Genealogy On the Shelf

A Dictionary of Family History

Jonathan Scott

Part encyclopedia, part dictionary, part almanac – Jonathan Scott’s Dictionary of Family History doesn’t claim to be exhaustive, but it is practical, easy to use, entertaining and genuinely informative. It is the kind of book you can dip into or use as a starting point for deeper study, and it is the essential companion for experienced family historians and for anyone who is approaching this fascinating subject for the first time. Thousands of A to Z entries are full of intriguing facts. There are definitions, timelines and terminologies, details of archives and websites as well as advice on research methods and explanations of genealogical peculiarities and puzzles that would test the knowledge of even veteran researchers.

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Unofficial Guide to Ancestry.com

Nancy Hendrickson

This book will help you get the most out of your Ancestry.com subscription by showing you how to take advantage of all the world's biggest genealogy website has to offer--and how to find answers to your family tree questions.

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Genealogy For The First Time

Laura Best

This book will show you how to research and preserve your heritage.

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Hispanic Surnames and Family History

Lyman De Platt

This is not a study of surnames or family history in Spain per se. Rather it is a review of the development of Spanish surnames in Latin America and the Hispanic United States,

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The Family Tree Guide to DNA Testing and Genetic Genealogy

Blaine T. Bettinger

A plain-English guide that explains the how and why of genealogy DNA testing.

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A Beginner’s Guide to Online Genealogy

Michael Dunn

Presents easy-to-understand strategies for researching family roots online.

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Discovering the History of Your House and Your Neighborhood

Betsy J. Green

Demonstrating how to obtain information and organize it into a lively narrative history, this practical guide helps curious homeowners chronicle the stories of their homes.

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Family History 101

Marcia Melnyk

A new installment of the popular Family Tree Books series instructs readers on how to make the most out of Internet resources.

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Secrets of Tracing Your Ancestors, 6E

W. Daniel Quillen

This new sixth edition is an easy-to-read guide to beginning genealogy. It teaches the basics of getting started and guides readers through the tricks and techniques of professional genealogists,

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Guide to Researching the History of a House

Yakima Valley Libraries

Learning about the history of a house can be fun, challenging, and satisfying, but it is not a passive process. This guide lists some of the resources available to you, what information to look for, and where to find it.

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My European Family

Karin Bojs

Karin Bojs grew up in a small, broken family. At her mother's funeral she felt this more keenly than ever. As a science journalist she was eager to learn more about herself, her family and the interconnectedness of society. After all, we're all related. And in a sense, we are all family. My European Family tells the story of Europe and its people through its genetic legacy, from the first wave of immigration to the present day, weaving in the latest archaeological findings. Karin goes deep in search of her genealogy; by having her DNA sequenced she was able to trace the path of her ancestors back through the Viking and Bronze ages to the Neolithic and beyond into prehistory, even back to a time when Neanderthals ran the European show. Travelling to dozens of countries to follow the story, she learns about early farmers in the Middle East and flute-playing cavemen in Germany and France, and a whole host of other fascinating characters. This book looks at genetics from a uniquely pan-European perspective, with the author meeting dozens of geneticists, historians and archaeologists in the course of her research. The genes of this seemingly ordinary modern European woman have a truly fascinating story to tell, and in many ways it is the true story of Europe. At a time when politics is pushing nations apart, this book shows that, ultimately, our genes will always bind us together.

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In Search of Our Roots

Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

Unlike most white Americans who, if they are so inclined, can search their ancestral records, identifying who among their forebears was the first to set foot on this country’s shores, most African Americans, in tracing their family’s past, encounter a series of daunting obstacles. Slavery was a brutally efficient nullifier of identity, willfully denying black men and women even their names. Yet, from that legacy of slavery, there have sprung generations who’ve struggled, thrived, and lived extraordinary lives. For too long, African Americans’ family trees have been barren of branches, but, very recently, advanced genetic testing techniques, combined with archival research, have begun to fill in the gaps. Here, scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr., backed by an elite team of geneticists and researchers, takes nineteen extraordinary African Americans on a once unimaginable journey, tracing family sagas through U.S. history and back to Africa. Those whose recovered pasts collectively form an African American “people’s history” of the United States include celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey, Whoopi Goldberg, Chris Rock, Don Cheadle, Chris Tucker, Morgan Freeman, Tina Turner, and Quincy Jones; writers such as Maya Angelou and Bliss Broyard; leading thinkers such as Harvard divinity professor Peter Gomes, the Reverend T. D. Jakes, neurosurgeon Ben Carson, and sociologist Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot; and famous achievers such as astronaut Mae Jemison, media personality Tom Joyner, decathlete Jackie Joyner-Kersee, and Ebony and Jet publisher Linda Johnson Rice. More than a work of history, In Search of Our Roots is a book of revelatory importance that, for the first time, brings to light the lives of ordinary men and women who, by courageous example, blazed a path for their famous descendants. For a reader, there is the stirring pleasure of witnessing long-forgotten struggles and triumphs–but there’s an enduring reward as well. In accompanying the nineteen contemporary achievers on their journey into the past and meeting their remarkable forebears, we come to know ourselves. From the Hardcover edition.

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The Family Tree Historical Atlas of American Cities

Allison Dolan, Family Tree Family Tree Editors

Journey to the big city! Explore your ancestors' hometowns! This book guides you through American history by looking at the United States' sixteen most populous and historically influential cities, such as New York, Chicago, Boston, New Orleans, and Baltimore. Each section features beautiful, full-color maps published at crucial points in each city's history, tracing its growth and development from its founding to the early 1900s. Use the maps to find your ancestor's home, trace your ancestor's walk to work, and identify the streets and buildings from your ancestor's everyday life. Delve further into the past with a quick-reference timeline of key dates from each city's history. You'll also discover easy genealogy research tips for finding local birth, marriage, and death records; federal and state censuses; and city directories. The book features: More than 130 full-color historical maps of sixteen important cities, including New York, Houston, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles Timelines highlighting the most important moments in each city's history Lists of city-specific genealogy websites and resources for records that will help you discover your family history An index with instructions on viewing online versions of each map, allowing you to zoom in for more detail or use them with programs like Google Earth Whether your family hails from the streets of Brooklyn or the hills of San Francisco, this atlas--designed especially for genealogists--will help you better understand your city-dwelling ancestors.

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