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A Woman Who Witnessed a Historical Movement

March is Women's History Month! It's time to shine a spotlight on the ladies in our family trees. I'll be writing all month on women I've researched. I encourage all family history lovers to take the month to seek out the stories of our foremothers!       Our local genealogical society features the "Ancestor Question of the Month" in our newsletter. For the month of March one of the prompts was, "Which of your female ancestors witnessed a historic American event? What was it? What was her experience?" I looked through my tree to find a female ancestor whose life intersected with an historic event. Since many of my women ancestors are still under researched, I can only image their experiences of events like the Civil War, the Great Depression, plagues, or natural disasters. But I did light upon one ancestor who experienced not so much a historic event but a historical  movement in the medical field. I've written many times about my second great-...
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So Many Stories to Tell

Young Thomas J. "Tommy" Kozlina and my mom Anna Margaret Kozlina.
Friends,

This past year, I have dedicated much time to my favorite hobby: family history. I have read books, listened to podcasts, attended workshops, and begun again, to research our family lines.

I do so for a variety of reasons, but mainly I am intrigued and excited by the people the research reveals. At first, it was all about the names and dates, and "how far can I get back?" And, while that is still somewhat of a focus (Apparently, we cannot go back to Ireland until I find out where the Casey line is from!), I find more and more that I am just drawn into the stories that emerge, as I find more details of our ancestors' lives.

There's the funny stuff : "Polish Wedding Causes Trouble," is the headline of a newspaper article featuring my great grandmother Margaret McAndrew Gilbride. We'll save that one for another post.

There's everyday life: "So-and-So is visiting their mother this week." The not-so-everyday: "Sleeping Sickness Fatal to Girl."

There are stories which break your heart, and ones that make you nod your head and say, "Oh, so THAT's why..."

There are discoveries of familial likenesses, shared hobbies, tales of travel from abroad, and tales of deeply held American roots. There are railroad men, a hockey player, a prominent blacksmith, several coal miners, a nun and a priest...

Newspaper snippets - the Facebook of the time - recording who visited whom, or who wore what to whose wedding. There are both slices of everyday life and memorable moments in photo. There are bunches of interesting folk, who lived sometimes ordinary, sometimes extraordinary lives.

So many stories to tell. And here in this little space, I hope to share them with you.

Come on along.
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