Across the Generations: Exploring U.S. History Through Family Papers is a digital collection available on The Smith College Libraries website.
The introduction to this collection makes it clear that it doesn't matter if your family isn't represented in a manuscript collection it still can have importance to your research. "Family papers contain a wealth of information. Most obviously, the history of a particular family can be learned by examining the records a family leaves behind. At the same time, the larger trends and events can be traced within the records of one family."
Documents in this collection have been divided into themes that include Family Life, Social Awareness and Reform, Arts and Leisure and Work.
Friday, December 23, 2011
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Church Record Sunday: 1828 Quaker Census
As genealogists researching American ancestors, one record set we focus on is census records. Now we tend to think of this mostly in terms of the U.S. Federal Census but most genealogists are also aware there are state and territorial census records as well.
But the government wasn't the only entity counting its population, some religious groups have also taken a census. One example is this counting of Quakers in 1828, available from the Family History Library on microfilm.
Quaker Census of 1828: Members of the New York Meeting, the Religious Society of Friends (in New York, Ontario, Vermont, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Quebec) at the time of the seperation in 1828.
But the government wasn't the only entity counting its population, some religious groups have also taken a census. One example is this counting of Quakers in 1828, available from the Family History Library on microfilm.
Quaker Census of 1828: Members of the New York Meeting, the Religious Society of Friends (in New York, Ontario, Vermont, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Quebec) at the time of the seperation in 1828.
Wednesday, December 07, 2011
Remembering Pearl Harbor: Researching Your World War II Soldier
The following are some resources for researching your World War II soldier.
Books
World War II APOs (a previous blog posting from Gena's Genealogy)
Books
Gawne, Jonathan. Finding Your Father's War: A Practical
Guide to Researching and Understanding Service in the World War Ii U.s.
Army. Philadelphia:
Casemate, 2006.
Knox, Debra J. World War II Military Records: A Family
Historian's Guide. Spartanburg,
SC: MIE Pub, 2003.
Johnson, Richard S, and Debra J. Knox. How to Locate
Anyone Who Is or Has Been in the Military: Armed Forces Locator Guide. Spartanburg, SC:
MIE Pub, 1999.
Websites
Tuesday, December 06, 2011
Women's Research Resource: Women Veterans
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From: http://www.flickr.com/photos/usnationalarchives/5532511896/ |
When
researching any ancestor it is vital to learn about the time period and what
life was like during that time and under those circumstances. Military Women Veterans: Yesterday-Today-Tomorrow includes information on stories of women who have served from Revolutionary War
to the present. There is a link for each
conflict including World War II.
Experiencing War: Women at War is a project of the Veteran’s History Project. Twelve women’s stories are available on video and audio to download and listen
to. You must have Real Player to listen
and view the films, which is a free download with a link available at the site. These interviews represent civilian and
military women serving during World War II to the Persian
Gulf.
Similarly,
the Idaho State Historical Society has a Women in World War II Veteran’s History
Project. There is a Finding Aid to this collection . This collection includes 48 interviews with
women who served or were somehow affected by the war. Interviews include a Japanese American woman
who was interred at Camp Minidoka, a woman who was in the British Royal Air
Force, women who were in various branches of the military, and a woman who was
part of the underground in the Netherlands. These stories bring alive the experience of
women during this time period and can provide those of us who were not part of
this era with some ideas about what life
was like and women’s contributions during this time.
Idaho is not the only
state that have or currently capturing the stories of women veterans. Maine and North Carolina have
similar projects. A project that chronicles Rhode Island women’s experience
is called “What did you do in the War Grandma.”
Sunday, December 04, 2011
Church Record Sunday: A Blog Post about Online Sources
Typically, for me, Church Record Sunday looks at a source for a religion or denomination's records. This week I would like to highlight a post I came across on the blog Religion in the American West. The post entitled, Religion in the 19th-Century West: Primary Sources Online by Joshua Paddison includes links to newspapers, books and pamphlets, manuscript collections and images. While some of the links are related to sources for Mormon pioneers there are many that would be helpful for anyone's research.
Take some time to browse older posts on this blog. I found quite a few that would be of interest to genealogists including Mapping Religion and New Digital Archive for Native American History.
Take some time to browse older posts on this blog. I found quite a few that would be of interest to genealogists including Mapping Religion and New Digital Archive for Native American History.
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