Upper Midwest Jewish ancestry archives

Paula Stuart-Warren  Archives, Minnesota  ,  Leave a comment

The Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives is housed in the Elmer L. Andersen Library on the west bank side of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. I have had a tour and researched at the Anderson library several times, but not in the records of the Jewish Archives.

Previously situated at multiple locations, these archives are now gathered in this one location. The collection had it’s beginning with the Jewish Historical Society of the Upper Midwest established in 1984.

Among the material held at this location are records of various organizations, synagogues, papers of rabbis, family and personal papers, photos, scrapbooks, books, magazines, and oral histories. General guidance on family history and general research is provided on the website along with links to other Jewish research sites. https://libguides.umn.edu/c.php?g=1015597

The family and personal papers encompass so many names from the area where I grew up in Saint Paul. I noticed several collections that may connect to one of the places I worked, Feldman’s Department Store’s location in Saint Paul.

The long list of institutional records includes organizations, businesses, clubs, groups, and even a bowling club! https://www.lib.umn.edu/collections/special/umja/where-begin#s-5141

Take a look at the collection overviews https://www.lib.umn.edu/collections/special/umja

 

 

Some of my upcoming webinars, courses, and institutes for the first half of 2023

Paula Stuart-Warren  Conferences/Institutes, Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh, GRIP  , ,  Leave a comment

February 22: Online Registration opens for the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh. I am the coordinator and lead instructor in the virtual course, Digging Deeper: Records, Tools, and Skills offered June 18-23, 2023. This course includes an extensive syllabus, hands-on work, and a suggested homework project.  I am also an instructor in that week’s Spirit of the Inland Seas: Research in the Great Lakes Region. Details on these virtual courses are on the GRIP website. https://www.gripitt.org/. Click on each course to see the instructors and sessions. Then click on Registration to be ready.


March 4, 11, 18, 25: Online Registration now open for Family History Research: How to Successfully Start—or Restart. This is a U.S. based course that takes place on Saturday afternoons in March. I am the instructor and this course is sponsored by the Clayton Library Friends in Support of the Houston Public Library Center for Family History Research Center at the Clayton Library Campus. Sign up for this course, receive an extensive resource handout each week, and learn about some bonus course benefits. https://claytonlibraryfriends.org/event-5141284 


March 14, 2023. Morning webinar. Citrus County Genealogical Society (Florida) 10:00 a.m. EST, 9:00 a.m. CST. My presentation and handout cover “County and State Archives: What Have You Been Missing.“



For the full list of my various presentations through the end of June 2023, click on the Speaking tab near the top of this blog.


Speak Out to Preserve Access to Genealogy Records!

Paula Stuart-Warren  Uncategorized    1 Comment

The preservation of and access to historical records cannot be understated. It is imperative for historians, genealogists, legal proceedings, Native American tribes, universities, community history, authors, reporters, students, medical reasons, and the list can go on and on from there.

If records continue to be

  • hidden away,
  • access limited by selective hours,
  • having to wait years for receipt of records ordered (and usually at a high cost)
  • and having outrageous fees connected to obtaining copies of records . . .

it means we need to speak up, share why the records are important, understand that some costs are understood, and let the record keepers know what their hindrances are causing. We need to make our city, county, state, province, and federal officials know about the reasons for access and what problems keep rising up. Historic records need to be transferred to official archives at all government levels and the opened for direct access.

In the U.S. we are faced with another dilemma detailed below from the Records, Not Revenue website:

“On 4 January 2023, U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) proposed substantial increases to the fees required to access historical records held by the USCIS Genealogy Program. The proposed hikes are especially infuriating, given that many of these records should already be publicly and readily available at the National Archives.

In 2020, USCIS lost an attempt to hike fees to access these same records. They have again proposed a new method for providing some previously digitized records to researchers, claiming it will improve efficiency. However, any record that has not been previously digitized – which includes millions of files for millions of individuals – will cost 269% more than it does now. USCIS provides no clarity on which files are considered “previously digitized” and which exist only on paper – leaving customers in the dark, wondering what they will be charged to access historical records.

