"Turning points" for aging genealogists: Claiming identities and histories in time

Based on qualitative in-depth interviews, I examine the use of genealogy with regard to the current historical moment for identities rooted in kin, race, class, gender, nation-and age. Drawing on the concept of "turning points" coined by Anselm Strauss, I explore moments that motivate the doing of family genealogy. First, I suggest that Strauss's turning points may occur simultaneously and converge like vectors across time. Second, I argue that late middle-age lends itself to "identity extensions", which I define as a reevaluation of self that acknowledges one or more of the following: the significance of extended kin to one's identity; reverence for ancestors; a social responsibility to the future. Finally, I analyze how the current era informs a particular generation's genealogical endeavors. I conceive of U.S. baby boomers' genealogical projects as an expression of longing for connections in family lives and for a place in social history across the generations.