Family Lore By Matthew Clarke
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othing beats the thrill of pursuing the secrets of the past—especially your own family’s past. Whether scouring archives, discovering old letters, or consulting with relatives, the process of piecing together your personal history is what makes genealogy so exciting. But once you’ve made your discoveries, what do you do next? Matt Nickerson has an answer: write a story. A private historian, Nickerson helps families turn their genealogies into compelling narratives that they can share as books, websites, or videos. A former reporter and editor with two degrees in history, he wears many hats. Last fall he donned another when he taught “Secrets in the Tree,” a writing-focused genealogy seminar offered through the Newberry’s Adult Education Seminar Program. Genealogy seminars are among the most popular courses in this Newberry program, which offers affordable, non-credit seminars across a wide range of subjects in the humanities. Usually, genealogy seminars introduce budding genealogists to the field, acquainting them with research methods and online databases as well as the unique genealogical materials available at the Newberry, one of the leading centers in the United States for genealogical research. By contrast, Nickerson designed “Secrets in the Tree” for those who had already conducted much of their research and wanted help turning their discoveries into a story. “The purpose of the seminar was to teach people to write family history,” says Nickerson. “In my mind, family history is no different from any other type of history—it’s just done on a smaller scale. And the aims are the same as any other type of history: to enrich our lives with stories and help us learn from the past.” Over four course sessions, students honed their skills using newspaper archives, census reports, and county records while also learning how to conduct interviews, identify and engage audiences, and meet deadlines. All this work culminated in each student writing an essay narrating an episode in their family’s history.
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Spring/Summer 2021
Like other adult education seminars during this pandemic year, “Secrets in the Tree” met using Zoom, allowing students from across the country to participate. “In a time when we’re unable to safely gather in a classroom, virtual seminars have been an invaluable mode of connection, bringing together learners across the United States and the world,” said Sarah Wilson, the Newberry’s Seminars Manager. “Seminars like Matt’s have widened our community and allowed new participants to experience our collections while also making connections with each other.” During the seminar’s first session, each student presented an artifact from their family’s past. Cherished heirlooms, these objects introduced the students to one another and anchored the narratives they would develop as part of the class. One student held up a blues album recorded by a relative. Another shared family recipes that had been passed down from one generation to the next. A third displayed a rif le from the Civil War. Soon, the students were off, planning, organizing, drafting—and making some important discoveries along the way. Just ask Helen Murray, Lance Potter, and Lauren Young.
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elen Murray is a Chicagoan through and through. Raised in the near western suburbs, Murray, now in her late seventies, has lived in the city for the past fifty years, working first as a community organizer and then as a high school history teacher. She comes from a long line of Chicagoans, her immigrant ancestors having settled in the city in the 1800s. She also comes from a long line of storytellers. “I was raised in a family that told stories,” Murray explains. “There were many stories about the lives of grandparents and great-grandparents: where they’d lived before immigrating to the United States and what happened when they arrived and afterwards. I loved these stories, and often asked questions about the details.”
