As U.S. lawmakers commemorated the end of slavery by celebrating Juneteenth this month, many of them could have looked no further than their own family histories to find a more personal connection to what’s often called America’s “original sin.” 

In researching the genealogies of America’s political elite, a Reuters examination found that a fifth of the nation’s congressmen, living presidents, Supreme Court justices and governors are direct descendants of ancestors who enslaved Black people.

Among 536 members of the last sitting Congress, for example, Reuters determined at least 100 descend from slaveholders. Of that group, more than a quarter of the Senate — 28 members — can trace their families to at least one slaveholder.

Among those lawmakers from the 117th Congress are Democrats and Republicans alike. They include some of the most influential politicians in America: Republican senators Mitch McConnell, Lindsey Graham and Tom Cotton, and Democrats Elizabeth Warren, Tammy Duckworth and Jeanne Shaheen.

In addition, Reuters determined that President Joe Biden and every living former U.S. president — except Donald Trump — are direct descendants of slaveholders: Jimmy Carter, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and — through his white mother’s side — Barack Obama. Two of the nine sitting U.S. Supreme Court justices — Amy Coney Barrett and Neil Gorsuch — also have direct ancestors who enslaved people.

In 2022, 11 of the 50 U.S. states also had governors who are descendants of slaveholders, Reuters found. They include eight chief executives of the 11 states that formed the Confederate States of America, which seceded and waged war to preserve slavery. Two are seeking the Republican nomination for president: Asa Hutchinson, the former governor of Arkansas, and Doug Burgum of North Dakota.

Reuters found that at least 8% of Democrats in the last Congress and 28% of Republicans have such ancestors. 

You can read more in an article in the NBC News web site at: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/slaverys-descendants-americas-family-secret-rcna90826.

Fourteen more years of Catholic Standard & Times, spanning from 1916 to 1930, have just been added to the Catholic News Archives, a free online resource that provides access to 20 historic Catholic newspapers and news agencies from across the country from as early as the 1830s.  All material is fully searchable by date and keyword.

• Access to these newly digitized issues allows individuals to learn about many important issues,  including:
• Catholic involvement in World War I and responses to the 1919 influenza epidemic
• Catholic institutional development during a period of immense brick-and-mortar growth
• Catholic reactions to women’s suffrage, prohibition, and other political issues of the period
• Catholic responses to renewed Nativism and anti-immigrant sentiment
• Catholic community life and social engagement among diverse communities

This most recent grant from the American Catholic Historical Society builds on an earlier donation that supported the digitization of the Catholic Standard & Times from 1944 to 1963.

The Catholic Standard & Times, the official newspaper of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia, was published between 1895 and 2012.

Individuals can view material from The Catholic Standard & Times and nineteen other Catholic newspapers and news sources by visiting The Catholic News Archive.

• Scholars are using virtual and augmented reality tools to aid history research.
  
• The tools also enable laypeople to visit places and examine objects normally only available to scholars.
  
• Using VR, people will turn the pages of a 15th-century book or stand before Renaissance-era artwork in the Vatican.
  
• An AR project will let people walk through the 19th-century neighborhood around Union Station, when it was home to Chinese immigrants.
  

For most people, the chance to walk through a re-creation of early 20th-century Chinatown in Los Angeles or page through a 15th-century Christian devotional book known as a Book of Hours is the stuff of fantasy. But faculty at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences aim to bring historical objects into people’s laps — sometimes literally — through innovations in virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR).

“As faculty we want to conduct scholarly research, but not just for itself; we want to take that knowledge and make it as broadly and widely accessible as possible,” says Bill Deverell, professor of history, spatial sciences and environmental studies at USC Dornsife.

Deverell is collaborating with Professor of Cinematic Arts Scott Fisher and a team of scholars at the USC School of Cinematic Arts on the Chinatown project, which includes an AR program that lets Union Station visitors see what their immediate surroundings looked like in the early 20th century, before much of Chinatown was razed to make way for the train depot. Using archival materials, such as photographs and maps depicting the streetscapes, the team aims to create an app enabling users to look through their phones and see a model of the old neighborhood, streets, homes and shops.

The project, which also involves the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California, is still in the early stages, but Deverell says the team is making progress on filming, programming and research for the project.

You can read more in an article by Meredith McGroarty published in the USC Dornsife web site at: https://dornsife.usc.edu/news/stories/virtual-and-augmented-reality-bring-historical-objects-to-life/. 

