Join me for Elevenses with Lisa, the online video series where we take a break, visit and learn.
This episode is a follow up to material covered in Episode 6. You will enjoy it much more if you watch episode 6 first. Then click the video below to watch Episode 7, and scroll down for all the show notes and details. (Organization training begins at the 17:28 mark.)
The company was founded in 1775 by John Aynsley in Lane End, Longton, Staffordshire.
From You:
Lori writes:
I know you are asking what we have been doing and I wanted to share this with you.
I have an old photo of my mother’s side of the family and they are sitting down at the table to celebrate my GG Grandmother’s birthday.
Anyway I am a tea cup collector and tea drinker and so was my great grandmother who is also in the photo to the right holding onto my mom.
I wanted to find her china and as you can see this photo is not very good at being able to identify. I sent a close up of this picture on the china pattern to Replacements LTD.com and they were able to help me find the china and pattern!
Here is the photo of the family (and) the china pattern that they helped me discover. I didn’t know that you could send them a photo so when I discovered this I have been telling everyone!
Love the Elevenses show!
Lori’s family and their lovely china place settings.
You may have noticed the watch on my wrist in this episode. I don’t usually wear a watch, but this actually isn’t a watch. It’s a DIY bracelet that I created using one of my grandmother’s old watches.
Click to watch (below) how you can make one yourself:
Answers to Your Questions About My Genealogy Organization Method
From Julie Q: How do you handle legal size papers?
and from MargtheCar
Q: What do you do about oversize documents, panorama photos etc that don’t fit in a binder?
A: Hopefully you won’t have a lot. You can use a legal size binder like this one, or an archival safe box. Gaylord
From Joyce Q: What weight of protectors?
A: Avery Heavyweight 3.3 mils #76003
From Linda Q: Do you put each sheet of a letter in a separate sheet protector or do you put the entire letter in the one sheet protector?
A: One each although sometimes I place one-sided items back to back. You can slip a piece of acid-free paper or cardstock between them if you wish.
From Kathryn Q: Does it matter whether the binders themselves are archival?
A: As long as everything is in the archival safe sheet protectors they should be fine. Gaylord makes a 3 ring archival box but it’s expensive – about $30 each
From Betty in the Episode 6 Show Notes Comments Q: Beginning with “the 4 ancestral lines”…don’t those notebooks become extremely large? Have you gone from a 3” on a name and then added a second for same line?
A: For a few family lines (the ones closest to me because they have the most archival paper) I do have multiple binders. I indicate on the spine the time frame that the binder covers.
From Marilyn Q: For a couple do you make a copy and file it in both of their binders.
A: A couple is in the same binder. The wife goes behind the head of household tab.
From Pamela Q: Do you move the women into another binder when they married and how do you make a note in her birth family binder?
A: The last item in the father’s binder should be her marriage application / license. This tells you the surname of her fiancé. If she is a direct ancestor I create a new binder for her husband’s surname. You are welcome to put a sheet of paper that references the new binder, although my database would also tell me who her husband was, so I would look for that binder. I would only create a binder if there was enough material to warrant it, and if she were a direct ancestor.
From Ginny Q: Are the male sons listed with their father until they marry?
A: Yes – they only move to a new binder if paper warrants it and they are a direct ancestor.
From Keck Q: Do you put photos in the same binders?
A: Yes, for now. I’m setting up archival boxes. If you have a lot of old family photos, I recommend storing them separately. However, I think it’s wonderful to scan them and print copies of some of your favorites to include in their section of the binder.
From Pamela Q: Do you scan all your paper and keep it organized on your computer as well?
A: Yes, if it’s worth keeping for future reference. I don’t keep all paper though. I only keep and archive paper items that are precious and irreplaceable. My goal is to download the digital records I find online and store them on my computer (which is backed up with Backblaze.) And keep in mind, there is no pressure to file ALL paper before resuming your genealogy research. I schedule regular scanning time, for my backlog, and I scan and file as I go with current research. Eventually you will get caught up.
From Susie Q: Do you mark the paper to show that it is also digitized?
A: Yes, with a pencil check mark. Or you could use a thin sharpie and mark the sheet protector.
From Regina Q: Do you keep copies of census records in your files? Or do you rely on the big name websites and attach it to an online tree?
A: Not typically, although I have kept a few from when I first started my research when I was a kid. Now I download the digital file and save it on my hard drive which is backed up to the cloud.
