By day, Eric Schubert of Lancaster is a forensic genealogist. By night, the 22-year-old is still conducting research and working on genealogy, but in a different way. Schubert has been fascinated by the subject since he was 9 years old, and his passion stems from one thing: the human element.
"Someone might walk past a building and have no idea of its history," Schubert said. "But you can write a 20-page narrative on the life of someone who lived there and what they did to shed some light on their life and give context to the present day."
Schubert, who is originally from southern New Jersey, graduated from Elizabethtown College in May after studying public history. Schubert first visited Lancaster as a child to see his older brother, who attended the same college. As Schubert spent more time in the area to attend his brother's track meets and other school events, he said he fell in love with Lancaster and its history. Although many of Schubert's family members assumed his college application for Elizabethtown was inspired by his brother's choice, he primarily attributed it to his fondness and familiarity of the area.
A few months ago, Schubert moved into the North Prince Street Historic District in downtown Lancaster city, and there are few places that are better suited for a man of his interests. The rich history of the city ensures that Schubert doesn't have to look very hard to further his quest to explore pieces of individual human history that may otherwise be forgotten. After Schubert moved into his apartment, he immediately began to look into his new neighborhood's history. He discovered old documents and layouts of his residence, and in the process he learned that many of the buildings on his street are former tobacco warehouses. Schubert also found an old insurance map that revealed the existence of a bakery next door to his apartment, which was unmentioned in other documents. Much of Schubert's time was spent digging through the work of the historians who officially designated his district as historic in 1989.
"When you look into old paperwork, you can bring new context to it," Schubert said. "There is so much context around me that I had no idea about until I moved in and started researching. It's the little things."
Using the historic district's official documentation, old insurance records and miscellaneous files, Schubert is continuing to weave a complete narrative together to share with others. Schubert remains involved with Elizabethtown College's research in other historic towns such as Marietta, and he plans to keep an eye out for more projects that could uncover the secret history tucked away on dusty shelves.
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