Genealogy Edu-tainment! Celebrity Interview, Bestseller for Book Club, DNA Chat and More!
Are you ready for a hearty dose of genealogy edu-tainment? It's all there in the newest episode of the free Genealogy Gems podcast: a genealogy television celebrity, a best-seller for our new Genealogy Gems Book Club title and an industry insider peek at Ancestry's...
Find Genealogy Apps with the FamilySearch App Gallery
Do you ever wonder whether you're missing something when you browse iTunes or Google Play for genealogy apps? Well, FamilySearch has created a space JUST for family history apps: The FamilySearch App Gallery. According to a FamilySearch press release, the gallery...
Irish Genealogy: Find Your Poor Ancestors in Ireland
Have you ever heard of the "Irish Reproductive Relief Fund?" That name made me wonder what it was all about (and I was totally wrong). It was actually a program ahead of its time, and its records can help you trace your hard-working, poverty-stricken Irish...
Are You Smarter Than An 8th Grader–From 1895?
In years past, a five-hour graduation exam was required for eighth graders (around 13 years old) in many U.S. states. It made me wonder: are questions they asked still relevant today? How well would we score? Are we smarter than an 8th grader from 120 years ago? A...
Evernote for Genealogy: Use a Research Checklist Template Like This One for Australian Family History
Do you use Evernote for genealogy, or are you planning to? Why not try a research checklist template? Genealogy Gems listener Michelle Patient sent us a link to her Evernote template for family history research in Australia and New Zealand. Better yet, she gave...
Social Network Your YDNA with Surname Projects
Family history organizations and studies based on individual surnames have been around for years. They are now integrating YDNA research into their efforts. Use surname projects to enhance your paternal DNA research! Surnames are the flagships of our genealogical...
DNA Matches: What You Can Do with All Your Genetic 4th Cousins
(Update 2020) When genealogists take an ancestry DNA test, they are looking for more than just their ethnicity results. They are also very interested in receiving information on other people who have tested who closely genetically match them. They want to know who the...
“When You Are Fostered, You Don’t Know Who You Are:” Scottish Birth Siblings Reunited
Recently we announced our featured book title for the first quarter of 2015: Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline. A major theme in this book is what happens to a child's identity when he or she is separated from parents and kin. With this story fresh on...
Which are the Best Genealogy Websites for YOU??
Bill Johnson in Manassas, Virginia, USA, wrote to me with this question--and I know he's not the only one asking it! "It's difficult to know what genealogical resources to spend your money on. I have been a subscriber to Ancestry.com (world package) for years....
Google Earth for Canada and Genealogy
Awhile back, Barbara from Courtenay, British Columbia, sent me an excellent question about using Google Earth for Canadian genealogy. Then she sent me an excellent answer before I had a chance to answer it myself! Here's what they were: Question: "I live in Canada and...
Why Your Genealogy Research Could be Going to the Dogs
Did your Irish ancestors have a dog? Over 3.5 million Irish Dog Licence registers have been added to a collection already online at FindMyPast. "Now containing over 6 million records, the Irish Dog Licences list not only the name, breed, colour and sex of your...
5 Most Popular Searches in Historical Newspapers–and Tips for Improving Yours!
The British Newspaper Archive celebrated its 3rd birthday recently by looking back at how people are searching its 9 million+ newspaper pages. To date, the five most common searches are: 1. Football 2. Murder 3. Death 4. Jack the Ripper 5. Railway Not what you...
These 1939 Dress Designs Survived the Holocaust. Their Designer Didn’t.
A new exhibit at the Jewish Museum of Milwaukee tells the story of some 1939 dress designs that made it out of Nazi-occupied territory--and pays tribute to their designer, who didn't. "When the Nazis occupied Czechoslovakia in 1939, tens of thousands of Jews applied...
What to Do When Genealogy Records Were Burned
Recently Sue from Elk Grove, Illinois wrote in with a question about what to do when records were lost due to fire (or war, or disasters, etc.): "We have been trying to locate information on my great great grandparents Hugh and Mae Sullivan. I have never been able to...
Here is the New Book for Genealogy Gems Book Club!
The Genealogy Gems Book Club debuted to excellent response from you, our readers and listeners and social media followers! A LOT of you are passionate about books and family history! Our last title was a memoir by a woman raised in England who told a story about her...
NEW! Map for African-American Genealogy Resources after the Civil War
The time period after the U.S. Civil War is a messy era for searching for African-American ancestors from the South. Millions of people were emerging from slavery, without documented histories of who they were or who they were related to--many without even consistent...
Here’s a Cool Way to Export a Web Clipping Note from Evernote
Recently I posted on How to Solve a Pesky Evernote Web Clipper Problem. In that post I explained how to save an Evernote web clipping as an image file. Genealogy Gem reader Pat wrote in about how she likes to extract notes. She writes: Hi Lisa, I just ready your post...
What You Can Learn from Richard III DNA “Scandal”
An article recently published in Nature Communications confirmed the identity of the remains of King Richard III by DNA testing. This result wasn't a huge surprise, but there were some eyebrow-raising findings along the way. More to the point, now a celebrity case...