Greetings and salutations...

Hello, my name is Alison and I am NOT a genealogist.

I want to stress this from the outset for two reasons:

1.) If you’re not a genealogist either but but you're looking for someone to help you get started or to tell you who your ancestors are... I AM NOT THAT PERSON. (HERE is a good place to start.)

2.) If you ARE a genealogist, said introduction is the caveat to keep in mind should I ever make over-generalized statements that contradict generally accepted knowledge or your own research. By all means set me straight, but please be nice about it – when it comes to genealogy, I only pretend to know what I’m talking about.

So what’s with this blog? Just because I don’t consider myself a genealogist doesn’t mean I’m not interested in family histories; when I have a more settled existence, grayer hair, and a greater personal understanding and experience of history, I expect I'll be haunting historical societies and poring over census records with the best of them.

Also, you should know I'm a social science nerd. Despite my appreciation of history, I'll always be more fascinated by living people/populations, their relationships, their communities, their rituals, their personal stories, etc. So expect my entries (when I get around to writing them) to be tinged with ethnography.

And lastly… How ridiculously gleeful and proud am I that the 300th Anniversary Celebration is being held in my hometown of York, PA? A LOT. This means that even if I WASN’T ridiculously gleeful at the prospect, I’d still be obligated to attend. And nothing against the Baby Boomers, (they're the reason for the burgeoning interest in genealogy after all, and for the 300th Anniversary Celebration in particular - thanks Ginger!) but I don’t want to be the ONLY person under 30 in attendance! Just kidding! (Sort of.)