Basscamp Contributes to Mag World

Many Washingtonians with dance fever know DJ Basscamp as the most cosmic Minnesota transplant this town has ever seen; but fewer know he is a stunning visual artist, as well.

I am overjoyed to share that he has just agreed to collaborate in the creative process to promote MAG WORLD. He took my voice and translated it into funny, touching and mesmerizing images that I cannot wait to share. He is making it possible for those who are far away to see me in a new dimension. I am so honored to work with him.

If the sounds of Basscamp are indeed unfamiliar to you, explore his equally beautifully designed website and keep an eye out for the quote-cards he created, coming soon via #MagWorldBook.

My Ancestry Research: An Introduction

Over the past year and a half, I’ve had some wonderful and complex questions about my family research, my ancestry methods and my family. I hardly know how to answer them all together, because the process has been long and complex. But I thought I’d try to describe my journey here in order to help others with similar interests in this hobby.

I grew up close to my fathers family. My father, his sister (my aunt and godmother, who had no children) and their parents are all Neapolitan. As a typical Italian family, we were very close knit and spent every holiday together.

As warm and wonderful as it was, I grew up knowing very little about my mothers family.

Helen Jean Maxwell Newell has overwhelmingly French ancestry. (photo: family archives)

Many Washingtonians with dance fever know DJ Basscamp as the most cosmic Minnesota transplant this town has ever seen; but fewer know he is a stunning visual artist, as well.

I am overjoyed to share that he has just agreed to collaborate in the creative process to promote MAG WORLD. He took my voice and translated it into funny, touching and mesmerizing images that I cannot wait to share. He is making it possible for those who are far away to see me in a new dimension. I am so honored to work with him.

If the sounds of Basscamp are indeed unfamiliar to you, explore his equally beautifully designed website and keep an eye out for the quote-cards he created, coming soon via #MagWorldBook.

I was originally told I was half Scotch-Irish. Now, that only accounts for roughly 6%. (photo: AncestryDNA.com)

I am half Italian (43% to be exact, according to AncestryDNA) with a concentration in southern Italy. I am exactly one quarter French and slightly less than a quarter English / Welsh (22%). Other than these three highly concentrated categories (Italian, French and English — in descending order) the remaining 10% contains a mix of Irish / Scottish (6%), Sweedish (2%) and Greek (2%).

It’s not just the Ancestry DNA results that surprised me, but the stories of my French ancestors. Toggling between Ancestry.com, Geni.com, private chats with members of both networks, and private chats with establish genealogical societies, I have learned more about the long history of my mothers family — particularly, in France — than I ever thought possible.

In high school, we took one family spring break trip with friends to the Languedoc region of France, floating on a barge down the Canal du Midi. It was the first time I’d seen stars. Growing up in Washington, D.C. meant I’d seen a whisp of them before, one here or there on a clear night, but I never appreciated light pollution until I was floating past vineyards in the heart of France. Italian was never offered as a language option in school, I took Spanish because I thought it was most similar, but now I wonder: if I had known all this, would I have taken French?

The Canal du Midi is located in the Languedoc region of France. (photo: creme-de-languedoc.com)

One thing I know for sure is that I am interested in learning French and in taking more trips to France and Belgium. And, if I can travel there to trace those family roots, I will write about to here for others to learn from.

This introduction is mainly meant to be an overview of other posts I’ll be getting into, a layout of the methods / skills I used, and an outline of the people I plan to discuss ahead.

Coming up, I will be discussing what I’ve learned about my French ancestry; I will be isolating my grandmothers connection to the American Revolution and the Mayflower, via Johnathan Damon; And then, on my grandfathers side, I will be discussion his French connections via his ancestor Chretien DuBois.

I would like to thank the DAR for helping me and my grandmother along the way, and in particular Marlene Taggert. I would like to acknowledge the Colonial Dames, and one member in particular, my friend Terrell Fuller. And I would like to thank the Mayflower Society, and most especially Glennon Harrison. Although my mother and I have not yet completed our membership to these last two organizations, their resources have been instrumental in helping me make progress.

Neapolitans are rude. They are loyal. They make terrific pizza. And they generally live a wild and intensely vibrant life. Although I never once looked southern Italian on the outside, all my summers spent in Naples, the Amalfi coast and Capri will be treasures I keep deep within forever. Nevertheless, the new things I know now have opened up fresh chapters, and for that I am grateful.

I’m not the kind of Washingtonian who likes to live in the past. Rather, I believe knowing the past can make us more sensitive and awake in the present, and it can more clearly shape our vision for the future.