Plan your vacation to take your family history one step further June 30, 2006
Editor’s Note: Tip #42 of Fresh Air is a perfect post today as we dive into the Fourth of July Weekend. Enjoy. There’s a copy waiting for you here …. 
Happy Fourth!
Taken from Fresh Air: 50 Ways to Experience the Best Things About Country Life Wherever You Live
Yes, uncovering your genealogy is worthwhile, but doing a little field research is even more exciting. If you discover the agrarian side to your family tree, take the leap and turn it into a family vacation. Spending a few days among your people and surrounding yourself with the food, music, stories, and celebrations that have shaped your family in large and small ways will add so much to your kin.
Mom had discovered a relative of ours that grew up in the Southeast in the 1800s. So on my back-and-forth work trips to Birmingham, Alabama, I went to where my ancestor farmed, raised his family, and was eventually shot by an assassin who didn’t approve of his support and sympathies toward the recently “Freedman” after Lincoln’s emancipation proclamation. I was able to find Grandpa Crossland’s gravesite, cabin (now a historical landmark), and even the bloodstained floorboards where he bled to death after the shooting.
Families can sort through church records and provincial archives, drive down picturesque country roads, and visit with local people. You not only discover who your agrarian ancestors are, but something about how they lived, and how the historical events of the day impacted their lives. It’s that understanding that makes your vacation rich in tradition, heritage, and remembrance.
Some families even travel to the National Archives in Washington to learn more about additional family details. Two sides to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) exist. The National Archives Experience, the public side of the agency, helps citizens connect to the nation’s past. In the Archives Building’s famous Rotunda for the Charters of Freedom, you can see for yourself the documents that began it all: the original Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. Beyond the Rotunda, far from the public eye, the Archives is a vital resource for scholars and government agencies, preserving our past and present in a labyrinth of stacks and storage nooks. The new Public Vaults exhibit gives visitors the sense of exploring the Archives through a collection of original documents, video and audio recordings, and new interactive exhibits. A Learning Center (opened fall 2005) further expands NARA’s public educational mission. Mom and I planned a visit to the National Archives one year while attending a leadership trip in Washington D.C. Visiting the other part of the Archives was like walking into a vault full of our past.
Every family is a part of history, not only of the big events of their day but also those personal histories of triumphs and tragedies. And remember that genealogy is not just about the dead, the passing on of genes, or sorting through dusty archives. It also involves the living people you meet along the way. For me, this involved meeting a direct descendent of M.T. Crossland when I went to discover more about my Great Grandpa from Alabama. In fact, for everyone who has taken a genealogical journey there is a story about a living relative, a librarian, a courthouse clerk, a farmer ─ all strangers ─ who helped them in their quest.
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