Anne Knowles believes that places provide important information about historical events. The University of Maine professor and graduate coordinator in the History Department has made an academic career studying the relationship between geographical circumstances and major societal shifts, exploring topics from Welsh emigration to the United States to why American entrepreneurs struggled to match the productivity of the British iron industry. Now, Knowles is working with a team of historians and geographers to create a digital platform for students and educators to trace the geographies of the Holocaust and connect victimsʼ stories to the places where they happened.

The project was recently awarded a $150,000 National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Digital Humanities Advancement Grant, which supports innovative, experimental or computationally challenging digital projects that can scale to enhance scholarly research, teaching and public programming in the humanities.

“I have been very fortunate to receive a number of NEH grants for my Holocaust research. This one will enable me to share the results of years of work with a global audience. Mapping history with GIS is now mainstream in the Digital Humanities. Itʼs exciting that the University of Maine can contribute to this important trend,” Knowles says.

While Nazi actions were often recorded and can be mapped with geographic coordinates, the places of Holocaust victim experiences are difficult to map because their locations are vague or unknown and can only be located relatively.

You can read much more in the University of Maine web site at: https://bit.ly/3QFPlsB.

This is a follow-up story to my previous article, Kentucky’s Floods Took Appalachian History With Them, published at https://eogn.com/page-18080/12876700 on August 8:

Decades worth of Appalachian history was damaged in the flash flood three weeks ago.

Flood water broke through the Appalshop archive in Whitesburg, which held over fifty years of history. Now, a lot of the memorabilia is damaged.

“The idea of losing all of that would be devastating, and also as an archivist, it’s my responsibility to take care of these things so it’s, in that sense, very important to me,” Appalshop archivist Caroline Rubens said.

Appalshop staff and volunteers are now working hard to save whatever they can, cleaning through 24,000 damaged items.

You can read more in an article in the wkyt.com web site at: https://bit.ly/3K7yEDI.

Dublin's grande dame hotel, the Shelbourne—actually employs a genealogy butler. Guests can send relevant information, such as ancestors’ names, dates of birth and death, and names of villages, to resident genealogist Helen Kelly, who can then comb through records to help paint a fuller picture of a family tree.

Since starting at the hotel in 2007, Kelly has helped hundreds of guests trace their Irish heritage. The process is fairly straightforward: After receiving the relevant details and completing her research, she schedules an hour-long meeting to share everything she has discovered (in person or over Zoom). From there, she can direct interested visitors to one of five record offices in Dublin. “My consultation with the guest eliminates time wasting on their part,” she says. “I know from what I research online what particular office will best serve their purpose for the next phase of their research.” Those offices include everything from the General Register Office for births, marriages, and deaths to the National Library of Ireland, which “holds a great deal of records, including Roman Catholic parish registers up to about 1880,” she notes.

Some 70 million people worldwide claim some Irish heritage, and for those fortunate enough to be able to travel to investigate their roots, Ireland tries to make it easy to do, with or without the aid of a genealogy butler. The government even hosts its own website, irishgenealogy.ie, which lists church records and civil registers of births, marriages, and deaths. Those who can prove that a grandparent was born in Ireland can even apply for Irish citizenship. Considering that an Irish passport is tied for third strongest in the world, according to Arton Capital’s Passport Index, a ranking of the world’s passports, this could save quite a few travel headaches depending on where you currently claim citizenship.

Americans (and to a lesser extent Canadians) are by far the largest percentage of tourists that Kelly sees. About 31 million Americans can trace their roots to Ireland, so it’s no surprise that the country does a brisk business with U.S. tourists looking for their lineage. The major exodus to America was from 1840 to 1870, the famine years in Ireland. “That was when it really surged,” says Kelly. “But since that time, we’ve always exported people,” she adds with a laugh.

You can read more in an article at https://bit.ly/3AwwNVT.

