In the world of genealogy, history becomes more than just a backdrop; it’s intertwined into our ancestors’ stories. Understanding historical contexts, whether it’s migration patterns, military conflicts, or social history, adds color and depth to our family trees. So, join me as we learn a little bit of history surrounding Christmas and discover how important history is to genealogy.
Do you remember the subject you liked least in high school? Mine was history. It felt so irrelevant to me. I never could figure out how learning about the past could benefit me in the present. If teachers only knew how adding genealogy research could spark a love of history in their students. It has in me.
What I’ve learned this week, came by way of messing around on the computer. Let me explain…
Heading down a rabbit hole
In genealogy, you’re often reminded how to stay organized and on track so you don’t go down a rabbit hole. One of those never-ending binge sessions where you want to find your 2nd great-grandfather and end up three hours later with a recipe for taco salad.
But, sometimes just playing around and going down rabbit holes intentionally can be fun, inspiring, and educational.
A Christmas Carol
Not too long ago, I watched the George C. Scott version of A Christmas Carol. The whole movie boils down to Scrooge finding out how to “keep Christmas” all year long.
So, in the spirit of the season and with no real goal in mind, I googled “Keeping Christmas”. There were many results, but the top one was a poem by Henry van Dyke entitled, “Keeping Christmas.”
Henry van Dyke
Henry van Dyke was a renowned American author, educator, and clergyman. The poem emphasizes the true spirit of Christmas and what it means to keep it long after the day is over. It focuses on the importance of goodwill, kindness, and generosity. Here’s a portion of the poem from the American Literature website.
Are you willing to forget what you have done for other people, and to remember what other people have done for you;
to ignore what the world owes you, and to think what you owe the world; to put your rights in the background, and your duties in the middle distance, and your chances to do a little more than your duty in the foreground;
to see that your fellow-men are just as real as you are, and try to look behind their faces to their hearts, hungry for joy; to own that probably the only good reason for your existence is not what you are going to get out of life, but what you are going to give to life;
to close your book of complaints against the management of the universe, and look around you for a place where you can sow a few seeds of happiness–are you willing to do these things even for a day?
Then you can keep Christmas.
Van Dyke, Henry, “Keeping Christmas,” AmericanLiterature.com (https://americanliterature.com/author/henry-van-dyke/short-story/keeping-christmas), 26 Dec 2020.
Not only did I enjoy reading the entire poem, but I found myself wanting to know more about Henry. This is the power of genealogy.
Discovering more about Henry van Dyke
Henry van Dyke was born in 1852 in Germantown, Pennsylvania. Not only was he a prolific writer of books, poems, and short stories, but he was also a professor of English Literature at Princeton University. Then in 1913, President Woodrow Wilson appointed him to be the ambassador to the Netherlands and Luxembourg. He died in 1933 in Princeton, New Jersey.
You can learn more on the New Netherland Institute website. This site is new to me and will come in handy for the Dutch side of my family tree. Of course, there’s a bio on Wikipedia as well, and many sites that list his literary works.
I also discovered Henry van Dyke wrote a poem in 1906 called “The Hymn of Joy.” You may know it better as “Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee” which was set to the music of Beethoven and is a very popular church hymn.
I enjoyed my time learning about Henry van Dyke and reading some of his work.
Finally
Rabbit holes are not a good thing if you have a particular quest in mind. But they can be fun if you just want to explore. If we can let our minds go wherever they want, sometimes we may gain a new sense of direction. Give yourself permission to just play. You may like where it takes you.
Genealogy tip: As you play on the computer, keep a list of the websites you want to come back to as part of your genealogy research. Rabbit holes can be deep and you want to remember where you’ve been.
If you’ve wandered a bit in your genealogy research and need some help digging your way out, give me a call. You can schedule a free 30-minute no-obligation call right here.
