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 for visas to anywhere,” explains the caption to a YouTube video about the exhibit (see below). “Among them, Paul Strnad and his wife Hedy, a dress designer. Ultimately, neither would get a visa to leave Czechoslovakia.”

Years later, their story was literally stitched together by descendants and local historians. The couple sent her dress designs to a cousin in Milwaukee in a desperate attempt to get work visas to leave. It never happened. Paul was killed. Hedy’s fate is unknown.

A few years ago, the designs were rediscovered along with letters that told their story. Now the design drawings–and dresses newly created from them–are the centerpiece of “Stitching History from the Holocaust,” an exhibit at the Jewish Museum of Milwaukee. Read more about the exhibit here, or click below to watch this video about it. I think you will be as moved as I am to hear this story.

 

Google: A Noun. A Verb. A Way of Life

Who Googles? How often? How is that changing? Keep reading to see a new infographic with some fabulous statistics–and you’re in it.

If you’re reading this post, you’re among the 30% of the world’s population who uses the internet. But where else do you show up below? Among the grad students who nearly all think “research” means “Googling it?” (My elementary school-age children agree.) Where does your age group fall in search engine use? Are you a Google-r, a Bing-er, or a more rare something-else-searcher?

Finally, which Google tools are YOU using for genealogy? Click the phrases below to learn more here at Genealogy Gems about using Google for Genealogy:

Google Scholar

Google Cache

Google Alerts

Google Earth

Find our genealogy education videos on the Genealogy Gems YouTube channel. And–best yet–click here to purchase The Genealogist’s Google Toolbox, the powerful, fully-updated-for-2015 book that teaches you to use ALL of these, including Google Earth, Google search and advanced search and Google books.

Google It
Source: GradSchoolHub.com

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Fort Worth Genealogical Society End of Summer Seminar this Weekend with Lisa Louise Cooke

Recharge your genealogy research at the Fort Worth Genealogical Society End of Summer Seminar this Saturday, September 9, 2017. Genealogy and technology expert Lisa Louise Cooke will help you to discover, organize and share your family history more effectively.

Fort Worth Seminar 2017

If you’re in or near Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas, you’re invited to attend the Fort Worth Genealogical Society ‘s End of Summer Seminar this Saturday, September 9, 2017.

To celebrate their 60th anniversary, the Society has invited internationally-renowned genealogy and technology expert Lisa Louise Cooke for a full day of genealogy fun and inspiration. She’ll be presenting four sessions packed with simple yet powerful strategies, how-to’s and examples that will help you discover your family history more effectively online, organize what you learn, and share it with attention-getting style.

THIS SATURDAY: Fort Worth Genealogical Society Seminar Details

Here’s what’s happening:

What: 2017 End of Summer Seminar
Where: Trimble Tech High School, 1003 W. Cannon Street, Fort Worth, TX
When: Saturday, September 9, 2017, 8:45 am – 4:30 pm (doors open at 8:15 am for registration)
Hosted by: Fort Worth Genealogical Society

Lisa will be teaching some of her most empowering classes–the ones that give attendees immediate action items to help them take the next steps in their own genealogy research. Three of the four classes are entirely new in 2017. Here they are:

1. Google Books: The Tool You Should Use Every Day! Over 25 million digitized and searchable free books are at your fingertips with Google Books. Learn how to make the most of this goldmine chock full of historical data. (This was a BIG hit at Rootstech,)

2. Create a Free Google Earth Map Collection for Your Research. Learn how to find free digital maps for your ancestral locations, add them as permanent overlays to Google Earth, and then organize them into your personal map reference collection. You’ll learn best practices for keeping them organized and enriching your research.

3. Making Evernote Effortless. Learn the best strategies for making Evernote a breeze to use for your genealogy research. Shave time off your note-taking with quick keys, shortcuts, saved searches, search operators, Reminders, note sharing, source citation, and building Evernote into any browser you use (including mobile devices). (Evernote is one of the world’s top free organization tech tools: click here to learn more about it.)

