Share Your Stories with StLGS Quarterly Readers

(Thanks to Jane Theissen, StLGS Quarterly co-editor, for writing this week's post.)

One of the reasons we love to research our ancestors is to discover their stories. Every genealogist has uncovered at least one anecdote about their family that they did not expect to find or proven (or disproven) an old family story that’s seemingly been told for ages. Maybe you finally bashed through that brick wall you’ve been chipping away at for years. Someone might learn from how you did it. Genealogists love stories and they love to hear other genealogists’ stories, too! You can share your family history trials and triumphs through the StLGS Quarterly, and it's easier than you think.

Writing down the results of your research, or any part of your family narrative, is a great exercise. It helps you to see what you have accomplished and where the holes are that still need answers. It also gives you a feeling of pride at what you have achieved. I have written articles about how I broke down a brick wall and about missteps in my research (researching the wrong guy). My nieces and nephews love to hear the story about how their great-grandpa really got his name or about how their great-great-great grandmother was a midwife and helped bring her grandsons into the world.  

Yes, we all have family stories. The staff of the StLGS Quarterly invites you to share your stories with us and with our readers. Your story doesn’t need to be long. One or two pages is fine. Longer is good too, but not necessary. In addition to family stories, articles about how to use technology or family history software, research trips you’ve taken, asking and answering a research question, or case studies can also make great articles.

Call for 1918 Flu Pandemic Family History Stories for StLGS Quarterly Summer 2021 Issue

Sometimes it helps if you have a specific topic to get you started. Here is one suggestion. The summer issue of the Quarterly will focus on pandemics, specifically the influenza outbreak in 1918 and the COVID epidemic we are dealing with today. We invite you to share stories about how your ancestors were affected by the 1918 outbreak. Was your ancestor attending a school that was shut down? Did someone lose his or her job? How did living through the first pandemic change the lives of your family members? Were any of them in the military during this time? A limited number of your recollections may be published in our Summer 2021 issue to supplement the articles we already have on hand. And, of course, we love to receive photos along with your stories. Keep in mind we can only publish photos that are out of copyright or that belong to you. Please NO photos from other people’s websites without written permission from the copyright holder.

We have a downloadable guide to writing for publication in the Quarterly on our website at https://stlgs.org/media/pdf/quarterlyguidelines2018.pdf. We are always happy to answer questions or read over a first draft and provide suggestions. Questions and submissions can be emailed to quarterly@stlgs.org. The deadline for submitting your 1918 influenza stories is 1 June 2021, but the rest of your articles are welcome at any time! And who knows? Your story may encourage others to share their stories as well.