From Kay Q: Do you put new items in your heirloom binder? e.g. a gift you received that you think will be passed on? {of course, some things need to go in a will.)
A: Yes, absolutely!
From Carol Q: I’ve really been enjoying your YouTubes and have become a member. I love the idea of the heirloom template, but for some reason when I try to insert a picture, only a small portion shows. I’m obviously doing something wrong. Would you do a quick summary of how to insert the picture?
A: I’m going to show you how to do that, and the best way to find all of the show notes:
I use my online tree as a lead generator, NOT a master tree.
Do the Genealogy 2-Step to Protect Your Family Tree
Step 1: Purchase a genealogy software program and load it on your computer
Step 2: Back up your entire computer with a cloud-based backup service
The best type of backup protection involves:
Multiple copies
Updated regularly
At least one copy stored in a different physical location than your computer
What I look for in a cloud backup service:
Backup of all files automatically (including video!)
Free app for accessing files on mobile
Encryption and security
Ease of restoration
Competitive price
I use Backblaze. If you decide to check them out, please use this Backblaze link. If you do we are compensated at no additional cost to you, and that supports the free Elevenses with Lisa show. Thank you! Whatever you choose, start backing up today!
More Answers to Questions About Genealogy Organization
From Jennifer Q: Do you use the card catalog (behind you) for family “cards” to show what you have and what is filed where?
A: No. My database is my master. If I need to know something about someone in my family tree, I look them up in my database. That is the final word on what I currently know about them. Armed with that information I then know where to look in my computer digital files, and in which binder I will find the archival paper.
From Julie Q: Do you reference the documents in your regular binders so you know how to find them?
A: No. My database is where I turn because it is the most accurate and up to date information on each person in my tree. If I need documentation on any aspect of a person’s life, I turn to my hard drive where the bulk of my documents are. If it’s not there (although it probably is because I scan my archival paper) then I pull the family binder. I can ALWAYS find what I need. I’m happy to say that I haven’t lost an item yet.
From Keck Q: Do you have a Table of Contents in each binder?
A: No – it’s chronological and matches my database. See my previous answer to Julie above.
From Sherry Comment: Cross referencing is great and saves in duplicating paper…that being said, put a cross reference sheet in the front of each binder and list each item that you reference on that sheet.
A: I designed my system so that I would not have to cross reference. People are not duplicated in multiple binders because they can only be in one household at a time. They are either in their father’s household, or their own household. (Yes, an adult may live or rent from someone else, but they are still their own “head of household”.) The database is my guide as to their surname and the life events which is the information I need in order to know which binder to look in. This is the beauty and the simplicity of this system. All filing and organization is driven by the master database. And remember, the goal is keeping the least amount of paper possible. Most items will be digital on your computer.
From Stephen Q: If you have both paper and digital of the same document, do you discard the paper once done with it and reference the digital version in the binder?
A: I discard the paper if it’s not archival-worthy. (In other words, it is not previous, irreplaceable or highly sentimental. Most isn’t.) There’s no need to reference the digital version. If I need backup documentation on anything noted in my database, I know where to find it on my hard drive. We’ll talk more about hard drive organization in Episode 8. There is also an in-depth two part video series on how to do it step-by-step in Genealogy Gems Premium Membership. (Learn more about membership here)
From Karen
Q: My big problem is I have about 8 different Brown families. How do I label them to know which is which?
A: My first questions would be, are all of them direct lines? I tend to archive only the most important items for direct ancestors. Digitize the rest, and toss the paper. If they are collateral relatives you can also file their paper in the direct line binder under the Collateral tab.
You can also include the unique number assigned to the person in Rootsmagic, or use their birth year to identify each unique Brown head of household.
Multiple genealogy binders for one family
From Keck Q: Do you duplicate that in Evernote or in your digital file for the same family?
A: Evernote is my “active workspace”. It is not a complete look at my research. It is only the notes and clippings associated with my research. The paper organization we’re talking about is archival. All genealogy records are digital on my computer. If you want to remind yourself about an archived item, you can certainly make a mention of it in your Evernote notes.
From Jennifer Q: I’d like to list on Twitter for you and Facebook, are we doing Elevenses with Lisa for forever or are we just looking at May for now? (I want to open the invite.)
