Sure, it is easy to create digital photographs with today’s smartphones and digital cameras. But how do you keep them forever so that future generations may view them?

Actually, the process is simple and is well described in an article by Jack Schofield in The Guardian web site at http://bit.ly/2EGtWJL.

Schofield writes:

“People lose their most important photos every day when hard drives fail, when smartphones and laptops are stolen, when online services shut down, and when natural disasters strike. Fires, floods and earthquakes can also destroy digital records.

“To be really safe, you should have more than one copy of each photo, stored in more than one way in more than one place.”

You can read the full article at: http://bit.ly/2EGtWJL.

How is this for a well-documented family tree?

The newly documented genealogy could help scientists identify Leonardo's long-lost DNA.

Although Leonardo da Vinci never married or fathered any children of his own, he had at least 22 half-brothers that proliferated the family’s genes centuries after the famed renaissance artist and inventor passed away. According to the results of a decade-long investigation by researchers in Italy, the da Vinci family tree includes at least 21 generations spanning across 690 years. At least 14 da Vinci male descendants are still alive today, according to the researchers, which could greatly aid the search for Leonardo’s DNA.

Leonardo’s family roots

The Renaissance polymath, known for paintings like “The Last Supper” and “Mona Lisa,” was born in the Tuscan town of Anchiano in 1452, about 18 miles west of Florence.

Born out of wedlock to respected Florentine notary Ser Piero and a young peasant woman named Caterina, da Vinci was raised by his father and his stepmother. At the age of five, he moved to his father’s estate in nearby Vinci (the town from which his surname derives), where he lived with his uncle and grandparents.

For over a decade, Alessandro Vezzosi and Agnese Sabato, both art historians and experts in Leonardo’s life, have been piecing together the puzzle pieces that form the da Vinci family tree. Using historical documents, the two Italian researchers performed genealogical detective work that documented Leonardo’s family across many generations.

You can read the details in an article by Tibi Puiu in the ZME Science web site at: https://www.zmescience.com/science/da-vinci-family-06072021/.

This year, respondents will be given multiple days to complete the census, which collects key demographic, social and economic data from everyone in the country. There are just two optional questions included in the census: the respondent’s religion, and their willingness to participate in the Census Time Capsule.

A capsule containing respondents’ complete census data from each event is stored at the National Archives for 99 years, after which it is released publicly.

Demographer Mark McCrindle says storing the information will benefit our descendants a century down the track.

“How grateful we are when we may be on an ‘ancestry.com’-type situation [and] someone’s got the marriage certificate or some birth data details.

“We’re glad that forebears have it and I’m sure that future [descendants] will be glad to dig into a bit of detail about who those ancient ancestors of theirs were.”

You can read more at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_Australian_census.

The following announcement was written by FamilySearch:

FamilySearch today announced that RootsTech Connect 2022 will take place on March 3–5, 2022, as a fully virtual family history event. After welcoming over one million visitors from over 240 countries to its 2021 online event, RootsTech Connect 2021 was the largest in the history of RootsTech, and spectacular proof of humanity’s interest globally in discovering our roots and connecting to each other. Building on its success, RootsTech Connect 2022 will remain completely virtual and free. Registration will open in September 2021.

“We were humbled with the response to an all-virtual RootsTech, and so grateful to all of our sponsors, exhibitors, speakers and attendees who participated,” said Steve Rockwood, FamilySearch International CEO. “We heard from thousands of people from all over the globe that the 2021 online experience allowed them to participate for the first time and enjoy the power of learning and connecting virtually. And it created an expansive online archive for learning that is now available for free all year long. It’s an incredible resource, and we are excited about what we’re planning for 2022.”

RootsTech Events Online and In-person

The in-person events anticipated for London this fall and Salt Lake City in 2022 will not take place. For future events (2023 and beyond), RootsTech plans on offering a hybrid online and in-person model with content that is expanded and accessed throughout the year. Rockwood said the in-person events are part of the RootsTech experience and will be reevaluated each year as RootsTech continues to seek the best opportunities to expand connections with audiences worldwide.

“After RootsTech Connect 2021, we realized that we could bring the joy of family history to millions of people, no matter where they are, through an online, virtual RootsTech experience. As we continue to chart new territory with RootsTech, we plan to make the virtual event a regular part of the experience and look forward to all the new opportunities that will open to people everywhere,” said Rockwood.

Continuing with the virtual model for RootsTech Connect 2022 will allow people across the globe to participate for free. Classes will have a mix of on-demand, livestream, and interactive sessions where people can socialize, ask questions, and learn from experts and enthusiasts. There will be engaging demonstrations and experiences for all ages and multicultural celebrations that will connect attendees to their family story and to each other.

