Roots Television | Og Blog

If you haven't checked out our Roots Video Vlog lately, you really should. It's got the best of all the random, little genealogical gems that are scattered around the Internet. You'll find everything from Jewish genealogy to military stories to forgotten landmarks to DNA to Scottish roots to . . . well, why not just take a look for yourself?

And if you like what you see, you can join the many other subscribers to this vlog by entering your email in the subscription box in the right column. That way, you'll receive an email on any days a new video is added and decide for yourself whether it's one you want to watch.

New today....the latest in our Roots Television DNA Stories series: Were They Sisters?

Bill Hurst tells how he used mitochondrial DNA testing to break through a brick wall in his family history. For the next few days, you'll find his story playing under the "New" tab in the Roots Living section on the Roots Television homepage. After that, you can watch this and other DNA Stories in the DNA section. And if you haven't seen it already, don't miss "A Tale of Two Fathers," the story of how Bob Zins used Y-chromosome testing to solve a family mystery.

Let us know if you have your own DNA story to share!

A big thanks to the ISOGG forum for posting this review of our latest DNA Story!

Imagine discovering tape recordings from the 1950s of your grandparents recalling their experiences with Pancho Villa and his men! That's exactly what happened to Taylor McDonald. Did he decide to capture this family history for posterity? You bet! And so can you.

Why not take a little time off (don't worry, we won't tell anyone!) and watch Taylor's story on Roots Television to get a few ideas for writing your own family's history? With the holiday season upon us, this is the perfect time to ask great-aunt Millie to sit down and share a few tales that would otherwise be forgotten.

Here at Roots Television, we're really thrilled about our first few months online -- so much so, that we did a little celebrating.

Warning! Please don't go any further unless you have a sense of humor!

Click here for a peek. Be sure to turn on your volume and wait for the elevator to arrive. You can watch its progress on the dial on top. That's Marcy on the left and Megan on the right -- well, our faces anyway. We're two of the instigators behind Roots Television, and hope you've been enjoying it as much as we have!

We'd like to give a shout-out to Irish America Magazine for recognizing Roots Television for its coverage of the Annie Moore conference (see the Immigration tab under the Homeland category).

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Incidentally, if you're even part-Irish, do yourself a favor and check out this magazine. It provides a peek into your roots six times a year!

And keep an eye out for some fresh details about our beloved Annie . . .

If you're one of those creative types who's decided to give genetic genealogy tests for the holidays, you might want to consider steering the recipients to DNA Stories (in the DNA category) to help them understand what you've given them. We can tell from our traffic that the two stories there now are getting lots of attention -- and we've received several remarks that DNA project leaders are referring their members to the stories to learn how the tests work. They tend to go down easy since the shows are based on the actual experiences of individuals, and many find that less intimidating than a science lecture! So far, we've got an episode focusing on Y-DNA and another on mtDNA, but keep an eye out. There will be more coming!

Keep an eye on Roots Television because in the not-too-distant future, you're going to be able to share your own videos here! We're going to be launching RootsTube to make it easy for you to show the rest of us your stuff. We wanted to let you know now so you can snag some footage as you gather with your family over the holidays. Or maybe at your genealogical society's first meeting of the new year. Now's a great time to start brainstorming about what you want to share on RootsTube!