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What do Marilyn Monroe, George Bush and Dr. Spock have in common? Possibly you. Visit our distinguished descendants gallery to learn who your famous cousins are. You may be surprised to discover who you have common genes with.

When Longfellow imagined the John Alden-Priscilla Mullins-Miles Standish love triangle, he depicted Priscilla spinning as Alden arrived to offer Standish’s marriage proposal. The image of a spinning maiden is an old one, and both in the time of the Pilgrims (early 1600s) and in Longfellow’s day (mid-1800s) this image was shorthand for female industry and piety as well as domestic tranquility. Longfellow was undoubtedly invoking that symbolism when he chose spinning as Priscilla’s activity, but do the historical facts support that choice?

he Pilgrim story is known the world over as one of America’s founding narratives. The traditional account—the flight from religious persecution, exile in Holland, the 1620 voyage and the Compact, landing on Plymouth Rock, the fatal first winter, and the First Thanksgiving—has achieved canonical status. However, this narrative did not spring forth from history fully formed; rather it has evolved over time and is still being shaped by changing social and political circumstances.