New archivist at Iron Range Research Center

Paula Stuart-Warren  Iron Range Research Center, Minnesota Discovery Center  Leave a comment

According to the Duluth News Tribune, the Minnesota Discover Center’s Iron Range Research Center has a new archivist. Christopher Welter formerly worked “in the archives at the Minnesota Historical Society in St. Paul, where he described personal papers and business records, and assisted in making historically significant and rare collections available on the Web.”

To read the article click here.

To learn more about the Iron Range Research Center click here.

The IRRC is located in Chisholm, Minnesota and is a great place for research.

Minnesota societies involved in 1940 Census Indexing

Paula Stuart-Warren  census  Leave a comment

I just checked the website to see which Minnesota based organizations are involved in the project to index the 1940 U.S. Census. I have signed up to index under the Minnesota Genealogical Society. I have been an MGS member since 1982 and continue to support their endeavors.

I was pleased to see a number of organizations from my home state are involved:

Anoka County Genealogical Society
Carlton County Genealogical Society
Crow Wing Genealogical Society
Freeborn County Genealogical Society
Germanic Genealogy Society
Kanabec Genealogical Society
Martin County Genealocical Society
Minnesota Genealogical Society
Olmsted County Genealogical Society
Otter Tail County Genealogical Society
Pine County Genealogical Society
Polish Genealogy Society of Minnesota
Stevens County Historical Society

What organizations from your state of residence or where your ancestors lived are involved? Click here to find out.

Finding Your Roots on PBS tonight

Paula Stuart-Warren  PBS  2 Comments

Tonight marks the return of Henry Louis Gates’ forays into family history research on PBS. “Finding Your Roots” debuts on PBS from 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. (Central Time). The featured celebrities tonight are Harry Connick, Jr. and Branford Marsalis.

My couch and popcorn are the accompaniments for tonight’s show. A big group of area genealogists and I tried to find a restaurant with a TV that would let us eat dinner together and watch the show. One place said we could sit in a private area and watch but they could not turn on the sound! We tried several places without success so we are eating dinner together earlier and then going to our separate homes to watch the show. It would have been nicer to watch as a group while we ate.

Today’s Washington Post has a nice article about the show. Click here to read that.

For more on the series visit PBS here. Unfortunately the material under the Resources tab is seriously out-of-date and lacking in vital links such as NGS, FGS, APG, BCG, Cyndi’s List, Ancestry, and others. It lists Footnote but that is now Fold3.com. The list doesn’t include the New England Historic Genealogical Society. Dr. Gates is a Councilor for NEHGS! It lists Digital Genealogist which has not been published since 2009. It was a great publication.

There is so much out there for continuing education and research in genealogy that I was astounded to see what was under the resources tab. Hopefully PBS will get it updated with the information that I and several of my colleagues have forwarded to them. 

I’m on FGS Radio Saturday, March 24th

Paula Stuart-Warren  FGS Radio  Leave a comment

Once again the Federation of Genealogical Societies My Society Radio is including a segment featuring speakers from its upcoming conference. The 2012 conference is in Birmingham, Alabama. If you tune in to FGS Radio via your computer on Saturday, March 24th, you will hear me featured as the segment kicks off. I will talk a bit about the lectures I am presenting at the FGS conference this August. Keep listening on future Saturdays for other featured speakers.

Ask an Editor: Publication Challenges to 21st Century Societies
Saturday, March 24, 2012
2-3pm Eastern US
1-2pm Central US
12-1pm Mountain US
11am-12pm Pacific US

Join us for the next episode of FGS Radio – My Society, an Internet radio show on Blog talk Radio presented by the Federation of Genealogical Societies. This week’s episode hosted by Randy Whited is entitled Ask an Editor: Publication Challenges to 21st Century Societies. Our first guest will be Matt Wright, Editor of the FGS FORUM. Matt and Randy will discuss challenges and successes for society publications.  Our next guest will be Paula Stuart-Warren, FGS Board member, as we start our series featuring speakers for the upcoming FGS 2012 Annual Conference in Birmingham.

