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RootsTech 2019 Announces Lineup of Keynote Speakers and Entertainers
Rootstech is just around the corner. Learn more about where you can visit with Lisa Louise Cooke and Genealogy Gems HERE. Then keep reading below for details on the keynotes and class schedule.
Salt Lake City, Utah (13 February 2019), RootsTech 2019, the world’s largest family history conference, announced its full lineup of keynote speakers and entertainers, including Saroo Brierley, Patricia Heaton, Derek Hough, Jake Shimabukuro, and Steve Rockwood. Fueled by the popularity of DNA genealogy, social networking platforms, and related mobile apps, RootsTech 2018 had over 50,000 in-person and online attendees. Hosted by FamilySearch International, the conference will be held in Salt Lake City, Utah, February 27 through March 2, and select content is broadcast live online.
Keynote Speakers
RootsTech 2019 kicks off on Wednesday, February 27, with classes on topics such as DNA research, photo preservation, and using social media to preserve family legacies. Steve Rockwood, CEO of FamilySearch International, will be the featured keynote speaker on Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. mountain standard time.
Emmy Award-winning actress Patricia Heaton takes the stage on Thursday to share stories of faith and family. Heaton is most recognized for her role as Deborah Barone on the hit sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond (1996–2005) and more recently as Frankie Heck on The Middle (2009–2018). Heaton is also the author of two books. Her most recent, a recipe book, is Patricia Heaton’s Food for Family and Friends: 100 Favorite Recipes for a Busy, Happy Life, and her humorous collection of essays about life and family, published in 2003, is Motherhood and Hollywood: How to Get a Job Like Mine.
Saroo Brierley, whose story is recounted in the international bestselling autobiography A Long Way Home, will be the featured keynote speaker on Friday, March 1. Brierley’s remarkable family reunification story was depicted in the 2016 film Lion.
On Saturday, March 2, world-renowned ukulele musician and composer Jake Shimabukuro will take the stage. Shimabukuro’s records have repeatedly topped Billboard world music charts. Shimabukuro will speak about his efforts to honor his heritage through music and will perform live for the RootsTech audience.
Derek Hough, professional ballroom dancer and choreographer, will perform during the Friday evening event, Connecting through Music and Dance. Hough is widely recognized for his work on the ABC dance-competition series Dancing with the Stars, where he has won a record six seasons.
Classes
RootsTech 2019 offers more than 300 classes and activities for families and individuals with varying interests and skills. Select classes will be broadcast live. RootsTech also offers a Virtual Pass, which provides access to additional online recorded sessions from the conference. Learn more or register for the event at RootsTech.org.
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New and Updated U.S. Genealogical Records Online
New U.S. records online for free this week! Explore military records from the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, WWI, and WWII. Plus we’ve got a wide assortment of vital records, church records, county and criminal records, and more. You never know where your U.S. ancestors may be hiding, so take a look at these new and updated collections, noted by state.
Featured: New U.S. Records
FamilySearch.org has released lots of new collections for U.S. records that you will definitely want to explore.
Hawaii, Russian Immigrant Laborers Index 1909-1910: These records were probably recorded in Harbin, Manchuria in 1909 by A.L.C. Atkinson and A.W. Perelstrous. They were recruiting Russians to work on the Hawaii plantations. A.L.C. Atkinson was a Special Agent for the Territorial Board of Immigration.
Minnesota Birth and Death Records, 1900-1953: This collection contains an index and images to births and deaths recorded in Frankfort Township and St. Michael Village, Wright County, Minnesota, for the years 1900 to 1953. The birth records appear in both certificate and register-style documents. Some burial permits, are also included.
New Hampshire Obituaries, 1800-2007: The collection consists of cemetery records from the Pine Grove, Valley and other cemeteries in the Manchester area. The records provide the name and age of deceased, date of death, date of burial, birth date of deceased, location of grave, cause of death, and the name of undertaker.
Oregon, World War I, County Military Service Records, 1919-1920: This is a collection of WWI Military Service Records for various counties in the state of Oregon. The records are arranged alphabetically by county name, then numerical by the school district and alphabetical by surname. This series documents an individual’s military service in Oregon during WWI and used as a basis for medal distribution.
Oregon, Yamhill County Records, 1857-1963: This collection was recently updated, and includes images of deeds, mortgages, and military service records from Yamhill County. It also includes 6 volumes of “Miscellaneous Records” dated 1899-1957. The miscellaneous records include some land transactions, licensing records and other items.
