Peter Burr Society - Who Are We?

Over the last two years, we have evolved, and in the process some may be unclear as to who we are now. Let us address that question.

We currently have two organizations, wherein the first and perhaps smallest organization is covered by a larger official organization. In 2008, I began organizing what I called the Peter Burr Society. At that time, my vision included locating descendants of Peter Burr and building a network for us to evolve as a finally once again united (after 200 years) around the Peter Burr House. Because of a set of circumstances that exist relating to the Peter Burr House, rationale surfaced for us to consider becoming much more formal in our organizational structure for a number of reasons.

Without enumerating all those reasons now, we have come a long way in less than two years. During 2009, much effort went into organizing Reliving History, Inc., which is now a legal corporation in the state of West Virginia and officially with 501(c)(3) tax exempt non-profit status. As an official organization, we support the Peter Burr House through educational and charitable service to the public. Reliving History, Inc. is the corporate structure that will be able to apply for grant funding and raise other funds via recognized methods utilized by other non-profit organizations.

The Peter Burr Society will continue to exist as a more loosely organized structure that will function under Reliving History, Inc. and in support of the Peter Burr House, via genealogy and research into how family history connects with local and national history.

Much has been published recently about Reliving History, Inc. and it seems that now is time to clarify more about the Peter Burr Society. Reliving History, Inc. exists because the Peter Burr House still exists. The house exists, however, because Peter Burr existed and built the house. The two are important as they come together as one event in time. A real person built a house that for some reason continues to exist.

Peter Burr was the composite result of generations that lived before him. To understand who he was and what motivated him and his life style, we must also embrace his family history. The same is true for all of us. In addition to all that came before him, he also was shaped by what was going on around him. That too is true for all of us. To better understand him and the significance of his house, we need to know more about his ancestry and their culture, his neighbors and their culture, and the historic events that set the stage for important decisions that were being made by him and by others. And so it is for us; we are the products of all that has gone before us and all that is going on around us.

To bring history to life and make it more accessible as a tool for our own benefits, we need to understand history rather than simply know dates and places. We need to feel feelings that ancestors felt and realize that in similar situations, we may have made the same choices. As we are able to understand cycles that tend to repeat themselves as the result of human nature, we can become wise by grasping the larger picture like a map of how we got to where we are now and how to make better choices for the future.

The Peter Burr Society is intended to utilize genealogy to trace family linage and to help us find and understand better who we are.

A new wave seems to be occurring that many genealogists have long wished for. Younger people seem to be getting interested in their roots.

The internet has opened doors for accessing records that only a few years ago were accessible only in dusty archives. There was been a recent increase in people requesting membership into the Peter Burr Society Yahoo Group. New television shows such as the very recent "Faces of America" on PBS and NBC's new "Who Do You Think You Are?" Regular people see celebrities get emotional as they make initial connections to ancestors they knew nothing about; they relate personally and begin to want to discover their own roots.

As I read reviews and comments about these shows, several themes are repeated over and over. People are saying:

• I got tears in my eyes as I watched.
• These people who discover their roots seem to feel a personal connection to history.
• This helps me to better understand a reason for knowing history.
• How wonderful to feel like a part of something much bigger than what is going on today.

And people are asking:

• How do I find my roots? What is the process?
• Rather than being alone, we are all very alike aren't we?

As our society becomes less and less connected by family togetherness, people often feel less and less rooted or connected to something of value. Perhaps this phenomenon helps to drive the new wave, as people begin to discover the excitement of making a personal connection to some historic event.

Specific lines that came from the initial episode of "Who Do You Think You Are?" stated:

• To know who you are, you have to know where you came from.
• We all have a story waiting to be discovered.
• The past can never be repeated, but it can be uncovered.

The Peter Burr Society is about family history. It is about Burr family history and it is about other family histories, because we are all the composite of (and affected by) all who lived before us and of those who live around us. The Peter Burr Society is important because: it will help us not only to discover who we are as a family and as individuals but also who we are as a network of people made up of many families.

It is difficult for family members in other parts of the country to help with local events at the Peter Burr House or for Reliving History, Inc. But family members from all over the country and even else where in the world can easily contribute to the compiling of the family history.

It is now time for us to begin growing the Peter Burr Society and organizing ways for us to function better in ways that will be beneficial to members.

If you are a member of the Peter Burr Society Yahoo Group, please go to that site and post your replies to this topic. If you are not a member, go to the site and request membership. (Allow about 24 for acceptance to be processed.) The link is:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/peterburrsociety/

Open for discussion is the question: How can we make this site more useful to members?

One of the options might be to consider a group membership to Ancestry.com that would allow us to begin building an online family tree. That subject, however, needs to be discussed and several issues need to be decided. Let your thoughts be known on this subject.