A: I plan on continuing indefinitely. I have nowhere to go! And besides, I love meeting with you all each week. thank you for sharing the show – I really appreciate it!
Thank you for sharing Elevenses with Lisa with your friends and genealogy society!
These video classes (each with a downloadable handout) are included in Genealogy Gems Premium Membership and will help you further implement my system and become more productive (Members log in and then click the image to watch the video and download the handout):
Step-by-step 2 part video tutorial series.
Essential viewing!
One hour video class.
Do you have a questions about organizing your genealogy?
If you happen to catch an old episode of the TV Series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, you may be surprised to spot Ben Affleck dribbling down a basketball court in the not so highly acclaimed role of Basketball Player #10.
And you might need to set your popcorn down and rewind while watching Monk from 2006 on Amazon Prime Videos to confirm that indeed you did just see Jennifer Laurence from Hunger Games fame pull off a lion mascot head after a high school game in the infamous role of “Mascot Girl”.
Or how about funny man Jack Black of School of Rock fame in the walk-on part of “Taxi Driver” on the iconic 1980s comedy The Golden Girls.
Yep, at some point we are ALL bit players in somebody else’s show. And that is even more true with old home movies
Your friends, your neighbors and even perfect strangers have likely at some point captured you or someone in your family in one of their own old home movies. And the same is true for your ancestors. As long as film has been around, the chances of someone in your family tree appearing in someone else’s videos at some point in time is actually quite high.
And think about it, when film – or moving pictures – came into being right around 1895, it had the capability of capturing someone born as early as even 1800. That’s a lot of potential generations of your family!
David Haas MD knows this better than most folks. he has experienced first-hand that any one of us may find ourselves, quite by surprise, as the keeper or even the Archivist of film footage that connects to potentially hundreds if not thousands of other people and families. And there’s a very good possibility that yours is one of those families.
Your family could very well indeed be one that has been a bit player in somebody else’s film, and you didn’t even know it. But that’s OK, because thanks to technology, it’s never been easier to find the celluloid that once lay sleeping in a stranger’s attic.
The best place to start our story is how I came to know David Haas.
I’ve been encouraging you through this podcast, my book The Genealogist’s Google Toolbox (which includes an entire chapter devoted to YouTube) and my in-person lectures to turn to online video, and specifically YouTube in search of your family. Long time listener Debby Warner Anderson contacted me to let me know that she had followed my suggestion with dramatic results. She wrote:
“I had interviewed my Dad to get details of his memories and found the 2 YouTube links about the 1945 Macy’s Parade that my father went to and the video about W.C. Handy who my Dad remembered seeing. My Dad was so tickled to see the YouTube videos to go with his memories. It gave my family members and my son a real glimpse in to my Dad’s memories. Thank-you for the suggestions!”
David Haas MD had uploaded this video to YouTube, and it’s one of hundreds on his YouTube channel under his name David Haas MD. You need only click it and watch just a few moments to be mesmerized. The video, comprised of old home movies, is striking in its color quality, and you instantly feel yourself falling back in time, pulled there even further by the haunting music that serves as the backdrop to this silent film.
I was so taken by how this video, sitting out there for free on YouTube, fit so beautifully into Debby’s family history, helping to bring it just a bit more into focus.
I sat and watched the Macy’s Day parade video all the way through. It was so clear that it was carefully and thoughtfully restored and shared, and that it must have come from someone else’s personal home movie collection.
Clicking on the name of the person who uploaded any video on YouTube will bring you to their YouTube channel. Anyone can have a free YouTube channel by simply signing in with a free Google account and uploading a video. It’s called Creators Studio, and these days it sports an impressive collection of tools that anyone can use to create, enhance and share videos.
Many channels will have only one or maybe a handful of videos. This is not the case with David’s channel. It’s difficult to scroll down the page far enough to get to the end of the impressive video list. Where did all these home movies come from? What motivated him to invest the time to make the available on YouTube?
Literally hundreds of people appear in the 4 ½ minute Macy’s Parade (1945) film: the folks in the parade, the people lining the streets and even the people watching from the fire escapes of the surrounding buildings.
The film was created by William G Whitman Sr. A veteran of World War I, he made his way after the war as a bit of a jack of all trades, and the path eventually got the ball rolling that led to the home movies.
