One Thought on the Confederacy

  Amidst all the discussion about the status of the Confederate Flag, I would point out one factor which might contribute to the angst which still exists in the South, and it has nothing to do with race.  I spent part of my career in the South....Tennessee to be exact.  While there, I had the opportunity to visit the site of the Battle of Shiloh.  In fact, on one occasion, I took a class of mine to experience that site.  At the time, I was rather clueless as to why some were not very thrilled that I wanted to take my students there. After my visit, I understood why.
    At this location, one cannot possibly miss the stunning beauty of the cemetery there for the Union soldiers.  Row after row of white crosses marked the location of soldiers who gave their life during this battle in the fight for their country.  The cemetery is maintained beautifully.....grass mowed.....weeds whacked....with a beautiful fence surrounding it all.  It is an impressive thing to see.
    Then at a few locations in that park, if you choose to follow the map provided, you can find where the bodies of the Confederate soldiers were laid to rest, but you have to make much more effort to view it.  You have to walk down a path for quite a distance, and when you get there, you see a sign in a rather forested area that says the Southern soldiers who died were quickly place in a mass grave made by simply digging a huge hole and dumping in the bodies.  No individual soldiers are recognized.  The stark difference between how the Union soldiers and the Confederate soldiers were buried is very evident.  I suspect other battlegrounds of the Civil War would be similar to this one at Shiloh.
    Many folks in the South look at such a site and consider it a tribute to the North.  They also see it as a slap in the face to the South.  I would submit to you that one of the reasons for the hard feelings that still linger in the South to this day might in part stem from the lack of respect which was shown to the South in the aftermath of the war.  Evidence of this attitude still exists at sites like Shiloh which serves as a reminder still today.  Those soldiers fought just as bravely during that battle, but their family members have only a mass grave to visit.
    I understand that the Confederate flag has been used as a symbol for some racist whites over the years.  However, one must also consider the feelings of a Southern culture that has wanted to hold on to their self respect and may want to continue to do that through the use of the Stars and Bars.

What Will Become of Ancestry.com?

    I cannot help but wonder what will happen to the realm of family research.  I am associated with a museum which also houses archives which can be used to research one's family roots.  A typical person comes to use our facilities looking for information about their grandfather or great grandmother, looking for documents concerning their birth, their death, their burial, their marriage, and the like.
    The use of websites such as Ancestry.com also provide services which accomplish such purposes, using such sources as census records, military records, immigration records, etc.  Such sites have to preserve the privacy of those who are now living, and because of that, the most recent census available to the public is the 1940 census.  That census was made when the American culture was based on the traditional family.  But the traditional family is dissolving before our very eyes.
    What will happen to family research in the future when people are studying their ancestors in an environment when the past may include much different family structures.  It is hard enough now to research something as simple as an adoption.  Can you imagine the complexity of researching families when it may be almost impossible to determine who the biological father may be?  Or imagine researching a family where the marriage is one consisting of two males......or two females?   And one could only throw up their hands in frustration when thinking about how bigamy might throw additional challenges into the mix.
    Will this even be called family research any more.  It might have to be called something like "Relationship Research".  What would become of terms such as mother, father, aunt, uncle, cousin, etc.?  What a mess!  I'm kind of glad I won't be around to see it.
    Ancestry.com may just display a surrender flag.