Texas, Gonzales County, Death records, 1863-1970: The collection was recently updated with over 36,000 more records. It includes an index and browse-only images.
Utah Early Church Information File, 1830-1900: Browse images of index cards in alphabetical order for some members of the LDS Church. The names on the cards come primarily from sources from 1830 to the mid-1900s. The Early Church Information File (ECIF) was created using various sources including LDS church records, journals, biographies, cemetery records, immigration records and published books.
Rosters of Revolutionary War Soldiers and Sailors, 1775-1783: Look for your Revolutionary War ancestors in this collection of published state rosters of Revolutionary War soldiers from the states of Alabama, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Vermont, and Virginia.
More U.S. Collections
From the Digital Library of Georgia: Athens, Georgia crime dockets from 1902 to 1907 now freely available online. “The digital collection consists of eight bound dockets dating from 1902 to 1907, and includes about 5,760 individual arrest cases in Athens, Georgia. Entries generally include a case number, the defendant’s name, the code violated, the date and location of the arrest, the date papers were served, the arresting officer’s name, a list of witnesses, and the dispensation of the case.”
University of Arkansas: A Belated Gift: U.S. Copyright and the Public Domain. “The University Libraries launched a new digital exhibit in celebration of Public Domain Day Jan. 1. ‘A Belated Gift: U.S. Copyright and the Public Domain,’ which features Arkansan contributions from 1923 that are now in the public domain, is available to researchers worldwide, free of charge.”
War of 1812 Pension Files Update: Fold3 has almost completed digitizing through the letter “P” with their War of 1812 collection. The files are organized by state or organization, and then by the soldier’s surname and given name. While the digitization process is slow, they are continuing to add to this collection and will continue to do so until it is complete, so keep checking back!
From Findmypast: United States Directories & Almanacs
93 volumes of New York City Directories spanning the years 1786 to 1923 are now available to search. These new directories record the names and addresses of city residents, businesses, churches, schools, police stations, courts, and other government offices, as well as the names of individuals associated with those institutions. They also feature images, including maps, illustrations of buildings, and advertisements.
Hawaii News Now: Never-before-seen trove of photos shows Honolulu during height of World War II. Nearly 800 photos taken on Oahu during WWII have been discovered and digitized. Many of the photos feature military personnel, but few names are listed. The World War II Pacific Veterans Project was founded in an effort to identify these soldiers. In addition, these photos depict life on the island 70 years ago, which looks vastly different than it does today and gives context to soldier life during WWII.
Get tips on U.S. records research and more!
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Lacey has been working with Genealogy Gems since the company’s inception in 2007. Now, as the full-time manager of Genealogy Gems, she creates the free weekly newsletter, writes blogs, coordinates live events, and collaborates on new product development. No stranger to working with dead people, Lacey holds a degree in Forensic Anthropology, and is passionate about criminal justice and investigative techniques. She is the proud dog mom of Renly the corgi.
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Episode 226: The Free Genealogy Gems Podcast
Episode 226
Welcome, my friend, to the podcast where we take joy in the discovery of your family’s history! In today’s show we’ll cover:
- research strategies and new resources
- the history of your ancestors’ baby clothing
- a tech tip that protects you
- and the key to deciphering draft registration cards
Download the Show Notes PDF in the Genealogy Gems Podcast app.
Download the episode (mp3)
GENEALOGY NEWS:
GEM: They Shall Not Grow Old
There are so many things I want to cover every month, but I try really hard to sift through it all and bring you the best of the best, the genealogy gems. And I LOVE when you bring me Gems! Just like Betty did recently.
Betty is taking my online course at Family Tree University this month called Google Earth for Genealogy which I told you about in our weekly newsletter. You’re all signed up for that right?
Well Betty was so excited about something she found that she wrote the following on our course discussion board.
She says: “My husband and I just saw the movie “They Shall Not Grow Old” about the soldiers in WWI. We saw it in 3-D, which was amazing! The whole movie is remastered, colorized video and audio from the newsreels and also the soldiers’ interviews in the 1960’s and 70’s. The director, Peter Jackson, introduces the movie and then, the best part is after the show.”
Watch the trailer:
I saw her message at about 8:00 that night, and I immediately grabbed Bill and jumped in the car and for the 9:30pm showing. I couldn’t agree more that it was spectacular.
