I recently watched this series, and I really enjoyed it.
So everyone already knows that I was a history major, and I actually don't mind the genealogy obsession. See here and here. While I'm not supportive of LDS proxy baptisms, but I think finding out more about one's ancestors is pretty fascinating.
The series was really, really cool. Not just because of the celebrities, but the perspective on immigration. The perspective has changed so much in the last 300 years. I loved the quote about Germans from Benjamin Franklin - that the German people could never fit into our country because of their complection. And it wasn't all wine and roses either, families who were interned in the WWII Japanese internment camps, the potato famine, fights against the native americans, mining accidents. But lots of great stories, of people trying to create a government, trying to provide for their families.
But I find there's also a part of me that agrees with Meryl Streep, it's nice to have the family information. But it would be even more remarkable to actually be able to find out about the women, the people in this history without a voice. To find out what made them tick. And that reality might not be pretty. But it would be fascinating.
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My Dad has done a remarkable amount of research into our family history, and for Christmas, he gave each of us 3 huge 3-ring binders full of info on my Mom's family. The part I like the most is a lengthy narrative my Great Aunt Mary wrote, which is full of stories and also gives some wonderful subjective impressions of what various people were like. I read it like a novel. It was such a great gift.
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