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The secrets of happy familiesA Win-Win for Genealogists

For those of us who have caught the genealogy bug, there’s no need for further inducement to trace and record our family history. We know the thrill and challenge of genealogical research is addicting all by itself. However, if you need evidence to help justify your obsession with census data and tombstone transcriptions to those yet to be infected, I have just the thing. A new book by Bruce Feiler, The Secrets of Happy Families, reports that it is highly beneficial for children to know about their family history. Feiler shares some amazing conclusions drawn from a study conducted by Robyn Fivush and Marshall Duke, professors of psychology at Emory University. Feiler summarizes, “The more children knew about their family’s history, the stronger their sense of control over their lives, the higher their self-esteem, and the more successfully they believed their families functioned.”...

 

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