The National Archives has been in the news lately, not so much for what is in its collection, but for what was missing. After former President Donald Trump and then-Vice President Biden held on to records when they left office that should have been sent to the Archives… we wanted to know more… about the small federal agency in charge of safeguarding America's past.

After a few months inside, we came to appreciate that the Archives are the country's safety deposit box, reading room, and paper shredder rolled into one.

At the heart of the institution are the documents that have been at the heart of the nation, for nearly 250 years.

Colleen Shogan: (footsteps) There's 39 steps here that lead up to the entrance. And that's 39 framers who signed the Constitution.

Norah O'Donnell: Oh, wow. Look at this.

Colleen Shogan, the archivist of the United States, is responsible for America's records. The main attractions are in a building in Washington that was inspired by ancient Rome, and built to be a temple to history.

Each year, more than a million people make the trip to see these national treasures in person.

Norah O'Donnell: This building, the Rotunda, was built as a shrine for many of these documents. But they didn't arrive until later.

Colleen Shogan: That's correct. The building was completed in 1937. But the Declaration and the Constitution did not arrive till 1952. 

They were in the possession of the Library of Congress, which refused to turn them over, until President Truman got involved...and they were delivered from Capitol Hill by the U.S. military.

You can read a lot more in an article by Norah O’Donnell published in the 60 minutes web site at: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/national-archives-history-60-minutes-transcript/.

The Lower Cape Fear Historical Society, Inc. has shared over 50 years’ worth of their bulletins on DigitalNC. If you are a genealogist or historian interested in Wilmington and the surrounding area, these documents have many in-depth articles of interest. Many focus on particular individuals or families. There are also articles about historical events and the Society’s efforts at historic preservation of properties and houses. These publications are full-text searchable. 

You can learn more about the Society on their website or by visiting their location in the Latimer House in Wilmington.

Beginning Oct. 7, the public will have more opportunity to peruse the files of the Nebraska State Historical Society for research purposes.

Visiting hours at the James E. Potter Research Room are being expanded, with the room to open on weekdays, except Tuesdays, from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Previously, the room had been open only one morning a week in a controversial move by former Historical Society Director Trevor Jones.

Restoring more access to the research room is among the stated goals of the recently named interim director, Cindy Drake.

In a press release, Drake said that while many of the society’s history and genealogy materials are online, “a very large portion is only available in person.”

“These new hours better serve researchers, students, and the public as a whole,” she said.

Books, maps and newspapers, as well as the Nebraska State Archives, which include unpublished manuscripts, photographs, film/audio and public records, are available at the research room. Trained staffers are available to direct researchers to materials.

For more information, visit https://history.nebraska.gov.

FourFourTwo magazine launched back in 1994 and over the ensuing three decades has brought readers exclusive interviews with big-name players and coaches, incredible stories from around the world and in-depth analysis from the world of football. 

Now, for the first time, readers can revisit past issues of the magazine online through the newly launched FourFourTwo Archive.

Want to know who was on the cover of the first-ever issue in 1994? Or find out what the big talking points were in the early 2000s? Or see what novel photo shoots were created over the years? Well, now you can.

Head to The Magazine Archive website to sign up

Whether you’re looking for a specific article – maybe the time you featured in the magazine – or researching a player/topic in rugby or simply want to take a step back in time to look at editions from decades gone by, the new archive is the place for you.

There is also a search function that allows you to put a name, phrase or word when looking at an issue, then the pages on which that appears will be highlighted to make it easier to find what you’re looking for.

You’ll find issues of FourFourTwo published from 1994 to 2012 on the website (those published post-2012 are already available in digital format), so it is a real treasure trove for football fans.

There are three packages available, depending on how much access you want/need. A day pass is £2.99 or if you sign up for an annual subscription, it’s £49.99, while active FourFourTwo magazine subscribers discount can access the archive for £12/per annum 

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

NOTE: This article has nothing to do with genealogy. If you are looking for genealogy-related articles, I suggest you skip this one. However, it answers a question that a newsletter reader asked and I suspect that many other readers have similar questions.

Several years ago, I added another hard drive to my collection of hard drives installed on my computer. The new drive is to be available to be shared amongst all the computers owned by family members. In addition, any of us can access our files from anywhere in the world, using an Internet connection and a user name and password. 

In addition, anyone with an in-home local network also can share the Internet connection with multiple game consoles, VoIP telephones, cell phones (using wi-fi), tablet computers, home security systems, modern Internet-connected thermostats, FAX machines, and other Internet-compatible devices.

A newsletter reader recently wrote, "How can I use that if I don't have a local network?"

I suspect the reader does have a local area network in her home but probably doesn't know it. The same may be true for you.