Here is a list of all of this week's articles, all of them available here at https://eogn.com:             

Press Release Number CB23-101

The U.S. Census Bureau today released new detailed social, economic, housing and demographic statistics for hundreds of race, tribal, Hispanic origin and ancestry populations based on the 2017-2021 American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates. These data tables are typically released every five years and provide the most detailed information about populations that are not published in the annual ACS, 5-year data products. This is the third time the Census Bureau has released these detailed 5-year estimates. Previous releases are available from the 2011-2015 and 2006-2010 ACS 5-year estimates.

Educational Attainment for Selected Detailed Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander Groups

“The Selected Population Tables and the American Indian and Alaska Native Tables provide a unique and vital look at socioeconomic and housing data that are essential to these smaller populations,” said Rachel Marks, chief of the Racial Statistics Branch. “These tables provide communities with specialized statistics to support their needs.” 

According to the newly released statistics, 2.7 million U.S. residents identified as American Indian and Alaska Native alone, and 6.3 million as American Indian and Alaska Native alone or in combination with one or more other races from 2017 to 2021.

Among the population age 25 and over, 15.5% of the American Indian and Alaska Native alone, and 21.8% of the American Indian and Alaska Native alone or in combination with one or more other races had a bachelor’s degree or higher; of those, 5.3% of the American Indian and Alaska Native alone, and 7.8% of the American Indian and Alaska Native alone or in combination with one or more other races had a graduate or professional degree.  

Other highlights about the American Indian and Alaska Native alone population:

Among the population enrolled in school (age 3 and over), 43.8% were in grades 1-8.

Among grandparents living with their own grandchildren under age 18, 45.8% were responsible for their care.

Among those age 5 and over, 32.1% spoke a language other than English at home.

Among those age 16 and over, 58.9% were in the labor force.

Veterans accounted for 6.3% of the civilian population age 18 and over.

Median household income was $50,183 (in 2021 inflation-adjusted dollars).

Among occupied housing units, 3.1% had no telephone service available.

Tables on fertility, industry and occupation, and health insurance are also available. Statistics are published for 1,059 population groups provided each group had an estimated population of at least 100 people at the national level. Iterated tables are produced for geographic areas in which  a group had a population of at least 50 people in that area who completed the survey. This product includes data for 13 geographic types such as Alaska Native Regional Corporations, American Indian and Alaska Native Areas, and Hawaiian Home Lands.

You can read more in the Census Bureau web site at: https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2023/acs-selected-population-aian-tables.html.

The International African American Museum will soon open in Charleston, South Carolina, at one of the country’s most historically significant slave trading ports.

Overlooking the sacred site of Gadsden’s Wharf, at which an estimated 45% of enslaved Africans entered America, the museum houses exhibits and artifacts exploring how African Americans’ labor and resistance shaped the nation and the world.

It also includes a genealogy research center to help families trace their ancestors from their arrival on American soil.

“Truth sets us free, free to understand, free to respect and free to appreciate the full spectrum of our shared history, free to feel empathy and common purpose, and free to build a stronger future together,” said Joseph Riley, former Mayor of Charleston, North Carolina speaking at the opening ceremony on Saturday.

More than 23 years in the making, the museum had been originally set to open in 2020, but was delayed by the coronavirus pandemic, as well as issues in the supply chain of materials needed to complete construction.

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

I have been reading an interesting book. In fact, it is a book about my family. The original book was published in 1901, so it has long been out of copyright. I have seen it offered for sale as a reprinted book for $150 to $250. In fact, I purchased a printed copy of the book about 25 years ago for $150, and it now sits in a box in my basement. I ran out of bookshelf space, and I don't open this book all that often. Therefore, it was banned to the basement years ago and, admittedly, I haven't opened the printed book since.

The new book that I purchased a few weeks ago is exactly the same book. It has exactly the same words, exactly the same images, everything. Well, not quite everything: there are two major differences.

First, the new book is reprinted as an electronic PDF file. It was first saved on a CD-ROM disk. The disk takes up almost no space at all on the bookshelf and, even better, I can copy it to my computer's hard drive or to a jump drive or to most any other place I wish. If it is copied to the computer's hard drive, it essentially takes up no space at all. In fact, I now have multiple copies: one on the desktop computer, one on the laptop (great for when I am researching in a library or courthouse), one on the original CD-ROM disk, one on a jump drive, and one more copy that is kept online in the cloud in a password-protected online file storage service I use.

Second, the 999-page book printed in 1901 had no index! Can you imagine trying to find information about specific individuals in this book that contains information about 40,000 people? Someone else did create an index some years later, but iI haven’t yet found an electronic copy of that. In fact, I really don’t need it.

By using the tools built into Adobe Reader, I can now search this book looking for ANY word or phrase. The first thing I did was to search for a couple of small towns where my ancestors lived. Using Adobe Reader, this book on CD displayed every occurrence of those towns within seconds. I then searched for county names. Again, it found every county I am interested in within a very few seconds. Doing the same thing with the printed book would have required many hours, maybe days. 

