Debbie Parker Wayne sent this information about the 2009 Professional Management conference at Little Rock on 2 September 2009 before the FGS Conference:
Registration is now open for the 2009 FGS Conference in Little Rock, Arkansas, including APG's Professional Management Conference (PMC) to be held Wednesday, September 2, 2009. For PMC program details and schedule, go to http://www.apgen.org/conferences/index.html
To register, go to http://www.fgsconference.org
For event information on Facebook, go to http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=34858375779
2009 APG Professional Management Conference Program
Writing Professionally—A Two Hour Workshop
Thomas W. Jones, PhD., CG, CGL, FASG
Solving Mysteries for Money: the Forensic Genealogist and Private Investigator
Mary Ann Boyle, Ph.D., CG
The Bachelor: Reconstructing a Solitary Life Using Obscure & Far-Flung Records
Mary Penner
Talking to the World
Sherry Irvine, CG
Elements of a Good Client Agreement
Richard Camaur, JD, CG
The Genealogy Consumer: Who Pays for Professional Research?
Natasha Crain
Publish! And Supplement Your Income
Desmond Walls Allen
Bull’s-eye! Planning and Delivering a Winning Marketing Campaign
Heather Henderson
Get Paid For Your Passion: Becoming a Professional Genealogist
Elissa Scalise Powell, CG
Those all sound pretty interesting! One thing I've noticed is how well the APGers title their presentations - lots of bold words, colons and exclamation points! [Note to self - do your presentations, and blog posts, have titles like that? hmmm. I should have named this post Listen! The Experts Speak!!! instead of the boring headline I chose]. Seriously, I am looking forward to attending this conference.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Answers to MyHeritage questions
I posted MyHeritage Goes Commercial in January after the three subscription plans were announced. Lester made a comment in thatp ost and asked osme questions about MyHeritage that I could not answer, so I asked Lester if I could forward his questions to MyHeritage. He agreed, and I did, and we got an email response last week. Daniel Horowitz of MyHeritage asked me to post the answers on my blog, so here are Lester's questions and Daniel's answers:
1) I'm having trouble generating a chart on MyHeritage. The PDF that is generated comes out blank. This started after I was using MyHeritage for some time. In the beginning I was able to generate PDF tree charts and now all I get is the blank PDFs.
Response: Unfortunately, there is a bug in the chart generating system which we are working to fix. This is the reason you are unable to generate charts from your family site. You can, however, create the exact same charts in Family Tree Builder, MyHeritage's down loadable genealogy software. As you mention trying to do this in question three, I've explained how to move your tree from your site into Family Tree Builder below.
2) I paid to update my MyHeritage to Premium. I was debited the amount on my credit card, but I don't know anything else about my payment. How long does my subscription run? What does it offer? Who do I contact for information. Will an attempt be made to charge my account after the yearly subscription period for another year?
Response: You can check to make sure the upgrade was properly applied by visiting your family site and clicking on Settings > Site Account. This page shows the subscription plan your family site is currently on, the amount of time left on your subscription as well as how much of your storage quota has been used. You can also renew your subscription on this page. Family site subscriptions are not automatically renewed. At the time your subscription expires or you've exceeded your site quota, we'll remind you. For your peace of mind, we never destroy your information or block access to your account when a subscription is expired or quota exceeded.
3) I started a free Family Tree Builder account with a family tree because that was the only way I could generate a family tree chart. But I have done all my updating in MyHeritage (where I can't generate charts) so how do I get my information from my MyHeritage account to my Family Tree Builder account. I can generate a Gedcom from FTB but not from MyHeritage. Am I missing something? Is it really impossible to generate a Gedcom FROM MyHeritage?
Response: There is an Export Gedcom function located on the Family Tree Manage Trees page of your family site. You can use this function to create a gedcom file of your tree and then import it into Family Tree Builder in order to create your charts. Keep in mind that photos will not be included with the gedcom export. They will have to be manually replaced. We are working on an option that will allow you to export your family tree together with the photos as we know that this is a very important feature for MyHeritage members...
I thank Daniel Horowitz of MyHeritage for quickly responding to Lester's questions. I really appreciate it when companies provide excellent customer service.
1) I'm having trouble generating a chart on MyHeritage. The PDF that is generated comes out blank. This started after I was using MyHeritage for some time. In the beginning I was able to generate PDF tree charts and now all I get is the blank PDFs.
Response: Unfortunately, there is a bug in the chart generating system which we are working to fix. This is the reason you are unable to generate charts from your family site. You can, however, create the exact same charts in Family Tree Builder, MyHeritage's down loadable genealogy software. As you mention trying to do this in question three, I've explained how to move your tree from your site into Family Tree Builder below.
2) I paid to update my MyHeritage to Premium. I was debited the amount on my credit card, but I don't know anything else about my payment. How long does my subscription run? What does it offer? Who do I contact for information. Will an attempt be made to charge my account after the yearly subscription period for another year?