William G Whitman, Sr. was David’s grandfather on his mother’s side. William, his wife Catherine and their 10 year old daughter Catherine who is David’s mother can be found in the 1930 census living in Brooklyn. At that time William says he’s a manager of a store. By 1940 he has followed his passion and is proudly declaring he works in Photographic retail as a photo finisher.
But it was as far back as the year that the Great Depression hit, 1929 that William began capturing his growing family on film. In those early movies David’s mother, Catherine, was just 9 years old. David’s collection of films span from this time period all the way through the mid-1970s.
In the earliest of the home movies which you can see on David’s YouTube channel, William Whitman did what most of us do, take home movies of the people and things we love the most. In those films, David’s mom clearly relishes being in front of her father’s camera. She worshipped her father, who was a bit of a big kid himself.
“My mother always remembered things in a sunny way…it’s very much like the pictures we see on the internet, where people tend to post the most rosy possible pictures. Often times, I think it’s the same with the home movies. You really have to dig deeper to kind of get the whole story.”
This phenomenon of capturing and sharing the rosiest version of ourselves is nothing new. And as genealogists, we are in the perfect position to leverage old movies like these and dig deeper for the rest of the story. Story is a running theme through William Whitman’s films. You only need to watch a few to see what a keen eye for composition and telling stories that he had. He developed his skill while shooting weddings professionally.
William got his whole family into the act of shooting, developing and editing his films. After his daughter Catherine (image below) married David’s father, he too joined in. William passed his skills and knowledge onto his son-in-law. He soon started shooting film of his own further adding to the collection of home movies.
Catherine Anna Haas
Lawrence W. Haas
As with so many genealogical tales, great treasure troves like these films are often found with three part deep digging and one part luck. In David’s case, the path to the treasure starts with the family’s refrigerator. His father used to project the movies onto the white kitchen refrigerator. Many years later, after his parents passed away, he found his father’s movies. But it wasn’t until his Aunt Markie mentioned that there were much older 16mm movies in existence dating back to the 1920s that the rest of the collection was discovered in the basement. David set to work getting them digitized.
David not only discovered that these movies were a priceless find for his own family, he soon realized that they held a vast amount of treasure for many other families in a wide variety of locations. “It really was about the people…they needed to be shared!” He felt a moral obligation to do so, and it soon turned into an obsession.
The Gold Waiting to be Found
And that’s the gold here! If we are all bit players in everybody else’s show, and this show was happening in so many different locations, then there are a lot of bit players out there waiting to be found by their families too, right there in David’s films. While the films of course covered Brooklyn where David’s family lived, they branch out to Queens NY, Ventner NJ, and as far away as San Francisco.
The genealogical value in old home movies is immense. If as researchers we can occasionally shift our focus from ancestors’ names to locations, we could very possibly hit pay dirt and find old films online that include our family.
It was in the town of Suffern, NY that David’s father shot quite a bit of footage, but there’s plenty to be had in many different locations. Once he posted them on YouTube the response was swift.
(This compilation of footage was created to commemorate the 40th Reunion of the Suffern High School Class of 1975. It is 41 minutes in length and premiered on October 3, 2015 at the historic Lafayette Theatre in downtown Suffern, NY.)
His father filmed elements of the game that the news didn’t which viewers appreciated. And some had been at that very game.
We’re Not Getting Any Younger
David stresses that timeliness is important when it comes to sharing old home movies like these. “People aren’t getting any younger” he says, and “Others may have insights you may miss.”
One connection made through sharing the movies on YouTube, that just barely missed making a personal connection, revolved around David’s mother’s younger sister, his aunt Margaret Whitman. She lived in Brooklyn in the 1930-1940s, and there are movies of “Markie” with her friends. One film from the 1930s included her good friend Charlie Russell. (Watch below starting at about the 30 second mark.) A few years ago, David received a message from a Charlie after he saw one of the videos! Sadly, he made the connection literally a week after Markie passed away at the age of 89. “If I could have made this connection 6 months earlier it would have been so wonderful for both of them. By then all their other friends had passed away.”
Another viewer who was touched by the films was a woman who saw herself walking around the Suffern swimming pool with her mother. It was priceless to her since her parents later died in an airplane crash and she had few photos of them. That was one of many stories.
“There was a little league game that my father filmed in Suffern, and there was a young boy who struck out, and as he was walking off and one of the coaches kind of patted him on the butt, sort of saying “good try, good job”, and then the game was over and they were all kind of hugging each other because they won the game. And this young boy ended up seeing the film now, I guess 50 years later. His father had passed away not long after that little league game, and here he was seeing his father who was his coach, encouraging him after he struck out. And again, he said he couldn’t speak for hours. It was just amazing.”
