On an island immersed in Chamorro culture and history, filled with people from Micronesia, Asia, Europe, and the Americas, many are finding more about their family history roots in Guam. The island’s first Guam Micronesia Family History Fair was held Saturday, September 27, with the theme: “Stories that Bind Us.”
Keynote speaker Jillette Leon-Guerrero inspired her audience as she shared her experience making the TV Documentary, “Across the Waters in Time.” The film featured the story of her search for a Chamorro man, Juan "Demetrio" Perez, who made his way to Hawaii in the 1800s. His great-grandchildren had approached Leon-Guerrero to find out about their past. A family historian, she stressed the positive impact on children of learning about their heritage, family members and ancestors.
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The Barrigada Guam Family History Center, of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, hosted the fair. About 200 people attended this island-wide event and learned more about how to find information on their ancestors.
Speakers from the Micronesia Area Resource Center at the University of Guam gave excellent presentations about the University’s family history resources and tips for doing research on Guam. A speaker from Saipan presented information about a grant he received for the Saipan school system. In this program, Project Traditional Technology, children are taught to interview elders and record stories online, so that oral histories are captured and saved.
The Guam Micronesia Family History Fair also featured 12 classes and two hands-on workshops to help people understand how to use the free genealogy program sponsored by the LDS Church (www.FamilySearch.org; one of the workshops was in English, and the other in Chuukese). Class offerings included tips on Roots Magic, how to interview family members, how to write your personal history, how to add photos on www.FamilySearch.org, ideas for including children in family-history-based activities (such as games), and how to use social media to aid in family history research.
At lunchtime more than fifty teens, adults and children participated in a cultural fashion show with native costumes, while other youth preformed cultural dances.
There were also beautiful exhibits centered on handicrafts related to family history. There were scrapbooks, heirloom quilts, photo books, family-heirloom recipe books, a 19th century dollhouse, and a working loom from Yap.
The Barrigada Guam Family History Center is open to the public (regardless of religious affiliation) during regular business hours, Thursday evenings from 6-8 PM, and by appointment at other times. Additional training is regularly available, as well as private research assistance. Center services are free: The Center is a non-profit organization sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.