USCIS Genealogy Program requests this audacious fee hike at a time when the wait for paying customers to receive records is at an all-time high. The program continues to demonstrate an inability to provide efficient access to historical records, often stating they are unable to locate the documents requested. There is no transparency in how the program operates. Raising fees will not fix the USCIS Genealogy Program.”


Please visit the Records, Not Revenue website to see how you can participate in staving off this unbelievable 269% fee increase. This is the direct link in case you prefer not to click on the bold link or with to copy and paste into your favorite search engine. https://www.recordsnotrevenue.com

We need to be sure the White House and Congress hear us. Let others know about this USCIS idiocy. Remember it’s not the only government, historical, or other entity that is holding records hostage by supposed privacy, age, cost, reduced access hours, or lack of staff. Excuses are not helpful.



Genealogical education is multi-faceted. A webinar recommendation.

Paula Stuart-Warren  Uncategorized    Leave a comment

Expanding our historical and genealogical knowledge and expertise is important. We never know when we need to know more about laws, land records, railroad records, a particular state or country, or an ethnic group. Many webinars and seminars fit the bill for learning more and most without even having to wear shoes!

Legacy Family Tree Webinars that I have blogged about several times is one place to view many webinars. Yesterday, I registered for “Gradual Emancipation and Enslavement in the North” presented by Ari Wilkins. It was an historical eyeopener for me. I am a member of Legacy webinars so I also get access to the syllabus. Ari did an excellent job of detailing the laws and workarounds that kept some enslaved people in the Northeast part of the U.S. in that same awful situation for many years. The phenomenal records she shared showed many names, ages, and relationships of those who were enslaved in those states.

Ari’s webinar is free to watch through next Thursday. After that, you will need to be a Legacy member to view it. This is my affiliate membership link which helps keep this blog afloat if you decide to become a Legacy Family Tree Webinars member. Look at what you will have access to! http://legacy.familytreewebinars.com/?aid=1739 

 

 

 

 

Family History Research: How to Successfully Start—or Restart. Course registration is open!

Paula Stuart-Warren  Classes, Genealogy  ,  Leave a comment

A labor of love for genealogy education and sponsored by the Clayton Library Friends in Support of the Houston Public Library Center for Family History Research Center at the Clayton Library Campus. Several of us have been working together to get this U.S. based course going. We’ll share some more details in an upcoming post.

Registration is now live for this four-week online course. https://claytonlibraryfriends.org/event-5141284 

Family History Research: How to Successfully Start—or Restart. This is a 4-week online US. based course led by Paula Stuart-Warren, CG ®, FMGS, FUGA.

March 4, 11, 18 & 25, Saturdays 1:00 – 2:30 p.m. Central Time, with some great bonus sessions and extensive handout material. 

 

 

New book: The Sawtooth Slayer. An Investigative Genetic Genealogy Mystery

Paula Stuart-Warren  Reviews, Uncategorized    3 Comments

Nathan Dylan Goodwin’s 2022 second book in the Venator Cold Case series is a winner. A fictional novel with mystery, genealogy, and genetics. Did it hold my interest? You bet it did! The author is based in England but did an amazing job with this story based in the U.S. I was provided with a copy of the book for this review. 

It covers a series of murders that have a pattern in which the deceased women are found near churches, but the locations are where they were killed. Detectives, a forensic pathologist, and a coroner join forces to assess the situations, take DNA samples, compare the injuries on the victims, and figure out a connection to some foliage found at the latest victim’s strange placement. I could explain that better, but I won’t give away some of the details that are followed through by the experts in the case. Oh, the Pandemic that began in 2020 also played a part in what developed.

The lead detective, Maria Gonzalez, works with an investigative genetic genealogy company to sort out

A Prologue in genealogy terms is not always in the beginning of a book or musical piece

Paula Stuart-Warren  National Archives    Leave a comment

One of my favorite periodicals is no longer being published and I am thankful I did subscribe for many years. It’s still in my mind a lot and I do read it in print and online. The articles provide much background for historical and genealogical research. They lead me to understand some federal records in a different way and lead me to new source material.