Another woman even found her parents in one of the videos on Coney Island where they ran a pony ride with her grandfather!
David’s willingness to share his family’s treasure trove of home movies put him in a unique and unexpected position to touch many people’s lives in truly meaningful ways. The only difference between him and many others who have even just a few spools of film is that he took action to share them. And along the way, he learned some important lessons about what makes film so distinct in its value. It’s those unique characteristic that told him more about his own family. “What I’ve learned is that photographs are powerful, but there’s nothing like moving images”.
David’s father had captured the moments of other people’s lives while filming his own. David didn’t use to be interested in genealogy. His father, however, was obsessed with it. But now, David finds that he is grateful to be able to pull the genealogy back out and reconstruct who the people are in the movies.
It’s a word so often associated with genealogy – obsessed. David’s father became obsessed with it and now David has become obsessed with processing and making available his cache of his father’s and grandfather’s home movies. This has in turn gloriously ensnared him in the world of genealogy.
David hopes by sharing his story of how these videos have impacted and continue to impact the lives of strangers from around the world, it will inspire all of us who have a few reels of old family movies to make it a priority to get them digitized and make them available. Our families and other unknown families are counting on us.
“One thing that I’m really passionate about is that people who have home movies, if they can, they should really do their best to get them digitized” David continues, “Having gone through the experience, and it’s really been transformative, I feel very passionate about getting my wife’s movies, her family’s movies or her father when he was arrived, getting these converted and sharing these with my wife’s family. So that they can really forever see these movies and share them with their children, so that they can be passed down for generations.”
The Process: Digitize, Enhance and Share
We’ve all seen the commercial where they peer into the camera and aske “what’s in your wallet”. Our question today is “what’s in your closet”. I’ve looked through my closets and I have several home movies my grandmother shot on 8mm film. I also have a box full of VHS tapes from back when Bill and I got our first video camera right after we got married in the 1980s.
The process for digitizing and sharing your home movies can appear daunting at first glance. That’s why I asked David Haas MD to share some specifics about his project so that you can learn what you need to consider and some tips from somebody who’s already been through this in a big way.
Although David’s collection of film runs about 10 hours, has several hundred videos because he kept them short – about 4 minutes long each. This is a smart strategy because of the attention span of YouTube viewers. It’s also about the length of a song, which makes setting them to music easier.
David went the extra mile and created a website where he makes available indexes of all the videos which can be searched by location, year and person. David really thought about the potential value of these films and set up a system for making it easier for visitors to find what they are looking for. In a case like his where he has such a volume of these 3-5 minute videos, this is a huge help to other researchers. But don’t worry if having your own website isn’t in your wheelhouse. YouTube has a powerful search engine, and it’s called Google. You can make your videos very easily searchable by simply including the details that pertain to a particular video in the video description that appears below the video on YouTube.
Since your videos will be on your YouTube channel, researchers be able to simply go to your channel’s home page and type a name, place event or some other set of keywords in your channel’s search box. Google will search just your channel and retrieve only the videos that match the search terms. If you want to see this in action, go to my YouTube channel at youtube.com/genealogygems or David’s channel and try a search.
Digitizing Your Home Movies
The first step is to get the movies digitized. It can be a pretty scary thought to send your precious movies off to some stranger. David considers his videos his “most priceless possession.”
Through a bit of trial and error, David landed with a company who could do the job. He first tried a local place but ultimately went with Video Conversion Experts in Chandler AZ. They did an excellent job and cleaned them up and optimized the film. He recommends overnighting your films so that you can control when they arrive. You can receive both hard drives and DVDs of the digitized movies.
Watch this video from Video Conversion Experts. It explains the difference in quality that they provide. The difference between a company like this and the big box stores conversion is dramatic!
Sharing Your Home Movies on YouTube
At first, David thought he would take the movies to the local library. His daughter Anna convinced him to try editing them with iMovie and then uploading them to YouTube. The first film he edited was called A Drive through Suffern.
Thank goodness for David’s daughter Anna Haas! Just think if these videos had only landed in one physical location like a library versus online. Now another generation of the Haas family has entered the picture to preserve the family’s legacy and touch the lives of so many others. And it’s Anna’s inspiring music that provides the backdrop for the Macy’s Day Parade and several others.
