Genealogy Blog : Genealogy News

Archivist of the United States and "Collector-in-Chief" David Ferriero Talks Role of National Archives

Jean-Yves BAXTER — Wed, 16 May 2012 13:15:00 +0200

Discussing both the Declaration of Independence and Michael Jackson’s patent for anti-gravity shoes, Archivist of the United States and "collector-in-chief" David Ferriero spoke on Monday afternoon about the array of challenges he faces helping to digitize and declassify the 12 billion papers under the National Archive’s control.

Ferriero’s lecture, organized by five local libraries, was part of the “Leading Voices in Higher Education” strategic planning lecture series.

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Olympic Records Available Online

Jean-Yves BAXTER — Wed, 16 May 2012 11:15:00 +0200

Hundreds of historic documents and images relating to the Olympic and Paralympic Games have been made available online by The National Archives for the first time. From the 19th to the 21st century.

The new site 'The Olympic Record' includes a timeline feature which enables visitors to track back through time and browse material from every summer Olympics from Athens in 1896 to Beijing in 2008.

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Thousands of Irish Medieval Documents Now Available Online

Jean-Yves BAXTER — Wed, 16 May 2012 09:15:00 +0200

Trinity College Dublin historians have reconstructed invaluable medieval documents destroyed during the bombardment of the Four Courts in 1922. The Four Courts was the home of the Public Record Office, which was catastrophically destroyed when it was bombed in the conflict between pro-Treaty and anti-Treaty forces at the start of the Irish Civil War.

It was previously thought that the entire medieval archive had been destroyed, but forty years’ work by a team of researchers at Trinity has led to the reconstruction of more than 20,000 hugely important government documents produced by the medieval chancery of Ireland.

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Library and Archives Canada - New digitized reels: War of 1812 Records

Jean-Yves BAXTER — Mon, 14 May 2012 18:15:00 +0200

Library and Archives Canada is pleased to announce that you can now access 73,000 new images of War of 1812 records on its website.

Library and Archives Canada holds a unique and vast collection of records about the Canadian men and women who were involved in the War of 1812. Muster rolls, paylists, claims, certificates of service, medal registers, maps, paintings, and published sources are featured in LAC holdings that document this key event.

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81 Boxes of Top-Secret and Restricted Documents Missing at National Archives

Jean-Yves BAXTER — Mon, 14 May 2012 16:15:00 +0200

According to the inspector general for the National Archives and Records Administration, NARA has lost track of 81 boxes containing top secret or restricted data—including nuclear weapons information. Among these are four boxes of material designated “Top Secret” by the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

Government officials don’t think the materials have been stolen. Instead, the paperwork may just be unaccounted for inside The Washington National Records Center, which features rooms double the size of football fields that house row after row of boxed documents.

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Forgotten Children of Spain's Civil War Reunite 75 Years After Exile

Jean-Yves BAXTER — Mon, 14 May 2012 14:15:00 +0200

For the more superstitious inhabitants of the Basque village of El Regato, the beginning of the Spanish civil war was portended not so much by Francisco Franco's coup as by the onset of a sudden turmoil in the heavens.

"People were saying the war is starting because all the stars in the sky are rushing around," says Herminio Martínez, who, even as a six-year-old then, was beginning to grow sceptical. "I would look up in the sky but I couldn't see the stars rushing around."

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My Uncle Denis, Pilot of the Plane Time Forgot: First Pictures of the Man Who Crash-Landed His Plane in the Sahara and Then Walked Off Across the Sands to His Death

Jean-Yves BAXTER — Mon, 14 May 2012 12:15:00 +0200

He poses proudly in his RAF uniform and also looks down from the cockpit of his Second World War fighter plane, perhaps ready for a mission against the Desert Fox himself, Erwin Rommel.

These are the first pictures of 24-year-old Flight Sergeant Denis Copping, the wartime pilot who crash-landed his plane in the Sahara and then walked off across the sands to his death.

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Faces of Two Lost USS Monitor Crewmen Unveiled

Jean-Yves BAXTER — Mon, 14 May 2012 10:15:00 +0200

In 1975, two years after the wreck of the USS Monitor was discovered off Cape Hatteras, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) designated the USS Monitor National Marine Sanctuary to protect her.

27 years later, in 2002, the USS Monitor’s turret was pulled up from the wreck site by NOAA and the US Navy Diving Team commanded by Bobbie Scholley. Recovered within the turret were the remains of two of the USS Monitor’s crewmembers.

