Out of the past come, 2020-ongoing
This is a small excerpt of a long term project challenging the telling of my family history. The Bailey's were weavers by trade in Chippenham, Wilt, England. They arrived to North America in 1635 and settled in the Northeast and later moved to the midwest in the 1800's. These are the first three pages of a collected account of the Bailey history between 1590-1920. It was passed down by my grandmother, a gift given before I was brought to my first Bailey family reunion where we examined a giant family tree unfurled across a banquet hall wall and I was unsuccessfully prompted to join the DAR. In 2020, I annotated the entire account, my considerations informed by the book Firsting and Lasting: Writing Indians out of Existence in New England by Jean O'brien. The first three pages below include my own annotations that pay attention to how first-ness is inscribed, the adjectives surrounding the descriptions of their endeavors, and reflections on the pride I have been expected to inherit.
