CVGS member and Secretary Ann Stevens wrote this article to summarize Hank's presentation:
Those “ah-ha” moments that genealogists live for . . .when, after years of searching, brick walls that come crashing down or when we stumble across (sometimes literally stumble across) someone we can identify as kin! On Wednesday, March 24, speaker Hank Jones informed us, regaled us, and inspired us with stories of the serendipity aspects of family research.
Starting at age 8 when he sneaked into the “forbidden trunk” in his family home, Hank has been fascinated by and committed to investigating not only his own roots, but also those of the Palatine families, other German families settling in America. The so-called random choices he made about where to look and who to look for turned out to be not so random at all . . . they were simply ancestors letting him know that they were ready to be found!
Hank believes that there are only two kinds of genealogists . . . those who have already had those psychic, serendipitous moments . . . and those who will, provided that we leave ourselves open to them! Hank encourages us to embrace those unexplained events in our genealogical research and be open to celebrating them . . . to allow ourselves to go without a tightly constructed agenda and leave room for the surprises . . . to feel free to yell “yahoo” in the library when we experience the thrill of the discovery . . . to applaud those “yahoo” moments of others, knowing that we too will have those moments ourselves . . . and, most importantly, to realize that we are not alone in looking for our ancestors. We can get lots of help from those who are just waiting to be found!
Something with which we can all identify . . .
Genealogy . . . .
Begins as an interest . . .
Became a hobby . . .
Continues as an avocation;
Takes over as an obsession;
And, in its final stages, is an incurable disease!
Starting at age 8 when he sneaked into the “forbidden trunk” in his family home, Hank has been fascinated by and committed to investigating not only his own roots, but also those of the Palatine families, other German families settling in America. The so-called random choices he made about where to look and who to look for turned out to be not so random at all . . . they were simply ancestors letting him know that they were ready to be found!
Hank believes that there are only two kinds of genealogists . . . those who have already had those psychic, serendipitous moments . . . and those who will, provided that we leave ourselves open to them! Hank encourages us to embrace those unexplained events in our genealogical research and be open to celebrating them . . . to allow ourselves to go without a tightly constructed agenda and leave room for the surprises . . . to feel free to yell “yahoo” in the library when we experience the thrill of the discovery . . . to applaud those “yahoo” moments of others, knowing that we too will have those moments ourselves . . . and, most importantly, to realize that we are not alone in looking for our ancestors. We can get lots of help from those who are just waiting to be found!
Something with which we can all identify . . .
Genealogy . . . .
Begins as an interest . . .
Became a hobby . . .
Continues as an avocation;
Takes over as an obsession;
And, in its final stages, is an incurable disease!
CVGS member Susi Pentico wrote her own summary of the program on her Susi's Chatty Performances blog in the post Follow Your Hunches, Attitude is Everything Hank Z Jones.
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