Written by Clarity Amrein, Community Content Coordinator, Genealogy & Local History Department, Downtown Main Library

Over 50 years of protest posters, photos, slides, and flyers from the community organization Over-the-Rhine People’s Movement are coming to CHPL’s Digital Library, opens a new window.

The images, part of the upcoming Contemporary Arts Center (CAC) exhibit, Artist Run Spaces, include protest posters, photos, slides, and flyers from fifty years of organizing work by the community organization Over-the-Rhine People’s Movement. The images are now available for high resolution viewing on the Library’s Digital Library, opens a new window.

Produced by the Storefronts art collaborative based out of the Miami University Center for Community Engagement in Over-the-Rhine, the exhibit People Moving: Stories and action from 50 years of the Over-the-Rhine People’s Movement runs from May 27, 2022 to September 11, 2022 at the CAC.

You can read much more at: https://cincinnatilibrary.org/blogs/post/over-the-rhine-peoples-movement/.

The following announcement was written by the Board for Certification of Genealogists (BCG):

The Board for Certification of Genealogists (BCG) will host six live webinars, free and available to the public, as this year’s Reisinger Memorial Lecture Series on 7 October 2022. The hour-long webinars begin at 9:00 a.m. MDT (11:00 a.m. EDT and 4:00 p.m. GMT) and continue throughout the day. Six leading genealogists will speak on topics related to the Genealogical Proof Standard, solving genealogical problems by discovering and using a wide variety of appropriate sources, and immigration. The webinars are part of the Joy Reisinger Memorial Lecture Series and are presented in conjunction with Legacy Family Tree Webinars. To register for the Reisinger Memorial Lecture series, use this link: https://familytreewebinars.com/reisinger/.

The lecture series is presented annually in memory of BCG’s former trustee and vice president, Joy Reisinger, who began this lecture series for Family History Library staff during BCG’s fall board meetings. Joy was an advocate for open records access, a lecturer on research methods, and an expert on Canadian resources, especially those of Quebec.

The schedule for the lectures is:

9 a.m. MDT. "When Wrong is Actually Right: Constructing Proof Arguments for Counterintuitive Conflicts," Meryl Schumacker, CG

Name changes, enumerator errors, and terrible informants can combine to create major inconsistencies in documentation. Records that, at first glance, appear to be major mismatches can later turn out to be correct. Researching non-English-speaking immigrant families requires a comfort level with these layered conflicts-upon-conflicts. This session demonstrates how to use logic to confirm that a wrong-name, wrong-age, wrong-everything record can actually be right, with an emphasis on immigrant families. Participants will learn how to transfer that logic to a written proof argument.

10:15 a.m. MDT. "Peeling the Onion: Getting to the Original Sources," Gary Ball-Kilbourne, CG

Genealogy Standards 38 and 58 strongly express a preference for using original sources. Diligent researching and a few tricks of the trade enable genealogists to find original sources that underlie authored narratives and derivative sources.

11:30 a.m. MDT. "The Hub of the Wheel: How Tracing a Brother with no Children Connected Ten Siblings," Mary Kircher Roddy, CG

A family from Ireland emigrated in a chain migration scheme to western Pennsylvania between 1825 and 1845. See how using the standards for researching connected the siblings and their descendants and led to their origins in County Tyrone.

1:30 p.m. MDT. "Consult via…Explore with…Discover through…Literature Reviews," Jan Joyce, CG, CGL

What if you could consult with genealogical experts each time your work slows? Together you could explore options for new paths of discovery. The right approach to a literature review allows you to do that. Other experts have encountered the same challenges that you do, and they have written about them even if not overtly. These challenges could range from beginning work in a new geography to parrying with a difficult brick wall. Learn how to conduct a targeted literature review, cull the information you need, and advance your research. A case study on use of negative evidence will highlight the methodology.

2:45 p.m. MDT. "Finding Henrietta: Reconciling Conflicting Evidence to Reveal a Woman’s Identity," Nicole Gilkison LaRue, CG

Henrietta Dixon was never enumerated with individuals identified as her parents in a federal census. Records revealing her family members, including her father, are often conflicting and open up new questions. Additionally, multiple marriages further obscure her identity. This case study uncovers Henrietta's maiden name and emphasizes the importance of a focused research question when attempting to meet the Genealogical Proof Standard.

