Ebola Patients Would Likely Have Been Sent Here 130 Years Ago

When Liberian national Thomas Eric Duncan was diagnosed with Ebola it was unnerving for everyone here in the U.S. As a new Dallas area resident, and someone who was hopping from plane to plane for a Fall series of speaking engagements, it definitely gave me pause.

The Abbeville press and banner., October 12, 1892, Image 6 www.chroniclingamerica.com

The Abbeville press and banner., October 12, 1892, Image 6/ www.chroniclingamerica.com

Epidemics, quarantines, and communities trying to protect citizens have been age old dilemmas, so it makes sense to look back through history at the strategies employed. There is much to be learned.

If we ask the question “what would have happened if Ebola had struck the U.S. 130 years ago?” we don’t have to look much farther than the location of one of the most recent Ebola patient: New York.

north brother island quarantine

from the Humboldt Republican (Humboldt, Iowa) March 31, 1892
Courtesy www.Newspapers.com

In New York’s East River, tucked between the Bronx and Rikers Island lies North Brother Island, where in 1885 Riverside Hospital was relocated from Blackwell’s Island to isolate and treat small pox patients. From there it expanded to include the quarantine of other diseases.

North Brother Island stands idle today, closed to the public. However from 1907-1910 and 1915-1938 it housed the notorious Typhoid Mary, closing shortly after her death.

Although today the island is closed to the public, anyone can visit virtually with the aid of Google Earth. Join me on a 5+ minute tour of North Brother Island featuring the magazine and newspaper articles of the day, and written, audio and video tours of how it stands today a shell of what it once was. Click here to download and play my Google Earth Historic Tour KMZ file  on your computer. It will be added to your “Places” panel in Google Earth under “Temporary Places.” Open the folder and click the “click to play the tour” icon. Be sure your speakers are on! And take time to click to watch the video and view the articles in the placemarks.

Don’t have Google Earth loaded yet? Download it free here.

If you would like to learn to create your own Google Earth family history tours watch this free video and then pick up your copies of Google Earth of Genealogy Volume I and Volume II.

 

 

 

Genealogy Gems Podcast Reaches 1 Million Download Milestone – Infographic

Sometime over the first busy holiday weekend in December 2012, The Genealogy Gems Podcast reached an incredible milestone:  1 Million Episode Downloads!

In early 2007 when I  published the first episode, podcasting was in its infancy, having just come into being in mid-2005.  It was like being part of a new Wild West of technology. For the first time anyone with an interesting idea, a computer, and a willingness to work long hours could produce a worldwide ‘radio’ show. The day I listened to a podcast for the first time, I knew this medium was what I had been waiting for to reach genealogists.

Apparently a lot of other folks were also anxiously looking for new and valuable genealogy information. From long time genealogists to dabbling family history newbies, they flocked to the free podcast available through Apple’s iTunes Store and the Genealogy Gems website (www.GenealogyGems.com). Over the next five years they listened in to soak up genealogy research strategies, expert interviews, tips on harnessing the power of technology in their research, and creative ideas for sharing their findings.

There’s a lot of noise out there online that can be overwhelming. My goal has always been to spend my time sifting through all of that information, and chiseling out the gems – the items that are really worthwhile  – so that you, my listeners, can have faster and greater success . Ultimately I hope that the genealogy gems I provide on the show lead to your own genealogy gems: your precious ancestors!

What started as a single podcast episode has turned in to a multi-media genealogy publishing company. Genealogy Gems now encompasses offerings, many that are free, that accommodate every learning style: audio, video, articles, books, dvds, toolbar, live classes, and online webinars. The Genealogy Gems mobile app (available in the iTunes App Store, and an Android version through Amazon) gives genealogists the flexibility to hit the road and take it all with them. I’m very proud of the team of talented individuals that I’ve assembled who have made this expansion possible.

I speak at events across the U.S. and internationally, but not everyone can get out to a genealogy conference. It’s critical to me that we meet people where they are, and that’s what the Genealogy Gems website, YouTube channel, app, and toolbar are all about. The fact that the podcast has now been downloaded 1 million times confirms that that we are accomplishing that goal.

I hope that you will share this fun, celebratory infographic on Facebook, Pinterest and other social networking sites to help spread the word to others interested in discovering how podcasts can help them reach their genealogy goals.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fun Facts about Genealogy Gems:

The Genealogy Gems Podcast launch date: March 1, 2007

Number of free episodes published: 146

Number of countries with listeners: 126

Top 10 Listening Cities in the U.S.:
Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Salt Lake City, Washington DC, Dallas , Chicago, Seattle, Boston, Phoenix.

Genealogy Gems App publish date: 2009

Podcast rating in iTunes: 5 Stars (including 53 written reviews)

Recognition:
101 Best Websites List by Family Tree Magazine
Named one of the top 10 apps by App Advice’s “iPad Apps for Hobbyists”

Number of views of the Genealogy Gems YouTube Channel:
191,000 and counting (www.youtube.com/genealogygems)

Celebrities featured on the podcast include:
Lisa Kudrow (Friends, Who Do You Think You Are?),
Henry Louis Gates (Oprah’s Roots)
Tim Russell (Prairie Home Companion)
Darby Hinton (Daniel Boone)
Kathy Lennon (The Lennon Sisters)
Ali Selim (Sweet Land)
Tukufu Zuberi (History Detectives)
Linda Chavez (Fox News, Finding Your Roots)

 

Episode 192


Genealogy Gems Podcast

Episode #192

with Lisa Louise Cooke

Genealogy Gems PodcastHighlights from this episode:

  • How to use Animoto, my favorite new tech tool for creating professional-looking slide shows and videos
  • New Genealogy Gems team member Amie Tennant shares insights as she prepares for professional certification
  • A listener shares a favorite genealogy database for finding recent relatives
  • A listener uses DNA to connect adoptive and biological relatives?who were closer than she thought
  • A segment from the Genealogy Gems Book Club interview with author Helen Simonson on The Summer Before the War
  • News from Dropbox and a new initiative to capture the family histories of remote, indigenous populations

 

NEWS: Dropbox Improvement
New on Dropbox: Now when you share Dropbox content with someone, shared links will stay active even if you move or rename the file or folder.

