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

(+)  RSS and Newsreaders Explained

What’s the Best Way to Store Data for Decades or Centuries?

U.S. National Archives' Statement on the Presidential Records Act Special Access Requests

Every Blue Eyed Person on the Planet Is a Descendant of One Single Person

Ancestry Sites Giving Away Identity of Sperm and Egg Donors

Genetic Contribution From the Stone Age May Influence Our Chance to Have a Long Life

Genealogists Announce Breakthrough in DNA Analysis of Tulsa's Oaklawn Cemetery Remains

Nonprofit Working to Solve California Cold Case With Eastern North Carolina Ties Using Investigative Genealogy

How Artificial Intelligence Is Helping Historians Better Understand Our Past

Tennessee Historical Commission Unveils Online Database of Cemeteries

Record Locations Compiled by the New York State Archives

National Archives of New Zealand Reboots Problematic Search System

The New Assistant Director at the FamilySearch Library

Tamara Martin Appointed Director of the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum

The Story of China’s Largest Genealogy Collection

Browse British Calendars and Durham Baptisms Like Never Before With Findmypast's New Additions

Recently Added and Updated Collections on Ancestry.com

Census Bureau Releases New U.S. Population Estimates by Age and Sex

Bluesky - a Twitter Clone

The following is a press release issued by the U.S. Census Bureau"

The U.S. Census Bureau has released a downloadable file containing estimates of the nation’s resident population by sex and single year of age as of July 1, 2022. The file is available at www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/popest/2020s-national-detail.html. 

In the coming months, the Census Bureau will release additional population estimates for cities and towns, as well as national, state and county population estimates by age, sex, race and Hispanic origin.

I know that many readers of this newsletter are (or were) enthusiastic users of Twitter. If that includes you, you may be interested in this article by Jay Peters published in theverge.com web site:

Bluesky is really, really fun.

Yes, the platform is essentially just Twitter but decentralized. And yes, the Jack Dorsey-backed Bluesky is one of many services emulating howTwitter looks right now. But after spending a few hours in Bluesky since getting my beta invite this week, it’s so far the service where I feel the most joy.

Similar to Mastodon, Bluesky is a federated social network, which, at its most basic level, means that users can participate through different providers instead of a huge central one. The easiest comparison is email: if you have Gmail, you can send an email to somebody on Apple’s iCloud, and they can reply back to you.

Bluesky lets you pick from different hosting providers. When I joined the app on Tuesday, I picked the default, which is Bluesky’s own system. (There’s an option to join other providers, but I don’t know what options are available or how to set them up. This may be user error or ignorance.) From there, I set my username, which reads more like a domain — jaypeters.bsky.social — and I’ll talk about that a bit more later.

When I first got to the “Following” feed, it was empty, but as I explored more, it didn’t take long to discover that Bluesky already has an extremely active user base that’s now dealing with an influx of newbies like me. Very soon in my Bluesky journey, I stumbled upon a post from Jay Graber, the CEO of Bluesky, that helped me get a sense of what I was in for.

“It was getting pretty scene-y here so we just emailed 5K people from our waitlist, say hi when you see them trickle on!” Graber wrote. In a reply, Graber added “densely connected subgraph of twitter power users who just joined, meek 5k people who gave us their email and filled out a form ”

Cruising the “What’s hot” section that day was a mishmash of simple internet delight.

You can read the full article at: https://tinyurl.com/yps4mm3a.

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

Your paperboy just got smarter. This article will tell you how to easily read more information on the Internet in a shorter period of time. In short, you can use much of the Internet without all the clutter.

I used to spend 2 or 3 hours per day visiting specific web sites over and over in an attempt to find new information. I regularly visited CNN.com looking for news, weather.com looking for the latest weather forecast for my home town, various stock market web sites, and, of course, genealogy sites looking for information about a variety of topics. The old method meant visiting each and every web site, one at a time, then waiting for the page to appear on my screen, then looking at menus to find the new information, waiting again for the new pages to appear, and so on. It was a tedious way to search for new information.