When you love people, you just can’t justify keeping old home movies to yourself. You can’t in good conscience leave them in dusty boxes stuffed away in the back of closets in risk of deteriorating to dust. For the woman who saw her parents again in the swimming pool video, to the man who felt the affection from a father long gone, and for countless unnamed others the action that David has taken to digitize, preserve and share his home movies has been valuable beyond words.
“Don’t be afraid to do it, don’t hesitate to do it. even if you don’t have the skill set to do it, there are other people who are more than happy to kind of walk you through it and help make it happen. I would be extremely encouraging of everyone to convert their old movies and share them as widely as possible.” – David Haas MD
Browse his phenomenal collection of home movies at David’s website
You’ll find inspiration and you might just find an ancestor captured on film. Because we are all bit players in everybody else’s show.
Production Credits
Lisa Louise Cooke, Host and Producer
Hannah Fullerton, Audio Editor
My deepest thanks to David and Anna Haas for sharing their family photos, videos and music with me for this episode.
Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, Genealogy Gems earns from qualifying purchases you make when clicking from the links we provide. It doesn’t cost you anything extra but it helps support our free blog and podcast. Thank you!
Enjoy millions of new records from the ‘Genealogy Giants’ websites this week: Ancestry, FamilySearch, Findmypast, and MyHeritage! New collections are now available for England, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Denmark. Also new are two collections of WWII Holocaust records.
England Records at Findmypast & Ancestry
A massive amount of new records at the ‘Genealogy Giants’ websites were published this week. First up are millions of new English records collections. We’ll start with Findmypast’s new databases:
Court Cases 1391-1835: The records contain cases from four courts and will give you the necessary references for accessing the original records in The National Archives.
Wills & Probate Index, 1470-1856: The area covered includes the old county of Surrey in the southeast of England, which contains parts of South London.
East Surrey Regiment 1899-1919: Spanning the Boer War and the First World War, this index may reveal rank, regiment, and battalion, as well as whether your ancestor was wounded or received a medal.
Railwaymen Died in The Great War: This index of records comes from the National Railway Museum website and may contain details of your ancestor’s pre-war career, military service, and death.
Next, we head to Ancestry for even more new English record collections.
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi AKA Mahatma Gandhi attending the University of London, 1890
Records from the third oldest university in England, including students who attended other institutions and took University of London examinations as external students. (see image right for one of their most famous students!)
Berkshire Electoral Registers, 1840-1965: This database contains yearly registers listing names and residences of people in Berkshire, who were eligible to vote in elections. These year-by-year registers can possibly also reveal a bit about property they owned.
UK Absent Voter Lists, 1918-1925, 1939: The Absent Voter Lists record the civilian address of the absent voter, but more importantly, they give service numbers and regimental details.
Lastly, FamilySearch has a new collection of Essex Parish Registers, 1538-1997. This collection contains christening, marriage, and burial entries.
Ireland – Findmypast
New at Findmypast for Ireland are British Army, Irish Regimental Enlistment Registers 1877-1924. This collection has enlistment registers from five Irish regiments serving in the British Army. The regiments included in these records are Connaught Rangers, Leinster Regiment, Royal Dunlin Fusiliers, Royal Irish Regiment, and Royal Munster Fusiliers.
A new Irish newspaper title has also been added at Findmypast: the Carrickfergus Advertiser 1884 – 1919. The collection currently contains over 1,300 issues and will be updated further in the future.
Netherlands Public Records at FamilySearch
New at FamilySearch: Netherlands Archival Indexes, Public Records. This collection contains nearly 3 million records that cover events like population registration, emigration and immigration, military enrollment and more.
Denmark – 1930 Census Free at FamilySearch
The Denmark Census, 1930 is now available for free at FamilySearch! “Commonly indexed fields include principle name, locality data, gender, marital status, and relationship to head of household.” The images and index were provided in partnership with MyHeritage.
World War II Holocaust Records and MyHeritage and Ancestry
New at MyHeritage are Auschwitz Death Certificates, 1941-1943. Information listed includes name, birth date, death date, birthplace, residence, and religion. The information originates from the Auschwitz Sterbebücher (Death Books).