4:00 p.m. MDT. "Hidden Stories: Using Analysis to Explore the Unexpected in Family History Research" Jennifer Zinck, CG

Tales of illegitimacy, divorce, and desertion aren't limited to soap operas and modern reality television. Discovering trails that lead to unanticipated events can be shocking, confusing, and exciting all at the same time. This session will explore how genealogists can utilize the law, conflict resolution, and tools like date calculators and timelines to help build a clearer understanding of some potentially challenging historical situations.

I have long had an interest in Abbot-Downing Concord Coaches, probably the most popular brand of stagecoach ever produced in the United Sates. Judging by the e-mail that I have received from a short mention in a previous article, it looks like many people are interested in these old stagecoaches. I thought I would write a bit about these important transportation methods in American history.

If you ever see one, you should realize that you are looking at history.

In the 1800s and very early 1900s, the Abbot-Downing Company of Concord, New Hampshire, built more than 3,000 of these stagecoaches and then sold them all over the United States. Properly called Abbot-Downing Coaches, a few were even shipped to New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa.

Lewis Downing started a carriage-building business in Concord, New Hampshire, on August 3, 1813. By 1826, feeling the need of an expert carriage maker, Downing engaged the services of J. Stephens Abbot, and the men entered into partnership in the next year.

Abbot-Downing became known the world over for its Concord Stagecoach, but the company actually manufactured over 40 different types of carriages and wagons at their wagon factory in Concord. The Concord Stagecoaches were built as solid as the Abbot-Downing Company's reputation and became known as coaches that didn't break down.

After twenty years in business together, Abbott and Downing went their separate ways in an amicable split. Downing continued to build Concord coaches, and the two companies merged again in 1865, when Lewis Downing, Jr., and J.S. and E.A. Abbott Company formed the Abbott-Downing Company. They continued to manufacture coaches, wagons, and carriages under that company's name until 1919.

Most of the time, the Abbot-Downing Company employed about 300 people. All were men except for one: from 1865 to 1895 Marie F. Putnam stitched leather seats and trim for every stagecoach that rolled out of the Concord factory, including those purchased by Wells Fargo & Company. For the entire 30 years, she was the company's only female employee.

Each coach was given a number by the Abbot-Downing factory, and each has its own story. The Concord Coaches had a reputation for being sturdy, roomy, and comfortable. Having seen several Concord Coaches, I have to say the mid-1800s definitions of "roomy" and "comfortable" were far different from today's definitions.

These stagecoaches were used from eastern Maine to San Diego and were the coaches most of us visualize when we think of the stagecoaches in the Old West. Indeed, thousands of these stagecoaches were sold west of the Mississippi. Wells Fargo Bank still uses an Abbot-Downing Coach in its corporate logo and owns several restored coaches.

Buffalo Bill used Concord Coaches in his Wild West Shows. Old western movies filmed in the 1930s or 1940s usually used authentic, old Concord Coaches in their scenes. In fact, you can watch some of the older westerns to see crashes in which the movie studios filmed these antique coaches running off cliffs and smashing into the canyons below. You won't see that in modern westerns as the original coaches are now worth hundreds of thousands of dollars each!

If your ancestors have been in North America for more than 100 years, chances are that many of them rode in Concord Coaches. Sometimes the passengers both walked and rode, as described by the stagecoach fares in and around Lincoln, New Hampshire:

• pulled by 6 horses

• 1st class: $7.00 (rode all the way)

• 2nd class: had to walk at bad places on the road

• 3rd class: same as above, but also had to push at hills

Based upon the interest expressed in e-mail, I considered writing an article about Concord Coaches. I have a casual knowledge of the topic, having seen quite a few of the Abbot-Downing coaches in the past forty years or so. However, as I began to research the topic, I found numerous web sites owned and written by true experts. I decided to refer you to the excellent articles already available.

If you are not familiar with these delightful remnants of Americana, I suggest that you look at the pictures on these web sites. Then try to imagine your ancestor riding for hours in these cramped, uncomfortable seats in a back and forth rocking motion as the stagecoaches lurched along over muddy unpaved roads, bouncing in and out of wagon ruts, at speeds typically of 8 to 10 miles per hour. Not only was travel by stagecoach uncomfortable, it often was also unsanitary. Passengers were always advised to “spit on the leeward side of the coach.” A stagecoach passenger may have had to get out and walk in places, or perhaps even place a shoulder against a wheel on the steeper hills. It was an exhausting and usually dirty ride!

Start first with the pictures on the "Abbot-Downing Concord Coaches" pages at http://theconcordcoach.tripod.com/abbotdowning/ and on the "The Concord Coach Gallery" at http://www.over-land.com/ccoachg.html.

