Articles About Stories
Israel Arbeiter Returns to Poland
Contributed by Tim Gray, chairman of the non-profit WWII Foundation. For more information about the foundation, visit www.wwiifoundation.org How much inner strength must a man have to be able to revisit places where he experienced indescribable horrors? Israel Arbeiter has spent the past seven decades keeping a promise. That promise was to tell as many people… Read more
Prisoner A18651: Israel Arbeiter
Contributed by Tim Gray, chairman of the non-profit WWII Foundation. For more information about the foundation, visit www.wwiifoundation.org “Hitler tried to kill me. I’m still alive. He’s dead”. Israel Arbeiter, the author of those words, turned 87 within the past week. If you had asked him in 1939 whether he would have lived this long he… Read more
1940 U.S. Census: So Many Questions Waiting to be Answered
Anna and Joe Dansbury William Dansbury’s first wife died in 1938, leaving him with three small children. By 1942 he married his first wife’s cousin, my grandmother, Anna Steffes, and had another baby boy. I’m not exactly sure how quickly he remarried but 1940 is a critical year. Were they married yet? Or was my… Read more
These Families We Inherit
With families, no matter what kind you inherit, at some point you want to announce you belong to it. I had the opportunity yesterday to spend a few minutes talking with Kaui Hart Hemmings, the author of The Descendants. She was very candid about her family history. That wasn’t at all surprising. I have read… Read more
Not All In Our Past Is Noble And Good
Born and living in California, actor and activist George Takei was only four years old when Pearl Harbor was bombed in December of 1941. Two short months later, on February 19, 1942, in reaction to that event, President Franklin D Roosevelt issued an Executive Order that allowed approximately 120,000 Japanese-Americans and Japanese residents to be… Read more
Five Genealogy Goals For The New Year
The first week of the new year is now behind us. I know it took me a few extra days to recover from the holiday. In fact, my mom just flew home yesterday. We had a wonderful December full of family and food and fun. I hope you did, too. Now life is now back… Read more
Echoes From Pearl Harbor
I’m not sure why I am surprised by how many of you were there or had family who were there. I have read every one of your stories as they have streamed in over the past week. Those first hand accounts help us remember the living history of pivotal events in the world. You remind… Read more
My Genealogy Gratitude List. What’s Yours?
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. By this time next week I expect I will be overstuffed on turkey, overloaded on football and overjoyed at spending a long weekend with my extended family. I will also have spent the entire month posting (almost) daily status updates on my personal Facebook profile about the things I am grateful for. … Read more
Day of the Dead
I’ve always loved Halloween. The candy. The silly costumes. The candy. The great Autumn decorations. Did I mention the candy? Maybe I love Halloween because my birthday is the very next day. Maybe it’s because I’ve always had a fascination with dead people. I was raised in California where many of our Mexican friends and… Read more
“True Irish Roots” Sweepstakes Winner Reports Back on their Trip of a Lifetime
Many of you may remember Ancestry.com’s “True Irish Roots” sweepstakes held this past March to help celebrate the release of our Irish Collection. The contest featured a grand prize trip to Ireland for two, where the winner would spend a week exploring the Emerald Isle’s finest sites including Blarney Castle and the Aran Islands. Contest… Read more
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