1926 Polish Declarations of Admiration and Friendship for the United States Now Digitized and Accessible on Library of Congress Website

Schoolchildren from Deszno, Sanok, an ancestral village for my ancestors,
https://www.loc.gov/resource/pldec.073/?sp=71 

1926 Polish Declarations of Admiration and Friendship for the United States Now Digitized and Accessible on Library of Congress Website

Though my immigrant ancestors had already relocated to the U.S. by 1910, I know that family remained in their communities until at least the end of WWII.  At which time, some were forcibly relocated to the Ukraine.

That’s why this new online addition caught my eye.  I wondered if anyone bearing my ancestor’s surname, living in Poland, signed a declaration.  I did find an entry for Deszno, though, no familiar surnames were listed.  I was less successful with Pietrusza (aka Wola Pietrusza) … and, I didn’t look too hard.

You definitely want to do the following.

First, read the blog post, Ahead of July 4, a Unique Birthday Card to America Goes Online.

Second, review the About this Collection page.

Third, check out the place names index created by the Library of Congress staff.  This index gets you exactly to which volume with page numbers where you will find the list(s) for your target community.

Did you find any of your extended family?  If yes, you now have their signature, something you may not have had before!

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copyright © National Genealogical Society, 3108 Columbia Pike, Suite 300, Arlington, Virginia 22204-4370. http://www.ngsgenealogy.org.

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NGS does not imply endorsement of any outside advertiser or other vendors appearing in this blog. Any opinions expressed by guest authors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the view of NGS.

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Digging for Genealogy Gold -- New Resources, 2017 Edition -- Part #3

Digging for Genealogy Gold -- New Resources, 2017 Edition

Part #3

My present continued …

AUSTRALIA

1. The Prosecution Project -- The Prosecution Project is investigating the history of the criminal trial in Australia. We will start by digitising the registers of Supreme Court cases that are available in most jurisdictions.

CANADA

2. Railway Accident Records at Library and Archives Canada

DENMARK

3. Danish Family Search
4. The Danish West-Indies
5. Copenhagen Police Emigration Protocols (select English from drop-down menu)

IRELAND

6. Bureau of Military History

NETHERLANDS

7.    Portuguese-Jewish Congregation Suriname

POLAND

8. Auschwitz death camp – database of prison guards online (article) (database)

UNITED KINGDOM

9. East India Company Army Recruits 1843-50
10. William Henry Fox Talbot’s Photographs (article) (database)
11. Michelin Archive (article)

UNITED STATES

12. Divinity Archive (Duke)
13. Troop Returns 1747-1893, bulk is Revolutionary War (NC)
14. Smith College (MA) – Smith Alumnae Quarterly (1909-present)
15. Library of Congress – Maps of the First World War: An Illustrated Essay (.pdf)
16. West Philadelphia History
17. New York Philharmonic – Digital Archives (subscribers 1883-1907, selected seasons)
18. Pentecostal and Charismatic Research Archive (PCRA) (USC Digital Library)
19. Argonaut Student Newspaper Digital Archive (University of Idaho) (1898-2010)
20. Virtual Jamestown – 1624/5 Muster Databases

Editor’s Note: As of today, each of the above links worked.  Now, whether the links in any of the identified articles work, I cannot vouch for that.  And, armed with the information provided, it should be relatively easy to get to determine where the discussed database currently resides.  If you get really stuck, drop me an email and I’ll try to ferret out the recalcitrant link or cross out my entry in the above list!

Editor’s Note: Know of a neat resource that you think might be a hidden gem?  Drop an email to UpFront@ngsgenealogy.org.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

copyright © National Genealogical Society, 3108 Columbia Pike, Suite 300, Arlington, Virginia 22204-4370. http://www.ngsgenealogy.org.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NGS does not imply endorsement of any outside advertiser or other vendors appearing in this blog. Any opinions expressed by guest authors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the view of NGS.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Republication of UpFront articles is permitted and encouraged for non-commercial purposes without express permission from NGS. Please drop us a note telling us where and when you are using the article. Express written permission is required if you wish to republish UpFront articles for commercial purposes. You may send a request for express written permission to UpFront@ngsgenealogy.org. All republished articles may not be edited or reworded and must contain the copyright statement found at the bottom of each UpFront article.

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Think your friends, colleagues, or fellow genealogy researchers would find this blog post interesting? If so, please let them know that anyone can read past UpFront with NGS posts or subscribe!

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Suggestions for topics for future UpFront with NGS posts are always welcome. Please send any suggested topics to UpfrontNGS@mosaicrpm.com

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Unless indicated otherwise or clearly an NGS Public Relations piece, Upfront with NGS posts are written by Diane L Richard, editor, Upfront with NGS.

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Genealogy Indexer – Do NOT let its simplicity fool you!

Genealogy Indexer – Do NOT let its simplicity fool you!

Just over 3 years ago, I introduced you to Genealogy Indexer -- a neat little website that just might have what you need.  Back then, the amount of available material was 350,000 pages and now, this website has more than doubled the number of pages available.

