Mary Tedesco: 0:02

You know, discovering that with mom and being like well, your roots are all over the country. You know the story of migration of America, but also we have roots literally right in our own backyard.

Crista Cowan: 0:14

Stories that Live In Us is a podcast that inspires you to form deep connections with your family, past, present and future. I'm Crista Cowan, known online as the Barefoot Genealogist. I've spent my whole life discovering the power of family history, and I know that sharing the stories that live in you can change everything. If you are listening in the United States on the day this episode airs, it is the 4th of July. America's Independence Day, and so I thought what better guest to introduce you to for this episode than my friend, Mary Tedesco.

Crista Cowan: 0:53

You may know Mary if you ever watched the PBS television show Genealogy Roadshow. She was one of the hosts of that show, and she and I have known each other for years as genealogy colleagues and speakers on the genealogy circuit. But I also know that Mary is very heavily involved in the Daughters of the American Revolution, and so I'm excited to have a conversation with her about her journey into family history and her involvement in that particular organization, especially as we celebrate Independence Day today. Mary, thank you so much for being here. I'm so excited to have this conversation with you. You and I have been friends for I don't even know how long, do you?

Mary Tedesco: 1:39

Over. It must be over 12 or 13 years. At this point I want to say Long time.

Crista Cowan: 1:44

Yeah, it has been a long time and it's been really fun for me to watch the evolution of your kind of career and path in family history. I'd love to just have you tell us about how you got started. What's your family history genesis story?

Mary Tedesco: 1:59

Well, how I got started was a gentleman. I was working at State Street Bank at the time as a fund accountant and a gentleman in my department said, hey, there's this great website called Ancestrycom, have you heard about it? And I said, yeah, I've heard about it, but I've never been on the site. So he showed me that you could access passenger lists, because I'm half Italian, so my grandparents came from Italy and so he showed me for the first time the passenger list of my grandparents. So I remember printing these off and then bringing them home because my grandparents were still living at the time and just saying, hey guys, look, look, what I found. And they had never seen the passenger list before.

Mary Tedesco: 2:42

And then from there I said, you know, I was asking my grandmother questions and she helped me write the first letters back to Italy to get documents like her birth certificate, my grandfather's birth certificate and, as you know, you just kind of get carried away. And and then my mother, who's not Italian, was like, well, what about our side of the family? So you know, and it's just, it's been a passion ever since and I'm just so grateful for that, you know, initial kind of exposure to it, which a lot of us have cool stories and then it's just been a wonderful. You know, started out as a hobby and then evolved into a career. That's been, you know, just incredibly fulfilling. I'm grateful for every single day.

Crista Cowan: 3:24

I love that and I love that you had an experience that a lot of people have, which is seeing that document for the first time. There's something very visceral about that connection to the past and connection to our ancestors in the form of just a piece of paper. It seems so innocuous when you say it that way, but it really causes an emotional reaction in a lot of us and it sounded like it did that for you as well.

Mary Tedesco: 3:50

Yeah, and an incredible, meaningful piece of paper because, as you know and what your podcast is about too, is it sparked the story.

Mary Tedesco: 3:56

So, you know, I brought home just the paper, but there was all the emotion attached to that piece of paper, the story of immigration. Emotion attached to that piece of paper, the story of immigration, the story of relatives left behind, like the grandparents that my grandfather never saw again, and you know what I mean. So there was all this emotion attached. That kind of you know was part of what looped me in, because I wanted to know about those people and you know their lives and I had never met them because they passed away before I was born. But it was just an incredible honor to to give the gift back to my grandparents who were still living at the time and in those stories and kind of say, well, this is what happened and this is where she was born and and hey, we have family from the next town over in Italy and things they did not know, you know. So it was just I loved being on that journey with my grandparents while they were living. It was very special.

Crista Cowan: 4:47

I love that and that's such an important part of this, as well as that journey that we take together. So you have this journey with your father's side of the family into Italy through that immigrant experience, but on your mom's side of the family it's a very different background. Tell us about that.

Mary Tedesco: 5:03

Exactly so.

