I was a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin—Madison when Roots took the country by storm. It inspired me to step into the State Historical Society of Wisconsin genealogy library, where I found my lowly great-great-grandfather Silas Buck Goss in a family history. He was the most distant ancestor I knew of, and having his name allowed me to trace the Gosses back to Puritan New England in one afternoon.
That hooked me on genealogy. I dove into tracing not only the Anglo-American branch but also the seven-eights of my ancestry that came from continental Europe. My goal was to identify the immigrants in each ethnic group and their birthplaces and then to do cultural history about the regions.
In the nearly half-century since, I’ve returned to genealogy research several times, making additions and corrections. Over time my initial fervor abated and I developed more nuanced views about the significance of identifying one’s ancestors. Here are some thoughts in that vein, should you be inclined to search for your roots.