If you have never seen a Concord Coach, you need to find one! There is an excellent list of almost all the Concord Coaches that are on display at http://theconcordcoach.tripod.com/abbotdowning/id14.html. There are several on exhibit in New Hampshire, of course, but others can be seen in California, Pennsylvania, Maine, Vermont, New York, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Ohio, Colorado, Missouri, Arizona, and South Dakota. Again, visit one in person, and then visualize your ancestor's travels for hours as the coach bounced along unpaved roads.

Here is a list of other web sites that describe the historic Concord Coaches:

The Concord Coach: http://www.over-land.com/ccoach.html and the many links at http://www.over-land.com/coach.html.

Concord (New Hampshire) Historical Society: https://www.concordhistoricalsociety.org/the-concord-coach/.

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbot-Downing_Company

Abbott-Downing Historical Society: http://www.concordcoach.org/

1891 Abbot Downing Concord Coach at the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation: https://www.thehenryford.org/collections-and-research/digital-collections/artifact/237451/.

The Abbot and Downing Company: http://www.over-land.com/ccoach.html.

Abbot-Downing coaches in San Diego, California: http://www.sandiegohistory.org/journal/1962/january/concord/.

The story of coach #80, built in 1850, survived three fires (!) and is now on display at the Concord Group Insurance Company, in Concord, NH (I have seen this coach many times): http://www.concordgroupinsurance.com/aboutus/concordcoach

Hundreds of photographs of Concord Coaches: https://bit.ly/3sSKDh6

If you find other web pages that describe the Abbot-Downing Concord Coaches, please post a comment at the end of this article and let everyone know about them.

A newsletter reader wrote recently and asked a question that I think many people should thunk about. I replied to him in email but thought I would also share may answer here in the newsletter in case others have the same question.

My correspondent wrote:

I am relatively new to genealogy technology. Are there tips you can provide to ensure the security of personal information? Would building a family tree in software only my computer be more secure than syncing it to a webpage (like MyHeritage)? Is it a good idea to not include details (name, date and place of birth) for all living relatives and maybe back a generation or two? Thanks.

My reply:

Great questions! However, I don’t have a simple answer. In fact, I can offer several answers and suggestions.

The various web sites have lots of controls to control privacy. Your computer on your desk and your laptop computer and tablet computer probably have no such controls. Hackers around the world are constantly trying to access your computer at home (and millions of other computers) through the Internet. In addition, there is even more danger when you take your laptop or tablet computer out of the home where it is exposed to loss, theft, and other risks.

Generally speaking, placing genealogy information or any other information in the cloud is more secure than keeping the same information in your own computer. I speak from experience; I had a laptop computer stolen a few years ago from the trunk of my automobile. The thief obtained everything: my bank account info, my credit card numbers, my Social Security number, the email addresses and phone numbers of most of my friends and business acquaintances, my family tree info, and more. Had I been smart enough to only keep that info in a secure area in the cloud, the thief would have obtained nothing.

I do that now. I still have my family tree info in my own laptop and desktop computers. After all, family tree information isn’t secret anyway. Almost all genealogy information is publicly-available info available in various public government records and elsewhere. (Hey, that's where I found it!) However, I now keep my bank account info, my credit card numbers, my Social Security number, the email addresses and phone numbers of most of my friends and business acquaintances, and more ONLY in the cloud and only by encrypting it first before sending it to a cloud web site. I never keep sensitive information in plain text on my own computers where it can be accessed by thieves and/or visitors to my home.

For the information I store on MyHeritage, I know the web site (and almost all other genealogy web sites) have excellent controls where names, dates, places of birth, and other personal information for all living people are never displayed to anyone else. When I log in with my user name and password, I can see that information. However, if you or anyone else looks at the information there that I made public, you do not see the personal information for living people.

I also keep backup ENCRYPTED copies in various locations, including one encrypted copy on my laptop computer, one encrypted copy in a plug-in external hard drive of my desktop computer, one encrypted copy in a backup service in the cloud that I pay for, one encrypted copy in Google Drive (which obviously is also stored in the cloud), and one UNencrypted copy in one of a relative’s computer.

By the way, I do keep a lot of non-sensitive information in my own computers where it is available to me and probably to thieves at all times, even without an Internet connection. Copies of most things are also kept online. My calendar, my shopping list, my favorite recipe for vegan chili, the jokes I collect, copies of my past newsletter articles, and hundreds of other items are not secret. I don't encrypt those and don't lock them up. Probably 98% of the things I save online and offline are not secret. Heck, if anyone wants a copy of those things, just drop me a note and I will send them to you! I don’t see a need for security for those items.