Search 850,000 pages of 1,700 historical directories (business, address, telephone, etc., mostly from Central and Eastern Europe), 114,000 pages of 256 yizkor books (memorials to Jewish communities destroyed in the Holocaust), 32,000 pages of military lists (officers, casualties, etc., mostly from the Russian Empire and Poland), 43,000 pages of community and personal histories, and 24,000 pages of Polish secondary school annual reports and other school sources. New genealogy sources are added weekly.

I keep tabs on this website as my paternal ancestors were Galician – Russian speakers who lived in SE Poland.  I once again searched on Malecka and there are so many entries now found.  Some as modern as a 1949 Leipzig Address and Business Directory and as old as an 1807/1808 Warsaw Homeowners Directory.

I next searched on Pietrusza (the family came from Pietrusza Wola) and many entries were listed, including those in Russian, Петруша. Also checked into Deszno (another ancestral home place) aka Дешно.

And, there is news from the mastermind behind the website …

There is a major new development at Genealogy Indexer.  From the list of directories below, the additions for this week, can you guess what it is?  (Scroll down quickly to avoid spoilers!)  Something is different about most of these directories from all other 2,500+ sources on the site.  1939 Frankfurt, 1864 Riga, 1897 Danzig, 1936 Stolp, 1856 Silesia...  Before this week, it would have been impossible to add these directories, but now I can and will add thousands more like them.  What makes them different?

The answer is the font.  These directories use Fraktur, Gothic, or blackletter typefaces, which are especially challenging for OCR.  I was never before able to accurately OCR these typefaces, so many German-language sources were out of reach.  I am delighted to report that obstacle has been overcome.

Thanks to the generosity of OCR software company ABBYY, I am now able to OCR Fraktur/Gothic/blackletter sources using their advanced Recognition Server software with FineReader XIX module.

Thousands of directories and other genealogical sources that I could not make searchable before are now on my to-do list and many are likely being processed as you read this.  In addition to enabling OCR of these challenging fonts, Recognition Server has automation capabilities that allow me to dramatically increase the rate at which I add new searchable sources…

This is important to my own research since where my ancestors lived was part of the Austro-Hungarian empire and that means that many publications relevant to that research are in German.  I used to have a massive German dictionary and to be honest, I found it such a challenge to try and just "read" the printed German text that I pretty much gave up.  Who knows, I may resume research into my Galician sometimes in the near future!  

To keep abreast of news like this and a list of the most recently added resources, you can subscribe to the Genealogy Indexer Mailing List, http://genealogyindexer.org/news/?p=subscribe&id=1.

So, if you are researching Eastern European roots (or now Egyptian, French, etc), do check out this website.

What particular directory or document reveal your family?

What discovery most surprised you?

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copyright © National Genealogical Society, 3108 Columbia Pike, Suite 300, Arlington, Virginia 22204-4370. http://www.ngsgenealogy.org.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NGS does not imply endorsement of any outside advertiser or other vendors appearing in this blog. Any opinions expressed by guest authors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the view of NGS.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Republication of UpFront articles is permitted and encouraged for non-commercial purposes without express permission from NGS. Please drop us a note telling us where and when you are using the article. Express written permission is required if you wish to republish UpFront articles for commercial purposes. You may send a request for express written permission to UpFront@ngsgenealogy.org. All republished articles may not be edited or reworded and must contain the copyright statement found at the bottom of each UpFront article.

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Think your friends, colleagues, or fellow genealogy researchers would find this blog post interesting? If so, please let them know that anyone can read past UpFront with NGS posts or subscribe!

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Suggestions for topics for future UpFront with NGS posts are always welcome. Please send any suggested topics to UpfrontNGS@mosaicrpm.com

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Unless indicated otherwise or clearly an NGS Public Relations piece, Upfront with NGS posts are written by Diane L Richard, editor, Upfront with NGS.

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20 Free and (Relatively) New Genealogy and Family History Resources, 2016 Version, Part 2

My present continues ... 20 more FREE (or mostly FREE) resources ...

CANADA

1.     Soldiers of the First Word War: 1914-1918

2.     Lakeshore Psychiatric Hospital Cemetery Installation

3.     Home Children, 1869-1932

CENTRAL & SOUTH AMERICA + MEXICO

4.     Biblioteca Digital del Patrimonio Iberoamericano (English, Spanish & Portuguese interfaces)

FLANDERS

5.     FRANDRICA.BE -- Flanders Heritage Library bundles the forces in the field of digitisation in Flemish heritage libraries, particularly of the six partners of Flanders Heritage Library, in a virtual Flemish heritage library.

