2025 Indigenous Peoples Day. Reasons for this recognition

Paula Stuart-Warren  Native American  , , ,  Leave a comment

Today I honor those who first resided on the land that surrounds me today. It is Indigenous Peoples Day. For about ten years I spent several weeks a year researching at the National Archives locations in Washington, DC, College Park, MD, and Kansas City, MO. The work was for some Native American tribes and I was reading file after file in records of the Office of Indian Affairs (later known as the Bureau of Indian Affairs). I learned how my fellow human beings were treated, written about, talked about, and hidden away. I saw awful correspondence about children and boarding schools. I think you get the picture.

Minnesota Public Radio has a listing of places and ceremonies to honor Native Americans today and every day.

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2025/10/10/indigenous-peoples-day-events-happening-in-minnesota

 

My post in 2024 still strikes the same message. https://genealogybypaula.com/2024/10/bloh indigenous-peoples-day-2024-in-the-u-s-at-least-in-some-places/

 

 

Genealogy presentation immersion via Zoom. My surprising statistics.

Paula Stuart-Warren  Seminars, Webinars  , , , , , ,  Leave a comment

Didn’t realize how truly busy I have been recently. I just kept going. From the end of August through today, I have been heavily involved in preparing handouts and PowerPoint presentations for genealogy organizations all across the U.S. I appreciate the invitations to do presentations whether it’s a single webinar or a full-day seminar. Some are short notice events and others are a year away from the actual presentation date.

Whether by Zoom or in-person, one favorite part of my genealogy business is sharing knowledge, experience, tips, books, websites, and more to audiences. I have benefited from great program people, friendly audiences, and some additional information shared by audiences. Genealogy does involve a lot of sharing. Those attending kindly cooperate by laughing at points where I hope they will do so! A benefit to me is that while tailoring parts of a presentation to the area of the society that hired me, I think about some ideas for researching parts of my own family.

I love statistics. About an hour ago, I decided to check out my own in relation to ten presentations I have done since late August. One was a local area session, and I was there in person. The last nine were done via Zoom. Eight of the total ten were presented in the last ten days. Yes, eight virtual presentations within ten days. More statistics:

  • Updated and/or created 76 pages of  syllabus/handout material to accompany those presentations.
  • Updated and/or created 635 PowerPoint slides for those presentations.

A last statistic is that each of the ten was not a repeat of others in the group. Each organization requested a different topic. NO REPEATS!

Should you care about the topics, check out my Speaking calendar to see what topics and organizations hired me. https://genealogybypaula.com/speaking/speaking-calendar/

Yes, I know I need to move recent ones to the section of those already presented in 2025. First, I need to sleep and not set an alarm to wake me up on October 12th. Maybe by Monday. 

 

 

Increasing the size of the Norfolk Southern railroad collection at the Atlanta History Center

Paula Stuart-Warren  Railroads  , ,  Leave a comment

You may have heard my presentations about records relating to U.S. railroad history and railroad workers. A news story about additional railroad records popped up this week. Alas, I didn’t have a subscription to read the article in the Atlanta Business Chronicle. Checked for others and found more from Atlanta TV station WSB. 1000 more feet of railroad business records exchanged. The railroad collection is that of the Central of Georgia Railway. I love to hear about repositories cooperating with each other and love the Norfolk Southern for their large monetary contribution. Much of the Norfolk Southern collection had been move to Atlanta from its previous home at Virginia Tech University. Read the full news piece from WSB: https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/atlanta/norfolk-southern-500k-contribution-unites-railroad-history-collections/ZUGEGQPCZFEJRBXCN7D6M6IALQ/. More stories about the collection below.

https://www.atlantahistorycenter.com/blog/tsouthern-railway-serves-the-south

https://www.railwayage.com/freight/class-i/preserving-the-past-powering-the-future-ns-helps-reunite-georgias-railroad-history/?RAchannel=news

https://norfolksouthern.mediaroom.com/Complete-Southern-Railway-archives-now-publicly-available

https://www.atlantahistorycenter.com/blog/southern-railway-records-now-available

 

 

MyHeritage: free access to German records October 2-6.

Paula Stuart-Warren  Germanic Research, MyHeritage, Uncategorized  , ,  Leave a comment

In honor of Unity Day in Germany, MyHeritage is offering free access to all of its German historical records from October 2–6, 2025. “It’s a fantastic opportunity for anyone with German family history to dig into their roots and make new discoveries. MyHeritage hosts 283 million records across 77 German collections, including vital, church, and emigration records. Some collections from key regions like Prussia, North Rhine-Westphalia, Hesse, and southwestern Germany are exclusive to MyHeritage.” https://blog.myheritage.com/

 

 

 

October is Family History Month and American Archives Month.

Paula Stuart-Warren  Family History Month, Presentations, Webinars  , , , ,  Leave a comment

I’ll be doing a lot of promoting of both in my upcoming presentations for October. I look forward to seeing many of my readers virtually for these. Then the rest of the month is reserved for clients. First, consultations with clients to get them started on research or to figure out what to do next. Second, will be research and reporting on that for other clients.

October 3-4, 2025. Virginia Genealogical Society Fall Virtual Conference. My Friday topic and syllabus material “Family Answers Hidden in Older Southern and Eastern Genealogical and Historical Periodicals.” Check the VGS website for full details on the presenters, topics, and registration information. Eight speakers virtually. 

