Texas A&M University-Texarkana Associate Professor of English was recently awarded the Civilian Archivists Award from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in Washington DC. The award was given to Dr. Cantrel because of her inclusion of the Citizen Archivist program as a service-learning project in her Advanced English Literature course. 

“We are grateful to you for continuing to promote the importance and relevance of archives, increasing levels of engagement with the records of the National Archives, and encouraging students use of records and resources at the National Archives throughout their studies,” John Hokenson, National Archives Executive Secretariat Specialist told Dr. Cantrell.

The Citizen Archivist program uses volunteers to transcribe and tag historic documents, letters, memos, and reports, many written in cursive, dating back to the Revolutionary War. The process of transcribing and tagging the content of these documents makes them searchable online and increases accessibility to them.

The documents that the Advanced Literature students have worked on include collections from the NARA, the Massachusetts Historical Society, and the Smithsonian. One of their projects includes transcribing the Smithsonian’s large collection of documents from turn of the century (20th) female astronomers.

Senior Jayce Braswell recently took on an archiving project involving revolutionary-war era Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application files from Connecticut. In this instance the person was securing a land bounty document, which was typically given to members of the military in exchange for their service. Jayce, who plans to pursue a career as an educator and writer, explained that the project has had an impact on him that will carry forward into his classroom later. “I’ve thought a lot about my upcoming teaching career and how it is my responsibility to ensure students know the power that the written word holds,” he said. “These documents are foundational to understanding where our nation stands today and the history behind it.”

About Texas A&M University-Texarkana:

As a member of The Texas A&M University System, Texas A&M University-Texarkana is a comprehensive regional university that provides students with academically challenging, engaging and rewarding educational experiences through quality teaching, scholarship, student support services, co-curricular programming, research, and service.

After nearly four decades, a cold case task force has identified human remains discovered in 1985 during the investigation of the Wilseyville serial killings, according to the Calaveras County Sheriff’s Office. The remains were confirmed to be those of Reginald “Reggie” Frisby, who was born in 1956 in New York state.

Frisby’s remains were uncovered in June 1985 at a crime scene tied to notorious serial killers Leonard Lake and Charles Ng. In 2021, the Calaveras Cold Case Task Force launched an effort to reexamine unidentified remains in the county, leveraging advancements in DNA technology and forensic investigative genetic genealogy. “The purpose of the reexamination project was, is, and will continue to be to identify remains while providing closure to victims’ families,” reads a Sheriff’s Office news release. Frisby’s remains had been linked to the killings committed by Ng and Lake in Wilseyville, elsewhere in Calaveras County and in other parts of California in 1984 and 1985. The news release states that the circumstances of Frisby’s death remain under investigation but authorities believe he was a homicide victim. Lake died by suicide while in custody in 1985, while Ng was convicted in 1999 of 11 murders, including those of men, women, a young boy and an infant. The pair were known to have tortured and raped their female victims before killing them. Ng, now 64, was sentenced to death and remains on death row at the California Medical Facility.

The process of identifying Frisby’s remains Investigators reviewed over 1,000 human remains exhumed from a San Andreas crypt, as well as additional remains in the custody of the Calaveras County coroner. A portion of Frisby’s remains, which had been autopsied in 1985, were sent to the California Department of Justice for DNA analysis in 2022.

Although initial testing through the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System did not yield a match, further analysis in 2024 by Intermountain Forensics, a private laboratory in Utah, produced a viable DNA profile for use in Forensic Investigative Genetic Genealogy (FIGG). This advanced genealogical method, involving comparison with public genealogy databases, led Identifinders International, a genealogy research group, to develop a lead in December 2024. Genealogists and investigators uncovered a possible family connection to Frisby and interviewed relatives, ultimately discovering that he had last been in contact with his family in 1984. Further investigation with the San Francisco Police Department Homicide Unit revealed that Frisby had been living in San Francisco as of January of that year. The California Department of Justice coordinated with the Delaware State Patrol Missing Persons Unit to obtain a DNA sample from Frisby’s mother. The sample was compared with the remains, and the match, along with the investigative facts, confirmed Frisby’s identity. Frisby had never been reported missing and was not initially considered a potential victim of the Wilseyville Serial Killings. The Task Force is now reviewing original reports, evidence and other facts related to the case in pursuit of further answers.

The Task Force credits the identification of Frisby’s remains as the result of extensive collaboration among numerous agencies, including the California Department of Justice, Delaware State Patrol Missing Persons Unit, SFPD Homicide Unit, Identifinders International and Intermountain Forensics. “The Calaveras Cold Case Task Force is funded entirely by donations. Without these donations, the private laboratory and genealogy work would not have been possible, and Reginald would remain unidentified,” the press release states. To date, the task force has spent over $200,000 in donations on reexamining remains from cold cases.