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

I often receive e-mails asking questions about converting genealogy databases. The questions usually are more or less like this example:

My organization has been entering data for a long time in a general-purpose database program, not a genealogy program. We use Microsoft Access (or FileMaker Pro or SQL or some other general-purpose database program or Excel spreadsheets). We have thousands of entries in our database. We now want to put this information on the Web (or on CD-ROM or in a book), and we want to use the report generation capabilities of the Brand X genealogy program. Can we convert our Access (or other) database to GEDCOM and import it into the genealogy program?

The quick answer is, "Yes, if you have enough time and money. However, you will undoubtedly find that it is possible but not practical."

Genealogy programs are generally written by very talented software developers who spend thousands of hours developing their programs. Tying relationships together, generating pedigree charts, generating Web pages, producing GEDCOM files, and other such tasks has consumed hundreds of hours of these talented programmers' time. After they have written the software one time, they can sell copies of their programs again and again to customers for a rather low price. If they sell enough copies, they can generate a profit. By selling multiple copies of their work, they are able to keep prices low enough for the masses to afford it.

If a given software developer creates the various required software routines and then finds very few customers, the prices will be prohibitive. If we multiply the thousands of man-hours required by a reasonable hourly rate, the resulting charges would be thousands of dollars when few copies are sold.

Now let's examine Microsoft Access, FileMaker Pro, Excel, and other generic, general-purpose database and spreadsheet programs. These programs generally are great for storing large amounts of data. You can store any data fields that you wish; you are not constrained by some software developer's idea of a perfect database structure. You can "roll your own" as you please. You can sort the data in any of a myriad of ways. However, you cannot easily generate reports, create pedigree charts, or create GEDCOM files. When it comes to genealogy-specific needs, your Microsoft Access or FileMaker Pro or other general-purpose database program is less useful than even a free genealogy program.

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/12889327

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.

Let’s fast-forward 48 years and look in our crystal ball. You know the one: the crystal ball on your desk that has 1024-by-768 pixels. It is a winter evening in 2070 A.D. at the Rencher Memorial Genealogy Center in Salt Lake City. An employee is working the evening shift, answering calls from people interested in their ancestry.

Sitting in his cubicle, the employee hears the VoIP phone ring. He swivels in his office chair and touches a button on the micro-headset in his ear. Through the room’s integrated sound system we can only hear one side of the conversation:

“Good evening. Thank you for calling the ‘Check Your Ancestry Hotline.’ My name is Alan. May I have your Social Security Number please?

“Thank you. Let me enter that number into our database.

“OK, for security purposes, would you please sit directly in front of your computer’s web cam? Yes. That should be good. Let me double-check… Yes, the retina scan verifies your identity. How may I help you this evening, Miss Smolenyak?

[Long pause here]

“Oh, I don’t think that is such an unusual story. We hear similar tales all the time. I am not surprised that your grandmother compiled the family tree years ago but neglected to make backup copies. After all, making computer backups was a MANUAL process back in the good old days. Many people didn’t do that. I have heard many tales of family trees that were lost during the flood of 2025, the hurricanes of 2042 and 47, and other disasters.

“Luckily, we now have all the information in the Public Ancestral File version 7 data base. We usually refer to that database as “PAF7.” We can almost always reconstruct your family tree within minutes. How many ancestors would you like to find this evening?”

“12 generations? Yes, that should be simple. That will cost $24.95. Would you please swipe your credit card through the slot in the front of your computer?

“Thank you.

“Now let’s get started. I am obligated to tell you about the PAF7 database. It is based on the latest DNA technology. Each living person’s DNA was entered, including all 3,278 genetic markers for each person. Those are referred to as the “Greenspan Genealogy Markers.” Yes, the database contains the DNA markers of every living person in the world as of its conception date in 2022. Of course, every newborn child’s DNA has also been entered ever since that date.

“The computers then calculated the DNA of every person’s ancestors back 1,024 generations. The documents of the national archives of every nation in the world were scanned and saved as digitized images, as were many church records, vital records, tax lists, military records, and many more resources. The result was a database of reconstituted ancestral data. In spot-checking by independent auditors from leading genealogy societies, the database has proven to be 99.999% accurate when compared to various genealogy records. In fact, the database appears to be far more accurate than most written genealogy records.