 In addition, we’ll be featuring FGS member society, Northern Arizona Genealogical Society, in our weekly Society Spotlight feature. Tune in to FGS Radio – My Society each week to learn more about genealogy societies and join in a discussion of the issues impacting the genealogical community.

Neat video about the National Archives preservation work

Paula Stuart-Warren  National Archives  Leave a comment

One of today’s press releases from the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration tells about a short video that takes us behind the scenes at NARA.

March 21, 2012

New National Archives Video Short Peeks Inside Archives State-of-the-Art Preservation Lab
Washington, DC… The National Archives today is releasing its latest Inside the Vaults video short, Boxing our Treasures, which takes viewers inside the National Archives preservation lab to see how archival treasures are lovingly and carefully housed in custom-made encasements. The three-minute video is part of the ongoing “Inside the Vaults” series and can be viewed on the National Archives YouTube channel:  http://tiny.cc/BoxesA2.

Every researcher should watch this. It’s now one of my favorites in the NARA videos. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbnanuMhErU&feature=relmfu.

1940 Census St. Paul, Minnesota Focus for me.

Paula Stuart-Warren  census  Leave a comment

I won’t be on the 1940 U.S. census when it is released on April 2d but both my parents will be on there. My dad will be among the workforce in St. Paul and my mother will be in the 8th grade at St. James grade school in St. Paul. The picture above is her 8th grade class. She is the girl with the longer hair and dress with jacket standing to the left of the George Washington picture. My high school Latin teacher is in the photo, too. The names of the students are listed on the reverse of the photo.

All four of my grandparents (Stuart & Hanley) will be in St. Paul as will five of my great grandparents (Stuart, Carlsen, Hanley, and Cook). Two of my other three great grandparents were on the 1930 census but died in 1932 and 1937. They died in St. Paul and one had died in 1905 in Winona, Minnesota. None of my great great grandparents are on the 1920, 1930, or 1940 censuses.

How many ancestors do you have alive then and who should be on the 1940 census? I look forward to all 11 of mine.

NGS Conference early-bird deadline is tomorrow!

Paula Stuart-Warren  National Genealogical Society, NGS  Leave a comment

I am registered. Are you? It’s time to register for the 2012 NGS Family History Conference if you want to save some money! The deadline for the early-bird price is March 20. That is tomorrow, Tuesday. A

fter that, the cost for NGS members will increase from $175 to $210 for all four days. For non-NGS members, the  cost will increase from $210 to $245. If you wish to purchase a paper copy of the syllabus, that must be done no later than March 20th. You will still receive the syllabus on flash drive even if you order a print syllabus. After that date, only the flash drive syllabus will be available.

If you plan to sign up for a luncheon or other meal event, that has a deadline of April 24.

To register for the May 9-12 conference which will be held in Cincinnati, visit www.ngsgenealogy.org

2 weeks/3 weeks: A Genealogist’s and Fan’s Delight

Paula Stuart-Warren  Baseball, census  1 Comment

I am looking forward to April. April 2 and April 9 to be exact. Two and three weeks from today.

April 2d
This is the day the 1940 U.S. decennial census is open for research. Not only does it open on Monday, April 2d, but it will be online and free. I mentioned this earlier but now that it’s just two weeks away I am getting more excited. Was my maternal grandfather in the U.S. or was he in another country? Was his brother in jail? Was my father-in-law in New Mexico, Montana, Minnesota, or where? For more info on the census and the website to view it, check the National Archives website. I signed up to be a volunteer indexer and I hope that all my readers will join me in this. How quickly can we accomplish this task and how accurately? Sign up here. This project is sponsored by FamilySearch, brightsolid, and Archives.com.