VPN services have many uses and benefits, like making sure you aren’t being overcharged based on your location, protecting your privacy while using the internet, and streaming media that’s located outside your own region (e.g., another country’s Netflix library). And for the most part, VPNs have long been considered safe to use.

But one recent investigation by Top10VPN has raised questions about whether VPNs are truly as secure as they’re touted to be. In collaboration with security researcher Mathy Vanhoef, Top10VPN shared this discovery ahead of its presentation at the USENIX 2025 conference in Seattle.

In short, they discovered serious vulnerabilities that affect over 4 million systems. These systems include VPN servers, home network routers, mobile servers, and CDN nodes, including those belonging to large global companies like Meta and Tencent.

Specifically, it concerns the IP6IP6, GRE6, 4in6, and 6in4 tunneling protocols, which are supposed to secure data transmission. However, this is where attackers can apparently exploit vulnerabilities (relatively easily) to gain access to networks.

According to the researchers, many VPN protocols can’t reliably verify that the identity of a sender matches the authorized user profile of the VPN. Attackers can therefore use so-called one-way proxies to gain access over and over, all without being traced.

According to the report, hackers just need to send data packets that implement one of the affected protocols to gain unauthorized access. Then, they can do things like launch denial-of-service (DoS) attacks or infiltrate private networks to steal data.

The only way to prevent this is to use additional security mechanisms, such as IPsec or WireGuard, which provide end-to-end encryption of VPN traffic data. Only the server is then able to read the encrypted data.

Which VPNs are affected?

Of the numerous VPN hosts that were analyzed, those classified as insecure mainly included servers and services from the US, Brazil, China, France, and Japan. In general, however, caution should always be exercised when using VPN services.

When choosing a VPN, always make sure it offers one of the encryption features mentioned above. The best way to stay safe is to carry out independent tests, which we’ve done for you in our comparison of the best overall VPN services.

Sound recordings over 100 years old, a Luther Bible from the 16th century or a call for a climate strike: the German Historical Museum (DHM) in Berlin has revised and expanded its object database. Many exhibits can be viewed online.

The DHM's collection comprises around one million objects. Around 780,000 of these are digitally recorded in the object database and can be viewed online, the DHM announced. This “enables comprehensive external research into the provenance of objects and creates an essential basis for international provenance research.”

The collection can be accessed in various ways: There is a full-text search. It can also be filtered, for example by techniques, materials, or people.

The following is a press release written by the Virginia Department of Military Affairs Collection on Fold3. 

We are pleased to announce a new collection of Virginia military records. The Virginia Department of Military Affairs Records Collection contains information on Virginia military personnel who served between 1876 and 1947. This collection includes veterans from the Spanish-American War, WWI, and WWII.

Across the time span of this collection, the records contain a variety of details such as:

The records provide a powerful addition for researching the service of your Virginia military ancestors. We’ve selected one random record to illustrate how this new collection can be a tool in your military research.

This record for Orion Vaughan Chaffin reveals his birthdate, service number, residence, details about his military service, and more. We also learn that he served in the American Expeditionary Forces during WWI, spending nine months in Europe.  

We searched Pvt. Chaffins name and located his WWI Draft Registration Card. This record revealed that 21-year-old Chaffin was claiming an exemption from service because his younger orphaned sister was financially dependent on him. His request was apparently denied because we located a ship record showing him leaving for Europe on August 6, 1918. Chaffin gave his younger sister’s name and address as his emergency contact information. All of this information provides valuable clues about the Chaffin family tree.

Chaffin served in the 318th Infantry Regiment, 80th Infantry Division in Europe for nine months. But an interesting 1919 record caught our eye. Another ship transport record dated May 6, 1919, shows that Pvt. Chaffin was aboard the S.S. Powhatan. He was listed as sick or wounded, and the transport record includes the name and address of his brother as an emergency contact. An unusual thing about this record is that several names (including Chaffin) appeared to be crossed off the passenger list. Does that mean Chaffin was removed from the ship or did not board?

The answer came in another record three weeks later. On May 20, 1919, Pvt. Chaffin once again boarded a ship at St. Nazaire. He was with other sick and wounded soldiers heading for home. However, this second transport record reveals the reason for his departure. Pvt. Chaffin was dealing with chronic sciatica that necessitated his return to the States. The Virginia Department of Military Affairs record shows that Chaffin was honorably discharged shortly after his return.   

