Family Record

For some of us, our love of history starts close to home. Photographs from generations past, treasured heirlooms passed down from parent to child, stories told so often they become legend—such objects and experiences can often be our first encounter with the past. So why not use that connection with undergraduate students? Teaching historical methods using family history and genealogical research, as Mary Ann Mahony shares in this issue, helps students connect their ancestors’ individual experiences to broader historical contexts and challenges many of the assumptions they bring with them to class.

Image: John R. Staples/Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division

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May 2025 Perspectives Cover

Staff

Laura Ansley, senior managing editor
Lizzy Meggyesy, publications and communications associate
Alexandra F. Levy, director of communications and public affairs
Liz Townsend, manager, data administration and integrity

Other Articles

Colorful mural shows, from left, a man peering into a microscope; in the center background, a man working with industrial equipment; in the center foreground, a man kneeling by a brick wall, looking at blueprints; two male workers walking toward a factory building, one holding a sledgehammer and the other holding a tool box.

April 30, 2025

Viewpoints

The Road Not (Yet) Taken
American Historical Review cover for June 2025 issue

May 27, 2025

AHA Activities

Rethinking a Continent
Black and white photograph. A boat on a canal with a man wearing a bowler hat standing at the tiller. A donkey walks ahead of the boat on the canal towpath, connected to the left side of the boat by a rope. The boat has a sign labeling it "Morris Canal Reg." Wooden crates fill the center of the boat.

May 28, 2025

Everything Has a History

The Morris Canal
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May 1, 2025

In Memoriam

William D. Barnard (1942–2024)
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May 1, 2025

In Memoriam

Roberta Marx Delson (1945–2025)
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May 1, 2025

In Memoriam

Ena Farley (1938–2024)
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May 1, 2025

In Memoriam

Henry L. Feingold (1931–2024)
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May 1, 2025

In Memoriam

Peter Kolchin (1943–2025)
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May 1, 2025

In Memoriam

Donald G. Mathews (1932–2024)
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May 1, 2025

In Memoriam

Albert J. Schmidt (1925–2025)
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May 21, 2025

In Memoriam, Long Overdue

William D’Arcy McNickle (1904–77)