Issue 15.15
Usually the largest family reunion is held July 4th weekend with the Bundys at Mount Trumbull, but this year they have some competition. The Global Family Reunion is coming June 6, 2015. It is the biggest, most extraordinary and most inclusive family reunion in history. Attend and meet fascinating cousins you never knew you had and learn about how we are building a Family Tree of the entire Human Race. Plus, it is for a good cause, the fight against Alzheimer’s. The founder of the Global Family Reunion is bestselling author A. J. Jacobs.
I was introduced to this Global Family Reunion at RootsTech in February. It is June 6, 2015 all day long. Who is invited? You and All seven billion members of the human family. Those with a proven connection to the world’s biggest family tree (currently at 77 million people) get a bracelet and take part of the largest family photo in history.
The Global Family Reunion will feature talks and presentations by a wide range of fascinating experts and entertainers such as filmmaker Morgan Spurlock President George H. W. Bush and Barbara Bush (via video), Nick Kroll from Comedy Central, NPR host Ophira Eisenberg and former Obama administration member Cass Sunstein, plus many more.
The partners helping create the Global Family Reunion are MyHeritage, Geni.com, FamilySearch, 23andMe.com, FamilyTreeDNA, Federation of Genealogical Societies and WikiTree. The reunion will be the subject of a documentary by Morgan Spurlock.
The 2015 Global Family Reunion will be held on the site of the legendary 1964 New York World’s Fair. The grounds are now home to the New York Hall of Science, which is one of the top science-themed museums in the world. It holds 5,000 people with a sprawling 11-acre outdoor space for 10,000 more. Since there are many more of us than that, the Global Family Reunion will, be Global. They are helping organize branch parties all over the world. Locations such as the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, the Clayton Library Center in Houston, Texas, Allen County Public Library in Wayne, Indiana and Midwest Genealogy Center in Independence, Missouri. If you want to get involved in a branch party, sign up at the web site: http://globalfamilyreunion.com/
For more information, contact Shanna Jones shannasjones@msn.com