ROOTS & BRANCHES

Family history has a huge number of facets, and sometimes the most beautiful cut of the gem comes from one that’s unexpected. That’s what I found when I recently attended the premiere at Gratz College in Melrose Park, north of Philadelphia, of “Hidden: A Musical,” which is based on the life of Holocaust survivor Ruth …

It’s a truism of life that “all good things come to an end.” And so it is with the great deal that Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania has been offering its members with The Pennsylvania Genealogical Almanac. The publication has been under preparation for a couple of years (yes, most diligent “Roots & Branches” readers will …

I won’t try to mislead you: I’ve always been fascinated by lineage societies. Even before I was a genealogist—and that’s talking a while ago since I started genealogy at age 24!—the cachet of groups such as the Daughters of the American Revolution definitely had some allure to me. Then a couple of decades later when …

Please forgive my horn-tooting but … when it comes to genealogy publications, it might be said that I know a thing or two. My first involvement in the genealogy world beyond being a pure hobbyist dates back to the late 1980s. That’s when Laurel Miller was editor of the Journal of the Berks County Genealogical …

Last week’s “Roots & Branches” shared the welcome announcement that the long-running series of genealogy books German Immigrants in American Church Records (GIACR for short) will be concentrating on Pennsylvania starting in 2025. GIACR is the masterwork of retired Brigham Young University Professor Roger P. Minert, who has marshalled a generation of BYU students to …