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While at the Ohio Genealogical Society (http://www.ogs.org) conference in Columbus a couple of weeks back, I took a jaunt to the state archives to see Cleveland State Hospital admission records.
My great-grandmother, whom I know little about, died there in 1926. But to
my disappointment, I learned these records are restricted: The hospital cared for some mentally ill patients, who could've passed inherited conditions to their descendants (I'm fine, by the way).
I'd anticipated genealogical oohs and ahhs, but instead
I had to submit a research request and fork over $25 so a state archivist can sift through the records and transcribe relevant information (that's right, I won't even get a photocopy with names blacked out). So if the search comes up empty, not only will
I miss my $25, but I'll also wonder what the researcher might've missed.
Two lessons I learned: Thoroughly check library catalogs. Had I contacted the archives as instructed, I at least wouldn't have been surprised. Second, have a back-up research plan—I busied myself looking up death certificates and obituaries.
I hope the tips and resources in this E-mail Update get you past your own research setbacks.
—Diane Haddad, Newsletter Editor
ftmnews-editor@fwpubs.com
P.S. Make sure you don't miss a single issue of your E-mail
Update! Add our address (familytree-newsletter@fwpubs.com)
to your e-mail-address book—your software will recognize the Update as an
e-mail you want to read.
Genealogy News to You
The Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities have debuted Chronicling America, a collection of 226,000 digitized newspaper pages dating between 1900 and 1910 from publications
in California, Florida, Kentucky, New York, Utah, Virginia and Washington, DC. Institutions in those states received the first grants from the National Digital Newspaper Program, which eventually will post historical newspapers from all states.
You
can search and browse the papers at http://www.loc.gov/chroniclingamerica. Results show the entire page with your search terms highlighted; to zoom, use the + button or click and drag the magnifying glass.
Click More Options for This Page to download a high-resolution page image or view it in PDF or text format (though the latter gives you a baffling Optical Character Recognition software translation).
The site also offers a directory of
newspaper titles. Search by place, time period, keyword and type (such as an ethnic publication or one preserved on microfilm). Results give you information about the paper and where it's available.
Social Networking Sites Flourish
The ubiquitousness of social networking sites for the younger set—who hasn't heard of MySpace and Facebook?—has inspired a rash of genealogical versions. A few:
FamilyLink
(http://www.familylink.com), the most recent of the bunch, comes from MyFamily.com founder Paul Allen and the team at his new venture, WorldVitalRecords. FamilyLink is still
in beta testing, but so far you can create a profile (complete with your photo) that lists cities where you're researching, then connect with other genealogists interested in that area. A family tree feature is on the way.
We told you about
Geni (http://www.geni.com), created by the founders
of such esteemed sites as eBay and Yahoo! Groups, in the Jan.
18 E-mail Update. Geni may have beat FamilyLink to the launchpad, but
it
also gave Allen's team a chance to differentiate their site. Geni's research focus appears to be softer, with greater emphasis on adding family names to trees. The site is testing a GEDCOM export that includes the names and relationships of people
related by blood (plus spouses and their blood relatives).
WeRelate (http://www.werelate.org) started as a genealogy Web search engine and wiki with entries for resources
and
places. Now it's buoyed by a partnership with the Allen County Public Library genealogy department (http://www.acpl.lib.in.us/genealogy) and billed as
an online community. WeRelate registered users can create pages for their ancestors and use the online
Family Tree Builder application.
SharedTree (http://www.sharedtree.com) is a wiki that functions as an online family tree program multiple researchers can use and
update. SharedTree claims it's revolutionizing the genealogy industry with
its open source and open content policy (meaning no one owns the code or the content, so anyone can use it).
Look in upcoming Family Tree Magazines for a guide to how you can use these and other social networking sites to your research advantage.
Casting Call
You, too, can have your pedigree traced like the stars'. PBS producers are looking for an "average Joe" participant in "African American Lives 2." It's the follow-up to last
year's show that had Harvard historian Henry Louis Gates Jr. hosting a search for the roots of such famous African-Americans as Oprah Winfrey, astronaut Mae Jemison and comedian Chris Tucker.
If you're selected, professional genealogists including Tony Burroughs and Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak
will trace your lineage
and analyze your DNA, with the results presented on air.