Click here for a detailed listing of the questions asked on this census and for special explanatory notes. I am looking forward to seeing how many children each of my grandmothers had given birth to but it won’t include
any stillbirths. I want to see the notes that tell where my relatives were living in 1935. Another neat detail is that I will be able to see their 1939 income and compare it to others in the area.

I am checking city directories, vital records, my own files, and other material to determine the 1939-1941 addresses for my family. The 1941 city directory information was likely collected in 1940 and that might be where they lived when the census was taken in 1940. I have some family members who did not own property and moved a lot. Next I will be determining in which Enumeration District they likely resided. Steve Morse’s website will be a great help in that.

April 9th
Once I calm down from viewing various parts of the 1940 census, this will be my next important date! This is the 2012 home opener for the Minnesota Twins and I will be in the stands. The L.A. Angels will be in town. Baseball means spring is truly here. Just hope I don’t have to wear a winter jacket! Once in a while I need to drag myself away from the computer other than time spent with my kids and grandkids.

Current Plat Book for St. Louis County, Minnesota

Paula Stuart-Warren  Maps, Minnesota  Leave a comment

The 2012 editions of the St. Louis County Minnesota Land Atlas and Plat Books are now available. This county is in Northeastern Minnesota and runs north to the Canadian border. Duluth, Hibbing, Hermantown, Chisholm, Ely, Eveleth, and the famous Embarass are some of the cities in this beautiful county. It also includes parts of Superior National Forest, the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, and Voyageurs National Park. The southeast part of the county borders Lake Superior.

Because of the vast land that this county covers, there are two parts, one for the northern half and another for the southern half. The books show detailed land ownership and property size, along with roads, lakes, section boundaries, and other reference data.

For purchase details in today’s Duluth News-Tribune click here. Or visit the county website here.

Spell it out. Pls. Thx.

Paula Stuart-Warren  Abbreviations, Writing  6 Comments

While working on some family history research today while writing an article I was frustrated by abbreviations that I find online and in books. So, here comes my soapbox for the day. Please spell out the words. Isn’t your family history important enough to do that? If someone is looking for ancestors in a specific state but your abbreviation makes them think it’s the wrong state, you may have just missed out on meeting the person who has the family bible.

  • NE is the postal abbreviation for Nebraska, not Nevada 
  • AK is the postal abbreviation for Alaska, not Arkansas
  • Do you mean city or county when you state “cty” and this does cause geographic angst.
  • Do you and whoever reads your material in the future know the difference between ms, mss, Miss? [In my world, mss is an abbreviation for manuscript; ms is the postal abbreviation for the state of Mississippi, not Massachusetts; and Miss is a designation for a a non-married female]
  • In the rest of my world, b mean born, not baptized. Bap could mean baptized or the person is a Baptist.
  • Did you mean buried when you said b 8 May 1901? Or did that mean born? Heck, I think those are very different things. 
  • Does bp mean birthplace, baptized, or that an ancestor owned stock in a certain fuel company?
  • Does an M or m mean married, male or maybe mad at you?
  • b by MD? Born by Maryland? A doctor was at the birth? Is MD an abbreviation for someone’s name such as Mary Dill, Marvin Dougherty? 
  • Is Margt an abbreviation for Margaret, Margaretta, or Margaretha? 
  • What about M. Jos. Lecompte? Marie Josephine? Monsieur Joseph? 

All this said, if you are transcribing something you definitely need to do that the way something was written. In that case, what you see is what you get. You might add an interpretation in brackets if you have some other knowledge that makes this reliable. [Margaretta?].

You could put a key to abbreviations on your website or in your book or you could avoid abbreviations whenever possible. It’s only a few more keystrokes.

FYI, it’s not TMI to spell out words. BTW, it’s just helping each other. FWIW, remind me if I don’t explain an abbreviation. 1ce you do it, it’s easy.  2day is OK.

Yes, I do abbreviate words at time, but I am going to strive to be a better non-abbreviator in 2012. 2013? Who knows. ROTFL.