Ancestry also has a new collection of Romania select Holocaust Records 1940-1945 (USHMM). This collection is primarily in Romanian, but may also be in Hungarian. It was indexed by World Memory Project contributors from the digitized holdings of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Get the most out of the top genealogy records websites
“Which genealogy records membership website should I use?” It’s one of the most-asked questions in genealogy. There are so many features on each site–and an apples-to-apples comparison is laden with challenges. But Genealogy Gems Contributing Editor Sunny Morton has the answers for you in the jammed-packed Genealogy Giants cheat sheet. Use it to quickly and easily compare all of the most important features of the four biggest international genealogy records membership websites: Ancestry.com, FamilySearch.org, Findmypast.com, and MyHeritage.com. Then consult it every time your research budget, needs or goals change. Tables, bulleted lists, and graphics make this guide as easy to use as it is informative. Click here to learn more and grab your copy.
Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links and Genealogy Gems will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on these links (at no additional cost to you). Thank you for supporting the free Genealogy Gems podcast and blog!
New genealogy records online recently include thousands of articles and images in PERSI, the Periodical Source Index. Also: new and updated Australian vital and parish records, German civil registers, an enormous Japanese newspaper archive, and a variety of newspaper and other resources for US states: AZ, AR, IA, KS, MD, NJ, PA, & TX.
PERSI Update: Thousands of new genealogy articles and images
Findmypast.com updated the Periodical Source Index (PERSI) this week, adding 14,865 new articles, and uploaded 13,039 new images to seven different publications. PERSI is one of those vastly under-utilized genealogy gems: a master subject index of every known genealogical and historical magazine, journal or newsletter ever published! Click here to explore PERSI.
The seven publications to which they’ve added images are as follows:
Click here to read an article about using PERSI for genealogy research.
More New Genealogy Records Online Around the World
Australia
Parish registers in Sydney. A new Ancestry.com database has been published: Sydney, Australia, Anglican Parish Registers, 1818-2011. “This database contains baptism, burial, confirmation, marriage, and composite registers from the Anglican Church Diocese of Sydney,” says the collection description. Baptismal records may include name, birth date, gender, name and occupation of mother and father, address, and date and parish of baptism. Confirmation records may include name, age, birth date, address, and the date and parish of confirmation. Marriage records may include the names of bride and groom as well as their age at marriage, parents’ names and the date and parish of the event. Burial records may include the name, gender, address, death date, and date and parish of burial.
Victoria BMD indexes. MyHeritage.com now hosts the following vital records indexes for Victoria, Australia: births (1837-1920), marriages (1837-1942), and deaths (1836-1985). These new databases supplement MyHeritage’s other Victoria collections, including annual and police gazettes. (Note: comparable collections of Victoria vital records are also available to search for free at the Victoria state government website.)
Germany
Just over 858,000 records appear in Ancestry.com’s new database, Halle (Saale), Germany, Deaths, 1874-1957. “This collection contains death records from Halle (Saale) covering the years 1874 up to and including 1957,” states the collection description. “Halle, also known as “Halle on the Saale,” was already a major city by 1890. These records come from the local registry offices, which began keeping vital records in the former Prussian provinces in October 1874. “The collected records are arranged chronologically and usually in bound yearbook form, which are collectively referred to as ‘civil registers.’ For most of the communities included in the collection, corresponding alphabetical directories of names were also created. While churches continued to keep traditional records, the State also mandated that the personal or marital status of the entire population be recorded. (Note: These records are in German. For best results, you should search using German words and location spellings.)”
Japan
A large Japanese newspaper archive has been made available online, as reported by The Japan News. The report states: “The Yomiuri Shimbun has launched a new online archive called Yomiuri Kiji-Kensaku (Yomiuri article search), enabling people to access more than 13 million articles dating back to the newspaper’s first issue in 1874. The archive also includes articles from The Japan News (previously The Daily Yomiuri) dating back to 1989. This content will be useful for people seeking English-language information on Japan…Using the service requires registration. There is a minimum monthly charge of ¥300 plus tax, with any other charges based on how much content is accessed.” Tip: read the use instructions at the article above, before clicking through in the link given in that article.
New Genealogy Records Online for the United States: By State
Arizona. Newspapers.com has added the Arizona Daily Star, with issues from 1879 to 2017. The Arizona Daily Star is a daily morning paper that began publishing in Tucson on January 12, 1879, more than 30 years before Arizona became a state. The Daily Star’s first editor was L.C. Hughes, who would later go on to become governor of the Arizona Territory.
