WASHINGTON, D.C. — The day was hot and humid, but that didn’t stop Frances Seay from greeting every visitor at the FamilySearch station with enthusiasm.
“Nobody says ‘no’ if you stop and talk to them [about their family],” she said. “That’s the way I share the gospel, because people don’t want to be apart from their family.”
Seay, who is the director of the Washington, D.C. FamilySearch Center, was closely involved in planning FamilySearch’s station at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival held from June 29 through July 4 and July 6 through 9.
The Folklife Festival is the largest annual cultural event in the U.S. capital, according to the festival’s website. It began in 1967 and explores living cultural heritages each summer.
It’s typically divided into programs featuring a nation, region, state or theme and includes music, art, dancing, cooking, craftwork and more. This year’s programs are “The Ozarks: Faces and Facets of a Region” and “Creative Encounters: Living Religions in the U.S.”
Seay said the festival gets up to half a million visitors each year and never features the same program twice. So when Smithsonian leaders invited FamilySearch to participate in this year’s “Living Religions” program, she knew it was a unique and important opportunity.
Now, over 160 locals are volunteering at the FamilySearch station during the festival, helping visitors discover who they are and where they came from.
“This outdoor experience is like a visitors’ center,” Seay said. “We have people that want to know about religion. ... My hope is that everybody can capture that feeling of joy that comes from sharing the gospel.”
A sense of belonging
When visitors arrive at the FamilySearch station, they can sit down at a computer and begin using the FamilySearch website to fill out what they already know about their heritage. Volunteers are on hand to provide help and answer questions.
The FamilySearch station also has a number of interactive elements, Seay said, such as a kids’ section with coloring pages and cornhole boards and a “family tree” where people can map out a series of traits (country of origin, eye color, hair type) with long stretches of colorful yarn.
Seay said she loves watching people connect with each other and with their ancestors as they explore their family history.
Her passion for family history grew from the death of her 3-year-old son many years ago. Seay said she found comfort in knowing where he was and what he was doing, but she realized “there are so many missing babies” throughout personal family histories, both from lack of records and from lack of knowledge about what happens after this life.
“[Family history] gives you a sense of belonging where no one really belongs,” she said. “... I love knowing that I belong and I want everyone else to know.”
‘A great start’
Seay isn’t the only one who sees the blessings of doing family history. Elder Eric Baxter, a local Area Seventy, and his wife, Sister SaraLyn Baxter, volunteered at the FamilySearch station on July 3 with three of their daughters.
Elder Baxter said when people know their families, they better understand their purpose and potential.
“We want to share that with everyone. There’s just a lot of joy in sharing family history,” he said.
He added that he hopes people come away from the FamilySearch station knowing they’re important to God and they’re important to their families.
The National Mall celebrates a variety of concepts important to American culture, Elder Baxter said, from science to art; “so we’re really grateful to the Smithsonian for recognizing religion is important to our [way of] American life.”
Lonnie Bunch, secretary of the Smithsonian, said the Folklife Festival is an invitation to learn about history and culture in ways people don’t normally think about.
“This is a way for everybody to understand that the greatest strength of the nation is its diverse culture,” he said.
Bunch was previously the museum founding director at the Smithsonian National African American Museum of History and Culture. In 2016, FamilySearch gave the museum an indexed database of the historic Freedmen’s Bureau Records, which contains genealogical information of freed African Americans after the Civil War.
“So it’s really that kind of thing that says, ‘History is too important just to be in the hands of historians,’” Bunch said of that experience.
Richard Ruvelson, a Folklife Festival visitor who stopped at the FamilySearch station, said volunteers helped him delve into his own history. For instance, he learned he has a few more great-aunts and uncles than he knew about.
He also said ovarian cancer runs among the women in his family, and exploring his family history creates a clearer picture of how the disease has spread and may continue spreading throughout generations.
“I think [FamilySearch] is absolutely a great start and [is] taking me directions that I hadn’t anticipated,” Ruvelson said.
