America

  • Dayton, Ohio in Focus

    Jan 14

    Photos can ‘speak’ volumes about our ancestors and their lives long before we knew them. You might not have a family collection of images but those with relatives from Dayton, Ohio can find a nice collection of photos online at the Dayton History at the Archive Center.  Of course there won’t be photos from the area taken in 1810, but in gene...

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  • Baby Names – Popular Ones Over the Ages

    Jan 10

    There will be several new babies born the first part of January - New Year Babies - and it is always interesting to see what a child will be named.  We all have ancestors with some very unusual given names that make us stop to think --- what were their parents thinking? I have a set of great grandaunts in one family where the females all had rhym...

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  • The Return of WDYTYA

    Jan 9

    In four weeks the third season of Who Do You Think You Are? (WDYTYA) returns to the American prime time television network of NBC.  It is set for Friday evenings at 8 p.m. Eastern and 7 p.m. Central starting on February 3, 2012. This show, which originated in the United Kingdom, has a celebrity embark on a journey of self-discovery as they atte...

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  • Polish-American Ancestors in World War One

    Jan 8

    There can be numerous unknown events our ancestors were part of that can only be learned with a little additional research. One fact is that many Americans wanted to fight in Europe beginning in 1914 during the Great War (World War One) because that was their native homeland.  Only problem was that the United States did not enter the war until Apr...

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  • The Overlooked Female Ancestors

    Jan 6

    It is always great to find interesting databases and Internet sites established that assist the researcher in learning more about their ancestors, especially our female ancestors.  This site titled Women Working 1800 - 1930 is done by the Harvard University Library - Open Collections Program. Women’s History is presented on the site in a vas...

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  • Native Americans

    Dec 26

    The Native American Indians can be a difficult research for family lineage.  Today, numerous people claim to be ‘part-Indian’; however there were many years when it was not acceptable to say you had any Native Indian blood relations. People hid the fact they may have had a full-blood grandmother who was Cherokee or any other Indian tribe. Name...

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  • Databases – Attack on Pearl Harbor

    Dec 7

    Even if you had no ancestors stationed in Hawaii during the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, your parents, grandparents, great grandparents were deeply affected by this sudden bombing of U. S. Naval ships and facilities. In remembering on this 70th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, it is of benefit to examine some of the resources about the pe...

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  • VMI – Databases With Possible Ancestors

    Dec 6

    The most fascinating aspect of looking for information on your ancestors is that you never know where the next great resource will come from.  One very nice online site; VMI - Virginia Military Institute, has a great archive about the VMI alumni.  It is very possible you may have never considered the possibility that an ancestor attended the Virg...

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  • Italian Club Offers Assistance

    Dec 4

    It is essential to learn your family ethnic background when doing your family tree.  There are numerous organizations and clubs who solely focus and assist individuals of a particulate ethnic group. One of the major organizations in the United States is ‘POINT’ which stands for ‘Pursuing Our Italian Names Together.’  Their goal is to help...

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  • Your Ancestor’s Daily Paper

    Dec 2

    Today with so many current print items (newspapers and magazines) no longer actually printed, but rather in digital format, it can be a great advantage that our ancestors did have the traditional print newspaper, that they were saved and now can be in a digital form to be viewed anywhere, anytime.  The newspapers of yesteryear were filled with eve...

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