One of the things that I’ve observed as I talk to people about their family histories is that there are certain “tropes” that appear over and over again. By tropes, I’m talking about common themes or stories that are the same from family to family. Some examples of these tropes are:

• “three brothers came from the Old World”
• “my family is descended from royalty or nobility”
• “one of my ancestors is an Indian princess”
• “one of my ancestors ran moonshine”

I am interested in finding out more about these family stories, and the first step is to collect the stories told by a wide range of families, and analyze the data. So, I have compiled a survey for you to complete if you wish, to tell me about the stories that your family tells.

If you wish to complete the survey, click on this link: Family Stories Survey and tell us your stories!

Jean L. Cooper
Webmaster, CVGA Website