The other night I was reading a 2003 article in the National Genealogical Society Quarterly (available online to members) by Elizabeth Shown Mills. Recapping the history of genealogy in the US, she explains how, after the Civil War, "Genealogy became a tool of ideologies and prejudices rooted in concepts of blood, heredity, race, and stock," often claiming or implying that northern Europeans were genetically better than others.
After that immersion in an unpleasant past, it was a a breath of fresh air to find Becky Wiseman at kinnexions pointing to a recent Talk of the Town profile of Dani Tippmann, the incoming director of the Whitley County History Museum. Tippmann is a member of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma; a distant uncle is Little Turtle, who fought on the losing side against Gen. Anthony Wayne in the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794. Besides having older-than-the-oldest-old-settler credentials, Tippmann's been extensively involved in local and regional history activities.
And if you click over to the Whitley County Historical Society's site and scroll down, your jaw may drop (as mine did) to see the number of genealogical records and indices available on line for this county just west of Fort Wayne.
Sigh. How could my ancestors and relatives have skipped over it altogether?
Saturday, February 16, 2008
History and Change in Whitley County, Indiana
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2 comments:
Thanks for the mention of my blog. I do think Dani will be an asset to the Historical Museum Staff.
In regards to Whitley County Resources on the Internet, you may want to direct your readers to the following web page where I've created a summary list of the county's resources on the web.
http://www.kinexxions.com/resources.htm
It's truly amazing what a few good volunteers can do!
Consider them directed! Thanks!
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