Response: You can check to make sure the upgrade was properly applied by visiting your family site and clicking on Settings > Site Account. This page shows the subscription plan your family site is currently on, the amount of time left on your subscription as well as how much of your storage quota has been used. You can also renew your subscription on this page. Family site subscriptions are not automatically renewed. At the time your subscription expires or you've exceeded your site quota, we'll remind you. For your peace of mind, we never destroy your information or block access to your account when a subscription is expired or quota exceeded.
3) I started a free Family Tree Builder account with a family tree because that was the only way I could generate a family tree chart. But I have done all my updating in MyHeritage (where I can't generate charts) so how do I get my information from my MyHeritage account to my Family Tree Builder account. I can generate a Gedcom from FTB but not from MyHeritage. Am I missing something? Is it really impossible to generate a Gedcom FROM MyHeritage?
Response: There is an Export Gedcom function located on the Family Tree Manage Trees page of your family site. You can use this function to create a gedcom file of your tree and then import it into Family Tree Builder in order to create your charts. Keep in mind that photos will not be included with the gedcom export. They will have to be manually replaced. We are working on an option that will allow you to export your family tree together with the photos as we know that this is a very important feature for MyHeritage members...
I thank Daniel Horowitz of MyHeritage for quickly responding to Lester's questions. I really appreciate it when companies provide excellent customer service.
"Sadness, reality attach themselves to unclaimed persons list"
Megan Smolenyak provided a link on Twitter to an article titled "Sadness, reality attach themselves to unclaimed persons list" published on the Inland Empire and Inland Valley Breaking News page of the San Bernardino (CA) Sun online newspaper by Joe Smilor on 15 February 2009. The article started:
"They are the unclaimed. Reduced now to ashes and a metal tag, the 2,158 men and woman listed in the San Bernardino County coroner division's database were once connected to a family that may not even realize they died."
This article tells about the efforts of the San Bernardino County (CA) Coroner's office to find relatives of unclaimed bodies. The article gives great credit to the Unclaimed Persons Facebook group that Megan started last year. The group has been successful in finding relatives of about 50% of the 70 cases investigated to date. You can sign up to help at www.UnclaimedPersons.org.
Megan is quoted in the article:
"'We're making a difference to somebody. Each person deserves to be remembered,' said Megan Smolenyak, a professional genealogist who operates rootstelevision.com and coordinates the volunteers' efforts. 'But we're hoping people learn about this problem and pick up the phone to call the brother or sister they haven't talked to in 20 years.'"
Read the entire article. There are some interesting statements about the Coroner's process, what happens to the unclaimed remains, and
This is a wonderful article that highlights the role that the Unclaimed Persons group of genealogists has played in helping find relatives of the unclaimed. I'm honored to be part of the group. I just wish that I spent more time doing the work!
"They are the unclaimed. Reduced now to ashes and a metal tag, the 2,158 men and woman listed in the San Bernardino County coroner division's database were once connected to a family that may not even realize they died."
This article tells about the efforts of the San Bernardino County (CA) Coroner's office to find relatives of unclaimed bodies. The article gives great credit to the Unclaimed Persons Facebook group that Megan started last year. The group has been successful in finding relatives of about 50% of the 70 cases investigated to date. You can sign up to help at www.UnclaimedPersons.org.
Megan is quoted in the article:
"'We're making a difference to somebody. Each person deserves to be remembered,' said Megan Smolenyak, a professional genealogist who operates rootstelevision.com and coordinates the volunteers' efforts. 'But we're hoping people learn about this problem and pick up the phone to call the brother or sister they haven't talked to in 20 years.'"
Read the entire article. There are some interesting statements about the Coroner's process, what happens to the unclaimed remains, and
This is a wonderful article that highlights the role that the Unclaimed Persons group of genealogists has played in helping find relatives of the unclaimed. I'm honored to be part of the group. I just wish that I spent more time doing the work!
Second Bloggers Summit at 2009 SCGS Jamboree
Paula Hinkel posted the Speaker Schedule at the 2009 Southern California Genealogical Society Jamboree on several mailing lists.
Of particular interest is the Second Bloggers Summit to be held on Saturday, 27 June 2009 from 9:30 a.m. to 12 noon in session SA-09. The bloggers on the panel are:
* George G. Morgan, Moderator
* DearMYRTLE
* Juliana Smith
* Leland Meitzler
* Dick Eastman
* Stephen Danko, Ph.D.
* Lisa Louise Cooke
* Schelly Talalay Dardashti
* Craig Manson
* The Ancestry Insider
That's quite an august group of ten! Five of them were on the panel last year (George, Leland, Dick, Steve and Schelly).
It will be interesting to see what they have to say about our little corner of the genealogy world. It will also be interesting to see how many genea-bloggers will be in the audience live-blogging the event before it's over!
I hope that they will take questions from the audience this year. And I hope that we can take a picture of the largest group of genea-bloggers ever in one place to date. The big question will be "do we have to PhotoShop The Ancestry Insider's face?"