Mary Tedesco: 5:03

My mom was born in Minneapolis and on that side of the family we have family history that touches 27 states. So it's the story of America in a lot of senses, the story of migration west, you know, across the north and across the south, because I have, you know, southern and mid-Atlantic roots on my grandmother's side of the family, my maternal grandmother's side of the family, and then my maternal grandfather's side of the family is, you know, a lot of Pennsylvania and New England. And although my mother was born in Minneapolis and the family was there for five generations, she has roots right here in colonial Massachusetts, which is, you know, right in the same county that I was born and raised in and we've lived in and my mother's, you know been here for, you know, more than 40 years and it's just, it was special to see that come full circle, how you know seeing, you know discovering that with mom and being like, well, your roots are all over the country. You know the story of migration of America, but also we have roots literally right in our own backyard.

Crista Cowan: 6:08

So you were raised in Massachusetts, surrounded by US history, and yet it sounds like you didn't take that step into genealogy until you started investigating a little bit about your Italian immigrant ancestors.

Mary Tedesco: 6:22

Absolutely. I would say that I was always curious about my own personal family history, being raised right down the street from my grandparents who were immigrants from Italy, so I always heard these incredible stories of their family back home, so that that spark was just always there. But I didn't have that person until I was in my mid-20s say, hey, you know, there's a way to research this and look further into it. And also, growing up as a school student in Massachusetts, we take incredible field trips to the former Plymouth Plantation, which is now Plymouth-Potexit. We were there many times on school field trips.

Mary Tedesco: 7:04

Or old Sturbridge Village, where you get a glimpse into colonial life, or going down to visit the Mayflower II, you know. So you just, these are the field trips that I went on almost annually as a school student and I know that I appreciated these things as a 10-year-old, you know. But going back and seeing each of these places and really revisiting that history as an adult a 20-something, a 30-something and now a 40-something it's really changed within me and I appreciate the surroundings. I take an extra moment to kind of take a deep breath and appreciate the many sacrifices that each of these individuals made to create this history.

Crista Cowan: 7:51

So was there ever anything else that came before that, any spark of interest in history or family history being surrounded by history of this country there in Massachusetts?

Mary Tedesco: 8:03

My mother's like, while you're doing all this genealogy, see if you can find a Revolutionary War patriot so that we can join the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Mary Tedesco: 8:12

She said you know, I've always admired the organization and I love volunteering and I think it would be great. So we started on her direct paternal line and we went back and went back, and went back, I think, about probably nine or so generations I'll have to look at the tree exactly and we stumbled upon a patriot, george Brenner. And George Brenner was a private from the state of Pennsylvania in Lancaster County, and he also rendered patriotic service as well, which means he, you know, donated something or signed a pledge or paid a tax to support the Revolutionary War. In this case George Brenner paid I believe it was a supply tax, and he also served as a private in Lancaster County. So we're very proud of his service and I don't have my pins right in front of me, but also in DAR we wear an ancestor bar my mother and I. That says George Brenner engraved into the gold-filled ancestor bar. So that's a way that we honor his service every time we attend a DAR meeting, which is really special and meaningful to us.

Crista Cowan: 9:22

That is incredibly special and to be able to not just honor them but to wear their name on you there in DAR's database.

Mary Tedesco: 9:27

So that paves the way for you know another cousin of ours or you know, hopefully some of my younger cousins may want to join one day. It, just it paves the way for them.

Crista Cowan: 9:57

You mentioned that it doesn't have to be that they served as a soldier in the Revolutionary War, that there's other kinds of volunteerism or financial or other kinds of contributions they could have made to the war effort, which means, theoretically, your Revolutionary War ancestor correct me if I'm wrong could be male or female.

Mary Tedesco: 10:19

Correct. So there are lots of female patriots out there, some that have been proven, but many more that are out there identify over 5,000 patriots of color, so it's really encouraged that if you have that family lineage, dar is absolutely ready and excited to help.

Crista Cowan: 10:53

We honor those ancestors and their patriotic service, but I suspect it was similar for them as well that they had family behind them supporting them in that service. So to hear about you and your mom supporting one another in your service now is just a really lovely connection point, not just for you and your mom but connecting you to your ancestors as well.

Mary Tedesco: 11:15

That's beautifully said and it's really an honor to have this opportunity and I'm so honored to have my mother with me on this incredible journey. And you know, we've grown together, we've undertaken leadership opportunities and that journey started into delving into our American roots in a way that was really meaningful to us and also linked to volunteering, which mom and I love to do together.