 

October 4, 2025. Two free webinars. 10:00 am – 12:30 pm PDT. San Luis Obispo County Genealogical Society of California. My topics are “Stuck? Have You Tried . . .? Have You Overlooked . . .?” and “What’s Next? Developing Step-by-Step Research Plans” and are accompanied by handouts.


October 9, 2025. Free Evening Webinar, 7:30 p.m. EDT, 6:30 p.m. CDT. Central Florida Genealogical Society. My presentation and handout cover “Lord Preserve Us! Church Records for Family History Research.”


October 11, 2025. Free Saturday webinar. 10:30 a.m. EDT, 9:30 CDT. KINSEEKERS Genealogical Society of Lake County, Florida. My presentation and handout cover  “The Three Rs: Reading, ‘Riting, and Research in School Records.”


October 11, 2025. Free Saturday webinar. 10:00 a.m. PDT, Noon CDT. Silicon Valley Computer Genealogy Group (Santa Clara California). My presentation and handout cover “The Farmer in the Dell . . . and in Many U.S. Records.”

 

 

 

MHS Minnesota People Records Search expanded as of 25 September 2025

Paula Stuart-Warren  Minnesoa Historical Society, Minnesota  , ,  Leave a comment

The Minnesota People Records Search on the Minnesota Historical Society’s website has long been home to indexes and record ordering information on a variety of subjects including births, deaths, state censuses, veterans’ burials, and Gold Star records. Now the searchable online indexes include some World War I era records of those who served. These World War I records are filled with personal details.

Begin your search here https://www.mnhs.org/search/people

 

 

Saint Paul, Minnesota newspapers online. FREE.

Paula Stuart-Warren  Newspapers  , ,  6 Comments

A newsletter from the Minnesota Historical Society tells of this fantastic news. I’ve been advocating for this over many years. I am excited. Fingers crossed for more, too!

St. Paul Pioneer Press collection
The Minnesota Historical Society is proud to present the St. Paul Pioneer Press 1861-1961 digital newspaper collection. View collection »

This free, searchable archive contains digitized newspaper issues from the following newspaper titles:

  • Saint Paul Daily Press 1861-1875
  • Saint Paul Daily Pioneer-Press 1875-1876
  • Pioneer-Press and Tribune 1876
  • The Pioneer Press 1876-1879
  • Daily Pioneer Press 1879-1909
  • St. Paul Pioneer Press 1909-1961

This collection contains 35,804 issues comprising 752,127 pages.

 

My genealogy presentations updated

Paula Stuart-Warren  Presentations, Webinars  , ,  Leave a comment

My listing of upcoming genealogy presentations has been updated. Two are in-person and the rest are virtual. https://genealogybypaula.com/speaking/speaking-calendar/ Click on the name of the hosting organization to learn more and to register. Several at totally free even if you aren’t a member of the organization.

I’ve also restored the list of my presentation topics. It had disappeared from the website and I was able to get it back. The top section is about 1/2 day seminars that can include two topics or the expanded topics that have needed to be extended to a half day. Of course there is a break in the morning or afternoon. https://genealogybypaula.com/speaking/genealogical-lecture-topics/

 

 

Board for Certification of Genealogists 16 September free intriguing webinar

Paula Stuart-Warren  Board for Certification of Genealogists, Webinars  , , ,  Leave a comment

The Board for Certification of Genealogists (BCG) next free monthly webinar in conjunction with Legacy Family Tree Webinars is “Finding Frank Henry Hill” by Angela Harris, CG. This webinar airs Tuesday, September 16, 2025, at 8:00 p.m. EDT.

“In 1906, Nellie Langevin married Frank Henry Hill in Penacook, New Hampshire. Frank vanished three years later, leaving Nellie to fend for herself. Despite her efforts to divorce him, Nellie died in 1914, still officially married. Who was Nellie’s elusive husband and what happened to him? This case study resolves conflicting direct, indirect, and negative evidence to uncover Frank’s identity and highlights the importance of including the FAN Club in reasonably exhaustive research.

“When you register before September 16 with our partner Legacy Family Tree Webinars (https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/finding-frank-henry-hill/?ref=586500), you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. Anyone with schedule conflicts may access the webinar at no charge for one week after the broadcast on the Legacy Family Tree Webinars website. Following the free period for this webinar, BCG receives a small commission if you view this or any BCG webinar by clicking our affiliate link (https://familytreewebinars.com/bcg/?ref=586500).

 

 

Webtember. September. Free Wednesday Genealogy Webinars.

Paula Stuart-Warren  Webinars  , , , ,  Leave a comment

I’m a few days behind in letting you know about Legacy Family Tree Webinar’s Webtember. It’s four Wednesdays of free webinars. A total of 19 webinars on a variety of topics from an array of knowledgeable presenters. They are free to listen to or listen to again throughout the month of September. https://familytreewebinars.com/webtember/?ref=566036. I appreciate readers using my affiliate links that provide me a small compensation to help keep this website and blog running. It doesn’t add any cost for you to register for these or to subscribe for a year.

Even better, why not subscribe for a full year and listen to them again, add the syllabus (handouts) for each webinar, and also have access to the past 2,468 webinars and 9,937 syllabus pages. You won’t have to miss any webinars because that access lasts a full year from when you subscribe for only $49.95.