From Betty: “When I read that you went straight to the movie, I almost cried I was so happy! I knew you would like the last 1/2 hour the best. When Peter Jackson talked about everyone finding out about the history of their family, I was so excited! Wasn’t it amazing what they could do with old video, still shots, cartoons, and audio interviews? It has so much potential for genealogists. The most important thing is to gather the information and digitize the videos we already have. In the future, maybe the technology will be more accessible to us, non-professional family historians. What a treasure that movie was! I hope it inspires more people to do the same with other aspects of WWI or other historical subjects.”
GEM: Baby Clothes
Valentine’s Day brings to mind visions of cupid, a baby dressed only in a nappy shooting arrows of love at unsuspecting couples. While this little cherub celebrates the holiday au natural, let’s take some time to talk about the fashion statements the babies in our family tree have made through the centuries. To help us visualize the togs those tots wore we could turn to our grandmother’s photo albums, but there we may find a surprise: lots of photos of female ancestors and surprisingly fewer of the males. Why is that? Allison DePrey Singleton, Librarian at the Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center unravels the mystery and stitches together a delightful history of baby clothing.
Sources:
Baumgarten, Linda. What clothes reveal: the language of clothing in colonial and federal America: the Colonial Williamsburg Collection. Williamsburg, VA: Colonial Williamsburg.
Calvert, Karin Lee Fishbeck. Children in the house: the material culture of early childhood, 1600-1900. Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1992.
F., José Blanco, Mary D. Doering, Patricia Hunt-Hurst, and Heather Vaughan Lee. Clothing and fashion: American fashion from head to toe. Vol. 1-3. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, an imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC, 2016.
Hiner, N. Ray., and Joseph M. Hawes. Growing up in America: children in historical perspective. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1985.
Paoletti, Jo B. “Clothing and Gender in America: Children’s Fashions, 1890-1920.” Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 13, no. 1 (1987): 136-43. doi:10.1086/494390.
Paoletti, Jo Barraclough. Pink and blue: telling the boys from the girls in America. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2012.
“When Did Girls Start Wearing Pink?” Smithsonian.com. Accessed January 10, 2017. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/when-did-girls-start-wearing-pink-1370097/.
MAILBOX:
Mary Lovell Swetnam, Special Collections Librarian Virginia Beach Public wrote me to tell us all about a new online resource. “I was able to determine that hundreds of records of enslaved persons were not included in either of the two previous abstracts of the Overwharton Parish Register. They have now been abstracted and are available free on our site.
Please see the link below. I have also included a copy of the explanatory material for the project. http://cdm16450.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p16450coll15/id/14/rec/2.”
Dana wrote in with one purpose in mind: to share her genealogy happy dance with us. And I think that’s an awesome reason to write! Email or leave a voice mail at (925) 272-4021 and share your genealogy happy dance with me!
GEM: Scottish Genealogy
Amanda Epperson Ph.D. shares 3 strategies for finding an ancestor in Scottish records. Read the full article here.
Amanda Epperson is the author of the book The Family Tree Scottish Genealogy Guide. Since completing her Ph.D. in history from the University of Glasgow in 2003, Amanda has taught history at the college level, researched and edited family histories, most recently for Genealogists.com, and written articles for a variety of publications including Family Tree Magazine and Your Genealogy Today.
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TECH GEM: Locate My Computer with Backblaze
Backblaze executive Yev Pusin explains a little-known feature that just might get you out of a jam! Learn more about Backblaze computer cloud backup and get your computer backed up today at www.backblaze.com/Lisa
GEM: Military Minutes – Draft Registration Cards Deciphered
We are revisiting Draft Registrations for both World War I and World War II. You will recall that this was the subject of our first “Military Minutes” together; since this aired several listeners have had questions and comments regarding the numbering on the cards, draft classifications, and how to dig deeper into other records of the Selective Service System whose office was responsible for the registering of all the men during both wars.
Click the images below to see all of the documents Michael discusses in this episode:
GEM: Profile America – America’s First Hospital
Monday, February 11th. Among his very many achievements, Benjamin Franklin played a leading role in the founding of America’s first hospital. Together with Dr. Thomas Bond, he obtained a charter for a hospital to serve the poor, sick and insane in Philadelphia. The Pennsylvania Hospital opened on this date in 1752 in a converted house.
Sources:
Joseph Nathan Kane, Kane’s Famous First Facts, Fifth Edition, H.W. Wilson Co., New York, NY 1997, 4868
Hospitals and employment, County Business Patterns, NAICS 622
Hospital revenue, Economic Census, NAICS 622
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Lisa Louise Cooke, Host and Producer
Bill Cooke, Audio Editor
Lacey Cooke, Your Happiness Manager
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