An Essay about my Mother
"Edgewood." In Kate Farrell, Wisdom Has a Voice: Every Daughter's Memories of Mother, Unlimited Publishing, 2011, 149-155.
Gypsy and the Bird Man (in process)
One day I realized family history would be a great course for undergraduates to become familiar with the diversity of primary sources underlying historical research. As an example, I used my husband's family line, which I had traced back to the 1300s in England and France.
To explain why I wasn't well-equipped on my own ancestry, I showed the class these photos of my dad and mom as toddlers. I knew my mom's parents were Hungarian, but I knew nothing of my dad's ethnicity. This gave me the opportunity to take my students through the steps of my search, so they could see the surprises along with me.
I have composed a narrative that begins in the 1800s Central Europe. It’s the story of Czech Bohemian and Hungarian immigrants assimilating into a new culture in Cleveland while simultaneously struggling to retain their old one. How a family moves from one world to another and weaves the common threads of disparate backgrounds into a new unified whole. As the photographs suggest, one branch was economically more successful than the other. The arc of this history demonstrates how ethnic and genetic patterns pass through generations in unexpected ways.
To explain why I wasn't well-equipped on my own ancestry, I showed the class these photos of my dad and mom as toddlers. I knew my mom's parents were Hungarian, but I knew nothing of my dad's ethnicity. This gave me the opportunity to take my students through the steps of my search, so they could see the surprises along with me.
I have composed a narrative that begins in the 1800s Central Europe. It’s the story of Czech Bohemian and Hungarian immigrants assimilating into a new culture in Cleveland while simultaneously struggling to retain their old one. How a family moves from one world to another and weaves the common threads of disparate backgrounds into a new unified whole. As the photographs suggest, one branch was economically more successful than the other. The arc of this history demonstrates how ethnic and genetic patterns pass through generations in unexpected ways.