Pvt. Chaffin appeared again in military records when he registered for the old man’s draft during WWII. Now 46, Chaffin was employed at Camp Lee, the very same US Army base that he and other members of the 80th Division trained at before heading off to Europe in 1918.

A final record, a Veterans Affairs Death Record, shows that Orion Chaffin passed away in 1992 at the age of 96.

African Ancestry, Inc. (AfricanAncestry.com) today announces the availability of two new birthright journeys to Brazil and Colombia as part of its immersive African Ancestry Family Reunion (AAFR) tours. Having taken hundreds of its customers to West Africa since 2019, the pioneers of genetic ancestry tracing for Black people, is also committed to taking Africa to the people -- wherever they are in the Diaspora. Exclusively curated for African Ancestry testers and their guests, the new itineraries are slated for May 17-25 to Colombia and August 10-16 to Brazil. A virtual information session is scheduled for February 10 at 7 p.m. Registration is required to join at https://bit.ly/AADiasporaTravel.

“We are passionate about revealing Africa’s significance through our work,” said Dr. Gina Paige, president and co-founder of AfricanAncestry.com. “Adding African-rich places such as Salvador da Bahia, Cartagena and Medellin to the African Ancestry Family Reunions is a natural fit and further underscores our commitment to honor the strength and resilience of our ancestors everywhere.” 

In partnership with cultural tourism experts Jelani Travel, the new South American journeys are customized to fully optimize the abundance of African influences in Brazil, which has the largest population of Black people outside of Africa; and Colombia, which is home to San Basilio de Palenque -- the first free town in the Americas. Both trips include cultural reclamation and ancestral healing; galleries, museums and landmarks; food, festivals and markets; and African Ancestry’s iconic ancestral Reveal ceremonies of artists and community members. Additional Highlights:

“Test by test, we are at the forefront of heritage tourism for Africa’s descendants,” said Paige. “And it’s so gratifying to support Diasporan tourism and empower our customers do the same,” added Paige.

Top accommodations, in-country travel, meals and attractions are included. For more information on African Ancestry Family Reunions, payment plans and registration, visit http://www.AfricanAncestry.com/travel or www.AfricanAncestry.com. Contact Greer Johnson for all media inquiries at taylor@taylorcommunicationsgroup.com.

ABOUT AFRICANANCESTRY.COM

Founded in 2003 by Dr. Rick Kittles and Dr. Gina Paige, African Ancestry is the world leader in tracing maternal and paternal lineages of African descent having helped thousands of Black families re-connect with their African roots. With the industry’s largest and most comprehensive database of indigenous African DNA samples, African Ancestry determines specific countries and ethnic groups of origin with an unrivaled level of specificity through its MatriClan® DNA Kit and PatriClan® Test Kit. Headquartered in Washington, DC and Black-owned and operated, African Ancestry is committed to providing a unique service to the Black community by working daily to improve the cultural, emotional, physical, spiritual and economic wellbeing of people across the African Diaspora.

ABOUT JELANI TRAVEL, INC.

Founded more than a decade ago by Ashley N. Company, Jelani Travel provides high-quality, transformative travel experiences for Black people. With a commitment to purposeful tourism and cultural understanding, Jelani Travel is guided by four key principles when curating each journey: Self-care, service, culture and adventure. A woman-, veteran- and Black-owned enterprise, Jelani Travel works in tandem with Jelani Gives, a nonprofit organization created to empower the next generation and provide educational, cultural opportunities to Black children. For more information, visit www.gojelanitravel.com.