Today I can accomplish the same thing within a very few minutes instead of spending hours searching for elusive information. Today I "subscribe" to CNN.com, weather.com, stock market quotes, and many other web sites. New information automatically appears on my computer's screen whenever I want; I no longer have to open a web browser to visit dozens of web sites in search of new information. I only see new information. Older information that has already appeared on my screen earlier is not displayed to me a second time. Most of the advertisements are also not displayed although a few do manage to appear. The result is in the a form of a "custom newspaper" designed for me, containing new information about topics of interest to me.

My computer automatically retrieves information daily from dozens of web sites, using RSS format. RSS, or Really Simple Syndication, is a method of publishing and subscribing to to frequently updated content, such as blog entries and news items. In short, many web site(s) publish information in RSS format, and software in my computer automatically retrieves that information in RSS format and displays it on my screen in an easy-to-read format. 

A newsreader, sometimes called a feed reader or simply an aggregator, is client software that you can download and install in a computer or perhaps is available on a Web site which aggregates or consolidates data that has been published in RSS format. In either case, you can "subscribe" to news headlines, blogs, podcasts, and video blogs in a single location for easy viewing. You do not need to "surf the web" looking for content; the new information is automatically delivered to you in a packaged and convenient manner.

RSS-formatted data works well for information that changes often. For instance, stock market information and weather forecasts are a natural fit for RSS newsfeeds. The same is true for the latest news and even for new articles posted to a genealogy newsletter's web site, such as www.EOGN.com. Almost all genealogy blogs also offer RSS newsfeeds. 

RSS newsreaders reduce the time and effort needed to regularly check for updates to multiple websites, creating a unique information space or "personal newspaper." Once subscribed to a feed, a newsreader is able to check for new content at user-determined intervals and display the updates for you. 

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/13168394.

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. 

Washington, DC

Recent press stories and social media posts concerning NARA’s actions in relation to the Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation into materials held by former President Donald J. Trump at his Mar-a-Lago property allege that NARA has been untruthful about our activities. This is not accurate. These allegations confuse NARA’s statutory role in providing access to records under the Presidential Records Act (PRA) with the DOJ investigation and the FBI’s subsequent search of Mar-a-Lago.

NARA routinely makes Presidential records in our legal custody available to all three branches of the federal government via the “special access” provision of the PRA (44 U.S.C. 2205(2)).  This provision authorizes Executive branch agencies, such as the Department of Justice, to make requests through the sitting President.   

NARA’s core mission is to make records available for access. By providing records under the PRA, NARA does not consider itself to be involved in the work of, or investigations by, the requestors. This stands true whether the requestor is the President, an Executive branch agency, Congress, or a Court (including via grand jury subpoenas). 

As NARA publicly disclosed more than seven months ago, NARA provided the FBI with access to the 15 boxes of materials from Mar-a-Lago in accordance with the PRA. As we have stated previously, NARA had no prior knowledge of, or involvement in, the FBI’s search of Mar-a-Lago, which occurred months after NARA first provided the FBI with access to the 15 boxes.  

The PRA special access request process for the Mar-a-Lago boxes was described in the May 10, 2022, letter from Acting Archivist of the United States Debra Steidel Wall to Evan Corcoran, one of former President Trump’s PRA representatives, which NARA posted on its website in August 2022. This letter states that the Department of Justice asked “the President to request that NARA provide the FBI with access to the boxes at issue so that the FBI and others in the Intelligence Community could examine them. On April 11, 2022, the White House Counsel’s Office — affirming a request from the Department of Justice supported by an FBI letterhead memorandum — formally transmitted a request that NARA provide the FBI access to the 15 boxes for its review within seven days, with the possibility that the FBI might request copies of specific documents following its review of the boxes.” The Acting Archivist’s letter addressed the privilege issues raised by the representative of President Trump and concluded that: “NARA will provide the FBI access to the records in question, as requested by the incumbent President, beginning as early as Thursday, May 12, 2022.”

