New and Updated

Here is a list of all of this week's articles, all of them available here at https://eogn.com:           

Penn State University Libraries’ Eberly Family Special Collections Library has launched the Black History and Visual Culture digital collection, a celebration and remembrance of Black life at Penn State campuses, broadly across the United States, and around the world.

The permanent collection, free for public viewing, features posters, poetry and visual materials that have been digitized in an ongoing effort to expand holdings of published and primary source materials related to a diversity of Black experiences. Sourced from materials within the Eberly Family Special Collections Library, the collection highlights the significant contributions made by Black literary and historic figures to American cultural life.

“The goal in creating this collection is to make visual materials about African Americans more accessible to researchers, professors, and beyond,” said Patrice Green, curator of African American Collections at Eberly Family Special Collections Library and curator of the Black History and Visual Culture digital collection. “We chose many of the materials by challenging ourselves to think more holistically about representations of Blackness and how they manifest, from poetry broadsides to theater posters.”

Green said that while curating the collection, the team was compelled to think deeply about how University Libraries names and describes collections, explaining that offering materials online does not inherently make those materials accessible without incorporating inclusive language in the metadata. Moreover, some materials gathered for the collection emerged intuitively as the team worked to navigate Penn State’s past and present social landscapes. Green noted long-ceased Black student publications that were located in various parts of the University Archives that the project "allowed us to bring together in a much more cohesive way.”

In terms of visual culture, the collection contains the Sara Willoughby-Herb collection of Black history posters, a gift of Jill Willoughby and Sara Willoughby-Herb. Among them is a 1969 printing of "Nguzo saba, The Seven Principles,” one of the most popular items in the University Libraries digital collections.  A newspaper issue documenting a previously undocumented Colored Convention held in St. Louis in 1868 is also on view.

Audiovisual materials of interest include a documentary entitled It's Our Thing about the Black Arts Festival held in 1969, and a recording of a reading given by Nikki Giovanni in 1973, both of which took place on the University Park campus.

The Black History and Visual Culture collection also contains a selection of Black student publications from the 1960s and 1970s, documenting a time of social change and political turmoil in the United States and at Penn State. The titles selected for this collection, such as Focus on Black and the Black Eye, provide a glimpse into the lives and activities of past Black students at Penn State that will hopefully resonate with students today.

“As the collection grows, we look forward to telling more stories about the Black experience at Penn State through the archives, with supporting Penn State research, instruction and student expression,” said Kevin Clair, digital collections librarian for the Everly Family Special Collections Library.

Additional resources related to the Black History and Visual Culture digital collection include:

“Predominately white institutions have a responsibility to invest a dedicated effort in highlighting, but not tokenizing, the stories of marginalized people on their campuses. I'm hoping we played a small part in that here,” said Green.

Visit the Black History and Visual Culture website to view the digital collection. To learn more about this digital collection or questions about special collections, contact the Eberly Family Specials Collections Library at (814) 865-1793 or spcollections@psu.edu. For information about the collection’s use for research or instruction, please contact Patrice Green, curator for African American Collections, at pzg5253@psu.edu.

The Delaware Historical Society announced the release of a new tool to direct researchers, teachers and interested parties toward resources surrounding African American history in the state and region.

The research guide is meant to provide access to materials related to African American history held at the Delaware Historical Society. It provides collection-level descriptions from the manuscript, photograph and periodical collections, and various African American genealogical resources for Delaware families.

Delaware Historical Society Executive Director Ivan Henderson said, “[It is] a sorely needed resource which should invite new learners to locate and explore some of the most-requested items in DHS’s collections.”

Chief Curator Leigh Rifenburg said this is an important addition to DHS’s existing research tools, making it easier than ever for new audiences to discover and access resources essential to understanding the African American experience in Delaware. The resource guide is free to download on the society’s website at dehistory.org/dhs-african-american-resource-guide.

The scope of materials ranges from the 17th century to the present day, covering topics including slavery and the Civil War, school desegregation, the Civil Rights Movement, and African American social, religious and political life in Delaware. The resource guide will be updated as the society acquires new collections from across the state and can be used alongside its existing online catalogs and digital collections site.

This is a Plus Edition article written by and copyright by Dick Eastman. 

NOTE: This article contains personal opinions.

The genealogy software world is changing around us. This week, I thought I would look at the history of such software and then look into the crystal ball to see if the future can be discerned.

I have been using genealogy programs in my home computers for 39 years. In 1984, I started with Family Ties, a program written by Neil Wagstaff. I ran it on a homemade CP/M computer with two 8-inch floppy disk drives and a huge memory capacity of 64 kilobytes. No, that is not a typo error: those were 8-inch floppy disks drives. Many of today's computer users have never seen an 8-inch floppy disk although the later 5 1/2-inch and 3 1/2-inch disks became quite popular.

Over the years, I kept upgrading both the hardware and the software in use. I upgraded from the CP/M operating system to MS-DOS, then to Windows 2.0 and through a series of Windows releases: 3.0, 3.1, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista and nowadays it is Windows 11. In fact, after using Windows for a few years, I finally made my best upgrade: to Macintosh OS X. 