Here is the post from Paula about the speakers at 2009 Jamboree:
The Southern California Genealogy Jamboree lecture schedule is now online and available for download at www.genealogyjamboree.blogspot.com. Jamboree will be held June 26-28, 2009, at the Burbank Marriott Hotel and Convention Center, Burbank, California.
On Friday morning, we will continue the tradition of offering several free sessions. This year, Tom Kemp will conduct a special Genealogy Librarians' Boot Camp. Last year's Beginning Genealogy session has been expanded into two sessions of three hours each. And the very successful Kids' Family History Camp will help to bring the youngest generation into the study of family history.
You'll hear more about all of these activities, as well as several other special events, in the coming weeks.
This year's Jamboree will feature over 100 sessions conducted by more than 50 genealogical experts. We have expanded into the Marriott main hotel for all three days, which will increase our seating capacity substantially.
Jamboree is shaping up to be another exceptional event. The schedule and speakers are subject to change. We expect to have a very special announcement regarding the Friday Night Banquet speaker very soon.
The Jamboree website will be up in the next few days, and I'll let you know when you are able to register online. The registration form can be downloaded from the Jamboree blog page now if you prefer to register by mail.
The list of sessions and speakers is here. The registration form is here.
Of particular interest is the Second Bloggers Summit to be held on Saturday, 27 June 2009 from 9:30 a.m. to 12 noon in session SA-09. The bloggers on the panel are:
* George G. Morgan, Moderator
* DearMYRTLE
* Juliana Smith
* Leland Meitzler
* Dick Eastman
* Stephen Danko, Ph.D.
* Lisa Louise Cooke
* Schelly Talalay Dardashti
* Craig Manson
* The Ancestry Insider
That's quite an august group of ten! Five of them were on the panel last year (George, Leland, Dick, Steve and Schelly).
It will be interesting to see what they have to say about our little corner of the genealogy world. It will also be interesting to see how many genea-bloggers will be in the audience live-blogging the event before it's over!
I hope that they will take questions from the audience this year. And I hope that we can take a picture of the largest group of genea-bloggers ever in one place to date. The big question will be "do we have to PhotoShop The Ancestry Insider's face?"
Here is the post from Paula about the speakers at 2009 Jamboree:
The Southern California Genealogy Jamboree lecture schedule is now online and available for download at www.genealogyjamboree.blogspot.com. Jamboree will be held June 26-28, 2009, at the Burbank Marriott Hotel and Convention Center, Burbank, California.
On Friday morning, we will continue the tradition of offering several free sessions. This year, Tom Kemp will conduct a special Genealogy Librarians' Boot Camp. Last year's Beginning Genealogy session has been expanded into two sessions of three hours each. And the very successful Kids' Family History Camp will help to bring the youngest generation into the study of family history.
You'll hear more about all of these activities, as well as several other special events, in the coming weeks.
This year's Jamboree will feature over 100 sessions conducted by more than 50 genealogical experts. We have expanded into the Marriott main hotel for all three days, which will increase our seating capacity substantially.
Jamboree is shaping up to be another exceptional event. The schedule and speakers are subject to change. We expect to have a very special announcement regarding the Friday Night Banquet speaker very soon.
The Jamboree website will be up in the next few days, and I'll let you know when you are able to register online. The registration form can be downloaded from the Jamboree blog page now if you prefer to register by mail.
The list of sessions and speakers is here. The registration form is here.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
The Genea-Musings iGene Awards for 2008
It's time for the iGene Awards, The Best of The Best! It's Academy awards time... time for the Academy of Genealogy and Family History, aka AGFH, to honor their best blog posts of 2008.
I tried to summarize what I thought were the best Genea-Musings posts from 2008 in Best of Genea-Musings for 2008 - and ended up with 44 nominees out of 975 posts for the year.
The Categories for Nominations include:
*Best Picture - Best old family photo that appeared on your blog in 2008. Tell us which you liked best and why.
And the iGene goes to: Is This Isaac and Lucretia (Smith) Seaver?
I picked this photo because it is the oldest one in my collection, dating from around 1860. It is the only photograph I have of this couple, my great-great-grandparents.
* Best Screen Play - Which family story that you shared in 2008 would make the best movie? Who would you cast as your family members?
And the iGene goes to: Getting Ed and his brother together
I don't know my movie stars that well... Let's see, there would have to be an ancient Spencer Tracy cast as Ed, Tom Cruise cast as Billy the step-brother, and Tom Hanks cast as the intrepid researcher, Randy. Hmm, where's the love interest? Ah, Ed and Billy's wives can be in the screenplay too.
* Best Documentary - Which was the best informational article you wrote about a place, thing, or event involving your family's history in 2008?
And the iGene goes to: Wholly Genes/The Master Genealogist Conference and Cruise posts
By far the most helpful set of articles was my daily summaries from the Wholly Genes Conference and Cruise.
* Best Biography - Which was the best biographical article you wrote in 2008?
And the iGene goes to: How did mom get so smart?