In contrast, anything that I wish to keep secret is kept under lock and key (the key is called "encryption") only in secure web sites where I can access the information whether I am at home or traveling. Sometimes, “traveling” means that I am at the grocery store or at the doctor's office, but I still might need to access the information while I'm out and about. I strive to have all information securely available at my fingertips at any time, regardless of where I am.

I also want to keep my information away from thieves, whether they are located overseas or if they are standing behind my automobile, attempting to break in and steal my laptop or tablet computer.

Your need for security will undoubtedly be different from my needs. However, I strongly suggest you think about what you need to protect and the create your own security to make sure your private information remains private. The word “encryption” should be a major item in your plans.

How much personal information are you willing to give the government? Would that answer change if your unique data could help solve a crime? Millions of people don’t get to make that choice for themselves if they use certain online genealogy kits without reading the fine print.

You can read the full story in an article by Elizabeth Wadas and published in the NBC15 web site at: https://bit.ly/3wMs2Et.

The following announcement was written by Georgia Southern University:

Georgia Southern University Libraries and Nalanda Roy, Ph.D., recently launched a digital collection, “An Integral History: Asian Studies Digital Archive,” to coincide with Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage (AAPI) Month in May.

The archive provides a curated collection of multidisciplinary resources in support of the Asian American and Pacific Islander community in the United States. Contributions are curated from Digital Commons, the University’s open-access institutional repository, and highlight Georgia Southern’s scholarly and cultural assets related to the Asian Studies minor. The collection represents faculty and student research, books, videos, community resources and campus events.

“The Asian Studies Digital Archive is an important addition to Georgia Southern’s collections because developing an understanding of other cultures will create a cultural awareness,” said Roy, an associate professor of international studies and Asian politics and coordinator of the University’s Asian Studies program. “It will also teach us to have more meaningful interactions with others around us, and celebrate our differences and similarities.”

Each May, AAPI is observed to recognize the Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders who have contributed to American history, society and culture. The Asian Studies Digital Archive will carry that legacy forward, and continue to grow, as faculty are encouraged to participate in the initiative.

“As the coordinator of the Asian Studies program at Georgia Southern University, creating the Digital Archive has been a dream project,” said Roy, who is a Certified Diversity Executive and a former Inclusive Excellence Faculty Fellow at Georgia Southern. “I am very happy to work with the Georgia Southern Libraries to create a resource that will be helpful to both the Georgia Southern and local communities.”

For more information on the Asian Studies Digital Archive, visit https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/asian-studies/.

Facts about Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month

*U.S. Census Bureau

1978 — Congress passed a resolution creating Asian/Pacific American Heritage Week.

1992 — The observance expanded to a month (May), timed to coincide with two important milestones in Asian/Pacific American history: arrival of the first Japanese immigrants in the United States (May 7, 1843) and completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869 (the majority of workers who laid the tracks were Chinese immigrants).

2020 — Total Asian population in the U.S. is roughly 6% or 20 million.

5.1 million — The estimated number of the Asian population of Chinese, except Taiwanese, descent in the U.S. in 2020. The Chinese (except Taiwanese) population was the largest Asian group in the U.S.

690,000 — The estimated number of total Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander population in the U.S.

607,010 — Native Hawaiian residents make the largest NHPI group in the U.S.

In June 1922, the opening battle of Ireland’s civil war destroyed one of Europe’s great archives in a historic calamity that reduced seven centuries of documents and manuscripts to ash and dust.

Once the envy of scholars around the world, the Public Record Office at the Four Courts in Dublin, was a repository of documents dating from medieval times, and packed into a six-storey building by the River Liffey. It was obliterated when troops of the fledgling Irish state bombarded former comrades who were hunkered down at the site as part of a rebellion by hardline republicans against peace with Britain.

A wounded rebel is brought out of the burning Four Courts building in Dublin after the surrender to Free State troops in June 1922. Photograph: Bettmann Archive

Each side blamed the other for the destruction, but there was no disputing the consequences. “At one blow, the records of centuries have passed into oblivion,” said Herbert Wood, deputy keeper of the public records. The ruins stood as a testament to loss and a harbinger of the destruction of European cultural treasures in 20th century wars.

Now, on the eve of the disaster’s centenary, a virtual reconstruction of the building and its archives is to be unveiled. Historians, archivists and computer scientists have spent five years piecing together much of what had been thought lost for ever.