“OK, that is the end of the description of PAF7. Do you have any questions before we proceed?

[a short pause here]

“Well, I will be giving a hands-on demonstration of that on this year's Roots Magic’s Cruise to Mars. You might think about joining us.

“Yes, most of the presentations will be given during the voyage in the Roy Stockdill Lounge.”

[a short pause here]

“Great. Let’s get going. Which ancestor would you like to start with?

“Your grandmother Megan? Certainly. Let’s see what we have on her…

“Oh yes, here she is. Let me click on ‘derived pedigree.’ Yes, we have extensive records on her. It appears that she was a genealogist and actually submitted the information herself. The PAF7 database has assessed her information at a very high 99.5% degree of accuracy. Apparently she never knew about her great-great-grandmother’s indiscretion with the gardener, however.

‘What’s that? Oh yes, that’s just one of the little surprises one finds in the family tree when using PAF7. I am sure we can find others. After all, these people were not just ancestors, they were also humans. They experienced all the issues that we still deal with today. Some things never change, do they?

“Yes, her ancestry appears to be almost entirely from eastern Europe. I see several small villages listed here. Shall I send that pedigree chart to you in e-mail?

“Yes. Let me click on this icon. Is your e-mail address still jennifer-smolenyak@aol-google-yahoo.com? OK, the chart is on its way now, along with 138 pages of supporting documentation.

“Were you also interested in joining a heritage society, such as the Daughters of the American Revolution, the General Society of Mayflower Descendants, the Daughters of the Confederacy, Descendants of the Korean Conflict Heroes, or something similar? I don’t see any qualifying ancestors in your grandmother’s ancestry, but we can usually find someone in some other branch of the family tree who has a descendancy from a qualifying person.

“Great! That heritage society verification costs an extra $12.95. Could I ask you to swipe that credit card again?

“I am going to conduct the Heritage Society Search. This will take a minute or two as the computers scan through several million qualifying ancestors to see if they can find your DNA sequence in the list of descendants. That’s a total of 24 billion possibilities. The search shouldn’t take too long… Ah! Here it is now.

“I see that you have qualifying ancestors for the Daughters of the American Revolution, the General Society of Mayflower Descendants, as well as the Descendants of the Illegitimate Sons and Daughters of the Kings of Britain, sometimes called the Royal Bastards.

“Yes, that last one is one of the more desirable societies these days.

“Oh, wait a minute! You also have DNA derived from Genghis Khan, so you also qualify for membership in the General Society of the Horde. Of course, most everyone else qualifies for that one!

Wait, here’s another one: the Minority Ancestors of America Society. Yes, they are a difficult society to join. You have to prove your line of descent from an ancestor that arrived in North America involuntarily. That was the organization founded by Pulitzer Prize winner Tony Burroughs. After all, Tony needed a heritage society that he could join!

“I am sending you the qualification certificates for each of those societies by e-mail. When you fill out the forms on your computer, you will see that each certificate has a unique bar code printed on it. Just forward the appropriate certificate to each society’s headquarters by email. Each society’s membership secretary will scan the bar code from the page, and you will receive your membership card a few seconds later by email. What could be simpler?

“Their addresses? I’m not sure. Our database only shows people, not societies’ addresses. However, you should be able to find all that information online on Cyndi’s Granddaughter’s List. Yes, you can start with a search on Google3. That should find it.

“Of course, most of those societies are only online these days. Yes, actual street addresses seem to have disappeared after the merger of the New England Historic Genealogical Society with the National Genealogical Society, and the Society of Genealogists. The new organization sold all their buildings when they converted all their holdings into digital libraries. Yes, the Laura Prescott Memorial Library now has hundreds of thousands of online subscribers.

“The same thing happened to the Sharbrough Center for Southern Heritage. Yes, that’s the one. Funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

“Now, I’ve sent your ancestral detail in text form, and I assume you will be printing it out. Did you want to also receive it in electronic format? The file will be in GEDCOM6 format. That way, you can add new details of your own and automatically upload them to PAF7 on the web. Yes, the data can be used in any computer running the Macintosh OS 42.3 or later operating system.