I didn't do many biographies in 2008 - but Mom's was the best!
* Best Comedy - Which was the best funny story, poem, joke, photo, or video that you shared on your blog in 2008?
And the iGene goes to: The Imminent Demise of Genea-Musings
'Nuff said!
I tried to summarize what I thought were the best Genea-Musings posts from 2008 in Best of Genea-Musings for 2008 - and ended up with 44 nominees out of 975 posts for the year.
The Categories for Nominations include:
*Best Picture - Best old family photo that appeared on your blog in 2008. Tell us which you liked best and why.
And the iGene goes to: Is This Isaac and Lucretia (Smith) Seaver?
I picked this photo because it is the oldest one in my collection, dating from around 1860. It is the only photograph I have of this couple, my great-great-grandparents.
* Best Screen Play - Which family story that you shared in 2008 would make the best movie? Who would you cast as your family members?
And the iGene goes to: Getting Ed and his brother together
I don't know my movie stars that well... Let's see, there would have to be an ancient Spencer Tracy cast as Ed, Tom Cruise cast as Billy the step-brother, and Tom Hanks cast as the intrepid researcher, Randy. Hmm, where's the love interest? Ah, Ed and Billy's wives can be in the screenplay too.
* Best Documentary - Which was the best informational article you wrote about a place, thing, or event involving your family's history in 2008?
And the iGene goes to: Wholly Genes/The Master Genealogist Conference and Cruise posts
By far the most helpful set of articles was my daily summaries from the Wholly Genes Conference and Cruise.
* Best Biography - Which was the best biographical article you wrote in 2008?
And the iGene goes to: How did mom get so smart?
I didn't do many biographies in 2008 - but Mom's was the best!
* Best Comedy - Which was the best funny story, poem, joke, photo, or video that you shared on your blog in 2008?
And the iGene goes to: The Imminent Demise of Genea-Musings
'Nuff said!
Best of the Genea-Blogs - February 8-14, 2009
Several hundred genealogy and family history bloggers write thousands of posts every week about their research, their families, and their interests. I appreciate each one of them and their efforts.
My criteria for "Best of ..." are pretty simple - I pick posts that advance knowledge about genealogy and family history, address current genealogy issues, provide personal family history, are funny or are poignant. I don't list posts destined for the genealogy carnivals, or other meme submissions (but I do include summaries of them), or my own posts.
Here are my picks for great reads from the genealogy blogs for this past week:
* Sunday Spooks by Colleen on The R.I.P.PERS blog. Colleen has a series of these short stories going on her latest blog, and this one gives us a hint as to why we can't find anything in a library.
* The Amazon Kindle could dramatically improve U.S. Education by Paul Allen on the Paul Allen blog. Paul describes the latest "personal reading device" and ponders how it could affect education. It could also affect Genealogy Research too - imagine having 200 genealogy books, magazines and periodicals on a Kindle for your reading pleasure - always with you at your fingertips.
* Starting a Genealogy and Family Hope Chest; Step 2: Let's Talk!; Step 3: Categorize!; Step 4: Share Those Photos!; Step 5: Original Documents! all by Lorine McGinnis Schulze on the Olive Tree Genealogy Blog. Lorine has thought through how she wants to deal with all of the genealogy "stuff" and is creating her plan. It's an excellent multi-step plan - one we can all use!
* Standards of an archive quality digital record repository by the handsome yellow-faced blogger on The Ancestry Insider blog. The AI defines his standards (in response to the complaints about NARA and imagers on the APG mailing list) for what an archival repository should have in place to ensure archivists and researchers that everything has been accounted for, imaged and indexed. It's a great list!
* Tech Tuesday: A Student Wish List for Online Learning by Denise Levenick on The Family Curator blog. Denise has a wonderful list of wishes from the student's point of view for online learning opportunities.
* Follow-Up: Some Hard Genealogy, and Surname Distribution Analyzed, by Craig Manson on the Geneablogie blog. Craig delves deeper into his Gines family, answers some readers' questions, and some of his own. He uses the World Names Profiler to help him sort out and analyze the surname distribution too.
* Yes, it took an act of Congress! by Cindy on the Everything's Relative: Researching Your Family History blog. Cindy recounts her struggle to obtain war medals for her grandfather's World War II service. Cindy's persistence paid off - you need to see what she received.
* Ilona's immigration: the one hundred year anniversary by Lisa on the 100 Years in America blog. This beautiful story, with excellent pictures, tells the story of Lisa's grandmother's voyage to the USA. And what happened afterwards.
* Ancestry.com Reveals the Sweetest Valentines in America’s Family Trees by Suzanne Campbell on the Ancestry.com Blog. Suzanne does the Valentine's Day honors by finding really sweet names in the databases on Ancestry.com.
* African American Genealogy – Finding Your Roots by Carolyn L. Barkley on the GenealogyAndFamilyHistory.com blog. This is an excellent summary of the unique research required for African-American genealogy.
