Press Releases

PROVO, Utah, Oct. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Recognizing the massive surge in popularity of tracing one's roots, the United States Congress has officially designated October as National Family History Month by unanimously passing Senate resolution #175.  MyFamily.com, Inc., the leading network for connecting families, today announced plans to participate in the celebration.

The month will be marked with activities and specials on the MyFamily network of Web sites, which include MyFamily.com, Ancestry.com, Genealogy.com, and RootsWeb.com, to give those interested in discovering their family history the needed tools and resources to further uncover, share and explore their family's unique heritage.

"Experts say that in the United States, genealogy is now the second most popular hobby next to gardening," says Senator Orrin Hatch who co-sponsored the Senate resolution. "It is only natural that we want to find out more about our ancestors, and what a better way to bring families closer together than by discovering more about the story of your own family?"

MyFamily is making the search for family and loved ones easier everyday. With the extensive resources available through the MyFamily network of Web sites, even the amateur historian can easily gather family history information on their home computers that used to take months or even years to put together.  Users can quickly search through family history records containing over 3 billion names, search historical newspapers, download family tree software, and sign up for free genealogy newsletters containing the latest research tips.  MyFamily makes it easy to learn the basics of family research and provides tools for organizing and making sense of the data collected.

"By providing customers with a broad set of tools to discover the information that makes their family history come to life, we help them answer the questions, 'Who am I?', 'Where do I come from?' and 'How am I connected?'" says Tom Stockham, President and CEO of MyFamily.com. "Family History Month may be just the motivation some people need to get started researching their family story."

"Researching ancestry is a very important component of identity. It can lead to long-sought-after family reunions or allow for life-saving medical treatments that only genetic links will allow," Hatch says. "For all of these reasons, I encourage people across this nation to find out more about where they came from."

About MyFamily.com, Inc.
MyFamily.com, Inc. is among the largest online subscription businesses, with over 1.25 million paid subscriptions and more than 10 million people using its Web resources every month. An interactive media company, MyFamily.com connects families with their histories and one another. The company enriches the lives of its customers by providing the tools, content and community that empower them to find the people most important to them and share their unique family stories. The MyFamily network of Internet properties includes MyFamily.com, Ancestry.com, Genealogy.com, and RootsWeb.com. The company also publishes Family Tree Maker(R), the #1 selling family tree software, Ancestry Magazine, Genealogical Computing Magazine, over 50 book titles, and numerous databases on CD-ROM.