The following is a press release written by the Mellon Foundation:

The Mellon Foundation, the nation’s largest supporter of the arts and humanities, recently awarded $3.5 million to Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello to expand the UNESCO World Heritage Site’s pioneering Getting Word African American Oral History Project. Established in 1993, Getting Word is a decades-long initiative to collect and share the stories of Monticello’s enslaved community and their descendants. This transformational, multi-year donation from the Mellon Foundation represents an unprecedented investment in the project.

“The Mellon Foundation’s confidence in our boundless efforts to research, share, and rightfully acknowledge the history of Monticello’s enslaved community recognizes the Thomas Jefferson Foundation as a model in this important work,” said Gardiner Hallock, Interim President of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation. “We are deeply appreciative of Mellon’s support, which will propel the Getting Word project forward and build upon the remarkable contributions of former and current staff as well as the hundreds of descendants of Monticello’s enslaved families who have generously shared their families’ oral histories with us over the past 30 years.”

Support from the Mellon Foundation’s “Monuments Project” program will launch the second generation of Getting Word with the capacity for national impact and international awareness, creating a model for other sites seeking to engage descendant communities in meaningful ways. The grant allows the Thomas Jefferson Foundation to hire program staff, robustly engage with project advisors, reach out to descendant communities nationwide, invite the public to bring history forward into national and global dialogues, and create a digital archive of documentary references to enslaved people. Ultimately, this support will enable Getting Word staff to conduct more than 275 oral histories with descendants of Monticello’s enslaved families over the next four years, doubling the number of oral histories collected over the last 30 years of the project.

“We are inspired by the Mellon Foundation’s grant to Getting Word ,” said Andrew M. Davenport, Public Historian and Director of Getting Word. “This is an unprecedented opportunity to build upon the project’s mission to collect and preserve family histories from the eras of slavery and abolition to the present. Through archival research and collaboration with descendants, Getting Word historians have reconnected families riven apart by slavery and its aftermath. The project, as an archive and as a community, has helped to recontextualize Monticello as a Black heritage site of reflection, remembrance, and reunion. The Getting Word archive and the community are inextricably interwoven, and Mellon's support will propel the project into its next generation.”

The Monuments Project is an unparalleled $250 million commitment by the Mellon Foundation to transform the nation’s commemorative landscape by supporting public projects that more completely and accurately represent the multiplicity and complexity of American stories. Launched in 2020, the Monuments Project builds on the Mellon Foundation’s efforts to express, elevate, and preserve the stories of those who have often been denied historical recognition, and explores how we might foster a more complete telling of who we are as a nation.   

As a result of Mellon’s generosity, Monticello will hire additional Getting Word staff to support this important work. The organization currently seeks a Public Historian to join the project, with more positions posted in the near future. Please visit monticello.org/jobs for the latest information.

******

About The Thomas Jefferson Foundation at Monticello

The Thomas Jefferson Foundation was incorporated in 1923 to preserve Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson, in Charlottesville, Virginia. Today, the foundation seeks to bring history forward into national and global dialogues by engaging audiences with Jefferson’s world and ideas and inviting them to experience the power of place at Monticello and on its website. Monticello is recognized as a National Historic Landmark, a United Nations World Heritage Site and a Site of Conscience. As a private, nonprofit organization, the foundation does not receive ongoing government support to fund its twofold mission of preservation and education. For information, visit monticello.org.

About The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation is the nation’s largest supporter of the arts and humanities. Since 1969, the Foundation has been guided by its core belief that the humanities and arts are essential to human understanding. The Foundation believes that the arts and humanities are where we express our complex humanity, and that everyone deserves the beauty, transcendence, and freedom that can be found there. Through our grants, we seek to build just communities enriched by meaning and empowered by critical thinking, where ideas and imagination can thrive. Learn more at mellon.org.

Newspaper publishing returns with a bang this week, with 1.6 million new pages, four new titles, and updates to a further 54.