As anticipation builds for RootsTech 2022, many are still taking advantage of all that RootsTech 2021 has to offer. With over 1,500 free, on-demand sessions available at RootsTech.org, the website offers a tremendous amount of family history learning and inspiration.

Registration for RootsTech 2022 will open in September 2021. Visit RootsTech, and click on Subscribe for Updates to receive the RootsTech newsletter and to follow RootsTech on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

RootsTech Announces a Virtual Event in 2022 (Video)

The devastating wildfire that quickly swept through the BC interior village of Lytton on Wednesday also wiped out the Lytton Chinese History Museum, just over four years after it opened.

The museum took to their social media late Friday evening, stating that the museum building had “totally burned” down in the fire. Its vast physical collection of artifacts documenting early Chinese Canadians in BC has been destroyed. All that remains of the museum are the building’s rock walls.

Exterior of the destroyed Lytton Chinese History Museum

“We have been in contact with the Executive Director of the Lytton Chinese History Museum and can sadly confirm that the museum and its collections have been destroyed,” states a bulletin by BC Museum Association (BCMA).

For a wider reach beyond its physical location, a digital archive of over 1,600 items and photos was made available through the museum’s website. This is now all that remains of the museum’s work.

You can learn more in an article by Kenneth Chan published in the Daily Hive web site at: https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/lytton-chinese-history-museum-wildfire.

When one of Australia’s most experienced public servants, David Tune, conducted an extensive review of the National Archives’ funding requirements he stressed that a piecemeal approach to saving the nation’s records would never be enough.

Structural reform was essential. That is important to keep in mind, because while the federal government’s recently announced provision of $67.7 million to preserve the most at-risk items of Australia’s history is certainly welcome, much more is needed.

In the months since the Herald revealed many precious items in the Archives’ collection were in danger of disintegrating due to a lack of funding and resources, historians have expressed outrage, dismay and frustration.

After the National Archives garnered only $700,000 extra in the May budget, tens of thousands of dollars were donated by the community. The suggestion by the Minister assisting the Attorney-General Amanda Stoker the government had “nothing to be embarrassed about” was tone-deaf.

The Morrison government received the Tune review in January 2020, but it did not release the report publicly until March this year. While the government has not yet published its response, it has been under considerable public pressure to fund the most obviously urgent aspect of Mr Tune’s recommendations.

You can read more in an article published in The Sydney Morning Herald at https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/national-archives-funding-welcomed-but-more-needed-20210704-p586r7.html. 

The following is an announcement from Nebraska's Library Commission:

Join us to hear how History Nebraska is ‘Taking History Online’ on next week’s NCompass Live webinar on Wednesday, July 7  at 10am CT.

As a strategic goal of our agency, History Nebraska is undertaking significant efforts to provide access to historical collections for Nebraskans, regardless of where they live. One such initiative is to digitize our newspaper collections through a partnership with Newspapers.com. We have also been scanning microfilmed probate records from county courthouses, select manuscript collections, and some county and community histories. For years, we have been digitizing our vast photograph collections, as well as our audio/visual collections. Tune in to learn how and when we plan to make these available to the public.

Presenters: Jill Dolberg, Deputy State Historic Preservation Officer, and Lindsey Hillgartner, Digital Archivist, History Nebraska.

Upcoming NCompass Live shows:

• • July 14 –Finding Partners & Preparing Staff: Teaching Technology in the Library Series (Part 3)
  • July 21 – Accessing Census Data
  • July 28 –Marketing & Follow-Up: Teaching Technology in the Library Series (Part 4)
  • August 4 – Small Libraries Will Save the World! Implementing Sustainability at the Library
  • August 11 – The Kreutz Bennett Donor-Advised Fund: Grants to Nebraska’s Small-Town Public Libraries

For more information, to register for NCompass Live, or to listen to recordings of past events, go to the NCompass Live webpage.

NCompass Live is broadcast live every Wednesday from 10am – 11am Central Time. Convert to your time zone on the Official U.S. Time website. The show is presented online using the GoToWebinar online meeting service. Before you attend a session, please see the NLC Online Sessions webpage for detailed information about GoToWebinar, including system requirements, firewall permissions, and equipment requirements for computer speakers and microphones.