POLAND

6.     Nekropole – in Polish (use Google translate or similar)

UNITED KINGDOM

7.     Poignant stories of first world war's conscientious objectors go online

8.     Essex Record Office Parish Registers ($) -- registers from over 400 parishes, covering the present county of Essex, including Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock, and also those parts of north-east London that used to be in Essex. Most parishes have registers from the 17th or 18th century onwards, but a few go back to 1538

9.     The Medical Consultation Letters of Dr William Cullen – (1710-1790) at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh

10. First World War Hospital Diaries Now Online

UNITED STATES

11. Smithsonian Libraries Digital Library

12. The Upper St. John River Valley (ME and New Brunswick Canada)

13. Dinwiddie County (VA) Archives and Historical Documents -- names from files and cases located in the Dinwiddie Circuit Court that date from 1830 to 2000

14. 19^th Century Russian Immigrants to USA

15. Free People of Color in Louisiana

16. Missouri State Penitentiary: 1836-1891

17. Green-wood cemetery (NY) – Civil War Biographies Archive

18. Chronicling America’s Historic German Newspapers and the Growth of the American Ethnic Press

19. Kentucky County Court Records Now Online (via ExploreUK)

20. Free for All: NYPL Enhances Public Domain Collections For Sharing and Reuse

Editor’s Note: As of today, each of the above links worked.  Now, whether the links in any of the identified articles work, I cannot vouch for that.  And, armed with the information provided, it should be relatively easy to get to determine where the discussed database currently resides.  If you get really stuck, drop me an email and I’ll try to ferret out the recalcitrant link or cross out my entry in the above list!

Editor’s Note: Know of a neat resource that you think might be a hidden gem?  Drop an email to UpFront@ngsgenealogy.org.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

copyright © National Genealogical Society, 3108 Columbia Pike, Suite 300, Arlington, Virginia 22204-4370. http://www.ngsgenealogy.org.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NGS does not imply endorsement of any outside advertiser or other vendors appearing in this blog. Any opinions expressed by guest authors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the view of NGS.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Republication of UpFront articles is permitted and encouraged for non-commercial purposes without express permission from NGS. Please drop us a note telling us where and when you are using the article. Express written permission is required if you wish to republish UpFront articles for commercial purposes. You may send a request for express written permission to UpFront@ngsgenealogy.org. All republished articles may not be edited or reworded and must contain the copyright statement found at the bottom of each UpFront article.

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Think your friends, colleagues, or fellow genealogy researchers would find this blog post interesting? If so, please let them know that anyone can read past UpFront with NGS posts or subscribe!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Suggestions for topics for future UpFront with NGS posts are always welcome. Please send any suggested topics to UpfrontNGS@mosaicrpm.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Unless indicated otherwise or clearly an NGS Public Relations piece, Upfront with NGS posts are written by Diane L Richard, editor, Upfront with NGS.

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Cultural Artifacts ... as you celebrate this winter, do you know the origin of your family traditions?

There is a neat infographic about Irish Artifacts created by Murphy of Ireland (a clothing seller). You can access the infographic here.

This got me wondering, if you had to create something similar for another country and/or ethnic group – what might you include?

I was curious about Finland heritage – where ¼ of my ancestors come from.  There is a Wikipedia page Culture of Finland which has a section List of iconic cultural aspects which lists several items such as a Puukko – traditional Finnish style woodcraft belt-knife, Kantele – traditional musical instrument, and more. Another ¼ of my ancestry is Polish and so I found Polish Culture and Traditions a neat read.

Often, when we gather as family for the holidays, including the winter ones, some of our traditions are the same as those of our ancestors.  As you celebrate, think about the roots of “how” you celebrate and share with any youth the roots of those traditions.  Holidays are a great way and time to get the next generations connected with their personal family history while having fun!

If you know of a similar infographic for a different country and/or culture, please share.

Have some traditions that come directly from your ancestors?  We’d like to hear about them!

Editor’s Note: Thanks to Dick Eastman, Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter for letting us know about this.

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copyright © National Genealogical Society, 3108 Columbia Pike, Suite 300, Arlington, Virginia 22204-4370. http://www.ngsgenealogy.org.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NGS does not imply endorsement of any outside advertiser or other vendors appearing in this blog. Any opinions expressed by guest authors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the view of NGS.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Republication of UpFront articles is permitted and encouraged for non-commercial purposes without express permission from NGS. Please drop us a note telling us where and when you are using the article. Express written permission is required if you wish to republish UpFront articles for commercial purposes. You may send a request for express written permission to UpFront@ngsgenealogy.org. All republished articles may not be edited or reworded and must contain the copyright statement found at the bottom of each UpFront article.

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Think your friends, colleagues, or fellow genealogy researchers would find this blog post interesting? If so, please let them know that anyone can read past UpFront with NGS posts or subscribe!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Suggestions for topics for future UpFront with NGS posts are always welcome. Please send any suggested topics to UpfrontNGS@mosaicrpm.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Unless indicated otherwise or clearly an NGS Public Relations piece, Upfront with NGS posts are written by Diane L Richard, editor, Upfront with NGS.

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Want to learn more about interacting with the blog, please read Hyperlinks, Subscribing and Comments -- How to Interact with Upfront with NGS Blog posts!

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