{"id":3933,"date":"2013-06-24T15:32:20","date_gmt":"2013-06-24T15:32:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=3933"},"modified":"2023-11-21T14:22:18","modified_gmt":"2023-11-21T19:22:18","slug":"the-past-tells-the-future-of-genealogy-is-anything-really-new","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/the-past-tells-the-future-of-genealogy-is-anything-really-new.html","title":{"rendered":"The Past Tells the Future of Genealogy: Is Anything Really New?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><em>Introduction<\/em><\/strong><em>: In this article, Scott Phillips researches old newspaper articles to discover that what was new in genealogy 100 or more years ago is still new today. Scott is a genealogical historian and owner of Onward To Our Past\u00ae genealogy services.<br \/>\n<\/em><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p align=\"center\">\u201c<em>There is nothing new except that which has been forgotten.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n<p align=\"right\">~ Marie Antoinette<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>This is certainly true in genealogy in a variety of ways. Naturally, we as genealogists spend a great deal of time and effort looking for that which has been forgotten or almost forgotten. We strive to discover, or rediscover actually, family history information every day.<\/p>\n<p>On the other hand, I find it interesting when I hear some of the genealogy \u201cpundits\u201d trumpet all the newest \u201cdiscoveries\u201d in genealogy, often claiming that they are a harbinger of the end of genealogy as we know it. Some of these latest proclamations had me wondering, so I decided to see what was new (and old, which might have been forgotten) in genealogy through the historical newspapers in the database of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/gbnk\/\">GenealogyBank.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>After a few quick searches, I encountered some terrific genealogy headlines and articles. Every one of them brought home the point that not all that much has changed in the world of genealogy! See if you can place the date of each of the following newspaper articles. Were these historical stories from yesteryear or news articles from today\u2019s newspapers?<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>\u201cGenealogy Study Rapidly Growing.\u201d<\/strong> How often have we heard this? I especially appreciated this newspaper article\u2019s subheadings: <strong>\u201cIn Recent Years Americans Have Been Making Great Study of the Family Tree\u201d<\/strong> and <strong>\u201cGenealogists Working Along New Lines and Startling Results Follow.\u201d<\/strong> Sounds just like something I\u2019d read in the news today.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3934\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3934\" style=\"width: 287px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/san-jose-mercury-news-newspaper-0316-1912-genealogy.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3934\" title=\"san-jose-mercury-news-newspaper-0316-1912-genealogy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/san-jose-mercury-news-newspaper-0316-1912-genealogy.png\" alt=\"Genealogy Study Rapidly Growing, San Jose Mercury News newspaper article 16 March 1912\" width=\"287\" height=\"525\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/san-jose-mercury-news-newspaper-0316-1912-genealogy.png 287w, https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/san-jose-mercury-news-newspaper-0316-1912-genealogy-164x300.png 164w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 287px) 100vw, 287px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3934\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">San Jose Mercury News (San Jose, California), 16 March 1912, page 2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>This newspaper article was published in 1912!<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>\u201cForum on computers, genealogy scheduled.\u201d<\/strong> This one really could be from today, the type of article found in just about every genealogy society newsletter and newspaper column on \u201clocal happenings.\u201d It is interesting to see the name of <em>Genealogical Computing<\/em> magazine in this article, and it is fun to see how far we have come in such a short time.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3935\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3935\" style=\"width: 529px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/dallas-morning-news-newspaper-0922-1984-genealogy-forum-computers.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3935\" title=\"dallas-morning-news-newspaper-0922-1984-genealogy-forum-computers\" src=\"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/dallas-morning-news-newspaper-0922-1984-genealogy-forum-computers.png\" alt=\"Forum on Computers, Genealogy Scheduled, Dallas Morning News newspaper article 22 September 1984\" width=\"529\" height=\"518\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/dallas-morning-news-newspaper-0922-1984-genealogy-forum-computers.png 529w, https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/dallas-morning-news-newspaper-0922-1984-genealogy-forum-computers-300x293.png 300w, https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/dallas-morning-news-newspaper-0922-1984-genealogy-forum-computers-306x300.png 306w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 529px) 100vw, 529px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3935\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dallas Morning News (Dallas, Texas), 22 September 1984, page 20C<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>While this sounds like today\u2019s genealogy news, this newspaper article was published in 1984!