Finding Your Famous {& Infamous} Ancestors


Book Description

"Am I related to someone famous?" is one of the first questions many people want to know when they become interested in genealogy. In fact, this question often sparks people to begin the climb up their family tree. Or, they might receive offers through the mail for their "family crest," complete with a generic summary of their family name, then wonder if they could be descended from royalty.Finding Your Famous {and Infamous} Ancestors is the first book of its kind to show readers how to find out if they are really related to someone famous or infamous, or if they descend from royalty, and how to separate family myths from facts. All levels of researchers will find helpful instruction in this fun-to-read genealogy guidebook, and it will entice dabblers in family history to get hooked onto a lifelong hobby.Readers will learn how to begin the task of finding their connection to a celebrity by combining traditional research techniques with new advances and resources available on the Internet. Celebrity case studies, both contemporary and historic, will help them learn how to get the most out of genealogical resources, including where to find the information, what to look for when using it and how to take what is found and move to the next step in the research process.It's a fun, beginner-friendly way of helping people discover the truth about their past, perfect for genealogists and non-genealogists alike!







The Everything Guide to Online Genealogy


Book Description

With millions of records now available online, those interested in their family history have a wealth of information—and misinformation—at their fingertips. In this book, author Kimberly Powell, the About.com Guide to Genealogy, helps both novice and experienced genealogists sort it all out. She shows readers where to search and which key-words they’ll need to create an accurate family tree—from start to finish. With this book, readers will learn how to create an online search strategy, use search engines and Soundex to find kin, reach out to others with peer-to-peer record swapping, discover useful records from around the world, and more. Packed with tips on free databases, search sites, and downloadable government records, readers will have all they need to use the Web to dig out their family’s true tale!




Finding Our Way Home


Book Description

In this time of ecological crisis, all that is holy calls us into a more intimate partnership with the diverse and beautiful beings of this earth. In Finding Our Way Home, Myke Johnson reflects on her personal journey into such a partnership and offers a guide for others to begin this path. Lyrically expressed, it weaves together lessons from a chamomile flower, a small bird, a copper beech tree, a garden slug, and a forest fern, along with insights from Indigenous philosophy, environmental science, fractal geometry, childhood Catholic mysticism, the prophet Elijah, fairy tales, and permaculture design. This eco-spiritual journey also wrestles with the history of our society's destruction of the natural world, and its roots in the original theft of the land from Indigenous peoples. Exploring the spiritual dimensions of our brokenness, it offers tools to create healing. Finding Our Way Home is a ceremony to remember our essential unity with all of life.




Who Do You Think You Are?


Book Description

The companion how-to guide to the hit TV series-with advice for anyone starting their own genealogical search. In the groundbreaking NBC series Who Do You Think You Are? seven celebrities-Sarah Jessica Parker, Emmitt Smith, Lisa Kudrow, Matthew Broderick, Brooke Shields, Susan Sarandon, and Spike Lee-went on an emotional journey to trace their family history and discover who they really are, and millions of viewers caught the genealogy bug. With the official companion guide, anyone can learn how to chart their family's unique path. Featuring step-by-step instructions from Megan Smolenyak2, one of America's top genealogical researchers, this book offers everything readers need to know to start the journey into their past, from digging through old photos, to finding the best online resources.







Digitizing Your Family History


Book Description

Your interest may be in the past, but permanently preserving your family's history relies on today's technology. If you have limited knowledge of computer equipment or feel uncomfortable using it, Digitizing Your Family History will teach you easy methods for choosing and using scanners, copiers, digital cameras, and software to keep and share your work with others.




Traced


Book Description

What happened to the ancient Egyptians? The Persians? The Romans? The Mayans? ARE WE THEIR DESCENDANTS? Recent genetic discoveries are uncovering surprising links between us and the peoples of old—links that rewrite race, ethnicity, and human history. Today’s Native Americans descend from Central Asians who arrived in the early A.D. era. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob still have clearly identifiable descendants, albeit rare ones. Every people group on earth can genetically trace their origins to Noah and his three sons.




Genealogy and Knowledge in Muslim Societies


Book Description

These case studies link genealogical knowledge to particular circumstances in which it was created, circulated and promoted. They stress the malleability of kinship and memory, and the interests this malleability serves. From the Prophet's family tree to the present, ideas about kinship and descent have shaped communal and national identities in Muslim societies. So an understanding of genealogy is vital to our understanding of Muslim societies, particularly with regard to the generation, preservation and manipulation of genealogical knowledge.




How to Become Famous in Two Weeks Or Less


Book Description

Two journalists describe their whirlwind efforts to become famous in two weeks by getting their names and faces in magazines, newspapers, and on television.