General Information About Item:

• Customary Lore,  Celebration
• Language: English
• Country of Origin: United States
• Informant: D.G.
• Date Collected: 11-11-2021

Informant Data:

• D.G. is a recent college graduate who grew up in the suburbs of Boston, Massachusetts. He now works in Atlanta, Georgia but makes his way home every year during the Christmas season to spend time with his family. The oldest of his siblings, he has two younger sisters and a younger brother.

Contextual Data:

• Cultural Context: The cultural context of D.G’s family gathering is to share stories of their family lineage and especially to explain to the younger generations within his family how they came to the United States.
• Social Context: The social context of D.G’s family gathering is that it is a means for his extended family to catch up and share stories of the past.

Item:

• D.G’s family has an annual tradition of gathering in their household and telling stories about their family’s immigration from Ireland. When possible, his cousin, aunts, and uncles also come to share stories over a nice meal with loved ones. D.G. recalled that stories range from his great grandparents first stepping foot in the United States to funny memories of Christmas parties in the past.

Transcript:

• “Every year my family gathers at my house in the Boston area to share each-other’s company. The centerpiece of this party is when we sit down for dinner, instead of saying grace we share stories of our family heritage which date back to our first descendents in the United States. It sounds like something a family would typically do for Thanksgiving but it’s ultimately a great way for us to be thankful for what brought us all together. It’s probably the only time of year when my entire extended family is able to gather, as we are spread across the United States just about as much as a family could be. One distinct memory I have about a particularly impactful story was when my great uncle shared the story of my great-great grandfather officially changing our last name on Ellis Island to escape persecution.”

Informant’s Comments:

• “I think the tradition is particularly impactful due to the fact that all the stories are things which my family can individually relate to. For example, if you came to the party, you may find it to be a bit boring as you would have no grounds for relating to these stories, but I and I know my family finds it especially rewarding.”

Collector’s Comments:

• D.G’s family tradition is the most traditionally folkloric of the people I had interviewed. It was interesting to hear his take on how the tradition has evolved and how special it is to his family, especially due to the fact that I had not mentioned to him prior to the interview that this class was on folklore itself. His family, while geographically dispersed across the country, remains extremely close in part due to traditions like this one which shares his lineage from generation to generation.

Collected By:

Daniel Hincks

Boston, MA

Hanover, NH

Dartmouth College

RUSS013

Fall 2021