52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 2025 – Week 12: Historical Event

NOTE: I accepted the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge headed by fellow genealogy blogger Amy Johnson Crow. The idea behind this challenge is that you will receive email prompts, a word or phrase, every week, and you find something about your research or family history to write about. Click HERE to read my first 52 Ancestors blog post in 2019.

Family history isn’t just about what you read in books, census records, and vital records. It’s more than just names and dates. Family history is also very personal. It’s also about how the world around us and how world events have shaped us into who we are today. Every generation has adapted, endured, and discovered ways to move forward from historical events that have taken place in our lives. When I talk to relatives about our family history, I always use historical events as memory triggers such as where were you when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr was assassinated, what do you remember about the Apollo moon landing, or where were you when you heard about Watergate and the resignation of President Nixon?

This prompt got me to thinking about what are the historical events that would help trigger my memory if I were ever interviewed. These are the historical events that came to mind:

The Challenger Explosion
Beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles Police
Y2K
September 11, 2001
The election of the first Black Present, Barak Obama
COVID19

History is not just something we read about, it’s something that we live everyday. The past is never far behind us. It lives in our stories, our struggles, and in our triumphs. By preserving and sharing these stories, I continue to honor and celebrate those who came before me, my generation, and pave the way for those that come after me.