The Smithsonian Libraries is home to millions of items so the folks there spend a lot of time sorting and cataloging all sorts of things. One new online resource created by the Smithsonian Libraries and Archives is a new Genealogy Research Guide.

The guide is a simple list of online web sites that contain a lot of genealogy records online. While it may be "simple," it is also extensive. The list includes such web sites as: 

• Adoption Resources for Discovering Your Birth Family
• Geographic Names Information System (GNIS), Genealogy Timelines: Find the Gaps in Your Research!, Trace Indian Ancestry, 
• Bibliography of Books Related to Genealogical Research and Technology Available in ALIC (Archives Library and Information Center of the National Archives):  Compiled by staff at the National Archives. Identifies resources related to genealogy and technology. The list provides an overview of publications that are likely available at local and other libraries.
• Biography and Genealogy Master Index (an international database of more than 20 million biographical citations on more than 6 million persons, living and deceased, spanning 2,000 years of recorded history).
• and many more...

I bet you haven't yet checked out ALL of these resources! This is a web site you should add to your list of bookmarks.

The Smithsonian Libraries and Archives' Genealogy Research Guide may be found at: https://library.si.edu/research/genealogy.

I do remember home computers in those days and I do not miss them! If you were using online home computers in the 1980s, this video from the archives of Thames TV is a reminder of how we used to send and receive email messages long before the invention of the World Wide Web. Ah, the sweet sound of a dot matrix printer.

My favorite line from the video is when the television interviewer asked, “Why did you buy a computer?” I cannot imagine anyone asking that question today.

This interview was first shown on Thames TV’s computer programme ‘Database’ in 1984. You can view it at https://youtu.be/szdbKz5CyhA.

The following announcement was written by Findmypast:

This latest Findmypast Friday updates features modern death records, exclusive parish registers and unique wartime indexes. Read on to find out what's new this week.

Philadelphia Roman Catholic Parish Records

Due to 100 year privacy rules having expired, Findmypast have just released over 821,000 new Catholic records from 1921, covering baptisms and marriages from the City of Brotherly Love.

The latest update includes:

• • Over 46,000 Philadelphia Roman Catholic Baptisms from 1921
  • Over 34,000 Philadelphia Roman Catholic Parish Marriages from 1921

Each record includes both transcripts and images of the original document. As well as revealing vital dates and locations, these exclusive sacramental registers will enable you to discover the names of your ancestors’ parents and spouse.

England & Wales Deaths 2007-2020

Search over 353,000 new modern death records that are now available to search in their own standalone collection,

When combined with England & Wales Deaths 1837-2007, this set sees Findmypast’s death record coverage for the two countries span an impressive 183 years.

Ireland, Northern Ireland Deaths 1998-2020

Findmypast have also created a distinct record set for recent Northern Ireland deaths which has been expanded this week with over 5,000 new records. 

The entire collection now stands at over 92,000 records. In it, you can discover your ancestors year of birth, year of death and where they lived.

Royal Air Force & Commonwealth, Mentioned in Dispatches 1940-1945

Unique to Findmypast, this useful index can help you trace high-flying family members from World War 2. Containing over 32,000 transcripts, each result records an act of gallantry by the recipient whose name and key regimental details was published in The London Gazette

The award of a MiD or 'Mentioned in Dispatches' was signified by the wearing of an oak leaf emblem on the ribbon of the War Medal. This followed on from the convention adopted during the First World War when the MiD emblem was worn on the ribbon of the Victory Medal. A person could be MiD on multiple occasions but only one oak leaf emblem was ever worn.

Newspapers

Reading Standard, covering 1891-1895, 1897-1911 and 1913-1961 and The News (London), covering 1805, 1807 and 1809-1835, are brand new to Findmypast this week.

While additional pages have been added to:

• • Blandford Weekly News from 1891
  • Potteries Examiner from 1880
  • St. Helens Examiner from 1898
  • Warrington Examiner from 1880
  • Weymouth Telegram from 1894
  • Widnes Examiner from 1880, 1897 and 1911
  • Wolverhampton Express and Star from 1898, 1901, 1905, 1909-1910 and 1912

Search millions more Catholic Church records this week on FamilySearch from Bolivia 1566–1996, Costa Rica 1595–1992, El Salvador 1655–1977, Guatemala 1581–1977, Peru 1603–1992, and Venezuela 1577–1995, plus Catholic and Lutheran Church records from Germany Prussia, Pomerania 1544–1966. Also explore new Canada Tax Assessments 1834–1899 and expanded collections for Brazil, England, Uruguay, and the US (GA, IL, MA, VA). 