Dropbox file-sharing tip: “If you ever want to unshare something you’ve already sent out (like to remove access to a sensitive document), it’s easy to disable an active link.” Just sign in to dropbox.com. “Click the link icon next to the file or folder, and click ‘remove link’ in the top right corner of the box that appears. You can also remove the link by visiting dropbox.com/links and clicking ‘x’ next to the file or folder.”

How to share folders on Dropbox

 

NEWS: MyHeritage and Tribal Quest

NEWS: New Premium Video

New Premium Video Getting Started with Genetic GenealogyGetting Started in Genetic Genealogy: a new video available to Genealogy Gems Premium website members by Your DNA Guide Diahan Southard

Genealogy Gems Premium website membership: Click here to learn more

Click here to watch a free video preview

 

MAILBOX: Russ Recommends the U.S. Public Records Index

Genealogy Gems MailboxRuss blogs at https://worthy2be.wordpress.com/

Genealogy Gems Podcast episode 181: What to use while waiting for the 1950 census

Russ recommends the “U.S., Public Record Index, 1950-1993, Volume 1 and 2.”

“Volume 1 is far more interesting with more data. A search will return a Name AND Birth date, along with more than one ADDRESS, Zip Code and sometimes phone numbers.”

Ancestry’s description of its online database for Volume 1 says original data comes from public records spanning all 50 states, such as voter registration lists, public record filings, historical residential records and other household database listings.

US Public Records Index

Thoughts about using the U.S. Public Records Index (some of these points come from the FamilySearch wiki):

Not everyone who lived in the U.S. appears in the index, and you’re more likely to find birth information for those born between 1900 and 1990. What you’ll find is primarily where someone lived, and often when they lived there.

It’s rarely possible to positively identify a relative in this index, since there’s limited information and it spans the entire country for up to a half century, and you can’t follow up on the record it comes from because the index doesn’t say where individual records come from. As Russ says, this is a great resource to use in combination with other records. It’s a similar concept to the way you might consult uncited family trees: great hints to go on and follow up with further research into verifiable sources.

When you find more recent listings, you can sometimes find telephone numbers for living distant relatives. The Family History Made Easy podcast has a 2-episode series (episodes 14 and 15) about cold-calling techniques for reaching out to distant relatives you don’t know.

 

MAILBOX: Katie on Cold-calling and Adoption and DNA

Katie blogs her family history adventures at McKinnon Ancestry.

Click here to read a blog post with her story and see more pictures that go with it.

Gem - Katie

 

INTERVIEW: Amie Tennant

Amie Bowser TennantAmie Tennant is the newest member of the Genealogy Gems team. She contributes to the blog at www.genealogygems.com. She is also preparing to become a certified genealogist, which is a professional credential offered by the Board for Certification of Genealogists (BCG).

What have you learned in the process of preparing for certification?

“I think the biggest thing I have learned is the meaning of true exhaustive research. We talk a lot about that in our genealogy standards, but essentially, it is looking EVERYWHERE for EVERYTHING that might shed light on your research question.”

Why do you want to become certified?

I want a way to determine how well I am doing. A measuring stick of sorts.

What is the process like?

The process is the same for everyone. Once you have decided to become certified, you apply to the BCG. They send you a packet of information and you are “on the clock.” The clock is up in one year unless you ask for an extension. The portfolio you create consists of:

  • Signing the Code of Ethics
  • Listing your development activities (like formal coursework or enrichment activities);
  • Transcribe, abstract, create a genealogy research question, analyze the data, and then write the research plan for a document that is supplied to you;
  • Do those same 5 things for a document of your choosing;
  • A research report prepared for another person.
  • A case study with conflicting, indirect or negative evidence;
  • A kinship determination project (a narrative genealogy that covers at least 3 generations)
  • There is a lot of great free content on the BCG website: articles, examples, and skill-building activities.

 

GEM: How to Create Family History Videos Quickly and Easily

Visit our page on how to create family history videos which includes video tutorials and inspirational examples.

 

Genealogy Gems Book ClubBOOK CLUB: Interview excerpt with Helen Simonson,
author of
The Summer Before the War

Helen Simonson

featured book

Get the hardcover

Get the Kindle ebook

Beatrice Nash is a bright, cosmopolitan young lady who has grown up traveling the world with her father. Now he’s gone, and she’s landed in the small village of East Sussex, England, where the locals aren’t entirely thrilled about engaging her as a female Latin instructor for their schoolchildren. She spends a summer fighting for her job, meeting a local cast of engaging eccentric characters (both gentry and gypsy) and trying not to fall for handsome Hugh. Then the Great War breaks out.

This novel follows Helen’s popular debut novel, Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand, which became a New York Times bestseller and has been translated into 21 languages. Genealogy Gems Premium website members can join us in June to hear our exclusive and fun interview with Helen Simonson.

 

GENEALOGY GEMS PODCAST PRODUCTION CREDITS:

Lisa Louise Cooke, Host and Producer

Sunny Morton, Contributing Editor

Vienna Thomas, Audio Editor

Additional content by Lacey Cooke, Amie Tennant

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 Genealogy Gems!

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