by AGS Member Michael Blackledge
The Art of Family: Genealogical Artifacts in New England (2002, published by New England Historical Society) by D. Brenton Simons and Peter Benes presents several interesting viewpoints you may wish to consider regarding your family history and legacy. The 370 page book is a collection of 15 essays and two checklists on eight topics, e.g., Family History and Genealogy, Family Representations, Representations of Passage, and Patterns of Family Legacies.
I found of particular interest the essay by Jane Nylander on Patterns of Family Legacies, an area that I keep coming back to in my “4th Quarter” of Life. Nylander points out how following the Civil War, single women had inherited large old family houses crammed full of letters, old clothes, spinning wheels, teacups, and many other artifacts. Sounds a bit like my junk room.
The cover notes state the book is “An indispensable resource illuminating the world of decorative arts and its relationship to family history.” You may want to skim it to determine its importance to you.
The book can still be purchased as hardcover through the amercianancestors.org website for $25 (marked down from $75!); used copies can be located on-line from $10 to $15.
The Art of Family is not currently in the collection of our ABC Library System – however, two other interestingly titled books by D. Brenton Simons are in our stacks: Witches, rakes, and rogues : true stories of scam, scandal, murder, and mayhem in Boston, 1630-1775 ; and 150 years exploring our heritage : sesquicentennial commemorative, the New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1845-1995. The latter may be of interest to AGS members as we commemorate The First Fifty Years of our own AGS, to see what it takes to make it for 150 years!
WorldCat.org lists some 360 libraries carrying The Art of Family, to include Zimmerman, Texas Tech, Denver Public, and Pikes Peak (Colorado Springs). However, the book is available to you immediately to ‘check out’ on-line through Archive.org, one of my favorite non-profits. Just create your (free) account and search for the title. You can flip through the book, enlarge it as you wish, and even search for a phrase or name. Be sure not to miss Laurel Gabel’s article (page 150), “By this you see we are but dust” on New England’s old tombstones. The 4th Quarter can be interesting!
