Blog Content
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St. Louis County Library is Building a History & Genealogy Center
Jan 8
The St. Louis County Library is the busiest county library in Missouri. The library is in the midst of a multi-year capital improvement campaign called Your Library Renewed. Part of the campaign involves the building of a History & Genealogy Center. St Louis Library (SLCL) has purchased approximately 6 acres near the intersection of Clayton ...
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Quill Pens and Inkwells
Jan 7
We treasure our ancestor's written letters, diaries or journals kept over the decades but think of what they may have written those with so many years ago. Inkwells were a very common household item until the early 20th century when the fountain pen became popular. The shape, sizes and what they were made of varied over the years. This small jar f...
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Woman Riding Bicycles in the Late 1800s
Jan 5
Your great grandmother could have been one of those ladies in the late 1800s who gained their mobile freedom by riding a bicycle. Yes, ladies had carriages, wagons and horses, but a personal bike ... that was something else!! As women learned to ride bicycles they not only gained physical mobility that broadened their horizons beyond the neighborh...
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Look at Historic Events on a Specific Day
Jan 5
You always want to know important dates related to your ancestors, such as their birth-marriage and death date. Once you have gathered the month, day and year, a really interesting aspect to add is any historical events that occurred on that very date. You could focus on the years that an ancestor lived or cover the years before, during and after t...
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Digital Collections
Jan 3
America’s vast libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural heritage institutions have contributed to the Digital Public Library of America. All of the materials (over 30 million) found through the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA)—photographs, books, maps, news footage, oral histories, personal letters, museum objects, artwork, gove...
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Study Finds New Genetic Associations for PCOS
Jan 3
A study that was published in PLOS Genetic journal found 14 genetic variants associated with Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). This is the largest genetic study to date on the condition, which is a leading cause of female infertility. PCOS is a hormonal disorder common among women of reproductive age. Signs and symptoms of PCOS vary, but tend ...
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New Year Baby
Jan 1
Many cultures recognize and celebrate when a baby is born on New Years Day – a new beginning – a new year. The symbol of an old man 'Father Time' representing the old year but a baby represents a new year – a fresh start. The concept started in 600 B.C. with the Greeks, though the early Egyptians can also be given credit for using a baby as ...
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Colonial New Year – March 25th
Jan 1
The Puritans of New England, including the Pilgrims of Plymouth in 1620, did not recognize the beginning of a new year as of January 1st. The Puritans were English Reformed Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to "purify" the Church of England from its "Catholic" practices, maintaining that the Church of England was only partially ...
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FamilySearch Awarded Silver Anvil Honors
Jan 1
FamilySearch International was awarded Silver Anvil Honors for its supportive collaboration that led to the success of the Freedmen's Bureau Project. FamilySearch credits the 25,000 volunteers who helped with the Freedmen's Bureau Project as “silent recipients” of the 2018 Silver Anvil Award for Integrated Communications. The award was besto...
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New Years Traditions
Dec 31
Your grandparents and their parents knew how to celebrate the coming in of a new year. Here is a look at some of those forgotten traditions. New Years Tree See not just a Christmas tree but putting up a different tree and decorating it for the new year. This dates back to the 1600s. Placing on the tree in the house or place of work was very com...
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Newspaper Digital Search
Dec 29
It is wonderful how many public libraries have microfilmed their local hometown newspapers and now even converting the microfilm to digital images. Most can even scan a document searching for a keyword name and highlight that for you in the search. This process is also used with the subscription newspaper collections such a 'Newspaper.com' and 'Ne...
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Weddings between Christmas and New Years Day
Dec 27
It is not always been traditional to have a June wedding. In Victorian England (from 1840s to early 1900), many weddings took place on Christmas Day and Boxing Day (a day after Chrisman Day when employers distributed money, food, cloth (material) or other valuable goods to their employees). Working class people typically worked six days a week in t...
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Strange Traditions for Christmas Time
Dec 25
The date, December 25th was set as the date for Christmas in the 4th century by Pope Julius I as an attempt to Christianize the Roman midwinter pagan holidays, such as Solstice and Saturnalia. Just a few of the traditional events your family practiced in the past or even still today are: The traditional German family decorates their Christmas tree...
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How Popular New Year’s Eve Traditions Started
Dec 25
How does your family celebrate New Year's Eve? Many families include a mix of old traditions and new ones that are specific to them. Do you know how some of the old traditions got started? Here is a look at the story behind the traditions you participate in on New Year's Eve. Auld Lang Syne This song began as a poem written by Robert Burns in 1...
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Strange Practices Done by our Ancestors
Dec 23
Our ancestors tended to do things a bit different than is done today. Here are a few examples. They would be good to include with your family history. In the Middle Ages in Europe people slept at two different times. First, they went to bed at sunset until midnight. Then got up to do things around the house or visit with neighbors for 2 to 3 hours...
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Genealogy 101
The study of birth, marriage and death records to discover family relatives. more »
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