Now here is the best part of all: whereas the printed book costs $150 to $250, depending upon the publisher, the CD-ROM version costs $6.99 and that includes shipping! Admittedly, I later found the same book as a downloadable file FREE OF CHARGE and I didn’t need to wait for delivery by the postman!

Can you see why I am enthused about books on CD-ROM disks or as downloadable files? They are cheaper, require less space, and are easier use. I can find information in the electroic version much more quickly than in the printed version. Even better, I can copy-and-paste text from the book directly into a genealogy program, an email message, a word processor, or most any other program. That's much easier than photocopying pages out of a printed book and then re-typing them into a computer program!

Not all the PDF files allow for copying-and-pasting, but many do. Here is an example that I copied and pasted to this article from the book on my family name:

40. John Eastman-* (John^, John-, Roger'), born Dec. 27, 1701 ; married April i, 1727, Martha Fitts, born Jan. 18, 1 701-2, baptized March 29, 1702, daughter of Richard and Sarah (Thorn) Fitts, of Ipswich, and SaHsbury, Mass. Mr. Eastman lived in Salisbury, Mass.

My printed version of the book will remain in the basement while the electronic version now occupies a place of honor on my hard drives, on a flashdrive, and a copy is available in the cloud in a private area that I pay for.

So where do you find genealogy books on CD or as downloadable files? The answer is, "In many places."

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/13219264

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 from the National Library of Finland:

As of June, the National Library of Finland search service can help you find manuscript and archival material as well as ephemera. As the library collections contain several kilometres of such resources, their comprehensive cataloguing is expected to take years. The bibliographic information available through the search service will increase gradually as the daily work of describing and cataloguing resources progresses.

The National Library catalogues manuscript and archival material as well as ephemera in its archiving system. In the future, bibliographic information on these resources can be found in the National Library search service. Such descriptive metadata have until now been available primarily in the library facilities, on index cards and in paper files.  

The work of describing manuscript and archival material begins with basic information, which is to be included in the search service this year. Next up, the work will concentrate on more in-depth data about individual manuscripts and documents. For the Ephemera Collection, the first resources to be described are from 1810 to 1944, with the work progressing systematically towards the present.

In the future, archival material can be requested for examination in the Special Collections Reading Room through the National Library search service. The delivery time is 48 hours.

The following announcement was written by Findmypast:

Ireland, Genealogical Office Manuscripts, Wills 

Also new this week, compiled by Denis O’Callaghan Fisher and Sir William Betham, these 10,501 records cover 1596 to 1866. Separately, both men worked on compiling pedigrees from prerogative and diocesan wills. Now in one collection, these are easier to explore than ever. You might find addresses, occupations and even other family members.  

Ireland Census 1911 

A further 5,483 new records have been added into the 1911 Census for Ireland, which were missed during the original transcription process. Plus, Findmypast has improved the searchability of the entire collection.  

Newspapers 

Three new titles, updates to a further five, and a total of 122,848 new pages make up this week’s newspaper release.  

New titles: 

·         Dublin Leader, 1901-1963 

·         Kerry News, 1894-1920 

·         Limerick Echo, 1899-1902, 1904-1916, 1918-1922, 1930  

Updated titles: 

·         Belfast Commercial Chronicle, 1823-1824 

·         Dublin Shipping and Mercantile Gazette, 1872 

·         Limerick Chronicle, 1826-1829 

·         Roscommon Herald, 1871 

·         Wicklow News-Letter and County Advertiser, 1886 

Take a look at the photo. Do these two look like identical twins? Well they aren't. Not really. Well... sort of.

They are cousins but very unique cousins. Some people (who may or may not be experts in genetics) also claim they are full siblings (I may not agree with that).

In any case, they are very closely related. WebMD claims they are are quaternary twins, which is very rare.

Oh yes, they are both named Peter.

OK, I'll let you figure out the relationship. It seems that their mothers, Sally and Chelsea, are identical twins. OK, that's not so rare but here's the second item in their relationship: Their fathers, Pedro and Peter, are ALSO identical twins!

According to Peter and Peter, ”Because our moms are also identical twin sisters, that actually makes us full siblings, not half-siblings.” 

The fact that both men are named Peter is simply coincidence, the parents named the new babies without consulting with the other parents.

You can read more in an article by Emily Lefroy published in the New York Post at: https://nypost.com/2023/06/20/were-cousins-but-also-genetically-brothers-heres-how/.

OK, so how do you fill out a pedigree chart for these two?