Crista Cowan: 11:42

I love that. She's the one that brought you into that experience, or even thought to go looking for that particular patriot or for any patriot in her family history.

Mary Tedesco: 11:53

I almost don't like going to any of the DAR events without my mother, and when I go somewhere and she's not there, everybody's like, well, where's your mother? Why aren't you two together? You're always together and to have that special shared experience and generational experience is more meaningful than anything I could ever touch on, because it's not only a way, you know, for me personally to volunteer, but it's something that we can do together. And then you know there are so many mothers and daughters that I know I mean within the Hannah Winthrop chapter here in Massachusetts we have, you know, multi-generations of families, where we have sisters and a bunch of nieces and cousins, and to me, family is the best part of volunteering and through lineage societies in general, we can have that generational connection.

Mary Tedesco: 12:48

You know, submit applications together. Like my mother and I have consecutive DAR national numbers. You know they're just it's one number off from one another. So everybody's like, oh, when did you join? Did you join together? I said we joined in the exact same time, the same day, october of 2011, with consecutive national numbers, and to me that's incredibly meaningful.

Crista Cowan: 13:11

You mentioned that the DAR really has this legacy of volunteer work and that that was something that was attractive to both of you. Tell us about the DAR for those who might not be familiar with the organization.

Mary Tedesco: 13:24

Absolutely, and I can just speak, you know, as a member because, of course, the President General is the official spokesperson of DAR, but I would love to share my personal membership experience with you, Crista. So in 2011, my mother and I joined together and we have consecutive DAR national numbers and we were really drawn to the aspects of volunteerism and historic preservation, education and patriotism and just the service projects that DAR was doing. So we were members of, I would say, for about let me see four years. And then, while we were filming Genealogy Roadshow, I received an email from the then President General, lynn Forney Young, and she said you know, while you're filming Genealogy Roadshow, because we were in Texas and she's from Texas, she says would you like to have breakfast together? And I was like, oh my goodness, I hope this is not spam. This was my first reaction, but it turns out that it was really her, because I replied to the email and it all seemed very legit. So I was like, oh my goodness, I would be delighted to meet you and talk to you about DAR. So it was at that breakfast that Mrs Young invited me to be the keynote speaker at 2016 Continental Congress, which is DAR's annual convention in Washington DC and to present about Genealogy Roadshow and some aspects of genealogy. Just you know that the members would find interesting. So I get into that Continental Congress for the first time and just the really the fervor of patriotism all around and hearing about service projects done from all over the country. I was completely blown away by the whole experience and, in the event, the speaking event that was literally standing room only at the back. I think there was over 2000 people in that room at the Hyatt Hotel and we had, you know, just got to meet people from all over the country and just hear the projects that they were doing.

Mary Tedesco: 15:25

So after that I was like I have to become involved because this is something that you know, mom and I would love to do together. Again, we're a family of volunteers. So just started looking into leadership opportunities and, like I tell people I probably have said yes one too many times and like I tell people I probably have said yes one too many times. So somebody you know I'd hear, oh, do you want to be a volunteer at the chapter level or do an opportunity at the state level? And you know I kept saying yes because the the leadership opportunities and the opportunities to serve and the service projects to do were, you know, very interesting and meaningful to me and they really complemented my experience in genealogy as well.

Mary Tedesco: 16:07

So, you know, that sort of led to the pandemic and I had accepted a national opportunity to lead the Service to America Committee on the national level at DAR and, as you know, the pandemic came up and there was a shortage of face masks. So someone had suggested the idea to the Service to America committee, the committee that I was leading saying you know, why don't we sew face masks for individuals in need, children, with charities attached? You know, just all of these organizations that you know either couldn't afford or didn't have access to this, you know, sort of homemade personal protective equipment. So we said, okay, let's launch it. And the president general at the time, mrs Van Buren, said we'll figure out a way to count it, you know, so that we can do a total of the mass. So I think within we put it out on Facebook and, you know, one of the members of the committee, ann Harrigan, created some beautiful graphics and branding for it, which is, you know, very important, as you know.

