Have you ever wondered why genealogy captivates so many people?
Whether it’s tracing a family tree back generations or holding on to stories told around the dinner table, genealogy offers a powerful sense of connection—a connection that can shape identities, claims of property, and even arguments for freedom.
But genealogy isn’t just a modern-day hobby. In early America, genealogy was a deeply consequential practice with social, political, and legal implications.
Karin Wulf, a Professor of History and the Eighth Director and Librarian of the John Carter Brown Library at Brown University, joins us to explore the ways early Americans were interested in their family histories with details from her book Lineage: Genealogy and the Power of Connection in Early America.
About the Show
Ben Franklin’s World is a podcast about early American history.
It is a show for people who love history and for those who want to know more about the historical people and events that have impacted and shaped our present-day world.
Episode Summary
Karin Wulf is a Professor of History and the Eighth Director and Librarian of the John Carter Brown Library at Brown University. She’s a co-founder of Clio Digital Media, the nonprofit organization where we produce Ben Franklin’s World. Her research expertise is in how gender and family intersect with political ideas, practices, and structures in early British America. She joins us to explore early American practices of genealogy with details from her book Lineage: Genealogy and the Power of Connection in Early America.
During our exploration, Karin reveals how early Americans understood and practiced genealogy, including vernacular genealogy and oral traditions. The role genealogy played in shaping early American ideas about family, freedom, and authority. And, why genealogy mattered across lines of race, class, and gender in a society that was increasingly organized around patriarchal and legal structures.
What You’ll Discover
- Differences between family history and genealogy
- The practice and records of early American genealogy
- Origins of genealogy and family history-making
- Why study genealogy in early British America
- Requirements of genealogy in British America
- British American interest and non-interest in genealogy
- The role of family Bibles in family record keeping
- Paternalism and early American genealogy practices
- The role of race in early American genealogy practices
- How early Americans kept genealogies for Black and white families
- Thomas Jefferson’s accounts for his white and Black families
- Genealogy practices of early American Black women
- Oral genealogies in early America
- Regional differences in early American genealogy practices
- The Founding Fathers and Genealogy
- Genealogy’s influences on the U.S.’s Founding documents
- Printed family histories and genealogies
Links to People, Places, and Publications
1776 in Context Question
In your opinion, what role or roles do you think genealogy and family history have played in the creation and the continuation of the American Revolution and the new United States?
Complementary Episodes
🎧 Episode 114: The History of Genealogy
🎧 Episode 231: The Religious Lives of the Adams Family
🎧 Episode 236: Mixed-Race Britons & the Atlantic Family
🎧 Episode 278: Polygamy: An Early American History
🎧 Episode 296: The Boston Massacre: A Family History
🎧 Episode 354: The Sewing Girls Tale
Support Our Work
Love what you hear on Ben Franklin’s World? Support the show and help us keep history accessible, independent, and deeply researched. Make a tax-deductible donation at BenFranklinsWorld.com/donate.
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