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Columbus May Not Have Been First to America

Jean-Yves BAXTER — Fri, 04 May 2012 16:15:00 +0200

An investigation has shed new light on the voyages of John Cabot,‭ ‬the Italian navigator and explorer, revealing that he may have‭ ‬had‭ ‬knowledge of European expeditions to the‭ "‬New World‭"‬ that predated Christopher Columbus's 1492 voyage.

Although commonly credited with "discovering" America, Christopher Columbus would not reach the mainland of the New World until 1498, when he sailed to South America.‭

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Library and Archives Canada Launches Its Immigration Heritage Online Kits

Jean-Yves BAXTER — Fri, 04 May 2012 14:15:00 +0200

Library and Archives Canada (LAC) is releasing immigration heritage online kits today at the TD National Reading Summit III: A Reading Canada—Building a Plan, in Vancouver.

At the event, Fabien Lengellé, Director General of the Services Branch at LAC, presented the content of the kits and how they relate to the TD National Reading Summit themes of literacy and citizenship.

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Freetown's wood homes a link to Sierra Leone's past

Jean-Yves BAXTER — Fri, 04 May 2012 12:15:00 +0200

Scattered across Sierra Leone's capital Freetown stand ageing wooden houses, some of which look more like they belong on the east coast of 18th century America than in a steamy West African city.

Others look like they may have been built hundreds of years ago in the islands of the Caribbean, another reflection of Sierra Leone's history as a colony established for freed slaves.

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WWII Pilot Remains Return to America After Lincolnshire Discovery

Jean-Yves BAXTER — Fri, 04 May 2012 10:15:00 +0200

The remains of a World War II pilot have been returned home to America after his crashed plane was discovered in Lincolnshire. Charles Moritz and parts of his aircraft had been buried under a field near Faldingworth since he crashed on 7 June 1944.

They were finally uncovered by a group of aviation archaeologists called the Lincolnshire Aircraft Recovery Group. He will be buried in Illinois with full military honours on Saturday.

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New York City - Archives At Queens Library Celebrate Centennial

Jean-Yves BAXTER — Thu, 03 May 2012 15:15:00 +0200

In mid-October 1911, a fund of $500 was established by the board of trustees of the Queens Borough Public Library to start a collection of books, newspapers, journals and other materials on Queens County history and genealogy.

Queens Library President and Chief Executive Officer Thomas Galante opened the centennial ceremony by observing that the board of trustees realized even a century ago that change in Queens was radical, and if the county’s past was to be preserved in any material way, the preservation must begin.

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Discover Your Irish Genetic Ancestors

Jean-Yves BAXTER — Thu, 03 May 2012 13:15:00 +0200

Whose blood courses through your veins? Could you be a descendant of a Viking warrior or a Berber pirate? Or perhaps you are related to the Uí Neill chieftains or the kings of Laighin (Leinster)? If so your genes will carry the proof, and a new company set up by scientists offers a service that can reveal your genetic heritage.

Today sees the launch of “Ireland’s DNA”, a direct to customer genetic ancestry service. “We are planning it as a national project. The more people that get involved, the more we can understand about Irish history from the resulting dataset,” says Dr Gianpiero Cavalleri, one of three founders of the company.

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Hitler Postcard Found in World War I Project

Jean-Yves BAXTER — Thu, 03 May 2012 11:15:00 +0200

A previously unknown postcard sent by Adolf Hitler when he was a soldier in World War I has been uncovered in a European history project. Hitler's postcard, sent in 1916 when he was recovering from a war wound, was found in Munich, Germany.

Oxford University is providing expert advice to the Europeana 1914-1918 project which runs history roadshows. When the postcard was identified, the university's Dr Stuart Lee said he "felt a shudder run through me".

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New Book Identifies the Couple in Iconic WWII 'Kissing Sailor' Photograph

Jean-Yves BAXTER — Thu, 03 May 2012 09:15:00 +0200

It is an image that captured an epic moment in U.S. history - a sailor locked in a passionate kiss with a nurse in New York City's Times Square at the end of World War II. For decades, the identity of the pair in the 1945 photograph has been disputed.

Now, a new book promises to resolve the long-held mystery by revealing 89-year-olds George Mendonsa and Greta Zimmer Friedman as the couple for whom the world stopped following Japan's surrender.