Mary Tedesco: 17:14

And then this was launched and the daughters you know, around the country and there were over by the end of the project, 4,000 involved in all 50 states and abroad. They just latched on and started sewing these masks because we were all looking for an opportunity to give back and help with the pandemic. Because I know I myself felt very helpless at home in terms of I wanted to help, what could I do to help? This was a service project. When all the events and other service opportunities a lot of them were canceled. So there were daughters all over the country sewing face masks and it was from there that I appreciated firsthand the impact that community service can have nationwide with something like this and it's just an honor to help with that sort of project. So that gives you kind of the full scope of you know what people can do collectively in community service and really have a huge impact with a million masks nationwide and overseas that were sent out.

Crista Cowan: 18:17

Wow, that's amazing.

Mary Tedesco: 18:19

So that does absolutely capture this breadth of what DAR can accomplish committees, and there are committees that help honor veterans, help honor active duty military children through education. You know commemorative events. There are ways to honor patriots through marking graves, you know restoring historic properties. I mean I like to say there's something in DAR for everyone. We can volunteer being genealogists, you know through helping people with applications or supplementals. I mean there's something for everyone in DAR. Any aspect of volunteering that you're either interested in doing because you do it already, or you're interested in trying and growing and expanding your skill set, there's something there for you.

Crista Cowan: 19:23

Yeah, that's amazing and such a unique opportunity for women in the United States with this ancestry to be able to join in in a cause that's bigger than themselves. Right, which is really, for me, what volunteerism is about is getting outside of ourselves. It's so easy, particularly in the world today, when you're, you know, raising children or meshed in a career, to become very self focused, and so this is an intentional step we can take to look outside of ourselves and contribute to our communities in meaningful ways, and the experience that you had through the pandemic with that project sounds like it did that in spades.

Mary Tedesco: 20:08

Yeah, and then the other thing to remember about volunteering just in general and I know you do volunteering as well is what we can learn as volunteers and volunteer leadership positions. We can apply that back into our own professional careers. Service projects, say, at the local level or the state level or even the national level is discussed. Those skills of project management can be transferred back into the business world. So you know us as entrepreneurs and so forth. It's really the same skills.

Crista Cowan: 20:44

Yeah, absolutely so. This year we're coming up on a significant anniversary here in the US, and I'd love to hear about what it is that you and the organization are doing to help commemorate that. So tell us about that.

Mary Tedesco: 21:03

Well, I have to start with Massachusetts. I'm a little biased because I'm a Massachusetts DAR member, but we're incredibly excited for the 250th anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord, which will occur in April of 2025. Now I can speak as a state officer within Massachusetts, dar and Concord to commemorate with us and in Lexington and Concord. Obviously, during that time period, there will be visitors from all over the country descending upon Massachusetts, which we are absolutely over the moon about.

Mary Tedesco: 21:52

I had the opportunity to go to the launch event and Lexington has this really neat countdown calendar, you know, counting down the 365 days until this very special event, where eyes will be on Lexington and Concord from all over the country. So here in Massachusetts we are excited. Please come and see us. There'll be many, many community organizations involved, from local historical societies, daughters of the American Revolution, sons of the American Revolution, just name it. Everyone will be involved, not only at the town level but also at the state level. We're so excited to have everybody. And then I'm looking forward to you know, god willing America 275 in the future. I think it'll be a fun party too.

Crista Cowan: 22:35

Well, I'm just old enough to remember America 200. I think I was about three and a half, almost four years old that summer my mom made me this red, white and blue dress.

Mary Tedesco: 22:45

I'll have to dig out a picture of that. Oh, you need to post that, Crista. That would be awesome. That's perfect. I'd love to see that.

Crista Cowan: 22:53

As you think about your ancestor, who served in the revolution, and you know maybe the perspective from their side of what they were fighting for and what that means. Now, here we are, almost 250 years later. What are the feelings that come up for you?

Mary Tedesco: 23:10

I feel tremendously honored to perpetuate and remember the legacy of all my Revolutionary War patriots, and I want to stress that it's not necessary to descend from a Revolutionary War patriot to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the United States. I mean, from my perspective, we should be embracing the history around us, even if it's, you know, no matter when our ancestors came or if they were already here and also celebrating the indigenous history of the United States. So there's so much history around us. I mean, I descend from both quite recent immigrants in 1929 and 1946, and also immigrants that came over in the 1630s to the United States. So, as a person, I feel this is a celebration of all aspects of our ancestry, whether you're an indigenous descendant from indigenous people who are always here, or you yourself have just arrived in this country as an immigrant. I mean, I think there are so many ways to embrace all aspects of that and celebrate together, which is one of the things that I'm very excited about, and DAR is also embraced at the national level.

