Read History As It Was Written via Chronicling America

If you research ancestors in the U.S., you’ve probably already used the Library of Congress’ Chronicling America website for searching digitized newspapers. Now they’ve added a new feature: you can subscribe to receive “old news” on many of your favorite historical topics!

Chronicling America

The Evening World (New York, NY), Sept 10, 1900, Evening Edition, Page 2. Digitized image from Chronicling America.

Here’s how it works. You can sign up for weekly notifications that highlight interesting and newly-added content on topics that were widely covered in the U.S. press at the time. (Click here to see a list of topics.)

My favorite family history-related topics are natural disasters (like the Chicago fire or Galveston flood), war topics (from Appomattox to World War I) and civil and human rights events (from the Railroad Strike of 1886 to Ellis Island to coverage of Pullman porters). But there are a lot of topics that might relate to your family: industrialization (electric cars!), arts, sports (think Babe Ruth and the Boston Marathon), major crimes and trials, politics, holidays and public celebrations and public works and technology marvels (like the Panama Canal or Titanic).

To subscribe, just use the icons at the bottom of the Chronicling America home page.

Learn more about finding your ancestors in the newspaper in Lisa’s book, How to Find Your Family History in Newspapers. She walks you through the process of determining which newspapers might mention your ancestors and where to find those papers (both online and offline). You’ll learn in detail about Chronicling America and more about other free and subscription options for searching online newspapers. Best of all, Lisa shares mouthwatering examples from her own research that show you why newspapers can be such a valuable source of information on our family history.

 

 

Meet Me at Midwestern Roots 2016 in July

Join me at the Midwestern Roots 2016 conference in Indianapolis on July 15-16! Early-bird registration rate applies until June 30.

I look forward to speaking at Midwestern Roots 2016 in Indianapolis next month! Will you be there?

This conference has a unique Midwest vibe: welcoming and unpretentious but absolutely solid in the value and education it offers. Indianapolis is easy to get to from many U.S. cities. The conference venue itself, located on the outskirts of the city, is also easy to reach and has free parking.

“This year’s theme is #YourStory, and many sessions focus on the technologies that are changing the ways genealogists research and share their family history,” says the conference brochure.

I’ll be sharing a bit of my own story during an evening banquet: memories of the summer my family spent living like it was 1867 on the TV show Texas Ranch House. I’ll go behind-the-scenes of ‘not so reality’ reality TV, reveal what it was like to live the daily routine my Texan great great grandmother may have, and most importantly, share the ways in which the experience drew my family even closer together.

Join me for my classes:

  • How to Use Evernote for Genealogy
  • Google! Everything New that You Need to Know for Genealogy
  • How to Reopen and Work a Genealogical Cold Case

Lots of fabulous presenters (including some who have been on the Genealogy Gems podcast) will be at Midwestern Roots. Curt Witcher is giving the Friday opening session (he joined us to dive deep into U.S. census records in Genealogy Gems Podcast episode 10). CeCe Moore will talk about DNA, as she did on Genealogy Gems Podcast episode 178.

Here’s the scoop:

WHAT: Midwestern Roots 2016
WHEN: July 15-16, 2016
WHERE: Indianapolis Marriott East 7202 E. 21st St, Indianapolis, IN
REGISTER: Click hereEarly-bird registration discount ends June 30!

Pre-conference activities on July 14 include an all-day workshop for librarians and volunteers who work with genealogy sources as well as computer labs, writing workshops, preservation workshops and research opportunities for all attendees.

Bring my lectures to you

If you can’t join us in Indianapolis,   Genealogy Gems Premium website membership brings my most popular classes to you. Membership gives you a year’s worth of on-demand video classes and handouts. Among these classes are all the topics I’m covering at Midwestern Roots 2016 in even more depth including:

  • an entire Evernote for genealogy series,
  • three classes on my Google search methodology,
  • a “cold case” research class and a companion video on finding living relatives like a private eye.

Click here to see the full list of video classes, and consider giving yourself the best value in on-demand genealogy education around!

 

Virtual Conference Special

Virtual Conference Special Package  Newspaper book

Package Includes:
How to Find Your Family History in Newspapers (paperback, retail $24.95)
and the digital PDF ebook of the book for FREE!  (emailed to the address you provide within 24 hours of payment.)

U.S. Shipping & Handling for paperback book: $2.95




Please email us for assistance or if you have questions.
Hurry! Offer expires March 10, 2014

 

Save 20% off of a 1 year Genealogy Gems Premium Membership Bonus EBook
(Retail $29.95) Coupon Code: SAVE20
and for a limited time get the bonus ebook gift:
Lisa Louise Cooke’s 84 Best Tips, Tricks and Tools buy medication in spain from Family Tree Magazine
Click Here to become a Member

Membership Includes:
Exclusive over 100 Premium Podcast Episodes, and over a dozen videos of some of Lisa’s most popular classes including:

  • Evernote for genealogy
  • Genealogy on the Go with the iPad
  • Get the Scoop on Your Ancestors with Newspapers
  • Ultimate Google Search Strategies
  • and more.

