A determined graduate student found some chilling historical video footage of a ship that capsized in Chicago. It was in an online archive–but he still had to dig deep for it!
Recently Gems fan Kathy sent us a story about an amazing video footage find. The subject line of her email caught my eye: “Gems can’t always be found by ‘panning:’ sometimes we have to ‘dig!'” She went on to say:
“You’re always stressing the importance of looking in the less obvious places but this is one of the best examples. Attached is an article about a horrific tragedy that happened in Chicago 100 years ago….It explains how video footage [about this disaster] was found in a British online newsreel–but it was not referenced under “Eastland,” the name of the ship, or “Chicago,” the location. We all like the easy way of finding things but finding gems sometimes takes digging and you just can’t pan for it.” (Click here to see the footage, though it may not be something everyone wants to watch.)
Thank you, Kathy! I often encourage people to dig for historical video footage (see Resources, below). Old footage shows us the past so compellingly! Also, did you notice that the video for a Chicago disaster was found in a British archive?? Not even the same country! Not too long ago, we blogged about how the media often picks up out-of-town stories. We may discover coverage about our relatives in newspapers and newsreels far from their homes. Just a tip to help YOU find more gems.
A selection of American newspapers from 1885, with portraits of their publishers. Original image at the Library of Congress, no known restrictions. Digital image from Wikipedia (click to view).
The first daily newspaper in the US, The Pennsylvania Evening Post, appeared in Philadelphia on this day in 1783. It was short-lived as a daily, but gained traction as a semi-regular paper by 1775. How did publisher Benjamin Towne make it work? By not having a lick of journalistic objectivity, apparently.
“Towne was able to survive through the War for Independence by supporting the side in power,” says this post at FamousDaily.com. “In 1775 his Evening Post was vocal in opposition to the British; but when Philadelphia was occupied briefly by the British troops, Towne welcomed them with open arms. Then when the Patriots took back the city, Towne published a special ‘patriotic’ edition of his paper in honor of their return.”
What a great story! His success heralded more to come. According to a post at the U.S. Census website, “Americans’ hunger for news was such that by 1850, there were some 250 dailies. The number of newspapers peaked around a hundred years ago, when there were 2,600 dailies published across the nation, with a circulation of over 24 million.”
Newspapers are one of the best places to learn more about our ancestors’ everyday lives, their vital events and happenings that affected them. Learn more in Lisa Louise Cooke’s book How to Find Your Family History in Newspapers. Here you’ll findinspiring stories about what’s IN newspapers, step-by-step instructions, worksheets and checklists, tons of free and worth-a-few bucks online resources, and a massive amount of location-specific websites for international and U.S. historical newspapers.
Would you rather learn by watching? Genealogy Gems Premium members and subscribing genealogy societies can enjoy Lisa’s two-part video series, “Getting the Scoop on Your Ancestors in Newspapers.” You’ll learn what key family history information may be found in historical newspapers; how to identify newspapers that likely covered your ancestors; websites that have digitized collections of newspapers; Lisa’s top search tips and cool tech tools; how to use Evernote in your newspaper research; and more about African-American Newspaper Research (bonus download!).
Click here to learn more about Genealogy Gems Premium membership, and (NEW!) click here to see how your genealogy society can watch these and other Premium videos at their meetings!
FindMyPast, the genealogy website best known for its mega-collections of U.K. historical records, recently added a hinting feature to the family trees component of its website.
According to a press release, “Once you start to add to your family tree, Hints will sift through 755 million of our birth, baptism, marriage, divorce, death and burial records to identify matches between them and the people on your tree, providing you with historical records and potential new relatives from our collections.” Hints do not search other trees, as FindMyPast does not have publicly-searchable trees.
Now when you look at your tree, you’ll see little numbers appear next to individual profiles when hints are available. You can review buy nebuliser medication online hints at your leisure and extract facts from them to add to ancestral profiles.
FindMyPast Hints are available to all users but are still in the beta testing stage. “You can expect a lot more from Hints in 2015, including Hints on census records and other collections. By reviewing all of your Hints, you’ll be helping us to ensure that our process continues to improve.”
Click here to learn about our favorite collection at FindMyPast: PERSI, the Periodical Source Index. It’s not just an index any more: FindMyPast has started adding digitized articles to the thousands of article titles indexed in this amazing database of genealogical and historical articles in journals and periodicals.
An ABC Action News Report presents a scary-to-us scenario:a family’s home movies disappeared with the company hired to convert them to DVD. The family only got their 16mm home movie reels back when the local news media went after the business owner. Here’s the story (now archived on YouTube). Keep reading for advice on how to make sure you hire reputable photo and film preservation services.
After watching this genealogy-version-of-a-horror-movie, I contacted ScanDigital, a reputable company that’s done some photo digitization work for me in the past. I asked them for tips on how to work with digital conversion companies.
“Sending precious, one-of-a-kind family memories can be a very stressful task,” responded Senior Director of Strategic Initiatives Koa Nu’uhiwa. “We suggest to all of our customers that they start by using a service they feel comfortable with. Comfort levels vary and are affected by a number of things, ranging from price, location, reputation, ease of use and friendliness of customer service interactions. It’s important to find a business that meets the criteria that fit your needs.”
How does ScanDigital make their customers comfortable with sending off their originals through the mail? (I admit, I spent a fair bit of time on their site before I was ready to do this.) Here’s what they told me people should consider:
“Safety and security of materials while in our hands. We store every order in a plastic bin that is bar-coded and labeled with the customer’s name, order # and estimated completion date. Materials for each order are kept separate from materials for other orders to ensure things are kept safe, secure, and separated from other customers’ materials.
How to ship materials to us and how we ship materials back. We recommend using a shipping service that the customer trusts. We prefer UPS because that’s who we trust for 95% of our shipments, but they may not be the best option depending on your location. Ultimately, as long as you have tracking and can verify your package is delivered to our headquarters, that is the most important. All of our packages are provided with tracking so we can check the status of the shipment. Additionally, ScanDigital is partnered with The UPS Store for safe and convenient shipping. ScanDigital customers can take their order to The UPS Store and tell them they would like to use the UPS Corporate Returns program to ship their materials to our headquarters. The UPS Store will provide packing material, pack your order for you, and ship it to us at no cost to you. It’s a partnership that’s been very convenient and helpful for many of our customers.
What it will cost to digitize the collection of analog memories. Our prices are clearly listed on our website, but we also have a great team of reps who can walk customers through pricing and even place orders over the phone. Often times, we can provide custom pricing, based on the materials a customer has, and ensure the pricing is very clear.”
Of course, ScanDigital isn’t the only reliable company out there that can get your photos scanned and home movies digitized. You may find a local bricks-and-mortar place that will do this for you. Some chain retailers have started offering this service, like Costco and Walgreen’s in the U.S. (though they may be mailing things off for you, too–ask them!). Cyndi’s List has this directory of Scanners and Scanning Services vendors.
Wondering what file formats are recommended for long-term digital preservation? Click hereto learn more!