I’ve been on the web helping genealogist for several years, first on AOL, then with GenealogyForum.org. In September of 2001, I began the Portuguese Hawaiian Genealogy and Heritage website, islandroutes.com. In January of this year, I revised the Research Journal blog to cover my various areas of research expertise. My goal is to teach people how to research their family tree, but I also want to help them go beyond basic information. Understanding the why and how of genealogy is just as fascinating as names, dates, and places. Finding out why our ancestors migrated or how they survived a disaster brings us closer to who they really were.
My brightest article would be “Leprosy and the Molokai Colony” which can be found here: http://www.islandroutes.com/articles/leprosy.shtml This article is a culmination of the research I did as I tried to understand why my family decided that getting smuggled out of Hawaii was a better fate than having my Great Grandfather with leprosy be sent to Molokai.
My breeziest article would be “When Turkeys Sleep” which can be found here: http://www.islandroutes.com/wordpress/2008/07/when-turkeys-sleep/ I had fun putting into words the story of my Grandmother’s hilarious experiences learning about country life in Spreckels, California.
My most beautiful article would probably be the Sinking of the Liscome Bay which can be found here: http://www.islandroutes.com/wordpress/2008/09/the-sinking-of-the-liscome-bay/ I am not sure if this is my most beautiful writing, but I’m gotten such emotional emails from people whose father or grandfather was there that day that I must have struck some sort of chord.
It’s a challenge and a pleasure running IslandRoutes and the Research Journal. It just tickles me smile when I see a post somewhere saying “Can you tell me how to get ahold of that IslandRoutes lady?” Readers of my website will no doubt realize that I am addicted to genealogy. I hope that after reading my work they will come away with an understanding of who my ancestors are and that I’ve developed a tremendous amount of respect for the people who came before me. In that way, I hope by writing about my research someone will walk away inspired. They’ll continue trying to get passed that road block maybe with a tip I’ve written about. They might veer off the beaten track to get a better sense of who their ancestors really were. And, I hope they’ll leave comments telling me about their research adventures and let me know if they’ve found anything I’ve written to be helpful.