Records we have released in response to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests about Presidential and Vice-Presidential records are available here: 

• Records Responsive to Multiple FOIA Requests related to former President Trump's return of 15 boxes of records from Mar-a-Lago
• Records released in response to Presidential Records Act (PRA) questions under the Trump Administration
• Records related to the return of Biden Vice-Presidential Records Covered by the Presidential Records Act (PRA)
• Records related to Pence Vice-Presidential Records Covered by the Presidential Records Act (PRA)

UPDATEDIowa, U.S., Marriage Records, 1880-1947	4/12/2023
NEWOregon, U.S., County Divorce Records, 1917-1948	4/10/2023
UPDATEDOregon, U.S., State Births, 1842-1921	4/10/2023
UPDATEDOregon, U.S., State Marriages, 1906-1971	4/10/2023
UPDATEDOregon, U.S., State Divorces, 1925-1971	4/10/2023
UPDATEDSouth Carolina, U.S., Births, 1915-1920	4/10/2023
UPDATED1900 United States Federal Census	4/10/2023
UPDATEDOregon, U.S., State Deaths, 1864-1971	4/10/2023
NEWNew York, New York, U.S., Tax Photos, 1940	4/6/2023
UPDATEDNARA Collections on Ancestry.com	3/29/2023
UPDATEDU.S., Obituary Collection, 1930-Current	3/23/2023
UPDATEDU.S., Cemetery and Funeral Home Collection, 1847-Current	3/23/2023

The following announcement was written by Findmypast:

From North Eastern baptisms to browsable images for 207 Royal and Imperial Calendars, there's so much to explore within this week's record release. Here's a full rundown of all that's been added, including an in-depth look at the 240,324 pages we've added to our newspaper collection. 

Britain, Royal and Imperial Calendars 1767-1973 Browse

If you've got ancestors who worked in the civil service or other state institutions between 1767 and 1973, these Calendars may provide you with more information.

You can now browse images of our collection of 207 Royal and Imperial Calendars, which are exclusive to Findmypast. This new browse function allows you to search by year, and access images for each page, including the detailed indexes at the beginning which help you to navigate the book.

Spanning over two centuries, these catalogs provide a detailed snapshot of life in Britain at different points in history. As each book's index indicates, the information detailed includes the members of the Royal Households, the High Commissioners in London, the Cabinet, the Treasury, and the names of all those employed in Public Departments. 

While the details included vary over the years, all of the catalogs list the names of people who worked for state agencies and institutions.

Although this browse-only collection cannot be searched by name, date, or keyword (you can use the Search collection of Calendars for that), filtering by year allows you to really delve into a particular time period. You can understand this rich source in its entirety by viewing the book as a whole, rather than just viewing individual entries.

A quick search for the year 1954 brings us to that year's Calendar book. It provides a fascinating glimpse into the household of the newly-crowned Queen Elizabeth II, aged just 28. 

Under the entry for Buckingham Palace is a long list of noble figures, including the Earl of Scarbrough ('Lord Chamberlain'), the Duke of Hamilton and Brandon ('Lord Steward'), and the Duke of Beaufort (who was the 'Master of the Horse'). 

The Queen's Household in the Royal Calendar for 1954. Browse the book for yourself here.

The Queen's private secretaries are listed, in addition to the keepers of the archives and the palace's housekeeper, a Mrs J. M. Ferguson.

You can browse these books for yourself to explore your own family's connections to the Royal household. Although you might not be descended from high places, your ancestors could have played a more important role in Britain's history than you suspect, as royal household staff or state functionaries. 

Durham Baptisms

We've also added 12,656 records to our Durham Baptisms this week. These new records cover 11 parishes in Northumberland and Durham, spanning from 1560 to 1847. 

These parishes are: 

• Barnard Castle, St Mary
• Bothral, St Andrew
• Earsdon, St Alban
• Edlingham, St John the Baptist
• Esh Laude, St Michael RC
• Gainford, St Mary
• Grindon, St Thomas A Beckett
• Newcastle-upon-Tyne, St John the Baptist
• Rochester, Birdhopecraig Presbyterian
• Tynemouth, Christ Church
• Whitburn, St Mary

William Bailes, baptised on 4 November 1638 at Gainford, St Mary.

These transcription-only records contain the kind of key details that are the building blocks of a family tree. As the above record of William Bailes (b. 1638) indicates, you can expect to find the name of the baptised, the baptism date, the parish, and one or both parents' names. 