Most broadband Internet connections these days include local area networks. If you only use your Internet connection on one computer, the installer probably never mentioned the network capabilities to you. There are a few exceptions, but I am guessing that 90% or more of all recently-installed, in-home broadband Internet connections include a local area network. If your broadband connection does include this capability, you can connect multiple computers, printers, hard drives, and more to the network and share them amongst family members. Depending on the software installed, you might be able to securely access your files from places outside your home if you enable this capability. Most Internet providers do not charge extra for using additional computers on an in-home network.

How to Discover if You Already Have a Network

First, are you using a wireless wi-fi connection to connect your computer to the router installed in your home? If so, you already have an in-home network installed. You can connect more computers to the same network by using wi-fi. You may have to call your Internet provider to configure the additional devices. You will need to know the SSID (a network address), password, and possibly some other parameters. These will vary from one Internet provider to another.

If you are not using wi-fi or if you want to add a non-wi-fi device to a wi-fi router, look at the back of your router. If you see four or five network connectors, you already have a network. See the picture below for an example:

The above is a picture of a router installed in a home. The network connectors are commonly called RJ-45 connectors. They look like oversized versions of the connectors used by most telephones in North America. 

Your router might be a different brand, and the arrangement of the connectors may be a bit different. However, if you see four or more of those connectors, you already have a local area network installed in your home, even if you are only using one computer. You can add computers and other devices by simply running a network cable from the computer or other device to the back of the router.

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/13409160.  A Plus Edition password is required to access that article.)

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. 

The following is an announcement written by Findmypast:

With updates to four existing English record sets, our collection has grown by 380,985 this week. 

The biggest update comes to our UK Electoral Registers and Companies House directors, to which we've added 376,089 records for 2024. We've also bolstered our Devon parish record collection with brand-new baptisms, marriages and burials from 1924. 

But that's not all - there's also a new English newspaper title and 50 updated publications for you to discover. 

Electoral Registers & Companies House Directors

There are 376,089 modern electoral registers and Companies House director records for you to explore this week. These new additions span across Britain, and document the information of voters and company owners in 2024.

Devon Baptisms

We updated our Devon parish records with 1,849 baptism records from across the county. 

These new additions are all from the year 1924, so if your Devonian ancestor was baptised a hundred years ago, you may just spot their name within this set.

Devon Marriages

Our collection of Devon marriages has also had an update this week. There are 481 new transcriptions from the year 1924 for you to explore.

Devon Burials 

Was your ancestor buried in Devon a hundred years ago? To round off our trio of parish church updates, we've added 2,566 burial records from 1924. 

Cockington Church, Torquay, c. 1900. 

These new transcriptions are from parishes across the county. They may help shed light on your family tree's Devonian branches.

New pages from Burnley to Buxton

From Burnley to Buxton, there are 304,934 new pages for you to explore this week. We've added a brand new English title - the Cleckheaton & Spenborough Guardian - and updated 50 existing publications.

Cleckheaton & Spenborough Guardian.

Here's everything we added this Findmypast Friday.

New titles:

Updated titles:

Last week, we added over 20,000 parish and workhouse records. Don't miss this release - explore it today.

Debra Messing and Amanda Seyfried were among the stars to discover shocking details about their lineage in the upcoming “Finding Your Roots.”

The PBS docuseries returns for another season Jan. 7 and kicks off with some very unexpected revelations. Harvard professor and host Henry Louis Gates Jr. uncovered the secrets of the stars’ family trees and stunned the ladies with his on-camera reveal.

Messing’s family discovery came as a huge shock — but Seyfried had a lot more to unpack when she discovered dark, sordid details about her roots.

Some juicy moments of Season 11 were revealed in a sneak peek shared by People.

Seyfried was completely caught off guard when Gates revealed a tragedy had occurred in her family. He shocked the famous actress by telling her that her third great-grandfather had been murdered.

She uttered “what!” and the rest remains undisclosed.

They kept the details out of the teaser, so fans will have to watch the episode to discover what really happened so many generations ago.

Gates went on to disclose some DNA matches that indicated a family connection. That’s when Messing discovered that she was related to none other than famous politician, Bernie Sanders.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – DECEMBER 06: Actress Debra Messing attends SAG-AFTRA Foundation Conversations screening of “Will & Grace” at SAG-AFTRA Foundation Screening Room on December 06, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Vincent Sandoval/Getty Images)

NEW YORK, NY – MAY 13: Amanda Seyfried is seen at the NBCUniversal Upfronts at the Radio City Music Hall on May 13, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images) Getty Images

The teaser video promises many more surprises and features a star-studded guest list.

Kristen Bell, Laurence Fishburne, Dax Shepard, Joy Behar, Sharon Stone, Melanie Lynskey and Chrissy Teigen also appear in the upcoming season, and they have some pretty dramatic reactions to the information that they discover.