* "Around the Kitchen Table" -3rd Edition, Canadian Genealogy Carnival by Kathryn Lake Hogan on the LOOKING4ANCESTORS blog. The topic for the Canadian Genealogy Carnival was "Around the Kitchen Table," and six bloggers contributed their stories.
* Graveyard Stew by Diane Wright on the Wright's Graveyard Stew blog. Diane has created a "list of lists" about cemeteries by topic - this is a keeper!
* Dougall Part 2 by Brenda Dougall Merriman on the Brenda Dougall Merriman blog. Brenda recounts a mistake she made early in her research about her Scots Dougall ancestor, and tells how she figured out the correct answer. It's a good lesson for all researchers.
I encourage you to go to the blogs listed above and read their articles, and add their blog to your Favorites, Bloglines, reader, feed or email if you like what you read. Please make a comment to them also - all bloggers appreciate feedback on what they write.
Did I miss a great genealogy blog post? Tell me!
Read past Best of the Genea-Blogs posts here.
My criteria for "Best of ..." are pretty simple - I pick posts that advance knowledge about genealogy and family history, address current genealogy issues, provide personal family history, are funny or are poignant. I don't list posts destined for the genealogy carnivals, or other meme submissions (but I do include summaries of them), or my own posts.
Here are my picks for great reads from the genealogy blogs for this past week:
* Sunday Spooks by Colleen on The R.I.P.PERS blog. Colleen has a series of these short stories going on her latest blog, and this one gives us a hint as to why we can't find anything in a library.
* The Amazon Kindle could dramatically improve U.S. Education by Paul Allen on the Paul Allen blog. Paul describes the latest "personal reading device" and ponders how it could affect education. It could also affect Genealogy Research too - imagine having 200 genealogy books, magazines and periodicals on a Kindle for your reading pleasure - always with you at your fingertips.
* Starting a Genealogy and Family Hope Chest; Step 2: Let's Talk!; Step 3: Categorize!; Step 4: Share Those Photos!; Step 5: Original Documents! all by Lorine McGinnis Schulze on the Olive Tree Genealogy Blog. Lorine has thought through how she wants to deal with all of the genealogy "stuff" and is creating her plan. It's an excellent multi-step plan - one we can all use!
* Standards of an archive quality digital record repository by the handsome yellow-faced blogger on The Ancestry Insider blog. The AI defines his standards (in response to the complaints about NARA and imagers on the APG mailing list) for what an archival repository should have in place to ensure archivists and researchers that everything has been accounted for, imaged and indexed. It's a great list!
* Tech Tuesday: A Student Wish List for Online Learning by Denise Levenick on The Family Curator blog. Denise has a wonderful list of wishes from the student's point of view for online learning opportunities.
* Follow-Up: Some Hard Genealogy, and Surname Distribution Analyzed, by Craig Manson on the Geneablogie blog. Craig delves deeper into his Gines family, answers some readers' questions, and some of his own. He uses the World Names Profiler to help him sort out and analyze the surname distribution too.
* Yes, it took an act of Congress! by Cindy on the Everything's Relative: Researching Your Family History blog. Cindy recounts her struggle to obtain war medals for her grandfather's World War II service. Cindy's persistence paid off - you need to see what she received.
* Ilona's immigration: the one hundred year anniversary by Lisa on the 100 Years in America blog. This beautiful story, with excellent pictures, tells the story of Lisa's grandmother's voyage to the USA. And what happened afterwards.
* Ancestry.com Reveals the Sweetest Valentines in America’s Family Trees by Suzanne Campbell on the Ancestry.com Blog. Suzanne does the Valentine's Day honors by finding really sweet names in the databases on Ancestry.com.
* African American Genealogy – Finding Your Roots by Carolyn L. Barkley on the GenealogyAndFamilyHistory.com blog. This is an excellent summary of the unique research required for African-American genealogy.
* "Around the Kitchen Table" -3rd Edition, Canadian Genealogy Carnival by Kathryn Lake Hogan on the LOOKING4ANCESTORS blog. The topic for the Canadian Genealogy Carnival was "Around the Kitchen Table," and six bloggers contributed their stories.
* Graveyard Stew by Diane Wright on the Wright's Graveyard Stew blog. Diane has created a "list of lists" about cemeteries by topic - this is a keeper!
* Dougall Part 2 by Brenda Dougall Merriman on the Brenda Dougall Merriman blog. Brenda recounts a mistake she made early in her research about her Scots Dougall ancestor, and tells how she figured out the correct answer. It's a good lesson for all researchers.
I encourage you to go to the blogs listed above and read their articles, and add their blog to your Favorites, Bloglines, reader, feed or email if you like what you read. Please make a comment to them also - all bloggers appreciate feedback on what they write.
Did I miss a great genealogy blog post? Tell me!
Read past Best of the Genea-Blogs posts here.
Joel Weintraub at SDGS on "Preparing for the 1940 Census"
I said it before, and I'll say it again - if Dr. Joel Weintraub is speaking at a genealogy society near you - go see him! He is knowledgeable, informative, entertaining, and the presentations are the "best ever" in my book!