We are writing to announce that the Call for Proposals for the 2025  IAJGS conference is now open. For full details please visit the Abstract Submissions using this link. Be sure to note that the deadline for submission is Thursday, February 6,  2025 at 11:59 pm (Central Standard Time) Some details (subject to change) are provided below. For the most current information, please visit the conference website at www.iagjs2025.org                                            Themes Every genealogy conference seeks to educate and inspire all who attend to expand their knowledge and their skills. “And We Settled Here…The Jewish Journey” is the unique goal of the 2025 Conference seeking to investigate the Jewish journey through different lands, time, and heritage. Based on this concept, we suggest our speakers consider the following themes: Journeys to the Midwest and Beyond Theme: How did we get here? How did our ancestors get there? What made people migrate? Did they settle in the Midwest? Were they pioneer Jews? Did they escape Europe or Arab lands? And how did they end up at their destination of all places? Whether our ancestors settled in Indiana, migrated from India, or signed Israel’s Declaration of Independence, these moving sessions will cover indispensable aspects of genealogy. Wide World of Experience Theme: Jews are a diverse people. Sephardim, Mizrahi, Iraqi, Persian, Yemeni, and Asian are just some of the many identities and ethnicities that we carry. Sessions in this category seek to explore that diversity and genealogy. Citizenship Theme: Wherever they lived, what did citizenship mean in terms of rights, privileges, and obligations and how did our ancestors obtain citizenship? In today’s nations, whether it is for nostalgia, jobs, or personal safety, what is the documentation we might need to obtain citizenship? These sessions will help unpack the facts and fiction of becoming a citizen in various nations then and now. Cultural Heritage Theme: Everyone has a story and genealogy provides a framework for understanding our family stories. Sharing the broad human and cultural dimensions of our family history engages us and those around us. For many, this might link us to the Shoah as 2G or 3G descendants, or for others, to triumphs or other tragedies.  Methodology and Archives Theme: Methodology consists of using best practices for developing, conducting, implementing, and evaluating effective and successful research. Often the nuts and bolts require in-person and remote mining of the vast data archives available at small and large public and private archives around the world. These presentations will cover the development of a methodology, as well as accessing latest resources available to the genealogical research community and often lesser-known databases to address genealogical questions. Tools and Technology Theme: Employing tools such as innovative photography analysis, genetics, AI, or other innovative tools enhances the next steps of genealogical research by using advanced computer technology. Tools and technology that were unavailable years ago but are now entering regular usage are the core of these sessions. Fundamentals Theme: For those who consider themselves new to Jewish genealogy, have never attended an IAJGS conference, or just feel a need to step up their skills in basic areas, these lectures offer guidance and a path to begin research. The 2025 Program also offers an innovative way to share family and personal stories: Family Journeys Showcase*: This concept invites speakers to share a specific family story or journey. In these concise sessions, a dedicated space will be filled with multiple tables or stations presenting 15-minute family stories with 5 minutes for Q&A. Attendees will be invited to circulate among the Journeys Showcase throughout the day. Speakers will be assigned specific time blocks to share their story.   *No speaker compensations or subsidies will be provided for these showcase sessions Types of Sessions Presentations will be scheduled for 45 minutes of lecture, followed by 15 minutes of questions and answers, for a total presentation time of 60 minutes. Panels that group speakers with varying views on a shared topic are encouraged by the Program Committee. They are typically scheduled for the same time slots as sessions but may be longer. A panel proposal should be submitted by the main presenter or moderator. When you are prompted to “Review the Submission”, there will be an icon to “Add an Additional Presenter”, which allows the additional presenters to be attached to the proposal. Computer Labs/Workshop (hands-on) will be 1½ hours in length and limited to approximately 20 paying participants. Family Journeys will be limited to 15-minute family stories with 5 minutes for Q&A. Speaker Compensation Speakers may submit up to 4 proposals. It is not a reflection on the quality of your proposal if we do not accept all or any of your proposals. We greatly appreciate your willingness to share your expertise and knowledge. We generally receive about four times as many proposals as we can accept. Speaker financial compensation is based on the number of approved presentations. All Speaker Compensation is provided for only the primary speaker in any presentation, panel, or computer lab. Please go to the Abstract Submissions to see the details of compensation.

MyHeriage is offering free access to more than 300 Australian historical record collections, including vital records, electoral rolls, convict records, and much more! The records will be free starting Saturday through Tuesday, January 25–28, 2025.

The free records include 118.9 million historical records from every category. These records can help Australians piece together the stories of their ancestors, whether they were among the first settlers, immigrants seeking a new life, or individuals who contributed to the nation’s development in other ways.

Usually, a Complete, Data, or Omni plan is required to view these records, but for a limited time only, anyone can search and view them for free. Note that non-MyHeritage users will be asked to create a free MyHeritage account to access them.

In an earlier newsletter, I wrote about adding location information to family photographs. I also mentioned that "... pictures taken with iPhones and most Android phones already have the longitude and latitude information embedded into the photograph."

In some cases, you might not want to have location information embedded in a photograph, especially one that is to be shared online. A picture of your children or grandchildren playing at hone or in the back yard might be one example. In theory, a pedophile could determine where the children spend their time. Also, you might not want a picture of your expensive new automobile parked in your driveway to be circulated online. An auto thief could easily find where to steal the auto.

If you are a fisherman, you might not want to broadcast to the world the location of your secret fishing spot as detailed in the EXIF information of the photo of you holding up that 6-pound lake trout you just caught!

Luckily, it is easy to erase location information from photographs, should you wish to do so.

