Putting a Little History into Family History

Next week, I'm delighted to welcome Substacker, historian, and family historian Lisa Maguire to talk about how micro-history can inform our explorations of our ancestors.

Lisa Maguire

of Ancestory was one of the first Substackers to welcome me when I arrived on the platform. She offered a few pointers and most of all made me feel like I’d come home. You don’t forget that. Since then, she’s impressed me with both her storytelling and history chops. You may be familiar with her series, Beaubassin Chronicles, or her pieces describing the Maguires of Montreal.

In a recent conversation, she shared a topic among professional historians I thought might interest us as we explore our family stories: micro-history. I’ve asked her to join us on Thursday, August 7th (or Friday, the 8th) in our Pacific-friendly time slot, and join me for a preview on Sunday, August 3rd (or Monday, the 4th) during my weekly Sustack Live.

Add this link to your calendar to get your local times and join the Preview. For the Special, find local times and registration details here.

Like all Projectkin events, both programs are free and will share the recordings with subscribers.

Micro-history is distinct from adding historical context to a story or embarking on a one-place study. As Lisa explains in this companion post,

“Micro-history sought to reconstruct the lived experience of regular people in a non-reductive way to understand how they interpreted and shaped their world and, in some cases, how they challenged it.”

What is Micro-history?

For many, this perspective can give us new insight into the genealogical details and stories we’ve learned about our ancestors’ lives. These are the lived experiences of ordinary people. It’s tempting to categorize their experiences in terms of the generalized themes of their time; this approach gives us a new way to understand them on their terms.