Allen,
Thanks for sharing your insightful story. In our family history writing group, one of the members was writing a great story. When it was suggested to her that she do some historical research, she stated she never did like history. ???? She became upset and dropped out of the group when we decided to read and study Red River by Lalita Tademy citing that we were not a book club. Studying Red River, though it is a novel but based on family history, gave us insight into ?Tademy's excellent historical research. The subject of the Colfax Massacre in the book was enlightening and stress how our ancestors lives against the backdrop of historical events are crucial to many factors of their lives.

One of our members has written a fascinating manuscript that encompasses the Revolutionary War, Nova Scotia, the southern and eastern U.S. His astute research and reading has enabled him to trace his ancestors back to the 1600s, breaking down many brick walls. Reading histories, biographies, scholarly papers and novels were essential in complete his family history.

Like you, I said all this to say, I agree that this was an excellent post.
We must continue to keep doing what we know in order to tell our stories.