“Windows? Golly, no. We haven’t had a request for that in years. Perhaps a local computer museum can help with that. Yes, that’s right. Cyndi’s Granddaughter’s List again.

“Is there anything else that I can help you with this evening?

“Certainly. You still have a credit on your account for another 3,078 ancestors. That credit is good for two years. You can call us back at any time within the next two years to continue. Of course, we do offer a 99-year-guarantee on database accuracy.

“In the meantime, if you have any questions about genealogy and how to keep records, I’d suggest that you check with Eastman’s Online Genealogy Encyclopedia. This is a huge resource that genealogists all over the world collaborate on. Lucky for us, it really took off after Dick Eastman collapsed and died at his keyboard with the image of the Escape key imprinted on his forehead.

“Yes, that’s right. Cyndi’s Granddaughter’s List will find it.

“Good night and thank you for calling the Rencher Memorial Genealogy Center.”

The Dublin Port Archive covers the history of the Port from 1707, offering a unique insight into how Dublin Port shaped Dublin City. The Archive is comprised of 75,000 photographs, 30,000 engineering drawings, 600 historical registers, yearbooks dating back to 1926 along with a ‘Name Book’ for employees from 1906 to 1925.

Commitment to Preserving Port Heritage

Dublin Port Company is committed to preserving port heritage and culture, a commitment reflected in Masterplan 2040 which commits to the integration of the Port and the City, setting policy drivers such as making a positive impact on Dublin and its citizens.  Heritage and the facilitation of its public access are essential to achieving this goal. However, physical access often clashes with conservation, particularly when it comes to historical documents. 

The collections from the Archive are currently being catalogued and the new Dublin Port Digital Archive is an online resource containing examples from the collections allowing accessibility without compromising the archive materials.

The online collections include newly released Newspaper Books  Photographic Collections   Historical Maps  Engineering Drawings and much more.

You can read much more in an article in the dublinport.ie web site at: https://bit.ly/3Rdhver.

Thousands more new and exclusive English parish records published  

Findmypast adds records for Suffolk and Staffordshire this Findmypast Friday 

Thanks to Findmypast’s longstanding partnership with the Family History Federation, thousands more exclusive parish records have been published this week. 

Suffolk Baptism Index 1538-1911 

Over 307,000 records have been added into this existing collection, covering 232 churches and the years 1813-1900. Thanks to the work done by volunteers at Suffolk Family History Society, these baptism records could reveal the parents’ names of your Suffolk ancestors, their baptism dates and where they lived, taking your family tree further than ever before. 

"This latest release completes the set for 1813-1900 for Suffolk baptisms and adds to other Suffolk records already on Findmypast.  We are hugely grateful for the efforts of all the volunteers involved in transcribing, checking, checking again, and then formatting the information for publication. Some of them work from home (wherever that is) from films and fiche, some are able to go into the record offices and see the records there. We hope to bring more transcriptions to Findmypast over the coming months.” - Suffolk Family History Society 

Staffordshire Baptisms 

Courtesy of Burntwood Family History Group, a further 141,000 new records across 28 churches have been added into this existing collection, which now stands at 2.1 million records. Many include original images, where residences and fathers’ occupations may be found. 

Staffordshire Marriages  

Another 70,000 records have been added into this collection from 19 churches. With some going back to the 1560s, researchers may learn more about their ancestor’s residence and age, plus details of witnesses on the original images. 

Newspapers 

Delve into more recent history this week with thousands of pages from 1990-1999 across 64 newspapers. 

 New titles: 

·         Trinidad Chronicle, 1864-1885 

·         Midland & Northern Coal & Iron Trades Gazette, 1875-1884 and 1886 

·         Leytonstone Express and Independent, 1877-1912 

·         Jarrow Guardian and Tyneside Reporter, 1872-1880, 1898, 1909-1910 

·         Surrey Independent and Wimbledon Mercury, 1882-1905 

·         Haltemprice & East Yorkshire Advertiser, 1995 

 

From an article by Bobby Bennett and published in the competitionplus.com web site:

"You know your family is badass when they name a colony after you.

