We wish you and your family members a safe and happy holiday season. Thank you for subscribing to The Weekly Genealogist, and for supporting our mission to promote and advance the study of family history.
Upcoming Online Lecture, January 22
Origins and Migrations: Where Did They Come From, Where Did They Go?
Our ancestors moved near and far seeking economic opportunities, religious freedoms, and proximity to family. All this movement poses research challenges. We might have an ancestor in our sights and then—poof!—they’re gone; or we may have an ancestor who apparently sprang out of thin air. In this online lecture, Senior Genealogist Melanie McComb will offer several strategies for discovering ancestral origins and destinations. Learn More
Descendants Celebrated the Boston Tea Party in Boston
In partnership with the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum, American Ancestors helped unveil the first definitive, fully vetted list of Boston Tea Party participants and eyewitnesses. Based on original research, this list brings new clarity to a pivotal moment in American history. We're grateful to NBC10 Boston for covering the unveiling on December 16. Watch Now
The Weekly Genealogist Survey
This Week's Survey:
Ancestors or Relatives in an Amateur or Professional Band, Choir, or Orchestra
Share your story! Each week in our Readers Respond column, we publish a selection of reader-submitted stories related to our most recent survey. Submissions must be 150 words or fewer and include your full name, city, and state. Published responses will be edited for clarity and length.
73%, I eat foods and/or drinks that are traditional in my family.
69%, I display decorations and holiday items (ornaments, nativity sets, menorahs, dreidels) from previous generations.
51%, I observe some holiday customs that originated with previous generations of my family.
24%, I observe some holiday customs that are rooted in my family's ethnic heritage.
16%, I observe some holiday customs that are rooted in my family's regional heritage.
45%, I reminisce and share stories about previous generations.
20%, I give gifts related to family history.
19%, I display or look at photos (or home movies or videos) of previous generations celebrating.
7%, I travel/have traveled to ancestral towns or countries as part of my holiday celebrations.
9%, I celebrate in a way not mentioned above.
4%, I celebrate a winter holiday other than, or in addition to, Christmas or Hanukkah.
2%, I do not celebrate any winter holidays.
Readers Respond
Kathleen Bilger, Livonia, Michigan: My holiday traditions include using recipes that are connected to my heritage. I returned from Wisconsin with a recipe for Norwegian Christmas bread. After a visit to Williamsburg, I added spoon bread to our holiday menu. Visits to Boston and Plymouth in search of Mayflower and Revolutionary War ancestors introduced cranberries to our table. Sharing these recipes with my family makes me feel like our ancestors have joined our celebrations.
Bruce Randall, Ottawa, Ontario: While I have 400+ years of Christian history in my family, my wife, sons, and I are Muslim. We celebrate Burns Night with halal hagis, and St Patrick's Day with halal corned beef in honour of our ancestors. But the big celebration of "The Holidays" is New Year’s Eve for us. We do puzzles and board games all the way to midnight, punctuated with finger foods from countries where the clock would be hitting midnight in its time zone at each hour along the way. The kids love it.
Lynn Thye, Blacksburg, Virginia: In the early 1950s, my grandfather gave my grandmother a decorative box of bath supplies for Christmas. The box was shaped like a treasure chest, with a red velvet interior and an antique-looking map inside of the lid. After the bubble bath and powder were gone, the “treasure chest” served as my grandmother’s sewing box. After Grandma’s death in 1987, that box became the centerpiece of my annual Magi Christmas display. I keep the lid open to display the map and I place pearls, gems, and small treasures on the velvet interior to represent gifts brought to honor the birth of Jesus. Next to the box is a small burner for frankincense and a wooden camel train my parents brought from the Holy Land in 1975. I think of my grandma when I set up the Magi display each year.
Denmark Postal Service to Stop Delivering Letters “Denmark's state-run postal service, PostNord, is to end all letter deliveries at the end of 2025, citing a 90% decline in letter volumes since the start of the century.”
Spotlight: Harlingen Public Library Community History Archive, Texas
by Valerie Beaudrault
The Cameron County city of Harlingen is located in the Rio Grande Valley in southern Texas. The Harlingen Public Library has made a collection of historical newspapers available in its Community History Archive. The collection comprises more than 947,000 pages from eight different newspapers titles, including Valley Morning Star (1901-2006), Harlingen Valley Morning Star (2006-2023), Valley Sunday Star Monitor Herald (1937-1942), and The Harlingen Star (1926-1930). The databases can be searched by keyword or browsed. Search Now
As a family historian, you know that wills are important in your research—but have you created a will for yourself? Free Will, an easy and free online will creation tool, will guide you step-by-step through identifying beneficiaries for your assets, supporting the causes that are important to you, and planning for the preservation of your research. Learn More