Joel presented "Preparing for the 1940 Census" today at the San Diego Genealogical Society meeting today. The talk description and Joel's curriculum vitae are here. The professor and the genealogist in Joel really shone through today - the PowerPoint presentation had static slides, many funny graphics, short video segments, short audio segments that went with the graphics, and many great suggestions for dealing with the 1940 census when it comes out on 2 April 2012. In addition, he filled three tables with ephemera that he has collected specifically about the census, including many from the 1940 time period.
Joel has some of the information he presented on his website at http://members.cox.net/census1940/.
The major point that Joel made in his talk today was that genealogy researchers will have to learn to search the 1940 US census using Enumeration Districts, at least from "Opening Day," until name indexes are available. That is why there is such an emphasis on his web site to providing aids to determine the Enumeration District of a place based on the address found in some other resource (e.g., city directories) and the 1930 Enumeration District numbers for that address. He and his team of volunteers are working through the NARA A3378 Series of ED Maps for 1940 and the NARA T1224 Series that defines 1940 ED boundaries. A web site that describes the probable process is here. The process will be different for large cities (over 50,000 population), small cities (25,000 to 50,000 population) and rural areas.
It sounds complicated, and it is, but we'll get used to it right about the time that the every name searches created by volunteers become available!
I won't summarize Joel's two hours of presentation (he set a countdown clock for the break time of 15:00:00 minutes, and almost everybody was back in their seats when it struck 00:00:00) in this post, but I will provide some of the things I took away from his talk:
* The directions for 1940 census enumerators are at http://usa.ipums.org/usa/voliii/inst1940.shtml.
* The 72-year rule was originally defined by transfer of the 1870 census from the Census Bureau to the National Archives in 1942, but it wasn't codified until 1978. It was not based on life expectancy.
* The 1940 census form has 40 lines - and two people on each page were asked additional questions about parents birthplaces, veterans information, Social Security information, number of children and marriage status (women only). This was the first census to use sampling techniques.
* The Census Bureau conducted a trial in two Indiana counties in 1939.
* There was a tremendous uproar in the U.S. Senate about the question asking about wages and money earned, led by Senator Tobey. Many people balked at answering the question despite a mail-in "anonymous" form.
* Ancestry.com will put many 1940 city and county directories online before the release of the 1940 census so people can find the addresses of their family members (and then can use the address to find the ED).
* NARA will probably not hire a third-party to index the census records. They will release the images without indexes. The thought is that a volunteer indexing activity will arise - like FamilySearch Indexing - to provide an every-name index.
* 1940 US Census Enumerators were paid 4 cents per name.
This presentation was extremely well attended - there were over 135 people in attendance, and they were all informed and entertained by a very knowledgeable Joel Weintraub over more than two hours!
If your local genealogy society needs a speaker, you should recommend Joel to your program chairperson. You, and your members, won't be disappointed!
Joel presented "Preparing for the 1940 Census" today at the San Diego Genealogical Society meeting today. The talk description and Joel's curriculum vitae are here. The professor and the genealogist in Joel really shone through today - the PowerPoint presentation had static slides, many funny graphics, short video segments, short audio segments that went with the graphics, and many great suggestions for dealing with the 1940 census when it comes out on 2 April 2012. In addition, he filled three tables with ephemera that he has collected specifically about the census, including many from the 1940 time period.
Joel has some of the information he presented on his website at http://members.cox.net/census1940/.
The major point that Joel made in his talk today was that genealogy researchers will have to learn to search the 1940 US census using Enumeration Districts, at least from "Opening Day," until name indexes are available. That is why there is such an emphasis on his web site to providing aids to determine the Enumeration District of a place based on the address found in some other resource (e.g., city directories) and the 1930 Enumeration District numbers for that address. He and his team of volunteers are working through the NARA A3378 Series of ED Maps for 1940 and the NARA T1224 Series that defines 1940 ED boundaries. A web site that describes the probable process is here. The process will be different for large cities (over 50,000 population), small cities (25,000 to 50,000 population) and rural areas.
It sounds complicated, and it is, but we'll get used to it right about the time that the every name searches created by volunteers become available!
I won't summarize Joel's two hours of presentation (he set a countdown clock for the break time of 15:00:00 minutes, and almost everybody was back in their seats when it struck 00:00:00) in this post, but I will provide some of the things I took away from his talk:
* The directions for 1940 census enumerators are at http://usa.ipums.org/usa/voliii/inst1940.shtml.
* The 72-year rule was originally defined by transfer of the 1870 census from the Census Bureau to the National Archives in 1942, but it wasn't codified until 1978. It was not based on life expectancy.
* The 1940 census form has 40 lines - and two people on each page were asked additional questions about parents birthplaces, veterans information, Social Security information, number of children and marriage status (women only). This was the first census to use sampling techniques.
* The Census Bureau conducted a trial in two Indiana counties in 1939.