Along the way, I have used many different genealogy programs: Family Ties, Genealogy on Display, The Family Edge, Personal Ancestral File (versions 1, 2, 3, and 4), Roots II, Roots III, Roots IV, Visual Roots, Ultimate Family Tree, Family Origins, Legacy, RootsMagic, The Master Genealogist, Reunion, MacFamilyTree, Heredis, and, most recently, Family Tree Builder. I have also used GRAMPS (for Linux, Windows, and Macintosh), GedStar (originally for Palm handheld computers), and The Pocket Genealogist (for Windows Mobile handheld computers) as well as The Next Generation of Genealogy Site Building and PhpGedView, both of which store their databases on web servers. Because of articles I have written in this newsletter over the past 27 years and in other online publications prior to the newsletter, I have also briefly used many other genealogy programs and have written reviews of many of them.

I won't claim to be an expert, but I do think I am experienced at a wide variety of genealogy programs. I also believe that I can see some trends. Today I thought I would write about those trends and even attempt to forecast the future. I won't go too far into the future, perhaps five years or so. After that, my crystal ball gets a bit cloudy.

Why Do We Use Genealogy Software?

The answer to that question is simple: to organize our research findings! Indeed, most genealogy programs are simply repositories for our findings. They are digital replacements for the three-ring binders and the photo albums that genealogists used for years. We conduct genealogy searches in a wide variety of ways and record the results in a program that is essentially a database along with specialized data entry software and reporting capabilities of various sorts. Use of computers adds convenience and speed to storing of information, but the primary reasons for doing all this haven’t changed much in many decades. 

The Past Thirty-Nine Years

Over the years, genealogists have enjoyed a variety of programs that allow us to enter our data, store it, sort it, analyze it, and print it out in a variety or reports. In the early days of home computing, each genealogist maintained his or her own data on a personal floppy or hard drive, with data typically maintained by only one person. Each genealogist's database was a separate "island" of data. There was no method of easily comparing the data stored on one computer's database against data stored on other personal computers. To be sure, there was a plethora of manual methods, such as reading microfilms, comparing notes with others at genealogy society meetings, or comparing notes with others on various online message boards. However, all these efforts were manual thirty-four years ago.

Let's compare our methodologies of 39 years ago with those of today. 

The remainder of this article is reserved for Plus Edition subscribers only. If you have a Plus Edition subscription, you may read the full article at: 

https://eogn.com/(*)-Plus-Edition-News-Articles/13184374.

If you are not yet a Plus Edition subscriber, you can learn more about such subscriptions and even upgrade to a Plus Edition subscription immediately at https://eogn.com/page-18077. 

The Santa Barbara County Genealogical Society invites the community to opening of their exhibit “Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage of Santa Barbara, 1870s – 1970s” on Sunday, May 7. This free event will take place from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Sahyun Genealogical Library at 316 Castillo Street in Santa Barbara.

“The Santa Barbara Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Exhibit will be a journey to discovery that we can experience together,” said Melinda Yamane Crawford, Genealogical Society member and Co-Chair of the Society’s Exhibit Committee. “We are delighted to welcome the community to learn more about our local Chinese, Japanese, and Filipino families and their many contributions to the rich and colorful history of Santa Barbara.”

Visitors to the event will enjoy historical accounts, photos, and artifacts from local AAPI families, a Chinese tea service, a Japanese choir singing and playing the tone chimes, and Bonsai trimming demonstrations. There will also be booths from community organizations, genealogy research assistance, appetizers, and more.

You can learn more on the Santa Barbara County Genealogical Society web site at: https://sbgen.org/.

Jerry Springer, the ex-mayor of Cincinnati who gained a national profile with his eponymous, fight-filled TV talk show, has died at 79 after a “brief illness,” according to TMZ. 

Springer was born in the underground Highgate train station in London, then a makeshift bomb shelter, on Feb. 13, 1944. His parents were German Jewish refugees who escaped the Nazis with the help of World Jewish Relief. At the organization’s 2017 business dinner, he told his family’s story before quipping, “This is a general rule that I always follow: If somebody saves my life, I’ll always show up at their dinner.”

Springer learned more about the fate of his family on a 2008 episode of the British edition of Who Do You Think You Are? Both of his grandmothers died in the Holocaust, his paternal grandmother, Selma Springer, in the Theresienstadt ghetto hospital and his maternal grandmother, Marie Kallman at the Chelmno extermination camp.

When he was 4, Springer relocated with his family to Kew Gardens, Queens. After graduating from Tulane University and Northwestern Law, Springer worked as an aide to Robert Kennedy and as a lawyer in Democratic politics.

Springer said his family history “made me profoundly liberal,” adding, “it was instinctive for me to be involved with civil liberties. You don’t have to be lectured about tolerance when your family has been through the Holocaust.”