You can read more in an article published in The Guardian at: https://bit.ly/3wHtGr2.

The following was written by the University of Limerick, Ireland:

The Department of History at the University of Limerick, Ireland is delighted to invite you to an event entitled

Past Lives: Spotlight on History of Family taking place on Tuesday 24 May, 16.00-17.00 (for those in other time zones click here to see what time this is for you). This event will appeal to 

anyone interested in history, including genealogists and family historians.

Join Dr Rachel Murphy, lecturer on the MA History of Family at the University of Limerick, to find out more about the history of family and some of the topics that historians of family research.

 

During the event, which is part of the Limerick Lifelong Learning Festival, participants will be introduced to three graduates of the course who will present findings from their MA research:

Noreen Bracken: The Coroners of County Clare, 1822 to 1922

Tara O’Brien: Youth agency and Identity in Rural Ireland, 1950-1970

Brid O’Sullivan: The Townland of Knocknagarhoon, Co. Clare: A Study of Population, Households, Family, People and Migration

There will be time for questions at the end of the session.

 

This online event will be of interest to the general public, in particular anyone interested in genealogy, history, family history and local history – in Ireland and beyond.

Hosted by the Department of History, University of Limerick. To attend the event please click here. Please note an attendee link to attend this live event will be sent to you close to the event date. If you have any queries or issues registering, please contact rachela.murphy@ul.ie. 

We look forward to welcoming you (virtually) on the day.

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

CD-ROM disks, along with their higher-capacity cousins DVD and Blu-ray disks, are fragile methods of storing information. In short, these plastic disks are not suitable for long-term storage. Many corporations and non-profits are racing to get their data off the discs as quickly and safely as possible and into a more reliable digital storage environment. If you have genealogy information or any other information stored on these disks, you need to do the same.

For many years, the thought amongst genealogists has been to print the information on paper for long-term preservation. Yet, many of us have handled old pieces of paper that are decaying, crumbling, or fading to the point that the information is not readable. In fact, most paper manufactured in the past 75+ years contains acids that will hasten the deterioration of the information you wish to preserve. Add in the many problems of paper destruction caused by mold, mildew, moisture, insect damage, floods, fires, burst water pipes, and other factors, and you soon come to the realization that storage on paper is as risky as storing on optical media or even more so.

In some circles, the solution is to “digitize data so as to preserve it.” However, even digitizing requires some serious precautions and planning. Today’s common choice for long-term digital data storage is CD-ROM or DVD disks. However, that technology has only appeared in the past three decades; so, we do not yet know if these devices will store data for a century or more. Some studies indicate that the information may not last that long. In fact, there is proof that many CD-ROM disks may not even last a decade!

For instance, New York Public Radio is now transferring the contents of their archive of over 30,000 CD-ROM disks. NYPR Archives Manager John Passmore said that some of the older discs exhibit “end-of-life symptoms,” which creates an urgency at NYPR to move the content off the CDs and into the organization’s asset management system. Passmore gave a presentation at the Library of Congress' Digital Preservation 2014 Meeting about the issues and the solutions being used at New York Public Radio. You can read an interview of John Passmore made earlier in the year on the subject in the Library of Congress’ website at https://bit.ly/3iXY2xU. 

The main advantage of digital data is that there is no signal degradation in the output. In a digital environment, data is stored in "bits," often referred to as "ones and zeroes." Each bit either is there or it isn't. In contrast, data stored on analog media such as a magnetic tape of audio or video, is stored in an infinite number of signal strengths. This variable quality is the problem; the result of copying it, playing it, or even just storing it is degraded audio or images. In short, analog data will degrade over time; digital data will not.

The degradation of analog information is obvious when using a photocopier. Information or images printed on paper are analog. If a photocopy of the original document is made, the new copy is not as crisp and clear as the original. In short, the image is degraded a bit. If a photocopy is made of the photocopy, the image is degraded a bit more. If a photocopy is made of the photocopy of the photocopy... Well, you probably have seen the results when someone hands you a document that has been photocopied many times, such as "office jokes" posted on bulletin boards in many offices, jokes that seem to never die.

In contrast, digital copies are perfect reproductions of the originals.

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/12788102

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.

Did you ever find a record of someone's cause of death and then asked, "What the heck is that?"

You can find the definitions of Atheroma, Barrel Fever, Cynanche Trachealis, Jail Fever, and lots of other disgusting things in the Bakers' World web site at: http://bakers-world.com/page38/index.php.