New titles:

· Camberley News, 1987-1988

· Grimsby Target, 1986-1992

· Luton on Sunday, 1997

· Wrexham Mail, 1993

Updated titles:

· Airdrie & Coatbridge World, 1994, 1996

· Ayrshire World, 1993

· Beaconsfield Advertiser, 1995

· Birkenhead News, 1995

· Bridgend & Ogwr Herald & Post, 1993

· Bristol Evening Post, 1998

· Bristol Times and Mirror, 1912

· Buckinghamshire Advertiser, 1998

· Caernarvon & Denbigh Herald, 1993

· Cardiff Post, 1995

· Chatham Standard, 1993, 1996

· Chertsey & Addlestone Leader, 1994

· Derby Daily Telegraph, 1996-1997

· Dumfries and Galloway Standard, 1897

· Dunmow Observer, 1996

· East Kilbride News, 1993

· East Sussex Focus, 1991

· Farnborough News, 1988

· Fulham Chronicle, 1999

· Glamorgan Gazette, 1992-1993

· Grimsby Daily Telegraph, 1924-1928, 1933, 1935-1938, 1940-1949, 1951-1953, 1955-1964, 1967, 1969, 1975-1979, 1985

· Hamilton World, 1993-1994

· Hammersmith & Shepherds Bush Gazette, 1998

· Hinckley Free Press, 1897

· Hoylake & West Kirby News, 1993-1994, 1996

· Leicester Advertiser, 1850

· Lincoln Target, 1998

· Lincolnshire Echo, 1996

· Llanelli Star, 1993, 1995

· Manchester Evening News, 1980-1981, 1995, 1998

· Middlesex Chronicle, 1973-1976, 1978-1979, 1981, 1983-1984

· Neath Guardian, 1989

· New Observer (Bristol), 1993

· Northwich Chronicle, 1997, 1999

· Nottingham Guardian, 1863, 1889, 1910

· Nottingham Recorder, 1999

· Pinner Observer, 1995

· Rhondda Leader, 1993

· Rhyl, Prestatyn Visitor, 1993

· Rossendale Free Press, 1993

· Rutherglen Reformer, 1996

· Salford City Reporter, 1887, 1993

· Sandwell Evening Mail, 1997

· South Wales Echo, 1999

· St. Neots Weekly News, 1996, 1998

· Staines & Egham News, 1993-1996

· Strathearn Herald, 1997

· Uxbridge Leader, 1998

· Vale Advertiser, 1997

· Wales on Sunday, 1993-1995

· Wembley Observer, 1993, 1995

· Western Daily Press, 1997, 1999

· Widnes Weekly News and District Reporter, 1999

· Wishaw World, 1993-1994, 1997

The following announcement was written by Findmypast:

British Army, Local Armed Forces’ Enrolment Forms, Anglo-Boer War 1899-1902  

This brand-new collection includes over 60,000 enrolment forms for those who enlisted in the British Army in South Africa during the Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902. Typically, these detail-rich transcriptions will include a name, nationality, trade, regiment, next of kin and the next of kin’s address. 

British Army, East Surrey Regiment 1899-1919 

A further 41,023 records have been added to this existing collection and cover the period of the Anglo-Boer War and the First World War. You’ll normally find a name, regiment, regimental number, year of birth, and birthplace in these records, which include three different types: medals, orders and rank, and a file index.   

British Army, Queen’s Royal West Surrey Regiment 1901-1918 

85,0111 new records have been added to this set, which includes series such as 1918 Prisoners of War, Register of Recruits 1914-1917, and Boer War Medals 1901-1903. You’ll usually be able to learn an ancestor’s name, regiment, regimental number, rank, birthplace and birth year.   

Ludwig van Beethoven's genome has been sequenced for the first time by an international team of scientists using five genetically matching locks of the well-known composer's hair.

The research, led by the University of Cambridge, the Beethoven Center San Jose and American Beethoven Society, KU Leuven, FamilyTreeDNA, the University Hospital Bonn and the University of Bonn, the Beethoven-Haus, Bonn, and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, uncovers important information about the composer's health and poses new questions about his recent ancestry and cause of death.