The Theory of Family Relativity™ feature on MyHeritage incorporates genealogical information from all the company's historical records and family tree profiles to offer theories on how your DNA Matches might be related to you. While the theories presented are often accurate, sometimes, they are incorrect. Before now, there was no way to confirm or reject a theory. Now there is! This new functionality will allow MyHeritage users to systematically review their theories and mark the ones they’ve already looked at so they can focus on new ones.

By the way, we also recently introduced a new filter to the DNA Match pages: Genetic Groups. You can now filter your DNA Match list according to the Genetic Groups your matches belong to.

Full details, including step-by-step instructions, may be found in the MyHeritage Blog at: https://blog.myheritage.com/2021/07/new-theory-of-family-relativity-confirm-or-reject-theories/.

In recognition of the Battle of Gettysburg, Fold3 is offering FREE access to the company's collection of Civil War records from now until July 18. Here is the announcement:

In remembrance of the Battle of Gettysburg, we're offering free access to more than 100 million records from our Civil War Collection until July 18th.

So if you’re looking for information on the Civil War veterans in your family tree—or doing other Civil War-era research—now is the perfect time to explore service records, pension files, casualty lists and more to discover your Civil War heroes and uncover the stories of the courageous soldiers who served.

*Access to the records in the featured collections will be free until 18 July 2021 at 11:59 p.m. MT. Registration required. After the free access period ends, you will only be able to view the records in the featured collections using a paid Fold3® membership.

You can learn more at: bit.ly/3hhIMNz.

The following is an announcement written by the Augusta (Georgia) Genealogical Society

When: Saturday, August 7, 2021

Where: Online

Time: 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Registration Deadline: August 6, 2021 – Register online at augustagensociety.org

Cost: $45 Non-Member, $35 Member

Speaker: Elissa Scalise Powell

Subject: Researching Your Pennsylvania Heritage

Join AGS, Saturday, August 7, 2021, for a day long webinar with Elissa Scalise Powell. Topics for the day will be as follows:

Problems and Pitfalls of Reasonably Shallow Research. Assumptions, misinterpretations, and not digging deep enough into original records can mislead research, sometimes for years. By following the principles of reasonably exhaustive research and the incentive to make it a part of usual research habits, attendees will learn about particular pitfalls to watch for and how to remedy them.

Primer to Pennsylvania Records. Pennsylvania records and courthouses may be confusing with an indexing system that may not be familiar to every researcher. This lecture will help the attendee gain a better understanding of how to begin research in the Keystone State and types of records contained in every Pennsylvania Courthouse: The Recorder of Deeds, the Register of Wills, and the Prothonotary, along with access strategies.

How Did My Pennsylvania Ancestor Get There? Migration Trails Out of the Keystone State. Considering the trails and push and pull reasons why your ancestor left Pennsylvania will give you some clues as to where you might search for his origins there. Equally important is the mode he used according to what was available at the time of migration.

Sailing Into the Sunset: Tips for Finding Your Ancestors on Passenger Lists. Finding ancestors on passenger lists depend on at least three things: being able to recognize him with the limited information on the list, understanding if a record even exists, and working the transcribed indexes correctly. Examples will be shown of 18th Century, 19th Century, and 20th Century passenger lists and search strategies.

About the Speaker:

Elissa Scalise Powell, Certified Genealogist®, a western Pennsylvania researcher for over 30 years, is the co-director of the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh (GRIP), and “Genealogy as a Profession” course coordinator since 2007 at the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research (IGHR). She was an instructor and module creator for Boston University’s Genealogical Research Certificate program (2008 -2016). She was the mentor for ProGenStudy’s 1st, 25thand 50thgroups and author of two chapters in the 2018 Professional Genealogy: Preparation, Practice and Standardsbook. She was the course co-coordinator of the AG/CG Preparation Course at the 2010 and 2013 Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy (SLIG). She was honored with the Association of Professional Genealogists 2017 Professional Achievement Award, and in 2010, with the NGS President’s Citation in recognition of outstanding, continuing, or unusual contributions to the field of genealogy. She is a regional and national speaker on such topics as Pennsylvania records, methodology, professional development, and society management.

The Augusta Genealogical Society is happy to announce that our 2021 Annual Symposium has been refashioned for distance-learning. We know that many of you were looking forward to the in-person experience AGS has offered for over 40 years. Enjoy this live event from the comfort of your home.

Once you have registered you will receive a personalized individual access link to use the day of the webinar. You will also receive several email notices with your access link leading up to the day of the symposium.

For more information, please contact the Augusta Genealogical Society – phone 706-722-4073 or visit our website: augustagensociety.org

About Us: The Augusta Genealogical Society is a nonprofit organization founded in Augusta, GA, in September 1979.