Lynskey realizes she is related to Questlove, and Fishburne at one point exclaims “It’s better than any movie script or television play I’ve read!” but there are no clues about what the big news was actually about. (RELATED: ‘My Mind Is Blown’: Famous Actress Julia Roberts Takes DNA Test, Discovers She’s Been Living A Lie Her Entire Life)

“It’s breathtaking. It’s breathtaking. I’ve waited 60 some odd years for this,” Fishburne says.

The Historical and Genealogical Society of Indiana County received an $8000 grant from the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.

The grant is part of the Cultural and Historical Support Grant Program.  The goal of the program is to provide operating support to museums and official county historical societies that are not supported by other state agency funding sources.

In a statement, State Representative Jim Struzzi said that the society has done an excellent job in preserving the county’s history thanks to the volunteers that help there, and that the grant money will help continue their mission.  Senator Joe Pittman said that the organization helps the future generations by teaching and preserving the past and that he looks forward to seeing how the $8000 will be used to help pass Indiana County’s history to future generations.

A project designed to transform how collections information is held, accessed and shared across the sector has been launched.

The Museum Data Service, a collaboration between Art UK, Collections Trust and the University of Leicester, is designed to bring together over 100 million museum records from 1,750 accredited museums and other collections across the UK. The aim is to gather together detailed object records and turn them into data that is findable, accessible, interoperable and re-usable. 

Those partners say the Museum Data Service will unlock an invaluable resource for researchers, educators, curators and content developers.

The Museum Data Service was launched with an initial collection of 3,129,798 records from 21 museums. 

The project, funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies and the UKRI Arts and Humanities Research Council, is designed to unlock resources for researchers, educators, curators and content developers.

For museums, the service should offer lots of opportunities for their staff to work more collaboratively. MDS should lead to opportunities to share information with colleagues in the same institution as well as the wider sector. The service is also expected to help museums make decisions over acquisitions and disposal issues.

“The website view of the data is just the tip of the iceberg,” said Kevin Gosling, the managing director of the Museum Data Service. 

“There’s a lot more going on in the back end, with innovative features that allow museums to manage their data securely and share it in a controlled way. Building trust across the sector is key, and the Museum Data Service is designed with that in mind.”

Andrew Ellis, Art UK director, said: “From neolithic axe heads and Roman helmets to fossils, masterpieces of art, and iconic fashion pieces, the sheer range of object records that the Museum Data Service will house is extraordinary and will revolutionise our ability to research our museums, make them more accessible and tell untold stories about what they hold. 

"This marks the culmination of a remarkable collaboration, reshaping the digital future for museums and galleries. Art UK is proud to be among the first to leverage this groundbreaking service, which has already begun transforming how we manage and present our records. We look forward to seeing museums everywhere embrace this new frontier.”

The Museum Data Services was launched with the records of 21 museums:

From an article originally published in the forensicmag web site:

In October 2016, the remains of an unidentified individual were found on the shore of Lake Huron near Port Albert, roughly 16 km north of Goderich, Ontario Canada. It was determined that the remains were that of a male wearing a lifejacket. An investigation was launched, and police reached out to the public for information in hopes of identifying the man.

In 2023, the Ontario Provincial Police in collaboration with Toronto Police Service, submitted forensic evidence to Othram in The Woodlands, Texas in hopes that advanced DNA testing could help to identify the individual. Othram scientists used Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing to build a comprehensive DNA profile for the unknown man. Once the profile was developed, it was returned to the Toronto Police Service for use in a forensic genetic genealogy search to develop new leads in the case.

Using this new information, a follow-up investigation was conducted leading investigators to potential relatives of the man. This investigation led to the positive identification of the man, who is now known to be Garnet Michael Nelson.

A month before Garnet was found, Sootoday.com reporter Jeff Klassen recounted meeting a man who introduced himself as “Mitchell Nelson.” Nelson was pulling a canoe hitched to a bicycle along the side of the Trans-Canada Highway near Espanola, Ontario, heading west. In the article, Nelson shared that he was born in London and had moved to Alberta during an economic boom. The article concludes with Nelson's plan to pull his canoe to Manitoulin Island, then paddle across Georgian Bay and down the Lake Huron shoreline to visit his family in London, Ontario.

Although the news article had caught the attention of the Ontario Provincial Police, the investigation was anything but straightforward, according to Detective Inspector Randy Gaynor, the lead investigator. One major obstacle to definitively linking Nelson’s body to the man in the article was that he had used a different name during his interview with Klassen. Police said no foul play is suspected in Nelson’s death. Ultimately, it was Klassen’s article published in Sootoday.com combined with advanced DNA technology, that helped solve the mystery of the man’s identity.

The identification of Garnet Michael Nelson represents the tenth case in the Province of Ontario where officials have publicly identified an individual using technology developed by Othram. Most recently in Rockwood, Ontario, 41-year-old Tammy Eileen Penner, whose remains were discovered at a picnic area, was identified after nearly two decades.