Undoubtedly the easiest way to stop recording location information from being recorded in your photos is to disable the feature in your iPhone or Android phone before taking the picture. That is easy to do. Instructions for turning off iPhone location information may be found by starting at https://goo.gl/izf58A while similar information for Android phones may be found by starting at https://goo.gl/dVZ0rH.

Admittedly, many people won't think about the problem until after the picture has been taken. Should that happen to you, don't despair. Deleting the EXIF information (containing location and other information) is easy to accomplish.

Windows

On a Windows computer, display the picture files you wish to "sanitize" by removing EXIF information. In File Explorer, right-click on one of the picture files and choose Properties from the contextual menu.

When the Properties box opens, select the Details tab. At the bottom of the box, click the link for “Remove Properties and Personal Information.” In the Remove Properties box that appears, you can choose to create a copy of the photo that wipes as much information as possible from the file. You can also opt instead to use the original file and delete data selectively.

If you stick with the original file, go down the list of properties in the box and select the information you want to remove from the file. Click the OK button when you are finished.

Repeat the process for each photo you want to edit. 

If you have a large number of pictures to change, third-party EXIF-editing programs can delete the information from many photographs at once. Exif Remover is a free web-based utility that will remove EXITF information. It can be found at http://www.verexif.com/en.

BatchPurifier for Windows is one popular program that will clear EXITF data from all sorts of photographs, videos, music files, and other file types. A free demo version BatchPurifier is available at http://www.digitalconfidence.com/batchpurifier.html but it is limited to only cleaning EXIF information from JPG files. For many people, that will suffice. However, if you would like to clear EXIF data from up to 25 different file types, including Microsoft Office® documents (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)*, OpenOffice™ documents, PDF documents, and popular image and media file types such as JPEG, JPEG 2000, PNG, SVG, AVI, WAV, AIFF, MP3, MP4, and F4V), the paid version of BatchPurifier may be purchased for $19 from the same address.

Macintosh

On a Macintosh computer, open up your photo in the Preview app, go to Tools in your menu bar and select Show Inspector.  Click on the (i) icon for the info panel, select the GPS sub tab, and you’ll see a “Remove Location Info” button. Hit that, save your photo, and you’re ready for location-free uploading.

NOTE: In the Macintosh's Preview app, if there is no GPS tab shown or if the (i) or GPS tab display all blanks, that indicates that the picture does not have location data embedded in it. Also keep in mind that EXIF data, including location information, is only found in JPG and TIFF pictures that have been taken with a GPS-equipped camera, such as with an iPhone or an Android. Most other cameras are incapable of recording location information although there are a few exceptions. 

If you have a large number of pictures to change, third-party EXIF-editing programs can delete the information from many photographs at once. Exif Remover is a free web-based utility that will remove EXITF information. It can be found at http://www.verexif.com/en.

iLove Metadata Remover is an app that may be purchased from the Macintosh App Store. See https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ilove-metadata-remover/id1091268452?mt=12 for details.

Android and iPhone

Several apps for Android and iPhone will also erase location information. To find one, open the use your iPhone or Android phone to open the Play Store nd search for "EXIF remover."  There should be several to choose from.

Summation

Location information embedded in EXIF information in digital photographs can be a great tool for many purposes. However, there may be times when you do not want to share location information. Use the tool wisely.

UK-based genealogy service Findmypast has appointed creative outfit Above+Beyond at its new lead agency partner following a competitive pitch process.

The London-based firm will now be tasked with helping to make Findmypast a household name throughout the UK, with a brand refresh and the launch of a new brand platform in the works.

‘Rooted in Culture’ will illustrate to audiences how the genealogy service can help users to look beyond just dates and names on their family tree, and delve deeper into their past to gain a greater understanding of the lives their ancestors lived.

“This is an exciting next step in Findmypast’s evolution as we aim to help more people understand family history research. Thanks to our clever hint technology and extensive newspaper archive, Findmypast will help you delve deeper to gain that understanding of your family history and help you to understand why they lived the lives they did,” said Findmypast director of brand Helen Kaye.

“We’re delighted to be working with Above+Beyond, the partnership and collaboration in delivering the new brand platform has been inspiring and they truly share our passion for helping people better understand their family history.”

An inaugural campaign, using the new tagline: ‘Your Family History Understood’, is set to run across social media, display, print and radio, with more to come throughout the year.

Above+Beyond ECD, Joe Bruce added: “It’s not very often you get to work with a brand that has such a clear USP, not to mention a bottomless collection of amazing stories, photographs and culturally rich material to play with.

“We are really excited to be working with the whole team at Findmypast, it’s a real privilege to be trusted by such a knowledgeable and passionate group of people.”