Diocese of St. Augustine archive hosts oldest American documents

The Catholic News Agency recently distributed a story with that title about the Diocese of St. Augustine in Florida. The opening paragraph stated “The oldest extant European documents written in U.S. continental territory are now hosted at the Archives of the Diocese of St. Augustine.” The story also said “One of the earliest documents, dated […]

October is Archives Month, Family History Month, and a few other important designations

Among many other valuable and some strange designations, October is Archives Month, Family History Month, and Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Archives MonthVisit a local, state, national, religious, ethnic or other archive this month. Thank the archivists for taking care of historical records. Tell then you appreciate all that they do to preserve them. Acknowledge that […]

A sign of the times and a call for help

I love it when things grow by leaps and bounds. Unfortunately, this time it isn’t something to love. Historical societies, archives, state libraries, public libraries, and other places where family historians do their research are floundering. The number of those floundering due to drastic budget and staffing cuts in today’s economy is what is growing […]

American Archives Month

October is American Archives month. Important? That would be an emphatic yes for family historians. Where would our research be without our local, county, state, and federal archives? What about archives devoted to specific topics? When you research at one of these archives in October, be sure to thank the staff for being there for […]