20th century

  • Antiquated American Phrases and Sayings

    Aug 29

    Part of learning about your ancestors' life and times is knowing more of the once common phrases and sayings they may have used. Many of them now are unknown to the present generations. Here are a few samples of American phrases no longer used: Happy cabbage – a large amount of available money to spend on one's self. From the 1880s.   See th...

    More

  • Sanborn Maps – Library of Congress

    Aug 27

    What a great aid the Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps can be in doing your family history research. The U. S. Library of Congress has these maps in digital format and are searchable. Currently there are over 25,000 sheets from over 3000 city sets online in the following states: AK, AL, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, ...

    More

  • Immigrants to American Shores

    Aug 25

    We all have some immigrants who came from a family homeland in another country to resettle in America. The online database with FamilySearch.org has even more records added to the collection of passengers arriving in New York between 1820 and 1950s. Keep in mind there would also be travelers, born American citizens who would have traveled by ships ...

    More

  • Visa Files 1924-1944

    Aug 19

    It began in 1924 with a new law, the Visa Files becoming the official arrival records of immigrants admitted for permanent residence between July 1, 1924, and March 31, 1944. This could have been the time frame your ancestors came to America. All arriving non-citizens were required to present a visa when applying for admission to the United States...

    More

  • Baltimore City Directories

    Aug 9

    Any time, any place you locate a city directory for where an ancestor lived, you have a gold mine. True, each type of city directory can vary but most have the person's name, home address, occupation, spouse, and work location. ConnerGenealogy.com has a full listing for city directories that are scanned and view-able for the city of Baltimore, Mar...

    More

  • Photos Across America 1977 to 1996

    Jul 15

    A photographer, Barry L. Gleller, from Oregon, traveled across America and into Canada from the mid-1970s until the mid-1990 (during the months of May and August) taking photos of businesses, factories, churches, street scenes, offices, shops, especially in smaller towns in the nation. However, there are many shots of L.A. And San Francisco. His co...

    More

  • Photo Collections at Brigham Young University

    Apr 29

    In BYU photo collection which has been made digital are nine major collections by different photographers and collectors. Images from World War II, to 19th century American West landscape photos to 293 photographs of California, especially of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake images are just three examples. Once you select a collection you can bro...

    More

  • The Weather on a Specific Day

    Apr 26

    Wouldn't it be great to add some basic information about the weather in a certain location related to your ancestors a specific event – such as their birth? Using the chart of weather across the United States done by the Midwestern Region Climate Center, you can get an idea of weather condition the day an ancestor was born. Now it only goes back...

    More

  • Columbus (Ohio) Metropolitan Library with Digital Archives

    Mar 31

    For those doing research for the state of Ohio, the Columbus Metropolitan Library has a massive digital archives online. It includes photos, maps, documents and artifacts. Categories include: Collections, Topics, Neighbors and by Decades. So if you knew the neighborhood of a town your ancestor came from, you might locate a map or photos. You can t...

    More

  • N.C. Photographs – Brimley Collection

    Nov 13

    This wonderful collection (Brimley Collection) of vintage photos taken within North Carolina were collected by Hubert Hutchinson Brimley (1861-1946). He was also director of The North Carolina State Museum of Natural History. The photographs document many aspects of life in the state between the late Nineteenth and early Twentieth centuries. His co...

    More