When I was just a teen aged kid, I started tracing our genealogy. I had some help from a night class I took, and then I was on my own in the genealogy stacks of the reading room at the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester, Massachusetts. I was lucky because it was the mid-1970s, and I had interviewed my grandparents, who had been born in the 1890s. They knew all about their own parents and grandparents, which took me right to the “Tan Books”. In those days (pre-internet), anyone doing
myths (2)
The John Harvard statue located in Harvard Yard
A few years ago Philadelphia began a campaign to stop tour guides from telling myths and to start studying history before beginning their jobs. They plan to certify each guide with an exam, and fine them for leading tours without this certificate. Philadelphia is the city where the Betsy Ross House is a top attraction, and there is no evidence that she ever even sewed a flag. In my opinion, a certificate should not be required by law, but I would ch