In 1802, Beethoven asked his doctor to describe his illness and to make this record public. The great man's health and cause of death have been debated ever since, but without the benefit of genetic research.

Research published in Current Biology shows that DNA from five locks of hair—all dating from the last seven years of Beethoven's life—originate from a single individual matching the composer's documented ancestry. By combining genetic data with closely examined provenance histories, researchers conclude these five locks are "almost certainly authentic."

The study's primary aim is to shed light on Beethoven's health problems, which famously include progressive hearing loss, beginning in his mid- to late-20s and eventually leading to him being functionally deaf by 1818. The team also investigated possible genetic causes of Beethoven's chronic gastrointestinal complaints, and a severe liver disease that culminated in his death in 1827.

Beginning in his Bonn years, the composer suffered from "wretched" gastrointestinal problems, which continued and worsened in Vienna. In the summer of 1821, Beethoven had the first of at least two attacks of jaundice, a symptom of liver disease. Cirrhosis has long been viewed as the most likely cause of his death at age 56.

Genetic clues to Beethoven's health

The team of scientists were unable to find a definitive cause for Beethoven's deafness or gastrointestinal problems. However, they did discover a number of significant genetic risk factors for liver disease. They also found evidence of an infection with hepatitis B virus in the months before the composer's final illness.

You can read more in an article in the PHYS.ORG web site at: https://phys.org/news/2023-03-beethoven-genome-clues-health-family.html.

The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration has a report called Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about Optical Storage Media 

which says "CD/DVD experiential life expectancy is 2 to 5 years even though published life expectancies are often cited as 10 years, 25 years, or longer." They discuss various factors which can impact life expectancy and recommend that you test your media every two years to make sure it's still readable.

A study by the Canadian Conservation Institute is more optimistic, suggesting that "the lifetime of recordable optical discs can range from a couple of years to more than 200 years." The report also lists several factors that can lead to failure of discs in 2 to 10 years. Chief among those are improper storage and handling. They advise to hold the disc using the center hole and outer edge, and not to touch, write on, or use adhesive labels on the surface of the disc. For storage, the recommendation is to keep discs in a cool, dry environment, stored vertically in a jewel case. Other important factors are choosing a well-known brand name, and recording the information properly to ensure a low error rate.

But wait a minute!  You say that your CD or DVD discs are still readable after 10, 20, or more years? But clearly there are factors that can cause premature failure of optical discs. If your discs contain music or video, a slight degradation might only cause a hiccup during playback. But if you're storing documents, spreadsheets or other important data, even a few errors could cause them to become corrupt or unreadable, perhaps within 3 to 5 years.

Disclaimer: Despite the name, "Life360" won't help you find your long-deceased ancestors. 

Every time we have a disaster anywhere in this country, I think of this cell phone app. I live in Florida and last year’s hurricanes certainly reminded me of the need to find and even track the whereabouts of family members. This app answers an age-old question: "Where are you?"

The Life360 app for iPhones and Android phones lets you know where some or all of your family members are located, plus or minus a few feet. This can be critical information when they have been evacuated to a storm shelter of some sort in advance of a hurricane or forest fire or tornado, or if they are simply stuck in a blizzard. Setting up alerts in the app will also allow you to know when family members have made it safely to their next destination.

Even better, it works locally. You can use Life360 to keep track of children as they roam around the neighborhood. It also will keep track of senior citizens when their mental acuity and memory isn’t what it used to be. Yes, if your senior citizen relative doesn’t know exactly where he or she is and, even worse, doesn’t know how to get home, you can see their location (plus or minus a very few feet) and either talk them through the path home or perhaps jump in the automobile yourself and go to pick them up. If your senior citizen relative is hundreds or even thousands of miles away, you can call the police department in the city where that relative is located and have a police officer find them and offer assistance.

In order to function, both you and all family members you wish to locate must have the Life360 app installed on their cell phones, and each phone must be turned on and communicating with cell towers or wi-fi hotspots. 

