An article in Eastman's online newsletter cited a recent survey that reported very few Americans know much about their family heritage.

By Omnibus Survey the study was commissioned for ancestry.com and conducted a few months ago by the Generations Network.

The survey discovered that one-third of Americans cannot name any of their great-grandparents, and half of Americans know the name of only one or none of their eight great-grandparents.

Six of 10 Americans do not know both of their grandmothers' maiden names. Twenty-two percent of Americans don't know what either of their grandfathers does or did for a living.

Although America is known as a nation of immigrants, 27 percent don't know where their family lived before they came to America.

Does this pose a problem or a challenge for genealogists?

There were some positive statements.

For one, the survey reports that 83 percent of 18- to 34-year-olds are interested in learning their family history. Hopefully, if you poll your own family, you can educate them on some of these basic facts, even if they are not interested in actually researching the family tree.

Eastman's newsletter can be found at www.eogn.com and is well worth subscribing to for free.

'Baseball in Atlanta'

Paul Crater, archivist with the Atlanta History Center, will speak on "Baseball in Atlanta," his recent book with Arcadia Publishing. He will discuss the Atlanta Crackers and other teams noon-1 p.m. May 13 as part of the Lunch and Learn series at the Georgia Archives. Free; bring your lunch or eat nearby.

Co-sponsored by the Friends of the Georgia Archives.

For more information, call 678-364-3730 or check www.georgiaarchives.org.

Field trips

Several readers expressed interest in the upcoming genealogy research trips led by Robert S. Davis Jr. of Wallace State in Hanceville, Ala.

The following are planned this year: A one-day trip to the Georgia Archives/National Archives Southeast Region, June 20; to the Alabama Archives in Montgomery, July 25; and to Salt Lake City, with stops in several places coming and going, Aug. 7-19. The travel fee for the Utah trip is $450. The fee for the other trips is yet to be decided.

In the fall, the annual trip to Washington/Richmond/Raleigh will be Oct. 18-25.

The trips are by bus and normally leave from the Alabama college, though other arrangements can be made.

For further information, contact Davis at robert.davis @wallacestate.edu.

Contact Kenneth H. Thomas Jr. at P.O. Box 901, Decatur, GA 30031, or the Web site www.gagensociety.org.