ROOTS & BRANCHES

Over the years my interests in lineage societies have waxed and waned as I’ve gotten involved with various other genealogical activities. But I did successfully apply to a number of them over the years; if nothing else, they were good opportunities to “get my ducks in a row” and make sure I had adequate documentation …

A couple years ago, a church friend of mine (and distant cousin—aren’t we all, right?) Jeanne Cocuzza and I were having a glass of wine to debrief after a meeting. Cocuzza is a writer herself and she knew that I had written some commercially published books but didn’t know about “Roots & Branches” when she …

Don Yoder—the late, great godfather of many things Pennsylvania Dutch—pretty much started the academic study of ethnic folklore. Which he expanded to include the terms “folklife” and “folkways.” Which led to a term that I like a lot, “foodways,” since I’m definitely someone for who the path to my heart runs through my stomach. I …

As many of us begin to emerge from various states of pandemic isolation—or at least shrug off some of changes in routine the last year-plus hath wrought—I know I’m looking forward to many “back to normal” things. I’m yearning for road trips to several libraries and repositories. Beyond that, I’m looking forward to October and …

My first memory of a religious group called the Moravians is more than a little idiosyncratic. I was helping to plan a road rally in which much of the fun was coming up with challenging clues to mark turnoffs. I came up with “Right at the Central European religious group” for a turn at what …