Everything You Need to Know About the Newest Great Migration Book
The latest volume of the Great Migration Study Project is out now! Find out what's new in this phase of the project and how you can access this valuable genealogical resource. Read More
Upcoming Online Seminar
Using Irish Land Records in Your Family History Research
Land records are a critical part of Irish family history research. They can provide information on multiple generations of a family and shed light on your ancestors’ movements, economic status, and daily lives. This course covers land records for both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Register Now
Share your thoughts about the survey!Please limit submissions to 150 words or fewer. Your submission may be featured in an upcoming newsletter or shared on social media; please note in your email if you do not want your story to be shared. Published responses may be edited for clarity and length.
Last Week's Survey:
Extended Family Who Lived in Your Household
Total: 3,088 Responses
34%, Yes, at least one of my grandparents lived in my household.
3%, Yes, at least one of my great-grandparents lived in my household.
13%, Yes, at least one aunt, uncle, great-aunt, or great-uncle lived in my household.
4%, Yes, at least one niece or nephew lived in my household.
9%, Yes, at least one other type of relative—cousin, etc.—lived in my household.
55%, No, no family members aside from immediate family lived in my household.
2%, I had another type of living arrangement when I was growing up.
Readers Respond
Sue Kratsch, St. Paul, Minnesota: During World War II, four generations of my family lived in the same house: my grandparents, who owned the house; my parents, including Dad when he was on military leave; my brother and I, as infants and youngsters; and one great-grandfather, born in Sweden in 1860. I feel blessed to have been old enough then to have memories of my great-grandfather, a retired steelworker with a heavy Swedish accent. After the war, when Dad became a career Air Force pilot, we lived in several states and in Japan, where I graduated from high school. But no matter where we lived, we always knew we had a home with grandparents, in the house where we all spent the war.
Rachel Dobson, Cottondale, Alabama: My family was living in Hamburg, Germany, in 1963, when my mother became pregnant with her third child. She wanted to come back to the U.S. to have the baby, so she brought me (age 4) and my one-year-old brother to stay with her mother in Georgia. The five of us lived together for another seven months in my grandmother’s two-bedroom house until my daddy returned to the States a few months after my youngest brother was born.
Dorcas Aunger, Arcadia, California: My family has a long tradition of caring for relatives in need.After my paternal grandmother passed away, my grandfather had a stroke. He lived with our family for a year until his condition worsened and he required a nursing home. About eighteen months later, my great-aunt came to live with us for ten months. Three years later, my mother's cousin was the victim of a scam. The authorities determined that it was unsafe for her to live alone. After my sister and I brought her into our home, we discovered that she was in the early stages of Alzheimer’s. We cared for her until her death eleven years later.
Peg Aaronian, Exeter, New Hampshire: During World War II, my mother lived with my dad's family in a two-bedroom bungalow while he was serving in the Navy. Upon his return, my dad greeted his first-born (me). Nine months later, my brother was born. We shared that small house for six more years, with my grandparents and aunt sleeping in makeshift bedrooms in the unheated attic. Neighbors and friends pitched in on the construction of our new house next door; once it was finished, we never lived with extended family again. When I got married, my dad said he'd pay our rent before he'd let us live with them!
“In ‘Madness,’ Antonia Hylton brings a deeply personal interest to the history of Crownsville Hospital, a Maryland asylum that was segregated for much of its 90-year history.”
The Funakoshi Family’s Memories of Disney In 2022, the Smithsonian exhibition team asked the public to send photos from their visits to Disneyland and Walt Disney World for the exhibition Mirror, Mirror: Reflections of American Stories in Disney Parks. One photo, sent in by the Funakoshi family, especially stood out.
“Pet cemeteries document how humans’ relationships with their pets—and their deaths—have evolved since the Victorian era.”
Spotlight: Genealogical Resources for McNairy County, Tennessee
by Valerie Beaudrault
McNairy County, located in southwestern Tennessee at the Mississippi border, is seated in Selmer. The Life & Times of McNairy County is a website which offers a number of resources for genealogists. Click "Searchable Archive" and select one of the databases from the dropdown list. Data fields for the marriage records database (1861-1962) include book/page, groom, bride, license/marriage dates, witness names, and officiator. Data fields for the death records database (1908-1912) include name, death date, sex, age, location of death, cause of death, birthplace, physician, and book/page. You can also access Bible records, census transcriptions, and school records. 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