<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>\u201cOf the New Genealogy, Its Enlarged Field of Study. How Genealogy as a Science May Help Us to Help Ourselves.\u201d<\/strong> I wondered if this article might be discussing the role of DNA testing in genealogy today, but not quite&#8230; I enjoyed this article especially since it was on a topic near-and-dear to me: that of the needed link between genealogy and the academic world. Plus, this article is about an address given at the 60th anniversary of the New England Historic Genealogist Society by Charles K. Bolton.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3936\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3936\" style=\"width: 707px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/springfield-republican-newspaper-1103-1909-genealogy-science.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3936\" title=\"springfield-republican-newspaper-1103-1909-genealogy-science\" src=\"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/springfield-republican-newspaper-1103-1909-genealogy-science.png\" alt=\"Of the New Genealogy, Springfield Republican newspaper article 3 November 1909\" width=\"707\" height=\"529\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/springfield-republican-newspaper-1103-1909-genealogy-science.png 707w, https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/springfield-republican-newspaper-1103-1909-genealogy-science-300x224.png 300w, https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/springfield-republican-newspaper-1103-1909-genealogy-science-400x300.png 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 707px) 100vw, 707px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3936\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Springfield Republican (Springfield, Massachusetts), 3 November 1909, page 15<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>This newspaper article was published in 1909!<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>\u201cGenealogy business booming national one.\u201d<\/strong> With the business of genealogy booming, it seems to offer good career opportunities. This article was from an advice column and the author seemed to have a pretty decent grasp of genealogy, which was fun to see.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3937\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3937\" style=\"width: 591px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/dallas-morning-news-newspaper-0718-1981-genealogy-careers.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3937\" title=\"dallas-morning-news-newspaper-0718-1981-genealogy-careers\" src=\"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/dallas-morning-news-newspaper-0718-1981-genealogy-careers.png\" alt=\"Genealogy Business Booming National One, Dallas Morning News newspaper article 18 July 1981\" width=\"591\" height=\"523\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/dallas-morning-news-newspaper-0718-1981-genealogy-careers.png 591w, https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/dallas-morning-news-newspaper-0718-1981-genealogy-careers-300x265.png 300w, https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/dallas-morning-news-newspaper-0718-1981-genealogy-careers-339x300.png 339w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 591px) 100vw, 591px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3937\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dallas Morning News (Dallas, Texas), 18 July 1981, page 33<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>While this would be good career advice for genealogists today, this newspaper article was actually published in 1981!<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>\u201cWho Was Your Grandfather?\u201d<\/strong> I thought perhaps this was an article for the newest television spinoff of <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Who_Do_You_Think_You_Are%3F_(U.S._TV_series)\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Who Do You Think You Are<\/em><\/a><em>?<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3938\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3938\" style=\"width: 388px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/new-hampshire-patriot-newspaper-0827-1851-jennings-inheritance.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3938\" title=\"new-hampshire-patriot-newspaper-0827-1851-jennings-inheritance\" src=\"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/new-hampshire-patriot-newspaper-0827-1851-jennings-inheritance.png\" alt=\"Who Was Your Grandfather? New-Hampshire Patriot newspaper article 27 August 1851\" width=\"388\" height=\"520\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/new-hampshire-patriot-newspaper-0827-1851-jennings-inheritance.png 388w, https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/new-hampshire-patriot-newspaper-0827-1851-jennings-inheritance-223x300.png 223w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 388px) 100vw, 388px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3938\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">New-Hampshire Patriot (Concord, New Hampshire), 27 August 1851, page 3<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>While this headline seems right out of today\u2019s news, it\u2019s actually about finding an heir for the deceased Jennings\u2014and the newspaper article was published in 1851!<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>\u201cOld Tombstone Wanted.