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Conserving Documents from the Buchenwald and Dachau Concentration Camps

Jean-Yves BAXTER — Wed, 02 May 2012 19:15:00 +0200

The International Tracing Service (ITS) in Bad Arolsen will conserve about 300 000 original documents from the Dachau concentration camp this year using the process of mass deacidification.

The records in question were created between 1934 and 1945 and relate to the registration of prisoners. The conservation of individual documents of prisoners from the Buchenwald concentration camp has now been completed. Since 2000, about 2.7 million out of a total of 30 million documents have been conserved.

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Rob Lowe's Learns He Is a Descendant of European Soldier Who Fought Against American Independence

Jean-Yves BAXTER — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 12:15:00 +0200

Most Americans probably would be shocked to learn their ancestors fought on the wrong side of the Revolutionary War, but Rob Lowe took the news in stride on Who Do You Think You Are? The actor traced his ancestors back to Germany and their role in the American Revolution during Friday night's episode of the NBC show.

Lowe's journey took him from the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) archives to a small church in Marburg, Germany. Rob had hoped to find out if his relatives were patriots during the American Revolution but he got a big surprise.

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Aberdeen Presentation Sisters Working to Digitize Records

Jean-Yves BAXTER — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 11:15:00 +0200

When Sister Kathleen Bierne received a recent call, she was surprised to hear that it was a former student of hers. "She said, 'I don't remember you, but my mother does.' And I had this image of a hovering mother over my shoulder," Bierne said with a laugh.

Bierne's student had used sister search on the Presentation Sisters' website to get in touch with her. It was added in 2008 as a part of a larger move by the convent to create a stronger digital presence. The sisters have about 120 years of archives.

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Unlikely Heroes Keep Veterans' Names Alive in Hamilton County, Ohio

Jean-Yves BAXTER — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 09:15:00 +0200

Thousands of old soldiers can rest easy tonight. Their names will not fade away. Their tombstones may crumble. Weeds may cover their graves. Records on film may turn to dust.

But Hamilton County veterans who fought for their country in every conflict from the Revolutionary War to World War I will not be forgotten. Their names and the exact location of their graves are now online.

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New York City History in 870,000 Images, All Online

Jean-Yves BAXTER — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 10:15:00 +0200

The two men were discovered dead at the bottom of an elevator shaft in a 12-story Manhattan building, as if dumped there, one man sprawled on top of the other. The rare crime scene photograph from Nov. 24, 1915, is one of 870,000 images of New York City and its municipal operations now available to the public on the Internet for the first time.

The city Department of Records officially announced the debut of the photo database Tuesday. A previously unpublicized link to the images has been live for about two weeks.

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The National Archives of the UK Marks the Centenary of Inheriting COPY 1 Records

Jean-Yves BAXTER — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 21:15:00 +0200

A commemorative event at Stationers' Hall today marks 100 years since The National Archives inherited the collection of photographs and artwork which makes up the COPY 1 record series.

The National Archives' collections will be exhibited and reunited with earlier records from the Stationers' Hall for the first time in a century. The collection includes more than 150,000 commercial posters and labels and over 250,000 photographs dating from the middle of the 19th century to the early 20th century.

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Oldest Written Documents in Estonia Uploaded

Jean-Yves BAXTER — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 19:15:00 +0200

A project to digitize the oldest parchment documents in the country is now complete. The State Archives, Tallinn City Archive and History Museum led the effort, which started in 2010.

The documents contain information valuable to studying the history of settlement and agriculture in medieval and post-Renaissance Estonia as well as political, military and cultural history, said the institutions.

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16th Century Grave Boasts Malabar's Columbus Connection

Jean-Yves BAXTER — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 17:15:00 +0200

Other than being his original destination, the only nostalgic connection India might have with Christopher Columbus is an eroded gravestone currently lying abandoned in the compound of the Murals Museum here.

A team of researchers who deciphered the inscriptions on it have discovered that it was the grave of Filipe Perestrelo da Mesquita, a vicar and schoolteacher, who died in 1595 at Kodungallur, a well-known European settlement in the Malabar coast.

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Archives Digitize 19th Century Materials for 21st Century Access

Jean-Yves BAXTER — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 15:15:00 +0200

The Victorian era has become ridiculously popular in the new millennium. Between costume drama in film and steampunk in print and video games, the dawn of the the modern technological age has captured the popular imagination. It has captured the scientific imagination as well, however, as two recent events indicate.

Gale/Cenage, publisher of research resources for libraries, schools and businesses, has announced the launch of Nineteenth Century Collections Online, a multiyear global digitization program.

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