Library Search

Refugee fathers provide strength and stability for their children during the most dangerous and trying times in their lives. They protect their young ones as they flee violence and persecution and build new lives when forced to leave everything behind. This Father’s Day read the stories of six fathers determined to protect their families at all costs.

The “Level Up Your Dad Game” fact sheet is designed to help fathers navigate fatherhood and support their children across life stages. It includes tips on healthy relationships, self-care, and family activities. 

Fatherhood can be joyful and rewarding, but it isn't always easy. No matter how positive and rewarding the role can be, parenting is also very demanding. Fatherhood also has many ideals attached to it, meaning that some dads feel pressured to live up to high expectations. Although each man experiences the transition to fatherhood differently, the transition is always transformational—changing a father's perspectives, attitudes, and goals forever. This stimulating lecture will describe how fatherhood can catalyze positive life changes for fathers and their children. 

Mental health issues make it more difficult for dads to engage in nurturing, interactive relationships with their children and partners. When fathers' mental health declines, the quality of their co-parenting relationships and the well-being of their children also declines. Fathers may experience various psychiatric disorders during parenthood, including depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, obsessive-compulsive behavior, or substance use disorders, which can harm their children's development in detrimental ways. Join this critical discussion on what we…

Grandparents have been universally important in families across time and their role continues to evolve, but their involvement in their grandchildren’s lives is different around the world. In the United States, roughly 10% of grandparents lived with a grandchild in 2012. In Africa and Asia, living in a multi-generational household is a common practice.

A number of recent studies of families in several Asian countries help to shed light on how grandparents are involved in coparenting, which researchers define as the sharing of childcare and upbringing responsibility among two or…

If you thought your deployment ended the day your feet hit the ground back in the old U.S. of A.,

think again. In fact, coming home—and starting the process of rejoining and reintegrating into your

family—is just the beginning of one of the hardest phases of the deployment. This phase can be

divided into two basic stages: honeymoon and reintegration.

 Your arrival at your front doorstep is just the beginning of a long process of reintegrating into your

family. During the honeymoon phase, you will experience nothing but rainbows and butterflies.…

Helping your kids cope with your upcoming deployment is one of the biggest—and most important—challenges you and your coparent will face. One way to take your mind off  the more challenging and depressing aspects of deployment is to hang out and have some fun with your kids before you leave. In stressful situations, children, especially young children, look to their parents for cues on how to behave. So, if you and/or your coparent seem depressed, angry, or withdrawn, it’s quite likely your children will start behaving the same way. Let’s look at how children of various ages react to the…

Deployments have been more frequent, longer, and less predictable than they were a few decades ago due to the number of countries and conflicts the U.S. military is engaged in. As unpredictable as the deployments themselves are, the way service members and their family react to deployment follows a very predictable, consistent pattern—regardless of when or how it comes about. These reactions, which can be physical, behavioral, emotional, and psychological, form what many researchers and the military call the “cycle of deployment.

This is the first in a series of six National…

Between the avalanche of emotions and behaviors experienced by every family member and the stress of preparing for deployment, don’t be surprised if you feel completely overwhelmed. Planning proactively and putting the right systems in place before you leave will have a positive impact on how you and your family manage the long weeks and months while you are deployed.

This is the third in a series of six National Responsible Father Clearinghouse Spotlights, which provide tips for dads on deployment. The series is authored by Armin Brott, a former Marine, fatherhood author (Ask Mr.…

This web post provides information on the National Archives and Records Administration’s Access to Archival Databases, which launched nearly 20 years ago to provide free public access to government records covering a range of subjects. Using one of the datasets (the Records for Passengers Who Arrived at the Port of New York During the Irish Famine, 1/12/1846–12/31/1851), the authors show how amateur genealogists can use such information to find an ancestor and how scholars can conduct survey research on…