\u201d<\/strong> Once again, this headline could be from practically any newspaper today; as I read the article I can almost feel the angst of the writer as he pleaded for anyone in the local community who may have known anything at all about the tombstone he was searching for.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3939\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3939\" style=\"width: 462px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/jackson-citizen-patriot-newspaper-1023-1900-tombstone.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3939\" title=\"jackson-citizen-patriot-newspaper-1023-1900-tombstone\" src=\"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/jackson-citizen-patriot-newspaper-1023-1900-tombstone.png\" alt=\"Old Tombstone Wanted, Jackson Citizen Patriot newspaper article 23 October 1900\" width=\"462\" height=\"525\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/jackson-citizen-patriot-newspaper-1023-1900-tombstone.png 462w, https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/jackson-citizen-patriot-newspaper-1023-1900-tombstone-264x300.png 264w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3939\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jackson Citizen Patriot (Jackson, Michigan), 23 October 1900, page 2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>While this newspaper article refers to \u201ca genealogical chain\u201d and \u201cthe genealogist and all his vagaries,\u201d it was actually published in 1900!<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>\u201cCousin George\u2019s Decision\u201d<\/strong> The subtitle of this article <strong>\u201cHe Thought His New Found Relatives Were a Very Shoddy Lot\u201d<\/strong> made me think that this story\u2019s moral is as valid today as when the article was written.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3940\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3940\" style=\"width: 371px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/daily-alaska-dispatch-newspaper-0124-1900-cousin-george.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3940\" title=\"daily-alaska-dispatch-newspaper-0124-1900-cousin-george\" src=\"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/daily-alaska-dispatch-newspaper-0124-1900-cousin-george.png\" alt=\"Cousin George's Decision, Daily Alaska Dispatch newspaper article 24 January 1900\" width=\"371\" height=\"528\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/daily-alaska-dispatch-newspaper-0124-1900-cousin-george.png 371w, https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/daily-alaska-dispatch-newspaper-0124-1900-cousin-george-210x300.png 210w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 371px) 100vw, 371px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3940\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Daily Alaska Dispatch (Juneau, Alaska), 24 January 1900, page 2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>However, this newspaper article was published in 1900!<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>\u201cGenealogy of Slang.\u201d<\/strong> This article earned its way to being copied and placed on my bulletin board. After all who knows when it might come in handy for me to use the word \u201cGellibagger\u201d?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3941\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3941\" style=\"width: 430px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/repository-newspaper-0315-1890-genealogy-slang.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3941\" title=\"repository-newspaper-0315-1890-genealogy-slang\" src=\"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/repository-newspaper-0315-1890-genealogy-slang.png\" alt=\"Genealogy of Slang, Repository newspaper article 15 March 1890\" width=\"430\" height=\"532\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/repository-newspaper-0315-1890-genealogy-slang.png 430w, https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/repository-newspaper-0315-1890-genealogy-slang-242x300.png 242w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 430px) 100vw, 430px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3941\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Repository (Canton, Ohio), 15 March 1890, page 5<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>While using slang in genealogy might seem like a modern topic, this newspaper article was published in 1890!<\/p>\n<p>Thanks to this trip through the past using historical newspapers, we can see that: 1) genealogy has been in the news a long time; and 2) what was new then is sometimes new today. Truly, \u201cNothing in Genealogy is as new as that which has been forgotten.\u201d The past is often one of the best places to look for clues to the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In this article, Scott Phillips researches old newspaper articles to discover that what was new in genealogy 100 or more years ago is still new today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12713],"tags":[12,4358],"class_list":["post-3933","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-genealogy-research-tips","tag-genealogy","tag-slang"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3933","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\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3933"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3933\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":96063,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3933\/revisions\/96063"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3933"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3933"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3933"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}