Some Thoughts on the Keeping of Family Histories

(from recent correspondence)

I think that people who have a family history that's been recorded and preserved in whatever way are lucky.  Of course some people -- the rich and famous -- have to live with a family history that might not be all that savory, but that everyone knows about, so a lot of their effort is devoted to living it down, or making up for it in some way -- paying society back for the offenses of their parents, ancestors, etc.  The children of rich and powerful tyrants frequently become humanitarians of some kind, for example -- Robert Kennedy may be an example.  But for others it's just too overwhelming and they either sell out and become an inferior version of old dad, or just go off on a different tack entirely.  (It's ironic that the rich and famous are, like it or not, "public people", and they have to go to great lengths to keep anything private.  The rest of us kulaks are so private we have to expose ourselves on Facebook and Twitter.)

But for us ordinary folks it seems like delving into family history can only be a good thing, even if some of the events were negative or even tragic.  The idea of "where I'm from" is important to a lot of people, especially -- I would say -- if they grew up in a traditional, intact family in a coherent culture.  They know about their past to some extent but would like more of a connection -- more material.  But even for those who didn't, there is a need to find "roots", some sense of grounding or place.  And look at the way "hyphenated Americans" go to great lengths to dig up info on their ancestors in the old country.  I almost think that, for many people, just being "American" isn't enough -- they need to feel like part of something older, more traditional, and more solid.  This is, as the stereotype has it, a nation of immigrants -- but just calling it that implies that it still is, even for people who have been here for many generations.   They still have the immigrant mind set.  (I observe that the only European-origin group that is never hyphenated is people whose ancestors came over from England.  There are no "English-Americans" (if there were, I would be one).  But there are Irish-Americans, so they have yet to be fully assimilated after 175 years.)  

This country has always been ideally suited for the adventurous -- pioneers, speculators, prospectors, etc. -- the iconic "lone gun" (Clint Eastwood) -- the man (or woman) with no past -- either rootless or perfectly content to leave the past, and even family, behind -- and for good reasons sometimes, let's admit.  (I used to joke that whenever some psychic does a "past life reading" for someone, that person always seems to wind up being a descendent of some European royalty.  No one is ever found to be a descendent of a horse thief.)  ("Cross my palm weez silver, und I vill tell you you are ze long-lost heir to ze trone of Bessarabia")