Dear Miriam and Sarah,
I know you are being raised to think of yourselves as nice Jewish girls--and you are nice Jewish girls! But, I am afraid there is more to the story. You can blame me for that. You see, just like your mother, you are also nice Irish-Scottish-English-Danish-French girls. On your father's side you get names like Shapiro, White, Kuperstock, Michels, Weiler, Zinnamon, and Stein. On my side you get names like Fraser, Christensen, Sweeney, McGoldrick, Colver, Albert, Noel, and Miller.
What amazes me about you girls that is that in your family tree one can see so much history, so much human drama. Let's see. So far in my family tree project I have found direct ancestors who have witnessed or participated in the following: the founding of the Plymouth colony (the Colvers), the Huguenot migration to Virginia (the Noels), the Revolutionary War and the pioneer history of Kentucky (the Alberts), slave-holding (the Alberts), the early history of Iowa (the Colvers), the Irish Famine and subsequent migration to America (the McGoldricks and the Sweeneys), the Haymarket Riots in Chicago (the Frasers), the growth of the meat-packing industries of the mid-west (the Christensens), the migration of Russian and Polish Jews to New York between 1880 and 1920 (the Kuperstocks, the Shapiros and the Whites), and the migration of German Jews to Gold Rush California (the Michels). Wow. And there are still maternal lines I have not discovered. I will be telling you more about all of this in the coming months. Stay tuned!
Love,
Mom
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