{"id":110549,"date":"2026-09-08T10:44:07","date_gmt":"2026-09-08T14:44:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/live-genealogy.pantheonsite.io\/?p=110549"},"modified":"2026-10-05T13:04:37","modified_gmt":"2026-10-05T17:04:37","slug":"did-your-family-ask-them-yourself","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/did-your-family-ask-them-yourself.html","title":{"rendered":"Did Your Family \u2018Ask Them Yourself\u2019?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction:<\/em><\/strong> In this article, Gena Philibert-Ortega explores the nationally syndicated \u201cAsk Them Yourself\u201d newspaper column \u2013 which provides a glimpse into the past and just might have your ancestor\u2019s name and location! Gena is a genealogist and author of the book \u201cFrom the Family Kitchen.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Twentieth-century newspapers offered readers various ways to interact with their local newspaper. Women could submit recipes for contests in the Women\u2019s Pages, community members could write letters to the editor, photographers walked around town asking questions about local and controversial topics.<\/p>\n

As I was studying some historical newspapers in GenealogyBank<\/a> recently, I found a nationwide column in the Sunday magazine newspaper supplement called the \u201cFamily Weekly\u201d that invited readers to submit questions to politicians, celebrities, authors, and other famous people.<\/p>\n

\u201cAsk Them Yourself\u201d invited readers to submit a question on a postcard mailed to \u201cFamily Weekly\u201d in New York. Readers submitting questions used in the column were paid $5 (according to various inflation websites that would equal about $50 today). The column showed the photo of the celebrity, the question, answer and the reader\u2019s name (sometimes just initials) and their location. This column was syndicated in newspapers nationwide and featured readers from throughout the United States.<\/p>\n

I love reading these types of columns because they provide a look at what people were thinking at a specific time in history. It provides insight into issues our families would have faced. Although this column appears to have only run from 1967 to 1979, which isn\u2019t that long ago, it might be of interest to those who had parents, grandparents, or great-grandparents alive at this time. And maybe one of them asked one of the questions!<\/p>\n

\u2018Ask Them Yourself\u2019 Examples<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s one example of an \u201cAsk Them Yourself\u201d column, this one from 13 March 1977.<\/p>\n

\""Ask<\/a>
Union Leader (Manchester, New Hampshire), 13 March 1977, page 96<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In this column, anthropologist Dr. Margaret Mead is asked by a reader in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, whether she thinks interest in anthropology will increase or decrease in the next 25 years (1977-2002). Probably not surprisingly, she answers that she believes interest will increase.<\/p>\n

Other celebrities featured in this column include John Wayne, Arnold Palmer, actress Nancy Walker and others. At the bottom of the column is a Pro vs Con question featuring Dr. Joyce Brothers and John Ryor, then president of the National Education Association, regarding physical punishment in schools.<\/p>\n

\"Question<\/a>
Union Leader (Manchester, New Hampshire), 13 March 1977, page 96<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I find it interesting to read these \u201cAsk Them Yourself\u201d columns to see what issues they were addressing back then that we are still facing today. One example is from another 1977 column, where Henry Ford II, the chairman of the board of Ford Motor Company, is asked by Larry W. Kruse of College Station, Texas, whether electric vehicles will be economically feasible in the future. Ford responds by saying he doesn\u2019t think they will be in the next 20 years. While he thinks it is something that will eventually happen in the future, he mentions the problem in 1977 was the lack of a battery to power an electric car.<\/p>\n

\""Ask<\/a>
Morning Journal (Lorain, Ohio), 30 January 1977, page 58<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sometimes these reader-submitted question columns make it difficult to identify the person asking the question because some people just use their initials. Only two readers in this \u201cAsk Them Yourself\u201d column from 1967 used their own names. Irene Stevens from Temple City, California, asked a question of entertainer Joey Bishop, and J. L. Gale of Elizabeth, New Jersey, asked a question about Mamie Van Doren\u2019s baseball player husband Lee Meyers. It\u2019s really hit and miss, but certainly a thrill if your ancestor asked a question and included their name.<\/p>\n

\""Ask<\/a>
Knickerbocker News (Albany, New York), 27 May 1967, page 29<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Did They \u2018Ask Them Yourself\u2019?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We often think of researching historical newspapers as the way to find vital record events or articles placing an ancestor in a location and time. Those are crucial to our research, but we should also consider other types of articles they may be named in. Who knows? Maybe your ancestor asked a question of a celebrity or public figure, and it was published in the newspaper!<\/p>\n

Create a free account<\/a> at GenealogyBank for 7 days to start your journey and discover the stories your ancestors left behind.<\/p>\n

Note on the header image:<\/em><\/strong> gray bird with question marks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gena Philibert-Ortega explores the \u201cAsk Them Yourself\u201d newspaper column \u2013 which just might have your ancestor\u2019s name and location!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":110564,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12713],"tags":[59367,2719,2020],"class_list":["post-110549","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-genealogy-research-tips","tag-ask-them-yourself","tag-genealogy-search-tips","tag-newspaper-archives"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/illustration-0403-2017-featured-graphic-question-marks.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110549","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110549"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110549\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":110997,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110549\/revisions\/110997"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/110564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110549"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110549"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110549"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}