They delight in finding new places to have adventures. Exploring physical locations can be the perfect precursor...
What do you when you’re put in charge of the family history part of your family reunion? How do you engage 150 people ages 0 – 87? If you’re my friend, Rischelle, you go to work and come up with some amazing activities. I asked her to share her ideas and photos, so enjoy. Yadon Family Reunion 2016 By Rischelle Mikkelson In June we held a large family reunion inviting all of the descendants of my great grandparents, Frank and Hattie Yadon. Although the nuclear family of Frank and Hattie and their eight children (including my Grandpa) have all...
I’m happy to introduce a guest blogger today. Mike Gibson is a singer/songwriter who grew up in East Tennessee. As a young boy he discovered an old guitar tucked away in the back of a closet. Influenced by such artists as James Taylor, Dan Fogelberg and Jim Croce, he has been playing, singing and writing for over four decades. He will be sharing his experience writing a song about his grandparents in conjunction with a family reunion he attended and the feelings of love, family, and belonging that accompanied the experience. Thank you for sharing, Mike! -Nicole By Mike Gibson...
Are you planning an epic family reunion this summer? Do you have photos in boxes or on your phone from a past reunion? In just a few hours, you can create a beautiful book worthy of any coffee table. Two years ago, my mother broached the subject of a family reunion being planned at Martin’s Cove in Wyoming. The reunion would be for the descendants of Charles Cannon Creer, her grandfather. His mother, Sarah Jane and grandmother, Ann, had been in the first Mormon handcart company to come through Martin’s Cove in 1856. My mother really wanted to go, but...
Do you need to inject some life into your next family reunion? You might want to try adding an “Amazing Race” element. In today’s guest post, Ann Jeppson, shares ideas that you could adapt for your next family adventure. – Diana by Ann Jeppson My father’s family has lived in Lehi, Utah for four generations, so we have a lot of family history that is connected to the town. We wanted the younger generations to feel a connection to that heritage. Making a race out of the “learning experience” seemed like a fun way to do it. We called it “AMAZING...
Last year, my grandmother planned a reunion for her ten children and 50+ grandchildren. I asked her if we could include some family history activities during the week and do a “family tree gathering,” so she put me in charge of Family Home Evening on Monday night. I wanted to plan an activity that all the adults would enjoy and even the smallest children could be involved in too. After giving it some thought, I decided that acting out our family stories would be perfect. Preparation A few weeks in advance, we asked each of the ten families to choose an ancestral couple, read stories about...
