Like Wilkinson, millions of other Americans are poring over courthouse documents, library books and archives in search of their heritage. A 1995 study by Maritz Marketing Research found that 45% of adults in the U.S. declared they were at least somewhat interested in genealogy, and of those ages 45 to 64, half were actively pursuing it in some way. When AT&T surveyed over 5,400 of its Worldnet Service subscribers this June, one-third said they had used the Internet to search for family roots, while one out of 12 already had a personal family-tree Web site.

Behind the heritage hoopla is the newfound ease with which family connections can be traced, often with the aid of computers. Millions of federal records can be found in Washington's National Archives and Records Administration and its 13 regional branches. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints' Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, contains billions of names, with thousands more added each month by 75 research teams microfilming records all over the world. In 2000, visitors to Ellis Island will have computer access to all passenger lists of ships bringing immigrants to New York Harbor from 1890 through 1924. State and local archives are expanding and collecting information about the latest wave of immigrants.

In the following pages are some resources to help you trace your genealogical roots. Playing family-history detective takes time, patience and effort. It may lead far from home and make many unexpected turns. Whatever directions it takes, the rewards are great. There's the thrill of the chase, the delight of discovery and always that one mysterious, elusive ancestor somewhere back there just waiting to be found.