Until this past week I had no idea!
In June 2006 Jasia, of Creative Gene, started the twice a month Carnival of Genealogy, and it has been a hit ever since.
As time went by others have pitched in to host the Carnival, and readers, and participants, have a chance to discover that they are not alone in their interest in family history.
Aside from having the list handy for my own exploration, at my leisure, I hope to encourage others to do so as well.
I am a writer who is always encouraging those who come across this blog to try various writing prompts I introduce, and the Genealogy Carnival is perfectly suited to this.
I participated in #69, on April Fool's Day, the subject of which was "What If...?", and found the submissions by other Genealogists fun to read.
My 2 Contributions: Ancestor of Mine Dug Up by Greek Archaeologists! and Maternal Colonial Ancestor Claimed Three, Linquistic, Versions of Declaration of Independence Printed. ;-D
Here are all of the Carnival of Genealogy Topics, some of which lend themselves to being a great writing exercise, in 1 convenient list:
1. New Technology in the Field of Genealogy. (June 4, 2006)
3. Immigration.
4. Doing the Family Reunion Thing.
6. GENEALOGICAL SOCIETIES: Looking at the declining memberships in Genealogical Societies and what can be done to reverse the trend.
9. Genealogy Vacations and Travel Tips.
10. TOMBSTONES: Tombstones/gravestones/headstones, whatever you want to call them. They mark the graves of our loved ones and tell us something about their lives. ( Even the lack of a marker tells us something, as I have discovered, so keep that in mind when writing about this topic! )
11. Making the Most of Family Get-Togethers.
12. Solving Technical Problems While Doing Family History.
13. A Matter of Life & Death. (The archives for The Geneaholic Blog sadly no longer go back to 2006, and the blog called The Amateurologist, by Lee Carr Anders, is gone completely!)
15. The Genealogist and New Year's Resolutions.
17. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!: Acknowledging and giving thanks to those who have inspired our genealogy research and helped us along the way.
18. 5 Best Tips for Specific Research Areas (50 Tips total!).
19. Shelter from the storm, stories of the home and hearth: It's all about the houses, ours and our ancestors'...
20. A TRIBUTE TO WOMEN: Specifically the women in our lives, past and present.
21. Funny, Foolish, Family!: Here are the funny family stories that make us smile or even laugh out loud. These tales show the humorous side of family history...
22. A "Carousel" Edition of the COG meaning it is open topic (but still genealogy related).
23. School Days, School Days, Dear Old Golden Rule Days!
24. Mothers!
25. Who Inherited the Creative Gene in your family?
26. Dads!
27. What America / Independence Day has meant to my family.
28. Surnames: How much do you know about your family name?
29. Moral or Legal Dilemmas in Genealogy, and Genea-blogging.
30. Genealogical Conferences/Seminars.
31. Confirm or Debunk: Family Myths, Legends, and Lore. (Not long after this post 1st appeared, in 2007, the author moved the blog, lock, stock, and barrel, to the place this version of the entry is now on! So I chose to link to the new home!)
32. Family Stories of Wartime.
33. Weddings!
34. Halloween and the Supernatural!: They're creepy, and they're kooky, mysterious, and all together spooky, serious, and humorous, delirious, and numerous, those tales of the macabre that we all have in the past of our family.
35. Do you have a family mystery that might be solved by DNA? (I did!)
36. A "Carousel" Edition of the COG meaning it is open topic (but still genealogy related).
37. Wish Lists! Dear Santa...?
38. The New Millennium. What were you up to? How did you prepare for the New Year 2000? GeneaBloggers write about their memories of the turn of the century and the turn of the millennium.
39. New Year's Resolutions and the Genealogist 2008.
40. LIVING-RELATIVE CONNECTIONS: If there are any beginning Genealogists reading this edition of the carnival, take heed!
41. INVITING YOURSELF OVER (Taking a Trip in Mr. Peabody's Way-Back Machine!): If you could have dinner with four of your ancestors who would they be, and why?
42. iGene Awards 2007! The 23 founding members of the Academy of Genealogy and Family History each announce their best blog posts in the following 5 categories: Best Picture, Best Screenplay, Best Documentary, Best Biography, Best Comedy.
43. New Technology in the Field of Genealogy 2008.
44. A Tribute to Women: Women who have made an impact on our lives.
45. Cars as Stars of Our Family History!
46. INHERITED TRAITS: Our DNA combines in just such a way as to make us the unique individuals we are. But what traits did we get from who?
47.A PLACE CALLED HOME: Taking a look at the towns and villages, cities and counties, where our ancestors lived. Come along on a trip across two continents as we explore the fields and streams, mountains and valleys, where our families' roots were planted.
48. MOM, HOW'D YOU GET SO SMART?: It's a tribute to the wisdom and knowledge of our beloved mothers and mother figures.
49. COG Celegrates its 3rd Birthday with its 1st SWIMSUIT EDITION!: Putting Sports Illustrated to shame, shame, shame! Meet some beauties and cuties, hotties and bodies, beaches and sneetches. Well, OK, maybe not sneetches. But you'll definitely feel the steamed heat of summer fun in the sun.
50. Stories and Pictures of the Beloved Pets That Have Become Part of Our Families.
51. INDEPENDENT SPIRIT: Every Family History has men and women who took a different path than others. They set out on their own and did things their way even when others said "it won't work" or "are you crazy?"
52. AGE - A collection of tales and trivia, stories and statistics: A look into the lives of others who stand out from their family tree (and society in general) because of their age.
53. A "Carousel" Edition of the COG meaning it is open topic (but still genealogy related).
54. The Family Language - and what a wonderful variety of languages we all have: Those certain special words used within families that make others say, “What?”
55. SHOW AND TELL!: Sharing special persons, photos, documents, and heirlooms.
56. Part 1 - 10 Books in your Genealogical Library that you Find Absolutely Essential.
Part 2 - A compilation of the results of the above: Which titles are valued most by Geneabloggers?
57. I Read it in the News!: Family history information found in newspapers.
58. In keeping with the spirit of Halloween, we are sharing spooky, eerie, and haunting stories involving our ancestors. It's up to you to guess if each of these stories is fact or fiction!
59. POLITCIS AND OUR ANCESTORS: Voting Early and Often, and Other Family Stories.
60. November is Alzheimer's Disease Awareness Month: This edition is dedicated to our friends and family members who have suffered or are suffering from this mentally debilitating disease and the care givers whose task it is to do for them what they cannot do for themselves.
61. TRADITIONS!: Old, new, ethnic, ever-changing... we have them all.
62. 3 WISHES!: Holiday wishes for things from our ancestors with Genea-Santa.
63. New Year's Resolutions and the Genealogist 2009.
64. Winter Genealogy Photo Essay.
65. The Happy Dance. The Joy of Genealogy: Perhaps stating the obvious, but, genealogy can become a passion even before you experience that first "happy dance" but once you've actually felt the excitement and joy of that first dance, be it a rousing rumba or a restrained, elegant waltz, you're addicted.
66. 2008 iGene Awards!: Best blog posts in the following 5 categories: Best Picture, Best Screenplay, Best Documentary, Best Biography, Best Comedy.
67. Nobody's Fool!: Ancestors known for "common sense" and "keeping it together."
68. A Tribute to Women: Women Ancestors who are significant to us.
69. WHAT IF...?: Your chance to re-write history, and some ancestors part in it. (April 4, 2009)
Stay tuned for new editions of the carnival to be added to this list! ;-D
Welcome to the CoG, Kiril!
Posted by: Bill West | April 06, 2009 at 12:13 AM