Crista Cowan: 24:27

Well, the kickoff in April of 2025 for the 250th anniversary celebrations that sounds like will last for several years, I think gives all of us an opportunity to participate in one way or another, and I can't think of a better way for people to participate than looking into becoming a member of DAR.

Mary Tedesco: 24:48

Well, the best thing to do would be to go on DARorg forward, slash join. And when you fill out that contact form, the magic of IT and DAR will route you to a local chapter within your community who will reach out to you with the application information. And that's exactly how mom and I joined DAR. We filled out the contact form DARorg forward, slash join and we got a phone call from a really friendly membership chair here in Massachusetts back in 2010, 2011,. Who gave us the information about how to join DAR.

Crista Cowan: 25:24

And from there it's just a matter, then, of exploring your own family history, and DAR does not leave you on your own to do that. If that's not something you're overly comfortable with, they kind of guide you through that journey, correct?

Mary Tedesco: 25:37

That's right. So there are many volunteer genealogists and chapter registrars that help out with the application process. So in some of the genealogical information may have already been proven, like you may have had a I don't know a great aunt or a second cousin or somebody in DAR, so you may not have to prove you know nine or 10 generations of your lineage. You may just have to prove a few generations of your lineage to get back to the Revolutionary War patriot and when you make you know initial contact with DAR, that you know chapter registrar or that volunteer genealogist will be able to help you.

Crista Cowan: 26:13

Well, I find myself in a similar situation. I joined the. Dar also under a George. Mine was George Berry and so far he's the only one I've taken the time to work out the documentation to join the DAR under, but I know of at least four or five more and suspect, like you, there are others hiding behind some of those brick walls.

Mary Tedesco: 26:36

Well, we should, we should get right on that, Crista.

Crista Cowan: 26:38

Send over that information, we'll get you all set up Right so as you kind of look to the future of of not just DAR, but also your journey in family history. What is it that you hope for?

Mary Tedesco: 26:54

Well, I would hope that each individual would embrace their individual connection to American history, whether it's, you know, 250 years ago, 400 years ago or very recently, like immigrating to the United States last year. I just hope that everyone will be in their local communities and just embrace this incredible celebration that I know will be going on year round, year round, until the America 250 celebrations are over. We just have an incredible opportunity right now to embrace patriotism in the form that is meaningful for us. You know, and what is your American story? And that's an incredible thing, whether you are connecting through your American story, through genealogy, through a commemorative event across the nation, here in Massachusetts or in your local community celebrating American 250. There are so many ways to embrace that and to move that forward. It's all for the future.

Mary Tedesco: 27:59

Any of this we as genealogists I can't speak for the whole community, but I personally do this for the next generation of people to follow. Hopefully there'll be another genealogist in the family who will want to take some of the work and continue it Maybe not the next generation, but maybe the generation after that will be interested but I hope to help perpetuate that legacy and encourage people outside of my own family with different ancestry from my own, to pursue these stories that we're telling today and that you're telling on this podcast. I mean it's very exciting at the opportunity to link to any part of history, whether it's here in the US, abroad, anywhere. I mean this is a piece of who we are as individuals and you know like, whether it's going back to your ancestral town in Italy, like I've done many times, or visiting, you know, a site where your ancestor lived, here in Massachusetts or anywhere else, that's connecting to your personal history.

Crista Cowan: 29:00

It is and that's so meaningful and we understand the meaning of that at our age. But helping the next generation catch that vision, I think, is the work of a lifetime. For me it certainly is. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you for sharing your American story. The duality of that on both sides of your family tree come together very beautifully in you and in the work that you're doing and we appreciate you sharing that with us.

Mary Tedesco: 29:30

Well, thank you for this opportunity and congratulations on this magnificent podcast. And you know, I just wish you the best of success telling stories from all over America and all over the world. So best wishes for that, Crista.