"Buddy Hull is blaming it on ancestry.com, the DNA-based genealogy website where patrons spit in a cup, send it off and wait for weeks to learn how many famous kin-folk they have.

"That's what the Texas-based [drag racing] Top Fuel driver Hull did, and the results have him knee-deep in tracing the family tree.

"'No one in my family really truly knew how our family got to the U.S.,' Hull said. 'Four years ago, I really took it upon myself to learn. And so I did the typical, I spit in the cup and sent it into ancestry.com, and they got me started.'

"Sure enough, Hull realized he was a member of a family with a reasonably famous military heritage.

"'I kept digging, digging, digging, and it actually got very addictive,' Hull said. 'I spent two to three hours a night looking at the thing. And to boil the fat off of it, and we triple, quadruple verified it, my family first came over here from Hull, England, and settled what is the area of Massachusetts which used to be called the Hull Colony, which I think is just so cool.'"

I think Buddy Hull's description of the fascination with genealogy also applies to many of us. You can read more in the article at: https://bit.ly/3CiIyAK.

Comment: I don't know who writes the headlines for that site, but maybe we can all contribute and buy that person a spell checker!

From an article by Rami Amichay and published by Reuters:

In the hours after Russia invaded Ukraine in February, Ilya Fomintsev, a 43-year-old oncologist and director of a medical charity, took to the streets of Moscow to protest. He was arrested and sentenced to 20 days’ detention. Fearing for his future, like many other opponents of the “special military operation” in Ukraine, Fomintsev decided to leave the country.

But as other opposition-minded Russians headed for Turkey, Georgia and Armenia, Fomintsev, on the advice of an old patient, began gathering documents proving his Jewish ancestry and made an appointment at the Israeli consulate.

"I am of Jewish origin and the only option for me to emigrate was to Israel," Fomintsev said in an interview at his new home in Tel Aviv.

“By and large in other countries, it is impossible to legalise yourself, it is also impossible to open bank accounts there or do business. Israel was the only option I had and I took advantage of the repatriation programme.”

Fomintsev was part of a renewed wave of Jewish emigration from Russia that, though not as large as earlier pre-revolutionary and post-Soviet exoduses, has seen tens of thousands of Russians make for the Jewish state.

According to Israeli government figures, 20,246 Russians emigrated to Israel between January and July 2022, with numbers spiking from around 700 per month in February to over 3,000 in March. By contrast, in the whole of 2019 only 15,930 Russians emigrated to Israel.

Most of the emigrants from Russia are Jews, but some may only have close relatives who are Jewish. Under Israel's Law of Return, a person needs at least one Jewish grandparent to be entitled to immediate citizenship. Around 600,000 Russians qualify.

You can read the full story at: https://reut.rs/3T1Bez4.

Starting this September, the next version of Heredis for mobile devices will no longer be free.

An email from Heredis points out that:

"...since 2012, Heredis has chosen to offer its users a free mobile application on iOS (and then on Android). More than 35,000 of you are using these apps on a daily basis and we thank you for that.

"However, these applications require a heavy maintenance and a lot of extra work to update them so that they keep working with each new version of Heredis but also so that they remain compatible with your phones and tablets’ latest operating systems.

"This is why, from September onwards, we will have to charge you for our next mobile applications.

"If you have an older version already installed or if you want to download this older version, it will remain completely free. But you will need to pay for our next application, which will be compatible with the new version of Heredis. And it will be so with each new version in the future.

"The new Heredis apps will be available on the Apple and Android stores for $9.99 U.S. (tax incl.). Which means that for each new version, Mac or Windows, the user of this version will also have to purchase the corresponding mobile application."

If you use Heredis (Windows or Macintosh), I'd suggest you download the FREE mobile version now! You may do so at: https://bit.ly/3K7niQm.