* There was a tremendous uproar in the U.S. Senate about the question asking about wages and money earned, led by Senator Tobey. Many people balked at answering the question despite a mail-in "anonymous" form.
* Ancestry.com will put many 1940 city and county directories online before the release of the 1940 census so people can find the addresses of their family members (and then can use the address to find the ED).
* NARA will probably not hire a third-party to index the census records. They will release the images without indexes. The thought is that a volunteer indexing activity will arise - like FamilySearch Indexing - to provide an every-name index.
* 1940 US Census Enumerators were paid 4 cents per name.
This presentation was extremely well attended - there were over 135 people in attendance, and they were all informed and entertained by a very knowledgeable Joel Weintraub over more than two hours!
If your local genealogy society needs a speaker, you should recommend Joel to your program chairperson. You, and your members, won't be disappointed!
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Saturday Night Fun - Sing a Love Song
It's Saturday Night, and my Genea-Musings readers know what that means. Let's have some FUN!
It's also Valentine's Day, and hopefully you are with someone you love tonight (or tomorrow when you read this). If not, I'm sure that you remember someone that you loved and who loved you.
Here's the FUN part: recite a love poem, or sing a love song, to your loved one. Then tell us about it - in your own blog post or in a Comment to this post. Who, what, why...and enjoy doing it!
Here's my plan (do you remember this song?):
My absolute favorite love song (from my days of no chance for love in 1961) is I Love How You Love Me by the Paris Sisters. The lyrics are:
I love how your eyes close whenever you kiss me
And when I'm away from you I love how you miss me
I love the way you always treat me tenderly
But, darling, most of all I love how you love me
(love how you love me)
I love how your heart beats whenever I hold you
I love how you think of me without being told to
I love the way your touch is always heavenly
But, darling, most of all I love how you love me
(love how you love me)
I love how your eyes close whenever you kiss me
And when I'm away from you I love how you miss me
I love the way your touch is always heavenly
But, darling, most of all I love how you love me
(love how you love me)
I love how you hug me (love how you hug me)
I love how you squeeze me, tease me, please me
Love---how you love me
I love how you love me.
Now the challenge is to find the right time and place to recite this (I probably won't sing it - my voice isn't that high) to Angel Linda. She will be wonderfully surprised, I hope.
It's also Valentine's Day, and hopefully you are with someone you love tonight (or tomorrow when you read this). If not, I'm sure that you remember someone that you loved and who loved you.
Here's the FUN part: recite a love poem, or sing a love song, to your loved one. Then tell us about it - in your own blog post or in a Comment to this post. Who, what, why...and enjoy doing it!
Here's my plan (do you remember this song?):
My absolute favorite love song (from my days of no chance for love in 1961) is I Love How You Love Me by the Paris Sisters. The lyrics are:
I love how your eyes close whenever you kiss me
And when I'm away from you I love how you miss me
I love the way you always treat me tenderly
But, darling, most of all I love how you love me
(love how you love me)
I love how your heart beats whenever I hold you
I love how you think of me without being told to
I love the way your touch is always heavenly
But, darling, most of all I love how you love me
(love how you love me)
I love how your eyes close whenever you kiss me
And when I'm away from you I love how you miss me
I love the way your touch is always heavenly
But, darling, most of all I love how you love me
(love how you love me)
I love how you hug me (love how you hug me)
I love how you squeeze me, tease me, please me
Love---how you love me
I love how you love me.
Now the challenge is to find the right time and place to recite this (I probably won't sing it - my voice isn't that high) to Angel Linda. She will be wonderfully surprised, I hope.
Interesting German genealogy site
Reader Ron Chard from Florida emailed me about a German genealogy resource he found. Here is his email:
"...I have been hunting for my wife's grandfather Detert Lueken Aden's family back in Germany for sometime now. Two weeks ago I Google'd his name (had done so in the past with no luck) and was pointed to a German website at http://www.ortsfamilienbuecher.de/ At this website it pointed me to a link at "Ostfriesland Stedesdorf, Burhafe, Dunum (26427)". Lo and behold, there he was along with his ancestors in Ostfriesland, Prussia. When you access the Ostfriesland link, you can change the language to English, which made searching much easier for me as I have no knowledge of the German language.
"There looks to be over a hundred different databases for free access at this site, mostly in Germany, but it does include several other countries in Europe. You are provided a contact person for the database you are looking at, contact email address, and source information. I forwarded information pertaining to Detert's American family, which was quickly added to his German data.
"Thought you might want to take a look at this site and possibly pass it along on your blog to those hunting for their elusive German ancestors."
Thank you, Ron! It looks like an interesting site - but I can't figure much out without having some German language skills. I'm going to pass it along to the people in the local German Research Association also.
One of the lessons learned here, by myself, is to regularly put your elusive ancestor names into search engines. So much material is added online every day, week, month and year that you might be surprised to find a pearl in the hog trough of genealogy web sites.