If you've got roots in the North East of England, the Durham Baptisms collection may well help to resolve some of your unanswered questions.

Discover the world of trotting and much more 

We've added 240,324 new pages to our newspaper collection this week. This includes four all-new titles and updates to an existing 32. 

Among this week's new additions is the Trotting World and Horse Review - a specialist title focused on, you guessed it, all things horse-related. It's a sporting publication, which described itself as a 'Journal devoted to the breeding, training and racing of trotters' upon its establishment in 1902.

Trotting World and Horse Review, 8 November 1930.

As its name suggests, trotting involves harnessed horses, pulling a two-wheeled cart, at trotting gait. Although trotting is less popular today than it was a century ago, it remains popular among select communities. 

Another notable new addition to our newspaper collection is Drakard's Stamford News, which was published by political radical John Drakard between 1809 and 1834. The publication was a platform for Drakard's radically progressive views - he spoke out about the dire living conditions in Britain and also took a stand on corporal punishment in the British Army. 

Drakard's Stamford News, 6 October 1809.

His mission was to tell the public of 'the real situation of the Country in which they live', so that they could 'test... the capacity and integrity of their Rulers'. 

This, of course, made him unpopular with the British elite. In addition to facing numerous libel suits, he served 18 months in prison for his article on corporal punishment. In response to views expressed in Drakard's Stamford News, he was also the victim of a public horsewhipping by Robert Brudenell, the sixth Earl of Cardigan.

Among this week's updated titles is the Manchester Evening News, to which we've added over 36,000 new pages. Over 30,000 pages have also been added to the Welsh edition of the Liverpool Daily Post.

Here is a full rundown of all that we've added.

New titles:

• Drakard’s Stamford News, 1809-1834
• Feltham Leader, 1999
• Hinckley Echo, 1900, 1903, 1906, 1909, 1912, 1914-1915, 1917, 1919, 1921, 1924, 1927-1940, 1943-1951
• Trotting World and Horse Review, 1902-1911, 1917-1932

Updated titles:

• Acton Gazette, 1959
• Bristol Evening Post, 1988
• Derbyshire Advertiser and Journal, 1872-1877
• Dunmow Observer, 1986
• Essex & Herts Mercury, 1822, 1825, 1831, 1834-1835
• Evening Despatch, 1907
• Farnborough News, 1976-1978, 1980-1984
• Greenford & Northolt Gazette, 1990-1991
• Grimsby Daily Telegraph, 1988
• Herne Bay Times, 1986
• Hinckley Free Press, 1899
• Horncastle Target, 1999
• Hoylake & West Kirby News, 1986
• Lincolnshire Free Press, 1988
• Liverpool Daily Post (Welsh Edition), 1986-1987, 1989
• Loughborough Mail, 1986
• Manchester Evening News, 1984, 1988
• Nantwich Chronicle, 1991
• New Observer (Bristol), 1986
• Newquay Express and Cornwall County Chronicle, 1955
• Northwich Chronicle, 1991
• Nottingham Journal, 1877
• Ormskirk Advertiser, 1884
• Sheerness Guardian and East Kent Advertiser, 1866
• Shepton Mallet Journal, 1990
• South Wales Daily Post, 1919
• South Wales Echo, 1990
• Stratford-upon-Avon Herald, 1978-1980
• Walsall Observer, 1990-1991
• Western Daily Press, 1987-1988
• Widnes Weekly News and District Reporter, 1991
• Wilmslow Express Advertiser, 1986, 1991

What has your research uncovered? Whether you've solved a family mystery or managed to track down an elusive ancestor, we'd love to hear about the discoveries you've made. You can now tell us directly using this form.

A nonprofit that got its start more than five years ago continues to work to identify John and Jane Does using investigative genealogy, and in one case has identified eastern North Carolina ties to a body found under a bridge in California nearly 30 years ago.

The DNA Doe Project works to identify unnamed deceased people through the volunteer efforts of more than 60 experienced genetic genealogists. One of those volunteers is Lisa Needler, who is working to help identify a man known as the Wohler Bridge John Doe.

“The body was found, it was skeletal remains, found in 1994,” she said, “It says that subjects were hiking to a fishing hole and discovered the skeleton.”