Apply
online
at http://www.pbs.org/aalives. The deadline is Friday, May 4, at 6 p.m.
Free Passage
GenealogyBank.com is giving free access to the 1819-1820 US Passenger List, a document the federal government published in 1821 (the secretary of state included the list with a letter) covering arrivals at 35 ports in 14 states
and Washington, DC.
To get it, go to http://www.genealogybank.com/free and type in your e-mail address; then you'll get a page where you can download the list in seven chronological sections.
For more help finding ancestors who immigrated before the 1820 law requiring ships to keep passenger lists, see the July 2007 Family Tree Magazine. It's available May 15 on newsstands and at http://www.familytreemagazine.com.
Genealogy Bank is a database with more than 1,300 digitized newspapers from 1690 to 1977 as well as historical documents. A subscription costs $19.95 per month or $119.95 per year.
Mysterious Demise
Forum poster Booger—yes, she picked that ID herself (sorry, I couldn't resist)—says her relative Leslie Carlisle Grant
was born around 1912 in Macon County,
NC, and joined the Army in 1931 or 1932. But rumor has it he went missing while on leave and drowned either in Louisiana's Lake Pontchartrain or in the Gulf of Mexico. Share
your suggestions for investigating this mystery.
http://www.familytreemagazine.com/forum/forums/forum-view.asp?fid=7
Web Sites We Won't See
What genealogy Web site will we never see? Perhaps FinishedFamilyTrees.com? Government
Officials for Fee-Free, Open Records? Fortify your funny bone and post your ideas to the Web Watch Forum, and we'll publish the most chuckle-inducing entries in a future Family
Tree Magazine.
http://www.familytreemagazine.com/forum/forums/forum-view.asp?fid=2
Get extra information about the topics covered in Family Tree Magazine! These exclusive Web Extras — available only on FamilyTreeMagazine.com — complement the articles in our May
2007 issue:
Saving Old Scrapbooks
Q. I have scrapbooks my mother made in the
1930s and '40s. They include photos
and paper ephemera such as party napkins, dance programs and school papers. The scrapbook pages are black and everything is glued to this paper. What's the best way to preserve this material? Also, I'd like to photograph each page. Which type of camera should
I use, and should I use a flash?
A. You'll find the answer at
http://www.familytreemagazine.com/nowwhatonline/current.html.
Read more Q&A with the experts at http://www.familytreemagazine.com/nowwhatonline/previous.html.
Blanket Backdrop
A beautiful, intricate quilt is the backdrop for Helen Armstrong's mystery photo. Can it tell her anything? Did one of the ladies in the photo sew it? Expert photo historian Maureen A. Taylor is on the case at http://www.familytreemagazine.com/photos/
current.htm.
Taylor
is the author of Uncovering Your Ancestry through Family Photographs, available at http://www.fwbookstore.com/product/1217/168.
If you have a family photo mystery for Taylor to solve, check out our Submission Guidelines at http://www.familytreemagazine.com/photos/
photohelp.htm.
Hartford, Conn.
April 26-29
New England Regional Genealogy Conference
For more information, go to http://www.nergc.org.
Fort Wayne, Ind.
April 27-28
Indiana Genealogical Society Conference
For more information, go to http://www.indgensoc.org/conference.html.
Find more genealogy and living history seminars—and publicize your group's events—in our online calendar. You must be registered with the FamilyTreeMagazine.com
Forum to post.
![[description]](http://net.fwpublications.com/newsletters/Images/Newsletters/Family_Tree_Magazine_E-Mail_Update_%282%29__W_A_4_26_2007/gen%20pub%204.26.07a.gif) New! VIRGINIA IMMIGRANTS AND ADVENTURERS, 1607-1635: A Biographical
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http://www.genealogical.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&item_number=3505
Get Family Tree Magazine back issues at http://www.familytreemagazine.com/mags.
Explore Family Tree Magazine E-mail Update past issues at
http://www.familytreemagazine.com/newsletter/archive.html.
Get free Family Tree News Service articles for your genealogy newsletter or Web site at http://www.familytreemagazine.com/ftns-subscribe.asp.
Sponsor This Newsletter
For information on sponsoring this newsletter or to receive a rate card, e-mail Dave Peters, Senior Account
Executive, at dpeters@kqandr.com
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