Life360 also includes the ability to quickly and easily stay in touch with everyone in your family network with quick communication. It will even receive alerts when family members reach pre-determined locations. Sure, you could make frequent individual cell phone calls to each family member to check on each person’s status; but Life360 simplifies the process and then (optionally) automatically shares the results with all the other family members. You can talk to family members while knowing where they are. Have an emergency? There’s a button for that, too.

You don't need an impending disaster to make use of Life360. If a child is carrying a cell phone with Life360 installed, the app can also can keep track of that child's location to make sure the child is still in the neighborhood, at school, or wherever he or she is supposed to be. 

Finally, if you or a family member ever misplaces a cell phone that has Life360 installed on it, any other family member's cell phone can be used to locate the exact location of the "wandering" cell phone.

Not bad for a free app!

To be sure, the use of Life360 isn't limited to blood relatives. I could see this being used by many groups of adults when hunting, fishing, at the ball game, or in any other place where some people need to locate other people in the group. Everything in the app is permission-based. No one will see anything they don’t need to. Also, all the information is limited only to other members of the same group. There is no way a hacker can see where your child or your “lost” parent is located. When you create a Life360 group, you get to decide who is invited and who isn't. 

Nobody can see anyone else's location unless the person who created the group circle gave them permission to view such information. Also, the cell phone user can turn permission off and on to see his or her location whenever he or she wants. (Don't tell your children about that feature!)

Life360 is security-conscious. The app uses GPS technology, and your maps and chat channels are built with top-notch, bank-level security. Your locations and conversations will always be private, available only to people you invite.

Life360 is an excellent example of 21st century solutions for age-old problems.

In fact, there are two versions of Life360. The free version has been described above.

In addition, a Premium version adds extra functionality:

Set up as many places as you like, and receive automatic alerts when your family members arrive and leave from the places they frequent most. There is no need to manually query the app over and over, "Is he there yet?" 

The free version shows where Circle members are NOW. The Premium version also shows 30 days of location history. That can be useful when talking to a teen-aged driver about where he or she went last night!

You can see more information, including pricing information, about the added features of the Premium version at: https://www.life360.com/intl/intl-plans-pricing/ 

Disadvantages

Nothing is ever perfect, and this app is no exception. Obviously, Life360 relies on cell phone towers or wi-fi hotspots for communications. During a widespread emergency, such as a hurricane, the cell towers may be offline. (Where I live, cell towers are the one means of communication that have proven most reliable when normal, wired telephones are inoperative due to power outages and/or downed telephone lines. However, I believe history has been different in some other parts of the world.) 

If cell towers are inoperative, Life360 will only work on wi-fi hotspots. Those short-range devices probably will be useless during a power outage.

In order to locate a specific family member, that person must have a cell phone with him or her and the phone must be turned on, along with the Life360 app. I suspect anyone aged 7-years-old or older can find a way to turn off the app or simply turn off the phone. (My experience has shown that teenagers will NEVER turn off their phones!)

During extended power outages, a cell phone's battery may go flat. (The Life360 app will notify the user when the battery is low.) Low batteries are easy to prevent with any of today's low-cost external batteries that connect to the cell phone's USB connector. However, many people do not carry such a battery with them. For automobiles, a low-cost power cord that plugs into the automobile's power socket that is on or near the dashboard will power a cell phone for weeks, even if the auto is stuck in a snowbank or if the cell phone’s internal battery is dead. You DO keep such a power cord in your automobile, right?

Summation

The Life360 app is not a perfect solution for all situations. However, it greatly REDUCES the problems of locating and communicating with family members in times of need. Live360 also includes a full range of support from live agents, certified specialists, and 24/7 emergency dispatchers. That is useful even if the app is installed on only one family member’s cell phone.

The Life360 app is installed on my cell phone. I don't use it often; but, when I do need it, I am glad it is there and running.

The Life360 app may be found in the Apple iPhone app store and in the Google Play Store (for Android devices).  I suggest you start first with the free version and use it for a while. Then, if you decide to upgrade to the Premium version, you may do so later at any time.