You can read more about the life of Jerry Springer in many web sites. I suggest starting at: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=jerry+springer&t=h_&ia=web. 

The following announcement was written by Findmypast:

England & Wales, Return of Owners of Land 1873 

Published in 1873, this book details all owners of land over one acre. New this week, there over 269,000 transcripts and images to explore, which should help you unearth a name, home address, and details of the land they held.  

Scotland, Return of Owners of Land 1873 

The same survey as above was carried out in Scotland. It similarly lists names, addresses, land sizes and valuations with just over 20,000 records. This collection is also new to Findmypast this Friday. 

Ireland, Return of Owners of Land 1876 

This existing collection has been updated and improved, and contains around 33,000 records. While the survey for Ireland was taken in 1873, the report was not published until 1876.   

Findmypast Photo Collection 

A further 814 historical photographs have been added to this collection, all taken by Daily Mirror photographer Bela Zola between 1947 and 1955. These wonderful images offer a real glimpse into daily life in postwar Britain. 

Newspapers 

Two brand-new royal titles, a Surrey title, and updates to a further 26 make up this week’s newspaper releases. 

New titles: 

·         Farnham Mail, 1986-1987 

·         King and His Navy and Army, 1903-1906 

·         Who’s who at the Coronation, 1902 

Updated titles: 

·         Birmingham Weekly Mercury, 1912 

·         Bristol Evening Post, 1990, 1992 

·         Burry Port Star, 1986 

·         Cambridge Independent Press, 1951 

·         East Kent Gazette, 1897 

·         Gloucester Citizen, 1951 

·         Herald Cymraeg, 1994 

·         Hertford Mercury and Reformer, 1897 

·         Hinckley Free Press, 1900 

·         Huddersfield and Holmfirth Examiner, 1877, 1890, 1892, 1960, 1963-1964, 1966-1969, 1973 

·         Huddersfield Daily Examiner, 1879, 1890, 1899, 1924-1926, 1929-1933, 1935-1936, 1938, 1940, 1944, 1946-1948, 1951, 1953-1954, 1956, 1958, 1960, 1965-1967, 1969, 1974, 1981 

·         Liverpool Evening Express, 1913 

·         Manchester Evening News, 1869, 1963, 1965-1972, 1974, 1976, 1987 

·         Marylebone Mercury, 1990 

·         New Observer (Bristol), 1980 

·         North Tyneside Herald & Post, 1991, 1998 

·         Nottingham Guardian, 1905 

·         Rochdale Observer, 1950 

·         Stratford-upon-Avon Herald, 1917-1918, 1920-1922, 1924-1934, 1975-1977 

·         The People, 1910-1913, 1919-1922, 1934-1938 

·         The Queen, 1861-1873, 1913-1917 

·         Walsall Advertiser, 1864, 1866-1867, 1869, 1871-1872, 1874-1875, 1877-1878 

·         Walsall Observer, 1988, 1997 

·         Western Daily Press, 1992 

·         Western Gazette, 1982  

·         Whitstable Times and Herne Bay Herald, 1969-1972 

Heirlooms and beloved family possessions are special memories and kinship substances that help us stay connected to our family heritage and close ones. To lose one can be heart-wrenching. Brittany Thompson, a bride from Cape Coral in Florida, lost her only heirloom on the night of her wedding reception. When Thompson realized the bracelet on her wrist was missing, she started panicking. All her friends and family soon came to assist her and tried to help her recall every moment of the wedding reception night.

The bracelet belonged to her late grandmother—whom she never had a chance to meet—and was passed on to her as a family heirloom. Thompson's father, whom she just met two years ago through Ancestry.com, gifted her his mother's blue sapphire bracelet as something blue. "I was completely losing my mind," admitted the new bride, reports NBC2 News.

Thompson was wearing the bracelet for her wedding, which took place the day before she discovered it was missing. She called the wedding venue the next morning to check if they had received a bracelet from the event's premises. Thompson and her husband, together went to the venue, hoping to collect the lost bracelet but to their dismay, they had already cleaned the premises and emptied all the trash cans. But to their luck, the waste management workers were just leaving the premise. "As soon as we arrived, the garbage man had already dumped it into his truck," Thompson said. Her husband went to the truck, knocked on the door, and spoke to the driver. Thompson said the driver's name was Jeff.

Jeff then called his supervisor for permission to dig through the trash dump. Once he got the permission, he called the newlywed couple. "For him to do that — it’s not a shock for anybody that knows him," said Bill Jones, Divisional Vice President for Waste Pro. "Jeff did the right thing."

However, after digging through the trash for quite some time, Thompson almost claimed her defeat. But it was then that she found a ray of hope rising from the heap of trash. Thompson's eyes stuck on the hay sticking out of the trash. The hay was part of the wedding photo background, which was set in the venue premise. “And as I kept pulling stuff out of that bag, sure enough in one of the handfuls, there was the bracelet,” shared Thompson.

You can watch a YouTube video about this story at: https://youtu.be/MOKNzCE6LLw.