Family Is Everything Interview Series

Welcome to The Not Old Better Show on radio and podcast.  I’m Paul Vogelzang, and today’s show is brought to you by Newspapers.com

Please check out our show notes for more information about our sponsors, and please support our sponsors because they in turn, support the show. 

Thank you so much for listening.  We’ve got a great guest today…a returning guest, whom I’ll introduce in just a moment…But, quickly, if you missed any episodes, last week was our 661st episode, and we spoke to the wonderful Tik Tok stars, The Old Gays, Robert Reeves, Mick Peterson, Bill Lyons, and Jessay Martin.  Two weeks ago, I spoke with author and Smithsonian Associate Michael Brenner, who’s written the new book, Hitler’s Munich, available HERE on Apple Books for pre-order now. Wonderful stuff…If you missed those shows, you can go back and check them out along with my entire back catalog of shows, all free for you there on our website, NotOldBetter.com…and if you leave a review, we will read it at the end of each show…leave reviews on Apple Podcasts for us.

Today’s interview is really amazing, so much fun, and extremely insightful…We are talking with Not Old Better Show returning guest, and audience favorite Jenny Ashcraft, who is a genealogist, a researcher, a lover of the written word and music, and who’ll join us today to talk about family history, new technology, and resources available at Newspapers.com. 

Jenny Ashcraft loves uncovering stories and special unique nuggets about ancestors’ family details, and as a matter of fact, Jenny mentions some music today, Home Sweet Home, played on the Civil War Battlefields, which both the North and the South listened to…this is an amazing story, too, so stay tuned to hear Jenny’s great joy in helping others find their family nuggets of history.  Jenny Ashcraft feels completely at home immersed in dusty archives, pouring through manuscripts, or finding hidden gems in the pages of historic newspapers.  We’ll be talking with Jenny about headlines that lead to insights, details, and connections with family.  Headlines and archives you can find at Newspapers.com

Hi, we’ll get to Jenny Ashcraft in just a moment, but I’ve spoken previously about the psychological benefits of genealogy, which are significant and plentiful: among them are basic needs like acceptance and friendship, ego needs like achievement and status, and self-actualization.

We’ve spoken I love this subject of genealogy, family, and history, and have we’ve talked previously of all the benefits that can come from these wonderful family connections through genealogy.  There are psychological benefits and more, like knowing your roots boosts older adults’ mental well-being in positive ways, giving us:

• a sense of accomplishment, especially if you do the research yourselves;
• the perspective that we belong to a family which leaves a legacy for future generations;
• a sense of self-worth and belonging to ancestors with whom we can participate to play our part in history;  meaningful things, and of course, as we age
• acceptance of the concept of death and mortality.

Older people who have paid attention to our family health history are better able to contribute to their own well-being and better prepared to affect the well-being of their descendants, and children and grandchildren alike love the family stories.

Let’s jump in to our interview with Jenny Ashcraft. Please join me in welcoming to The Not Old Better Show on radio and podcast historian, writer, and genealogist, Jenny Ashcraft.

My thanks to writer, historian, genealogy expert, returning guest, and audience favorite Jenny Ashcraft,  for her time, expertise, and thoughtful preparation in joining me today.  You’ll find much more in the way of links, resources, and information on our website, and check out Newspapers.com. And you can check out my website at NotOld-Better.com for information on the resources and special programs provided by Newspapers.com.   My thanks, always, to the Smithsonian team for all they do to support the show.  Of course, my thanks to you, our wonderful Not Old Better Show audience.  Please be well, and be safe…I’ve mentioned this a lot recently because I want us all to be safe from assault weapons.  We don’t need them…only the military does.  Assault weapons are killing our children and grandchildren in the very place they learn: schools.  Let’s do better…let’s talk about better, and that includes eliminating assault weapons and the fear they strike amongst all of us…please keep your emails coming to me at info@notold-better.com.  Remember, let’s talk about better.  The Not Old Better Show.