When did genealogy start?

Answer 1

Genealogy has been around as long as humans have been on this earth. Every family has told stories about their ancestors since time began.

The formalized study of genealogy has its roots in the history of European royal families where bloodlines and people were tracked.

In the United States, the focus on genealogy became popular with the influx of immigrants, namely the 1880 to 1920 time period. After 1920, the process of researching and documenting genealogy was formalized. This standardization effort is often attributed to Donald Lines Jacobus, known as "the dean of American genealogy."

In more recent times, the book and television mini-series Roots by Alex Haley in the mid-1970s, brought more and more attention to genealogy.