Click Here to become a Member 

 

Sign up for the free Genealogy Gems email newsletter:
Enter your email in the box in the column on the right and receive the
free e-book:  5 Fabulous Google Search Strategies for the Family Historian by Lisa Louise Cooke

Who Do You Think You Are? Live in London: Highlights and Helps

I’m busy packing my bags getting ready to make the trip from California to London for my third appearance at Who Do You Think You Are? Live in London.

lisa expert panel wdytya

Here I am in last year’s experts panel

I’ll be teaching some of my favorite classes (sorry, they are already sold out, but I look forward to seeing those of you who have tickets there):

  • Friday 3/22 at 2:30 pm Ultimate Google Search Strategies
  • Saturday 3/23 at 11:00 Turn Your iPad (and Tablet Too!) into a Family History Powerhouse

If you don’t get a chance to attend my classes don’t fret, because I have a free ebook for you called 5 Fabulous Google Search Strategies for the Family Historian that will jump-start your research. It’s available for free when you sign up for my free Genealogy Gems e-Newsletter.

One of the best parts about the event for me is meeting all of you!  And this year that will be easier than ever. When I’m not teaching you can find me at the Family ChartMasters booth (#12)

There’s so much to look forward to at this years event. Whether you’re new to tracing your family tree or a seasoned researcher, it’s packed with genealogy experts, informative workshops, over 160 specialist exhibitors and celebrities from the UK television series to help you with your own family history search. Is it any wonder that Who To You Think You Are? Live made it on my 50 Family History Favorites list (which includes my top 5 conference picks!) Here the list in the brand new free Genealogy Gems Podcast Episode 151.

It is often said that “bigger is better” here in America, but in the case of family history conferences, the British have won the “super-sized” title. As an American genealogist, when I walk into the immense Olympia convention centre, I feel like a kid in a candy shop.  Contained within those walls is more energy, more color (LOVE the hot pink carpeting!), more vendors and more genealogists than just about anywhere else.  You certainly don’t have to have British roots to benefit from attending. This is my third year and I look forward to it as much as the first time.

So many of the Genealogy Gems Podcast’s 1 million downloads have been from the UK that it’s like “old home week” for me. Hope to see you there!

Oldest Known Photographs of Cities: Did Your Ancestors Live Here Then?

London. Paris. Athens. Berlin. Bombay. Rome. New York City. Copenhagen. Dublin. Edinburgh. Jerusalem. The oldest known photographs of these cities and more are featured in this post at Abroad in the Yard.

Boulevard du Temple, Paris, by Louis Daguerre, 1838. Wikimedia Commons image, Scanned from The Photography Book, Phaidon Press, London, 1997.

Boulevard du Temple, Paris, by Louis Daguerre, 1838. Wikimedia Commons image, Scanned from The Photography Book, Phaidon Press, London, 1997.

I love the details in these photos that are usually left to our imagination. An 1858 image of a Toronto thoroughfare was likely taken in at its best, since the photo was part of a (failed) bid to become Canada’s capital. And yet the streets are still muddy enough you wouldn’t want to step off that freshly-swept sidewalk, especially if you were in a long dress.

You can read the shop signs in these pictures. See signs of construction and destruction, an eternal presence in these metropolises. Count the number of levels in the tall tenements and other buildings that sheltered our ancestors’ daily lives without air conditioning, central heat or elevators.

Despite the busy city streets shown here, they don’t look busy. So much time had to elapse during the taking of the image that anyone moving wasn’t captured. Only a few loungers and the shoe-shine man (and his customer) appear in these photos of busy streets.

Although not shown in the blog post above, my favorite historical image of a city is the Cincinnati Panorama of 1848, the oldest known “comprehensive photo” of an American city. The resolution of this series of photos is so high, you can see details the photographers themselves couldn’t possibly have caught. The panorama can be explored at an interactive website, which offers “portals” to different parts of the city and city life when you click on them. Whether you had ancestors in this Ohio River town or not, this is a fascinating piece of history.

Looking for pictures of your ancestor’s hometown or daily life? There are some great search tips in Lisa’s newly-revised and updated 2nd edition of her popular book, The Genealogist’s Google Toolbox. Maybe you already use Google to search for images. Learn how to drill down to just the images you want: black and white pictures, images with faces, images taken of a particular location during a certain time period and more!

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