4. 7 Awesome Apps that Eliminate Eye-Rolling! Eliminate your relative’s bored eye-rolling and captivate them with compelling stories and imagery! We’ll cover seven easy-to-use and free mobile apps that will help you tell your family history stories in a riveting way.

More Learning Opportunities with Lisa Louise Cooke

If you can’t make it this weekend, you can still get the benefit of Lisa’s expertise and inspiring teaching style.

First, head to her Seminar schedule to see if she’ll be headed to a town near you!

Then, check out her books and quick guides. They are packed with her signature approach to technology: she shares creative ideas and simple, step-by-step instructions for using powerful, mainstream and mostly free technologies for family history.

  • The Genealogist’s Google Toolbox (2nd edition) is a must-have for all family history researchers who work online (and that’s just about everyone). Find detailed instructions and explanations for making your Google searches more effective, along with entire chapters on using Google Earth, Google Books, Google Scholar, Google Alerts and even YouTube for genealogy.
  • The Evernote for Genealogists quick reference guide (available for Windows and Mac users) is a handy cheat sheet you’ll want to keep close at hand. It takes you from the “getting started” level quickly into navigating Evernote to maximize and organize your research note-taking.
  • Mobile Genealogy: How to Use Your Tablet and Smartphone for Family History Research will help you put your iPad, tablet and/or smartphone to work for your genealogy research. This expanded second edition of her original, groundbreaking book on mobile genealogy goes into greater depth with more apps and is loaded with tips and tricks that make your mobile device a genealogy powerhouse.

How to Organize Old Letters

Do you have old family letters that really should be shared with loved ones, but you’re not sure how to go about doing it? You’re not Old letters genealogyalone. Jane wrote in recently with that very question. She came across my blog post 6 Tips: How to Organize Your Family History while searching the web for ways to solve her own family history problem:

“Now that the grandchildren of my parents (long since deceased) are raising children of their own, I would like to share at least some of the 75 or so letters that my mother wrote to my dad in their first year of marriage, 1947.  Her letters are filled with many of the same concerns that still plague new moms.”

Jane goes on to mention three options she’s considered:

  • “Scanning them, and then printing out the sheets into a spiral binder has some possibilities, but the chances of busy moms with young children sitting down to read such a tome seem minimal.
  • Taking just a few of the letters, and adding a photo (I have very few from that time period!) to make a little book (through Shutterfly or Picaboo or such) would be another idea. Although that doesn’t really do justice to the whole year of letters.
  • Emailing a transcription of one letter a week (for a year?) has also occurred to me, but I’m really not sure I know how to proceed.”

She concluded by asking me to direct her to anyplace on my website where can i buy malaria medication in india I’ve addressed a question like this. Here’s what I told her:

“If you are comfortable with the letters being public, I would recommend starting a blog and featuring a letter in each post. Our kids and grandkids are much more comfortable online and they can easily subscribe to your blog which can automatically email the posts to them. An added benefit of blogging is that other folks who might be related can find your family history content through Google search, perhaps helping you connect. I talk a lot about this on my free Genealogy Gems Podcast (at my site and in iTunes).  I have a series of free videos at my Genealogy Gems YouTube channel that show you how to start a blog for free.

GG Premium MembershipAs for publishing small books through a service like Shutterfly or Lulu, I’ve also covered that on my website. Genealogy Gems Premium Members have access to three Premium episodes on the subject that include instructional videos:

  • Premium Episode 54: Publish Your Family History on Demand Part 3
  • Premium Episode 53: Publish Your Family History on Demand Part 2
  • Premium Episode 52: Publish Your Family History on Demand Part 1

I also cover these books including an example of one I created in my book Genealogy Gems: Ultimate Research Strategies (Chapter 13).”

Hopefully these resources can help you with your challenge, Jane, as well as any others who want to know how to organize old letters (or other precious family memorabilia) and share them.

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