If you cannot figure out how to join the group, or if you prefer to not join the group, you may email me at bjoycecole@RelivingHistoryInc.org
Or go to our website and use "Contact Us" at:
http://www.relivinghistoryinc.org/

Also comment about whether or not you would be interested in a genealogy workshop to be offered during the 2010 homecoming in October.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Joyce Cole, Founder
Reliving History, Inc. and
The Peter Burr Society
Website: http://www.relivinghistoryinc.org/
Email: bjoycecole@RelivingHistoryInc.org

Forecasting: A Growing Interest in History

The purpose of this blog is to set up a mechanism so I can say: "I told you so" in the future. I believe an important mile marker is before us that will be of benefit to history-related focuses in the future.

A new show airs on NBC Mar 5, 2010 that I believe will be important. The one thing the show does is to personalize history in a way that is key to drawing in the interest of many people. The potential for drawing in younger people is especially important.

• New Series: Who Do You Think You Are?
• Airs: Friday, Mar 5 on NBC at 8 pm (7 central time)

In the first episode, Sarah Jessica Parker discovers an ancestor accused of witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trails. The show takes a personal look into the family stories of seven celebrities, while helping people everywhere understand what they could discover about their own family history.

Significance of the Series:
I believe that interest in history is growing and is actually beginning to capture the interest of younger people. More easily available resources are finally beginning to make the past relevant to who we are on a personal level.

For example, the moment I learned that one of my direct Burr ancestors was a Puritan who came to America on a boat in John Winthrop's historic fleet that landed near Boston on June 12, 1630, I suddenly found myself interested in my own history and the history that surrounded that event. After all the dull history classes that were totally impersonal with dates and places that meant nothing to me, I suddenly found myself totally (perhaps obsessively) interested when I became aware that DNA coursing through my veins was present at some of those places and in some of those dates. When I first stood in the ca. 1751 oldest wood frame house in the state of West Virginia and realized that the person who laid the floors, built the fireplace, and provided detailed finishing touches to that old house did in fact have my DNA in the veins of his hands, then hairs on the back of my neck stood on end and I connected to history in a way I never before dreamed possible. And I am not different from others. I have already heard too many other people use the same description of hairs on the back of their necks standing on end in similar situations. Those upright hairs are an indicator that engagement with history has occurred.

As much as I am able to find fault with Ancestry.com, Bill Gates and Windows, the fact remains: in the larger scheme of things, Ancestry.com is going to be to history as Bill Gates and Windows was to computer compatibility and networking. Genealogy (personal family history) is going to do for history what Windows did for computing: bring it down to a personal level easily accessible to average people.

I believe that the wise among us will recognize this occurrence as an opportunity for opening new doors in history focuses and turning around old embedded obstacles.

While I do not have a membership with Ancestry.com and have no stock in that organization or NBC television, I believe that the new series will be a useful tool.

• Do I care whether or not you watch the show? No.
• Do I care whether or not the show airs? Yes

I believe the marketing plans behind this show are brilliant. While the show will certainly send people to Ancestry.com in search of their own family history, it will also (in the long-range) benefit every organization with a focus on history. I am certain it will capture a younger generation of data-seeking individuals that eventually could become a part of a new wave of interest in history in many different ways.

I believe that history-focused organizations would be foolish to fail to embrace and plan upon this predictable phenomenon. To those who can read handwriting on the wall, my advise is to be ready.

What does all this mean to us at Reliving History, Inc?
The Peter Burr House has stood for 258 years, primarily in an open field where it in these later days has been of little notice. As a lone structure in a field surrounded by industrial development it is currently of less value to some than the land it sits on. This historic site, like many others, must become more valued if they are to continue standing. That value will be in the eyes of the general public who must come to a place of personally caring about these properties.

The word "personal" has significant meaning in the prospects of raising interest in history. The way to raise interest in historic sites and historic focuses is to engage the "personal" connection to history. Genealogy an important path to personal connection to history.

Another word and phrase also have significant meaning: "networking" for "setting a historic backdrop" is important. As we network with other organizations to "set a historic backdrop" then the Peter Burr House becomes less of a lone structure in a remote field and more of a key part of the extremely valuable larger picture.

Without going into any further detail on these subjects, I've defined personal connection to history (via genealogy) and networking (working together) to set historic backdrops as key elements for helping to utilize and further grow the on-coming interest in history.

Years from now, after we have followed a planned path, I want to be able to look back to this particular post and playfully (but for the record also) say: I told you so.

Joyce Cole
Reliving History, Inc.
Visit our website:
www.RelivingHistoryInc.org