RHEA-L Archives
Archiver > RHEA > 1998-03 > 0889826048
From: PHHGENE <>
Subject: [RHEA-L] Re: [ILMORGAN-L] March is National Women's History Month
Date: Fri, 13 Mar 1998 16:54:08 EST
Subj: March is National Women's History Month
What better way to celebrate than beginning to research your female
ancestors?
I got this idea from the Reunion Magazine article.
The Other Half of Your Genealogy: Researching Women.
Yes its true that tracking women in your pedigree is a greater challenge.
Women had few rights so their husbands, fathers, and brothers left more
records. Don't let that stop you. You just need to be a little more creative
in your research.
Start by making a chronology of your female ancestor's life. In chronological
order list (from family stories or research in primary records) every fact
you
know about her. Instead of perusing scrambled data on a family group sheet,
you can quickly refer to a chronology to see gaps in your knowledge.
Start thinking about what could be happening in her life. Look at gaps to see
where your research might take you. Start looking at historical context. What
were women like your ancestor doing in this day and time? What were women
legally allowed to do during your ancestor's lifetime, and what was
prohibited?
A woman's life consists of more than just the days she was born, married and
gave birth. Is this all you would want to be remembered for? Putting a female
ancestor into historical perspective rounds out statistical facts and brings
her to life.
Do more than record names, dates and places. Make it your goal to write a
biographical sketch of at least one of your female ancestors as a tribute and
lasting legacy to one ofyour foremothers.
Your women ancestors are waiting for you. Sometimes they wait silently. But
if you met the women, you would have heard them imploring someone to tell
their
stories.
Pat
Has anyone researched their Rhea woman in the above manner. Would like to hear
about it. Perhaps it will help the rest of us.
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