Finding out what it means to be Boricua through a genetic & genealogical journey through my family history
DNA has been both one of the coolest and yet most difficult tools to use for Puerto Rican genealogy and research. For starters, many Puerto Ricans on the island share mutual ancestors, meaning that DNA has been repeated throughout our branches (sometimes multiple times) and thus create cousin matches seem closer in relation than what they …
There are many times in genealogy where we “discover” an ancestor, but a lot is still left in the shadows. We gain bits and pieces of information about this person, but sometimes the whole picture doesn’t come into full view. It can be missing information such as documents themselves to tie together the person or …
Revisiting my 2nd great-grandmother: Amalia Rivera Rodríguez Read More »
When searching for family, one of the most important things I have come to realize is that sometimes we can find related family members not directly listed as “mother” or “father” in the records, but sometimes we can find them listed as the declarant, a witness, and/or listed as godparents to family members in church …
In the last two years I have taken advantage (in a sense) of all the time from being indoors given the pandemic and I have dedicated this time to genealogical research and education. Back in 2020 I decided to study under Boston University’s Online Certificate Program in Genealogical Research (which I will refer to as “BU” …
A Puerto Rican Look at: BU’s Genealogical Course & ProGen Study Groups Read More »
Growing up in New York City, I was fairly removed from my Rivera side of the family. I knew the name of my grandfather, Felipe Rivera Ortiz, but that was about it. I had no real idea who his siblings were (I did know there was a brother who had lived in New York), but …
Investigating Issues of Fertility: Rivera-Ortiz Women of the 20th Century Read More »
The time has finally arrived – April 1st, 2022; the release of the 1950 Census! If this is the first time that you hear about this release, it has been a long time coming. Literally 72 years! The census records recorded every ten years are stored away until the names written on them can be …
When it comes to learning about our ancestors, we usually want to learn pretty much everything about them – no detail seems too small. How tall were they? What color eyes did they have? Where did they live and where did they work? And of course, who were their parents and where were they from? …
In honor of Black History Month and my 4th great-grandmother’s birthday in February, I wanted to dedicate this post to the ongoing research of Julienne Malvina Lautin, my enslaved Martinican ancestor who moved to Puerto Rico. There are many times in genealogy when you think you know well enough the life of an ancestor. Given …
Beginning your genealogy journey can be a bit overwhelming. Where do I start? Which branch should I research? I am stuck on an ancestor or have come across a brick wall, help!! These are many of the experiences beginner genealogists experience during their first years researching their tree in hopes of learning more about themselves. …
Getting (More) Serious About Genealogy: 5 Beginner Tips Read More »
Back in 2019, I read an interesting book that combined genealogy and non-fiction story telling. The book is called: The Man Who Stole Himself:The Slave Odyssey of Hans Jonathan. The book was written by Icelandic professor of anthropology, Gísli Pálsson, and documents the journey of a former Caribbean slave from St. Croix to Denmark and finally to …
The Caribbean, Western Africa, and Iceland: An Unlikely Trio Read More »