On New Year’s Eve 1994, officials in Sonoma County say hikers discovered the body near Wohler Bridge in Forestville, California. The coroner said the man had suffered fractures to both sides of his skull and stab wounds to the scapula. The cause of death was determined to be blunt force trauma to the head.

Not much else is known about the man. Officials say he was wearing a motorcycle jacket and boots when he died and had a Prince Albert piercing.

DNA matches to distant cousins have come from Craven, Jones, New Hanover, Brunswick and many other North Carolina counties.

You can read more in an article by Annette Weston-Riggs published in the Public Radio For Eastern North Carolina web site at: https://tinyurl.com/72xmse2h.

Washington, DC

Acting Archivist of the United States Debra Steidel Wall today announced the appointment of Tamara K. Martin as the new Director of the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum in Yorba Linda, CA, effective April 24.

In making the announcement, Acting Archivist Wall said, “Ms. Martin’s extensive experience leading archival operations and public programs for the State of California, especially in the areas of access and digitization, will be of tremendous value to the National Archives and our Presidential Library system.” 

Ms. Martin comes to the Nixon Presidential Library from her position as California State Archivist, a role she has held since 2019. She directs one of the largest state archives in the United States and leads a staff of more than 40. Martin recently oversaw the division-wide implementation of new technology and funding, more accessible public services, and expanded public programming, educational resources, and exhibits celebrating California’s history and diversity. Previously, Martin served as the Managing Archivist and California Deputy State Archivist for the California State Archives, a division of the California Secretary of State’s Office. 

Ms. Martin has extensive experience leading teams, developing public programming, and fostering new strategic partnerships. Prior to joining the Secretary of State’s Office, Martin worked for the City of Napa coordinating the care and access to the city’s archival records. She previously worked as an archivist with the Alabama Department of Archives and History, providing records management for Alabama’s state and local government agencies. Martin holds a master of arts degree in history and a bachelor of arts degree in history from American Public University.

“On behalf of the Richard Nixon Foundation, I join the Acting Archivist in welcoming Tamara Martin to the Nixon Library’s campus. I look forward to working with her to advance the legacy of President and Mrs. Nixon,” Jim Byron, President and CEO of the Richard Nixon Foundation, said in a statement.

The Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum is one of 15 libraries in the Presidential  Library system administered by the National Archives and Records Administration. The Presidential Libraries house the records of Presidents Herbert Hoover through Donald Trump and preserve and provide access to historical materials, support research, and create interactive programs and exhibits that educate and inspire.

Tulsa City leaders and forensic scientists and genealogists have announced a major breakthrough in the analysis of DNA from human remains found in unmarked graves at Oaklawn Cemetery.

Scientists looking at the DNA from remains found at Oaklawn Cemetery, said on Wednesday they have connected six burials to people living in America today.

They said it is still too soon to know if those burials belong to 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre victims.

Scientists, researchers, and the City of Tulsa said the DNA analysis being done at Intermountain Forensics in Salt Lake City, is starting to provide results.

"We do not believe a match of this type has ever been achieved before in American history,” Tulsa Mayor GT Bynum said during a news conference Wednesday.

"All I can say is - Wow!” Descendent Brenda Nails Alford said.

Of the 22 sets of human remains from Oaklawn Cemetery that are going through DNA analysis, genealogists said so far, they can connect six burials to specific surnames and locations, based on matches made through two public DNA databases.

"We do not know for certain that these relatives are direct descendants, nor do we know if the remains are definitely Race Massacre victims,” Bynum said. “But we do know these remains share DNA with people living in America today."

Genealogists said when it comes to remains found in what archeologists labeled "Burial 3," they are interested in talking with people who have the surnames Scott, Huntley, Daniel, Meriwether, Sims, and Bohannon with connections to Coweta County in Georgia.

They are also interested in talking with people who have the surnames Benjamin and Willis, with connections to Austin County, Texas.

The list of names and locations go on for several other burials. Genealogists said now, they need the public's help to figure out who is buried at Oaklawn.

You can read more in an article by Amy Slanchik published in the newson6.com web site at https://tinyurl.com/2sye47sk.