Will Reading Romance Novels Make Artificial Intelligence More Human?
...Pitts could have imagined. Discouraged, programmers began to wonder if they might get on without one. Alan Turing’s “imitation game” reveals a romantic strand in the genealogy of midcentury artificial...
Tracing Orphans in Your Ancestry
Tracing an ancestor who is known to be an orphan can be a difficult and daunting process. Modern-day DNA research is beginning to unlock longstanding mysteries regarding orphans, yet there...
Unlocking Your Ancestor’s Political Leanings
Each election cycle reminds me that our ancestors own political dealings can be a good source of information about them. Unfortunately, there is no wide scale census of political party...
The American Revolution and Genealogy Research
As July 4th approaches it seems only fitting to look back on one’s ancestor’s experiences during the American Revolution to conduct genealogy research. While families often know—and celebrate—those who served...
The History of Graduation Ceremonies and Other School Rituals
What was school like for our parents, grandparents, and the rest of our ancestors? We often see an individual’s level of education reported on the U.S. census and if we...
Population Studies for the Genealogist
A few weeks ago The Genealogy Factor examined the 1918 Influenza Epidemic, revealing a number of insights into the origins and spread of the disease, as well as the world’s...
Our Farming Ancestors
My ancestry includes an interesting mix of occupations – a few successful merchants, hard-working coal miners, and the occasional crooked politician. For many generations however, these occupations are the exception....
The Influenza Epidemic of 1918 and Your Ancestors
A few years ago I came across a family photograph of the burial ceremony of my second great-grandmother, Rachel (Broadhead) Taylor and her daughter, Flora Taylor. Both had died within...
The Genealogy Factor: Graveyards & Gravestones
This is the first in a series of columns by Genealogy Roadshow host D. Joshua Taylor about doing genealogical research on JSTOR. Those tracing their family tree often find themselves...