Search these new records and images by clicking on the collection links below, or go to FamilySearch to search over 8 billion free names and record images.

The file of new records is long, too lengthy to  fit into this. article However, you can find the entire list at: https://media.familysearch.org/new-free-historical-records-on-familysearch-week-of-29-march-2021/.

The following is an email message posted to the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies (IAJGS) Public Records Access Monitoring Committee mailing list and is republished here with permission:

Many states have changed their adoption records access laws over the past decade.  However, Senate Bill 331/House Bill 999 (http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2021RS/bills/sb/sb0331F.pdf) in Maryland which would have allowed adult adoptees 18 years and older unrestricted access to their original birth certificates and adoption records without a court order failed in the Maryland Senate by a vote of 16 for and 31 opposed. The bill would also have changed the “disclosure veto” option into a “contact preference form,” in which a biological parent or adoptee can state whether they prefer to be contacted or not. It had received a favorable report by Judicial Proceedings.

The American Adoption Congress has a chart of access with or without restrictions for adult adoptees access of their original birth certificates at: https://americanadoptioncongress.org/state.php

To read more see: https://www.marylandmatters.org/2021/03/30/bill-that-wouldve-granted-adoptees-access-to-birth-certificates-fails-on-senate-floor/

Jan Meisels Allen

Chairperson, IAJGS Public Records Access Monitoring Committee

Today is the first day of the month. That is still a good time to back up your genealogy files. Then test your backups!

Your backups aren't worth much unless you make a quick test by restoring a small file or two after the backup is completed.

Actually, you can make backups at any time. However, it is easier and safer if you have a specific schedule. The first day of the month is easy to remember, so I would suggest you back up your genealogy files at least on the first day of every month, if not more often. (My computers automatically make off-site backups of all new files every few minutes.)

Given the events of the past few months with genealogy websites laying off employees and cutting back on services, you now need backup copies of everything more than ever. What happens if the company that holds your online data either goes off line or simply deletes the service where your data is held? If you have copies of everything stored either in your own computer, what happens if you have a hard drive crash or other disaster? If you have one or more recent backup copies, such a loss would be inconvenient but not a disaster.

Of course, you might want to back up more than your genealogy files. Family photographs, your checkbook register, all sorts of word processing documents, email messages, and much more need to be backed up regularly. Why not do that on the first day of each month? or even more often?

MyHeritage has announced a major update to DNA Matches on MyHeritage — you can now compare your Genetic Groups to those of your DNA Matches.

According to the MyHeritage Blog:

"In late December 2020, we introduced Genetic Groups, an enhancement to our Ethnicity Estimate which increases the resolution of MyHeritage DNA’s ethnicity breakdown to 2,114 geographic regions. Since then, we’ve been working to improve the feature and add new components requested by users, and in January 2021 we released the first set of user interface improvements. 

"Comparing the shared genetic characteristics of your DNA Matches is very useful and can help you figure out how you might be related. Previously, on the Review DNA Match page, you were able to view the Ethnicity Estimate of your DNA Matches and see which ethnicities you share. Now, you can drill down even further and see which Genetic Groups they belong to, and which ones you have in common."

You can read a detailed explanation and view a number of graphics illustrating the use of the latest updates in the MyHeritage Blog at: https://blog.myheritage.com/2021/03/new-view-the-genetic-groups-of-your-dna-matches/.

An announcement from FamilySearch:

This looks like a major online event! The following is the announcement from the Genealogical Forum of Oregon:

Registration is now open!

From an article by Desmond Brown in the CBC News website:

"A former Virginia slave who was laid to rest in the Hamilton Cemetery on York Boulevard is believed to be the first Black man in Canada to have received an official U.S. Civil War headstone.

Historian Robin McKee points to the Hamilton Cemetery burial site of Nelson Stevens, a Black veteran of the Civil War. (Photo courtesy of Evan Mitsui/CBC)

"Recently, Hamilton historian Robin McKee spoke to CBC News about how he found Nelson Stevens's unmarked grave in 2007 while doing research for his Civil War-themed tour — one of several tours he has been conducting in the Hamilton Cemetery for 20 years.

"McKee learned Stevens came north to escape slavery, settled in Hamilton and enlisted to fight for the Union Army against the Confederacy as a soldier in a United States Colored Troops (USCT) regiment."

The full article may be found at: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/nelson-stevens-hamilton-cemetery-1.5965834.

My thanks to newsletter reader Jim Benedict for telling me about this story.