Thanksgiving Day, 2019 marks the start of the 400th annual celebration of the landing of the Mayflower ship at Plymouth, Massachusetts. The celebration committee is working hard to look beyond the myth of Thanksgiving and colonial experiences to better tell the stories of the women of the Mayflower and the Native American tribes which lived in the area. You can learn about some of the plans for this commemoration in this recent article from the Boston Globe newspaper.
Great events like the coming of the Mayflower and colonial people’s interactions with Native American tribes are made up of many individual stories of individuals and families. Those stories can be easily lost if not shared. A recent article from Good Housekeeping magazine explains the current situation and offers some tips for encouraging young and old family members to start sharing and collecting these stories. Don’t let your family history be left out of the historical record. Mount Prospect Public Library has a strong collection of print and online sources that can help individuals research and document their family histories. Come to the Research Services desk or contact genealogy librarian Anne Shaughnessy for more information. Let’s get history right.