The articles were written a decade or decades ago, but still stand the test of time. Some or all the records discussed may be better indexed, digitized online, and especially updated by other articles and lectures that are more current. Check Ancestry.com, FamilySearch.org, and other sites for some of these records and indexes today.

What is this periodical? It’s Prologue, a magazine published quarterly by the United States National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). Sadly, the last issue was the Winter 2017-2018 issue, Volume 49, Number 4. The first issue was in the Spring of 1969. That’s 49 years of the story of records at the various NARA facilities and some Presidential Libraries. The articles and editorials are written by people on the NARA staff, other government agencies, and some other experienced researchers.

Accessing the publication today.

  1. Many articles and issues from over the years are now free and available on the NARA website. https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue
  2. Volumes 1-48 are free on HathiTrust Digital Library. https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000640375
  3. Many issues are on Internet Archive https://archive.org/
  4. On the shelves at libraries, archives, and historical societies.

A handful of my favorite articles are listed below along with the URL for viewing them online.

First time to GRIP? A scholarship for two genealogists!

Paula Stuart-Warren  Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh, GRIP  ,  Leave a comment

The Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh reminds family historians that a neat scholarship is available to first-time registrants. Choose from 2 weeks of courses. The Donn Devine scholarship reminds me of the great man for whom this is named. A brilliant and caring man with a smart mind and wit. A fantastic genealogist, lawyer, archivist, volunteer, and that’s just some of his work we should remember. 

“GRIP’s Donn Devine Memorial Scholarship awards full tuition an applicant who has never been to GRIP. GRIP believes this scholarship will reward a genealogist who has emulated Donn Devine’s giving spirit of volunteerism but has not had the opportunity to attend. Application deadline is January 30, 2023 with the winner notified by February 15. GRIP will award two this year. One for online via Zoom 18-23 June 2023, and one in person at LaRoche University 9-14 July 2023.”

More details at https://www.gripitt.org/

 

 

County historical societies hold great wealth for genealogy research

Paula Stuart-Warren  Historical Societies    2 Comments

How many of you have done research at a county historical society? Whether you have already done some or not, this is a good time to check out the website, blog, Facebook page, other social media, or newsletter related to some of your U.S. ancestral counties. You may find family files, county record books, newspaper indexes, county history indexes, maps, census abstracts and indexes, cemetery records, city and county directories, vital records, local business records, tax records, clippings scrapbooks, and school records. Of course, each one you seek will have different research items, but all are worth a look. Much of what they hold has not been digitized, but bless those with online indexes, descriptions of holdings, and a really helpful website.

To whet your appetite, here are a handful of Minnesota county level historical society research library websites. Many require an advance appointment for in-person research.

MyHeritage adds 1.7 million records for Israel

Paula Stuart-Warren  MyHeritage, Uncategorized    Leave a comment

This past week, MyHeritage published a big new collection that will help researchers with connections to Israel. It covers immigration to Israel form 1910 forward totaling 1.7 million records. Don’t read Hebrew? You are in luck with name translation. 

Read more details on the MyHeritage Blog and website.

From MyHeritage:

“This collection is one of the most comprehensive sources available for genealogy in Israel. It contains lists of immigrants to Israel from 1919 onwards, transcribed by MyHeritage from images stored at the Israel Archive. Most of the content is in Hebrew, but thanks to MyHeritage’s Global Name Translation Technology™ it can be searched in English and other languages. The index contains the name of the immigrant, birth year, age, former residence, immigration date and place, the ship, and relatives.

The collection was created from books that contain lists of names of immigrants (mostly in Hebrew), arranged in chronological order according to the date of arrival to Israel. The books also list passengers who arrived as tourists, or were Israeli residents returning to Israel from a trip abroad. Some of the immigrants who traveled to Israel in later years arrived by air and not in ships. The images may include additional information that is not found in the index, such as occupation.”