"...I have been hunting for my wife's grandfather Detert Lueken Aden's family back in Germany for sometime now. Two weeks ago I Google'd his name (had done so in the past with no luck) and was pointed to a German website at http://www.ortsfamilienbuecher.de/ At this website it pointed me to a link at "Ostfriesland Stedesdorf, Burhafe, Dunum (26427)". Lo and behold, there he was along with his ancestors in Ostfriesland, Prussia. When you access the Ostfriesland link, you can change the language to English, which made searching much easier for me as I have no knowledge of the German language.
"There looks to be over a hundred different databases for free access at this site, mostly in Germany, but it does include several other countries in Europe. You are provided a contact person for the database you are looking at, contact email address, and source information. I forwarded information pertaining to Detert's American family, which was quickly added to his German data.
"Thought you might want to take a look at this site and possibly pass it along on your blog to those hunting for their elusive German ancestors."
Thank you, Ron! It looks like an interesting site - but I can't figure much out without having some German language skills. I'm going to pass it along to the people in the local German Research Association also.
One of the lessons learned here, by myself, is to regularly put your elusive ancestor names into search engines. So much material is added online every day, week, month and year that you might be surprised to find a pearl in the hog trough of genealogy web sites.
Valentine's Day Musings
It's the reddest day of the year...check out the Genea-Musings color combinations - just for today!
For all of my love-ly Genea-Musings readers - here is a bouquet just for you.
You can even download it (right-click on picture, Save As Picture, put it in a file where you can find it) and send it to your favorite bloggers or email friends. How many times will I get this back?
I posted some Valentine's Day goodies in past years. See:* Valentine's Day Censuswhacking - some love-ly names from the records
* The Best Valentine's Day Gift Ever - read about 1970.
Look for some Saturday Night Fun tonight on the topic of "Love."
Here's my "musing" for the day:
Each one of us is a product of a mother and a father, and each of them were products of a mother and a father, going back for centuries and eons of history. Almost every one of those births was the product of a "love relationship" - something that drew that man and that woman together at a point in time and created a totally unique human being.
Each set of parents had no idea what the future would hold for their child, but I think that each parent hoped for a happy and fulfilling life for their child. Did Tom and Nancy (Hanks) Lincoln ever consider that their son Abraham would become a lawyer and President of the United States? Did Bill Clinton's parents, or Barack Obama's parents, have those hopes?
I would like to think that my parents hoped that I would get an education, find a useful and rewarding occupation, meet a wonderful "love of my life," have a family that graced their lives with grandchildren, and love and honor them throughout their lives, and their memories after they passed. If that was their hopes, I think that I have fulfilled them. Those were my hopes for our children, and they are in the process of fulfilling them.
One of the reasons that I pursue my genealogy research and write about family history is so that I can tell the stories of my ancestry to my children and their progeny. When my daughter was in college, she wrote me a letter that said "tell me about your life - how were you raised, what did you do, why are you like you are?" I hope that she discovers this blog some day and marvels at the memories, the thoughts, and the wisdom imparted. I hope that she saves these posts (actually, they're on the CD-ROMs I give them every year, but I'm sure that they don't read them!) and reads them when I'm gone and remembers the good times, the fun times, the loving times.
For all of my love-ly Genea-Musings readers - here is a bouquet just for you.
You can even download it (right-click on picture, Save As Picture, put it in a file where you can find it) and send it to your favorite bloggers or email friends. How many times will I get this back?
I posted some Valentine's Day goodies in past years. See:* Valentine's Day Censuswhacking - some love-ly names from the records
* The Best Valentine's Day Gift Ever - read about 1970.
Look for some Saturday Night Fun tonight on the topic of "Love."
Here's my "musing" for the day:
Each one of us is a product of a mother and a father, and each of them were products of a mother and a father, going back for centuries and eons of history. Almost every one of those births was the product of a "love relationship" - something that drew that man and that woman together at a point in time and created a totally unique human being.
Each set of parents had no idea what the future would hold for their child, but I think that each parent hoped for a happy and fulfilling life for their child. Did Tom and Nancy (Hanks) Lincoln ever consider that their son Abraham would become a lawyer and President of the United States? Did Bill Clinton's parents, or Barack Obama's parents, have those hopes?
I would like to think that my parents hoped that I would get an education, find a useful and rewarding occupation, meet a wonderful "love of my life," have a family that graced their lives with grandchildren, and love and honor them throughout their lives, and their memories after they passed. If that was their hopes, I think that I have fulfilled them. Those were my hopes for our children, and they are in the process of fulfilling them.
One of the reasons that I pursue my genealogy research and write about family history is so that I can tell the stories of my ancestry to my children and their progeny. When my daughter was in college, she wrote me a letter that said "tell me about your life - how were you raised, what did you do, why are you like you are?" I hope that she discovers this blog some day and marvels at the memories, the thoughts, and the wisdom imparted. I hope that she saves these posts (actually, they're on the CD-ROMs I give them every year, but I'm sure that they don't read them!) and reads them when I'm gone and remembers the good times, the fun times, the loving times.
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