Category Archives: Icymi

ICYMI: A question of identity

With A. J. Jacobs at the Global Family Reunion in early June 2015.

[Editor’s note: This blog post originally appeared in Vita Brevis on 29 June 2015.]

Over the years I have had the chance to discuss the subject of ethnicity (and identity) with avid genealogists and..

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ICYMI: "If the shoe fits"

[Editor's note: This blog post originally appeared in Vita Brevis on 13 May 2015.]

The Sarney Shoe Repairing Factory in Newport, Rhode Island.

David Allen Lambert’s April post on livelihoods inspired me to consider my own “family’s business.” In looking at my..

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ICYMI: King Richard III's Matrilineal Kin

[Editor's note: This blog post originally appeared in Vita Brevis on 1 April 2015.]

Barbara (Spooner) Wilberforce, wife of William, and the actual matrilineal descendant of Richard III’s sister.

News of King Richard III’s reburial last week was interesting,..

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ICYMI: A helping hand

[Editor's note: This blog post originally appeared in Vita Brevis on 30 March 2015.]

Chris Child helping Jean get started in the 4th floor library at NEHGS.

Before I began researching my ancestry, I was overwhelmed by the undertaking. It seemed like an impossible..

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ICYMI: The Name Game

[Editor's note: This blog post originally appeared in Vita Brevis on 4 February 2015.]

Bonus note: Vita Brevis blogger Penny Stratton is retiring from NEHGS today after ten years on the Publications team. In honor of her departure, I asked her to pick a post to run..

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ICYMI: Double-dating

[Editor's note: This blog post originally appeared in Vita Brevis on 5 January 2015.]

The Death Warrant of King Charles I, http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pathways/citizenship/rise_parliament/docs/charles_warrant.htm

Millions of British citizens and their..

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ICYMI: Jump starting your genealogical research

[Author's note: This blog post originally appeared in Vita Brevis on 19 December 2014.]

Consider sending a holiday letter out via email to your relatives. Then print a copy for posterity. – David Allen Lambert

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ICYMI: Historic occupations

[Editor's note: This blog post originally appeared in Vita Brevis on 12 November 2014.]

While writing my blog focusing on archaic medical terms a few months ago, I began thinking about other aspects of everyday life that appeared in records used by genealogists. One..

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ICYMI: Genealogical complexities

[Author's note: This post originally appeared in Vita Brevis on 3 September 2014.]

When I started out as a genealogical writer, I followed the model of genealogies published earlier in the twentieth century. The genealogical world they depicted was an orderly one, with..

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ICYMI: Puritan Pedigrees

[Editor's note: This post originally appeared in Vita Brevis on 22 August 2014.]

Now that my book on genealogical research methods (Elements of Genealogical Analysis) is out, I have turned my attention to the series of lectures I will be delivering in October and..

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