Arkansas. The University of Arkansas Libraries has digitized over 34,000 pages of content for its latest digital collection, the Arkansas Extension Circulars. A recent news article reports that: “The Arkansas Agricultural Extension Service began publishing the Arkansas Extension Circulars in the 1880s. These popular publications covered myriad agriculture-related topics: sewing, gardening and caring for livestock among them. Now, users worldwide can access these guides online.” These practical use articles give insight into the lives of rural and farming families in Arkansas, and feature local clubs and community efforts.
Iowa. The Cedar Rapids Public Library has partnered with The Gazette to make millions of pages of the newspaper available online. The Gazette dates back to 1883, and the new database is keyword searchable. A recent article reports that 2 million pages are currently available online in this searchable archive, with plans to digitize another 1 million pages over the next 18 months.
Kansas. From a recent article: “Complete issues of Fort Hays State University’s Reveille yearbooks – from the first in 1914 to the last in 2003 – are now online, freely available to the public in clean, crisp, fast-loading and searchable digital versions in Forsyth Library’s FHSU Scholars Repository.” Click here to go directly to the yearbook archive and start exploring.
Maryland. New at Ancestry.com: Maryland, Catholic Families, 1753-1851 (a small collection of 13.5k records, but an important point of origin for many US families). “Judging from the 12,000-name index at the back of the volume, for sheer coverage this must be the starting point for Western Maryland Catholic genealogy,” states the description for this collection of birth, baptismal, marriage, and death records for the parishes of St. Ignatius in Mt. Savage, and St. Mary’s in Cumberland, Maryland. Find a brief history of Catholicism in western Maryland with lists of priests and a summary of congregational growth. Then find lists of marriages, baptisms, deaths, and burials, and even lists of those “who appeared at Easter Confession, confirmation, communion, or who pledged financial support for the parish priest.”
New Jersey. Findmypast.com subscribers may now access small but historically and genealogically important collections of baptismal records (1746-1795) and additional church records (1747-1794) for Hannover, Morris County, New Jersey. States the first collection description, “Despite being small in population, the township is rich in history. It was the first settlement established in northwest New Jersey, dating back to 1685, and is situated by the Whippany River.” The second group of records “pertains to an active time in Hanover, with the resurgence of religious revivals kicking off around 1740. The most populous denominations in the latter half of the 1700s were Presbyterian, Society of Friends (Quaker), Dutch Reformed, Baptist, and Episcopal.”
Pennsylvania. The Carlisle Indian Industrial School, located in Carlisle, PA, was a federally-funded boarding school for Native American children from 1879 through 1918. The Carlisle Indian School Digital Resource Center is a project that is building an online searchable database of resources to preserve the history of the school and the students who attended there.
They recently announced a new resource titled Cemetery Information. According to the site, this collection provides “easy access to a wide range of primary source documents about the cemetery and the Carlisle Indian School students interred there.” Available materials include an individual page for every person interred there with their basic information, downloadable primary source materials about their death, an interactive aerial map of the cemetery, and more.
Texas. The Texas State Library and Archives Commission has digitized a series of collections featuring archival holdings from the First World War through the Texas Digital Archive. These collections are:
The Frank S. Tillman Collection: “The bulk of the collection focuses on the Thirty-Sixth Division and also features items from the Ninetieth Division, the Adjutant General of Texas, and other Texas soldiers.”
General John A. Hulen Papers:”Highlights include correspondence, photographs, and scrapbooks, dating 1887-1960.”
36th Division Association Papers: “The papers include correspondence, reports, military records, and scrapbooks, dating 1857-1954. Records relate to Texans’ experience during World War I, railroads in Texas, and the San Jacinto Monument.”
What genealogy websites are you using? Which additional ones should you also be using?
Learn more about the giant genealogy websites mentioned in this post–and how they stack up to the other big sites–in our unique, must-have quick reference guide, Genealogy Giants, Comparing the 4 Major Websites, by Genealogy Gems editor Sunny Morton. You’ll learn how knowing the relative strengths and weaknesses of Ancestry.com, FamilySearch.org, Findmypast.com and MyHeritage.com can help your research. There’s more than one site out there–and you should be using as many of them as possible. The guide does share information about how to access library editions of these websites for free. This inexpensive guide is worth every penny–and may very well help you save money.
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