While reading through the Findmypast blog today, I realized that I never asked my Dad where he was on VE Day. 8 May 1945 is remembered as the day that WWII ended in Europe. 75 years ago today. I am still going to look at more of the photos and records in this huge set of material that is free until 15 May. Then I will go page through my Dad’s photos from WWII. I need to find the one with the monkey.
85 years ago today, on May 6, 1935, the Works Progress Administration became a part of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal programs to get the United States back to stability. It was on that date that he signed Executive Order 7034. In 1939 it was retitled the Work Projects Administration and it had many divisions.
The Works Progress Administration (WPA) affected so many lives and some projects still do that today. For family historians, it produced much that we may still use today.
The National Genealogical Society’s NGS Magazine Volume 45, Number 4, Oct-Dec 2019 is filled with WPA-related articles. My contribution was based on 25 years of research and presentations on the topic.
I also did a video for Ancestry Academy on the WPA and it is accompanied by a handout. https://www.ancestryacademy.com/the-wpa-a-good-deal-for-genealogists
I was invited to do a Guest Post on The Genealogy Squad Facebook group. It’s a private Facebook group with almost 35,000 members! Not a member? Search for it on Facebook and ask to join. You will be asked some simple questions so the administrators can be sure you are an active genealogist. My post has ten tips for doing U.S. Native American research plus some handy links. To find the April 15th post, look on the right hand side of the main page for the topics. One of the Topics is Guest Posts and you will find the tips and links under that topic. Enjoy!
It’s easy to join MGS at https://mngs.org/. then you can be a part of the Ask MGS! You must be a member in order to join this session. Membership also provides the quarterly journal, meeting discounts, and a whole lotta webinars that are for members only.
Normally, the Library Edition of Ancestry is available only when you are at a subscribing library. Due to the current Covid-19 that has shut down our libraries, Ancestry and ProQuest have made it available in our homes through cooperating libraries. What a generous thing they have done for family historians. Today they announced it will be available this way through May!! It’s always been a good thing to have a library card that allows us to borrow books and movies and access some subscription databases. That card has even more value thanks to Ancestry, ProQuest, and many libraries.
It’s been a few weeks of planning, meetings, reworking of some sessions, and now it can be announced that GRIP is going virtual in 2020. To keep students, instructors, coordinators and the directors, Debbie and Elissa safe, we are going to teach and attend online. More info will be forthcoming. For the time being, check here for details.
The course I coordinate, Digging Deeper: Records, Tools, and Skills will still be offered but online. Join us July 19-24 for this experience. We will still have hands-on work, discussions, much learning and some laughs, too. We all need those. The extensive syllabus will still be available in advance of the course.
Get ready to join us from the comfort of your recliner, kitchen table, den, office, or even your bed. But, be sure to get dressed as we will have time to see each other and get to know each other better during the week.
Register soon so that you are able to receive some special instructions from me that will provide the opportunity for you to share one of your research problems for group discussion and suggestions. That info will go out soon in an email.
MyHeritage has a yearbook collection that is FREE, through May 23, 2020!
From Daniel Horowitz at MyHeritage: “Our yearbook collection consists of 290 million names in 36 million pages, from yearbooks across the U.S. from 1890 until 1979. Take this opportunity to reminisce about your own high school years or search for your loved ones in the collection.
In addition, following the successful release of MyHeritage In Color™ (10 million photos were colorized in the first 3 months), one of the ideas raised by our team was to apply this technology also to records, in cases where black and white photos are abundant and colors could enhance the records. We focused our attention on the huge U.S. Yearbook collection on MyHeritage, and I’m happy to announce that you can now view our entire collection of U.S. yearbooks in color!
Search MyHeritage U.S. Yearbooks for Free Now
Ordinarily, accessing the yearbook records on MyHeritage requires a Data or Complete subscription. Now, through this wonderful freebie, anyone can access the yearbooks for free, without even having to sign up, through May 23, 2020. And the yearbooks are now colorized!”
We’re doing this because we want to help our community in these challenging times and give people a fun activity to do when they are isolated at home that is genealogical, enjoyable, and free.
We’ve made it easy to share the yearbook pages on social media. Anyone who shares a yearbook page on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram with the hashtags #LookingGood and #FreeYearbooks and tags @MyHeritage will enter a draw. Each week we’ll select one lucky winner who will receive a free MyHeritage Complete subscription!
April 25th is National DNA Day in the U.S. and the sale prices on DNA testing are already beginning. Check AncestryDNA.com, FamilyTreeDNA, MyHeritage, 23andMe, and LivingDNA. In a future post, I will list some helpful books and online guidance.
To learn more about the origins of this commemoration https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA_Day.
A couple weeks ago, Cyndi Ingle asked me to do an educational guest post on The Genealogy Squad (TGS) Cyndi is one of the administrators of TGS and also is the Cyndi of CyndisList.com. We talked about several ideas and this morning 15 April) I posted my tips on Native American research. Now I have been privately asked by a reader for information on my qualifications regarding Native American research. I though I should share that info directly on my blog.
I have been involved in Native American research, consulting, enrollment issues, lecturing, and court testimony since about 1990. I also have several trusted subcontractors who assist in segments of this work. The following is a brief overview of my experience.
1989-present: Full-time genealogical & historical researcher, consultant, writer, and lecturer related to a wide variety of topics, clients, families, and localities across the U.S.
1990-present: Specialist in Native American research and analysis for individuals, families, law firms, and Tribes in several states.
1993-2015: Contract genealogist and consultant for a Minnesota-based Tribe.
1995-present: Extended research time at various National Archives facilities in BIA related records for several Tribes. Other research sites included county courthouses, state archives, and state historical societies in several states.
2016-2018: Served as the Enrollment Committee for a Tribe, assisted the Tribe in the reopening of the enrollment process, in establishing a new enrollment ordinance, determining the Enrollment Application process, development of an Enrollment Application Form and associated reference materials, and established the DNA testing process. Then analyzed, verified, and evaluated 450+ enrollment applications and suggested approval of 302 new members.
During April 2020 you can view a free webinar each day from Legacy Family Tree Webinars. It’s a webinar chosen by Legacy and it is available beginning at midnight Eastern Time Zone.
Their blog has the list of what is being offered each day. Be sure to download the handout for each webinar.
If you need more webinars to view each day, it’s time for a membership. Click here to take advantage of the $49.95 annual membership. This is my affiliate link and I appreciate your use of this.