Family History
My family tree (985 A.D. to Present) visualizes 29 generations and over 1000 people. Each horizontal line equals one generation. Each dot is one person.
“you live through...that little piece of time that is yours, but that piece of time is not only your own life, it is the summing-up of all the other lives that are simultaneous with yours. It is, in other words, History, and what you are is an expression of History.”
In 2015, I began the slow and painstaking process of researching my family's history. This effort is inspired by my parents and their commitment to my cultural rootedness and sense of belonging. The process of preserving and building upon one's identity, culture, and history is central to who I am. This project, I hope, will serve as bridge between experiences, cultures, and generations. What I love most about this project is that it tells me as much about my family as it does about the society and contexts in which they lived.
Thus far, in Mexico, I traced my roots back to 1611 in the Mexican states of Jalisco, Guanajuato, and Chihuahua. In Spain, I can trace family origins to the provinces of Albacete, Burgos, Murcia, Leon, and Palencia. The next step is to visit municipal and state archives in hopes of learning and uncovering more.
