Sepia Satuday 619. Celebrating the eighth blogiversary of Molly’s Canopy.
If anyone had asked me eight years ago whether I would still be blogging in 2021, I’m not sure how I would have answered.
Yet here we are celebrating the Eighth Blogiversary of Molly’s Canopy, the family history and genealogy I launched in April 2014 — and the family stories just keep on coming!
Photos led the way this year
When I began blogging, I let ancestral stories lead the way — illustrating as best I could the lives of forbears who left no photo legacy. But this past year has been a treat, because I let family photos lead the way.
My maternal Italian and German ancestors in Gloversville, Fulton Co., N.Y., left a rich photo legacy — particularly the extended Curcio family and its many branches.
Their stories captured the immigrant experience, the importance of family networks to success in the U.S., and the legacy of hard work and determination they passed on to their descendants.
As a child, I was honored to meet some of the younger Curcio family members — and marveled at their strong family connections.
One of the Curcio descendants was my maternal grandfather Antonio W. Laurence, the young boy seated at the right side of the front row in the photo above.
Chronicling my early teen years
Another fun writing project during 2021 was chronicling Endwell: My early teen years — when rock-and-roll was overtaken by the British-invasion and 1960s culture began to take hold in my generation.
What a joy to revisit my teens from the perspective of age and to add my own story to those of my ancestors — from my visits to the 1964-65 World’s Fair in Flushing, Queens, to rock concerts and junior prom (in between school work, of course).
And now, the 1950 US census…
As I enter my ninth blogging year, the long-awaited 1950 US census has gone public — and I found myself listed for the first time at age 2 months. How fantastic was that!
As with any census, there is more to the family story that those dry entries on a pre-printed form.
How to explain my ancestors’ answers to the regular and “extra” questions? What is the significance of those stray marks made by census takers and tabulators? What family photos correspond to this slice of 1950s time? Readers of Molly’s Canopy will want to stick around for those answers and more!
Meanwhile, many thanks to my family, friends, colleagues, readers and the intrepid bloggers at Sepia Saturday, Geneabloggers and the Genealogy Blog Party for your continued visits, comments and support — and if you are new to Molly’s Canopy, I hope you’ll subscribe join me on the journey!
Up next: My maternal grandparents in the 1950 US census. Meanwhile, please visit the blogs of this week’s other Sepia Saturday participants.
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