More information about the Life360 app may be found at https://www.life360.com. (Watch the video on that web site.)

NOTE: I am not compensated in any way for writing and publishing this article. I am simply a user of Life360 and I decided to share the info about it with my readers.

UPDATEDU.S., Find a Grave™ Index, 1600s-Current	3/16/2023
UPDATEDU.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947	3/15/2023
UPDATEDSouthern Christian Advocate Marriage Notices, 1867-1878	3/9/2023
UPDATEDOklahoma and Indian Territory, U.S., Dawes Census Cards for Five Civilized Tribes, 1898-1914	3/6/2023
NEWIllinois, U.S., Catholic Diocese of Joliet, Sacramental Records, 1800-1976	3/6/2023
UPDATEDPennsylvania, U.S., Death Certificates, 1906-1969	3/1/2023
NEWNew Hampshire, U.S., Newspapers.com™ Stories and Events Index, 1800's-current	2/27/2023
NEWSouth Dakota, U.S., Newspapers.com™ Stories and Events Index, 1800's-current	2/27/2023
NEWWest Virginia, U.S., Newspapers.com™ Stories and Events Index, 1800's-current	2/27/2023
NEWFlorida, U.S., Newspapers.com™ Stories and Events Index, 1800's-current	2/27/2023
UPDATEDTexas, U.S., Marriage Index, 1824-2019	2/23/2023
UPDATEDNorwell, Massachusetts, U.S., Directory, 1894	2/23/2023
UPDATEDColorado, U.S., Select County Marriages, 1863-2018	2/22/2023
UPDATEDVirginia, U.S., Marriage Registers, 1853-1935	2/17/2023
UPDATEDVirginia, U.S., Birth Registers, 1853-1911	2/17/2023
UPDATEDU.S., Newspapers.com™ Obituary Index, 1800s-current	2/17/2023
UPDATEDVirginia, U.S., Death Registers, 1853-1911	2/17/2023
UPDATEDJackson County, Michigan, U.S., Rural Directory, 1918-1923	2/15/2023
UPDATEDIdaho, U.S., Marriage Records, 1863-1971	2/8/2023
UPDATEDIdaho, U.S., Divorce Records, 1947-1969	2/8/2023
NEWMaine, U.S., Burial Records of the Togus National Home for Disabled Veterans, 1874-1938	2/8/2023
UPDATEDIdaho, U.S., Birth Records, 1861-1919, Stillbirth Index, 1905-1967	2/8/2023
UPDATEDIdaho, U.S., Death Records, 1890-1971	2/8/2023
UPDATEDTerritorial Enterprise (Virginia City, Nevada), 1886-92	2/6/2023
UPDATEDSouth Carolina, U.S., Death Records, 1821-1971	2/6/2023
UPDATEDAudrain County, Missouri, U.S., Marriages, 1870-1917	2/2/2023
UPDATEDNew Jersey, U.S., Compiled Marriage Records, 1684-1886	2/2/2023
UPDATEDCarroll County, Kentucky, U.S., Marriages, 1838-1920	2/2/2023
UPDATEDLicking County, Ohio, U.S., Farm Directory, 1915-1920	2/2/2023
UPDATEDCohasset, Massachusetts, U.S., Directory, 1894	2/1/2023

This winter, the Digital Library of Georgia released several new grant-funded newspaper titles to the Georgia Historic Newspapers website. Included below is a list of the newly available titles.

Titles funded by the Diocese of Savannah

Southern Cross (Atlanta), 2001-2008

Titles funded by the Forsyth County Public Library

Forsyth County News, 2013-2016, 2018-2019

Titles made available as part of the Georgia Newspaper Project’s Born Digital Program

Banks County News (Homer), 2016, 2022

Barrow News-Journal (Winder), 2022

Braselton News, 2018

Jackson Herald (Jefferson), 2022

Madison County Journal (Hull), 2022

Millen News, 2022

Pickens County Progress (Jasper), 2007

True Citizen (Waynesboro), 2022

Titles funded by the Georgia Public Library Service

Charlton County Herald (Folkston), 1908-1929

Titles funded by the Lucy Hilton Maddox Memorial Library

Early County News (Blakely), 1953-1967

Titles funded by the National Digital Newspaper Program with a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities

Atlanta Georgian, 1914

Cordele Daily Sentinel, 1920

Cordele Dispatch, 1916-1920

Cordele Dispatch, 1926-1927

Cordele Dispatch and Daily Sentinel, 1920-1926

Dawson Journal, 1883-1887

Dawson News, 1889-1925

Fitzgerald Enterprise, 1902-1912

Fitzgerald Leader Enterprise and Press, 1921-1927

Fitzgerald Leader, 1921

Leader-Enterprise (Fitzgerald), 1912-1915

Leader-Enterprise and Fitzgerald Press, 1915

Leader, Enterprise and Press (Fitzgerald), 1915-1921

Lee County Journal (Leesburg), 1904-1923

Marietta Journal, 1907-1909

Marietta Journal, 1918-1924

Marietta Journal and Courier, 1909-1918

South Western News (Dawson) 1887-1889

Weekly Georgian (Atlanta), 2013

Titles funded by the Newton County Public Library System with donations from Dr. Thomas Crews and Dr. R. Steven Whatley

Covington News, 1924-1942

Titles funded by the R.J. Taylor, Jr. Foundation

Abbeville Chronicle, 1898-1901

Advertiser (Fort Gaines), 1887-1890

Arlington Advance, 1879-1882

Blairsville Herald, 1892-1902

Clinch County News (Homerville), 1898-1911

Conyers Weekly, 1883-1888

Cordele Sentinel, 1899-1902

Enterprise (Carnesville), 1890-1892

Fitzgerald Enterprise, 1895-1912

Fort Gaines Sentinel, 1895-1902

Gibson Record, 1892-1933

Hamilton Journal, 1889-1906

Haralson Banner (Buchanan), 1884-1891

Jesup Sentinel, 1890-1901

Jones County News (Gray), 1895-1906

Lincoln Home Journal (Lincolnton), 1898-1902

Piedmont Republican (Jasper), 1891

Pike County Journal (Zebulon), 1888-1902

Schley County Enterprise (Ellaville), 1886-1888

Schley County News (Ellaville), 1889-1900

Southeast Georgian (Kingsland), 1895-1932

Spring Place Jimplecute (Spring Place), 1891-1903

Sylvania Telephone, 1879-1907

Titles funded by the Watson-Brown Foundation

Atlanta Georgian, 1915

Genealogy site FindMyPast has released two new sets of Irish probate records from the 19th century.

A new collection of more than 300,000 records created by the British Government's Inland Revenue Wills & Administration between 1828 and 1879 is now available to view on the site. 

The collection was created to determine tax obligations on Irish estates and features a number of rare documents that predate the Irish Famine. 

"These important records are a rare survival of priceless information about early Irish wills," FindMyPast said.

The collection includes indexes for all years between 1828 and 1879, while it also includes surviving registers from 1828 to 1839 which contain extracts from the original documents. 

You can read more in an article in the IrishCentral web site at: https://www.irishcentral.com/roots/genealogy/findmypast-irish-probate-records

Portrait Gallery Research and Conservation Project Used Getty Grant To Create a Microsite Featuring 1,800 Paper Silhouettes From Political Elite to Everyday People.

The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery has announced the launch of William Bache’s Silhouettes Album, a microsite featuring new research and digitized images for 1,800 cut-paper silhouettes by Anglo-American artist William Bache. In addition to presenting portraits of famous figures like Thomas Jefferson and Martha Washington, the digital project restores the identity of previously unknown individuals rarely encountered in Federal-era portraiture—from traveling entertainers to tavern keepers and dance instructors. 

Your ancestors probably are not listed in this collection but how will you know unless you check it out yourself?  Read more about it in the Smithsonian’s web site at: https://www.si.edu/newsdesk/releases/smithsonians-national-portrait-gallery-reveals-identities-hundreds-people-early