Newsflash! Someone found some old headstones in a ditch south of Wichita, the sheriff's office makes the names public while continuing to investigate, and within hours genealogists have found the cemetery while the police are still looking. How? Easy -- the sheriff's staff were searching actual cemeteries and genealogists were searching findagrave.com. Thanks to the work of the local genealogy societies, Find-A-Grave has Wichita covered.
My favorite part of the article is this remark from the officer in charge of the investigation: "He estimated he heard from 50 people within an hour. “I didn’t realize how many people do these genealogy searches,” Pollock said."
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Remaking a Genealogy Library
I learned today that the main librarian for our little genealogy library is moving this spring, so the hunt is on for a new librarian. I have zero interest in the job, having just started my year as president of another organization, but I entertained myself by thinking about what I would do if a) I were to take the job and b) I could be the queen librarian, by which I mean I didn't have to worry about committees or money.
Frankly, I think I'd probably scare away all the current members...
First, I would have a big bonfire. I would throw away anything with the title "federal census of," on the assumption that there are a number of really good online options for the U.S. census, all of which are better than the dusty, crumbling, single-state transcriptions of which we have a small and apparently random selection. That alone would open up about 15 feet of shelf space. I would go through all the general genealogy how-to books and throw away anything that doesn't mention the internet, which would slim down that section by about two-thirds. I would borrow my brother's sheet-fed scanner, make a DVD of all our old publications and offer it in trade to all the other societies with whom we exchange paper for a DVD of all their old publications; if they didn't have one, I'd make one of our holdings and throw away all those decaying photocopies. That would empty a full room!
Second, I'd beg, borrow or steal some real computers. While not everything is available online, enough is online that a genealogy library should have modern computers available for patrons, with good internet access. All those DVDs of society journals could be viewed from these computers. This would also let us offer hands-on classes, for which we might even be able to charge a little something. I'd add flat-bed and 35mm slide scanners as soon as possible.
Third, I'd refocus acquisitions on creating new, local "content." The library already has old records from the court house and a marvelous new collection of invoices from the local cemetery monument company. I'd go proactive in a big way. I'd start a team that contacted local churches for copies of old directories and cookbooks and asked about scanning their old records. I'd try to team up with a local university history department to go after grants to digitize the records of long-time area businesses and non-profits. I'd team up with the schools with an essay contest that would create an army of little oral history interviewers. I'd suggest indexing projects for scout projects. I'd prepare a "preserve your story for posterity" flyer and distribute it to nursing homes and estate sale planners; I'd ask funeral homes to include it in their "preplanning" guides. I might even see if I could find volunteers to form an action team that would help people cleaning out homes or businesses to identify materials that we could use; it might be good to work with the historical society (who might be interested in items) and the university (who might be interested in less family-focused documents) to create a checklist for the team to use. And classes -- lectures and workshops -- offered any place, any time, any day to encourage people to collect, preserve and donate materials.
I'd probably die of exhaustion! Perhaps it's good that this is only an imaginary exercise...Of course, it's the imaginary-ness of it that frees me to be so extreme. In the real world, I'd probably never have the nerve to do half of this.
Frankly, I think I'd probably scare away all the current members...
First, I would have a big bonfire. I would throw away anything with the title "federal census of," on the assumption that there are a number of really good online options for the U.S. census, all of which are better than the dusty, crumbling, single-state transcriptions of which we have a small and apparently random selection. That alone would open up about 15 feet of shelf space. I would go through all the general genealogy how-to books and throw away anything that doesn't mention the internet, which would slim down that section by about two-thirds. I would borrow my brother's sheet-fed scanner, make a DVD of all our old publications and offer it in trade to all the other societies with whom we exchange paper for a DVD of all their old publications; if they didn't have one, I'd make one of our holdings and throw away all those decaying photocopies. That would empty a full room!
Second, I'd beg, borrow or steal some real computers. While not everything is available online, enough is online that a genealogy library should have modern computers available for patrons, with good internet access. All those DVDs of society journals could be viewed from these computers. This would also let us offer hands-on classes, for which we might even be able to charge a little something. I'd add flat-bed and 35mm slide scanners as soon as possible.
Third, I'd refocus acquisitions on creating new, local "content." The library already has old records from the court house and a marvelous new collection of invoices from the local cemetery monument company. I'd go proactive in a big way. I'd start a team that contacted local churches for copies of old directories and cookbooks and asked about scanning their old records. I'd try to team up with a local university history department to go after grants to digitize the records of long-time area businesses and non-profits. I'd team up with the schools with an essay contest that would create an army of little oral history interviewers. I'd suggest indexing projects for scout projects. I'd prepare a "preserve your story for posterity" flyer and distribute it to nursing homes and estate sale planners; I'd ask funeral homes to include it in their "preplanning" guides. I might even see if I could find volunteers to form an action team that would help people cleaning out homes or businesses to identify materials that we could use; it might be good to work with the historical society (who might be interested in items) and the university (who might be interested in less family-focused documents) to create a checklist for the team to use. And classes -- lectures and workshops -- offered any place, any time, any day to encourage people to collect, preserve and donate materials.
I'd probably die of exhaustion! Perhaps it's good that this is only an imaginary exercise...Of course, it's the imaginary-ness of it that frees me to be so extreme. In the real world, I'd probably never have the nerve to do half of this.
Monday, January 2, 2012
Resource for Texas History
The good news: my cousin has published an article in Southwestern Historical Quarterly, which is very cool for a newly-minted history PhD. The bad news: it's behind a subscription wall and I can't read it.
However, while trying to find it, I learned a lot about the Texas State Historical Society website, which has some nice digital resources. For example, the first 100 years of the Quarterly have been digitized and are available at http://www.tshaonline.org/shqonline/digital-content
They've also created a Handbook of Texas, and a Handbook of Civil War Texas, both searchable. There's even a Texas Almanac, which has a database of place names, profiles and obituaries of notable Texans, and other almanac-y tidbits.
However, while trying to find it, I learned a lot about the Texas State Historical Society website, which has some nice digital resources. For example, the first 100 years of the Quarterly have been digitized and are available at http://www.tshaonline.org/shqonline/digital-content
They've also created a Handbook of Texas, and a Handbook of Civil War Texas, both searchable. There's even a Texas Almanac, which has a database of place names, profiles and obituaries of notable Texans, and other almanac-y tidbits.
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
I love Evidence Explained!
I got a copy of Elizabeth Shown Mills' Evidence Explained this weekend, and sat down to read the introductory material today. I have to say I'm seriously impressed! When I was writing my dissertation, the APA style guide was neither helpful nor inspirational; in fact, my most common reaction was a desire to find the writers and pummel them with copies of the guide while screaming "would it kill you to add an example of a chart?" With Evidence Explained, I feel all warm and fuzzy and inspired to go edit all my website citation templates right now. There are even...gasp...bits of humor present.
My brother thinks it's hilarious that I have a little book on my shelf called Evidence and a big book on my shelf called Evidence Explained. I just don't know how to, well, explain it to him; you really have to have been there. Of course, he thinks genealogists are nuts anyway, so this is just further...ahem...evidence.
My brother thinks it's hilarious that I have a little book on my shelf called Evidence and a big book on my shelf called Evidence Explained. I just don't know how to, well, explain it to him; you really have to have been there. Of course, he thinks genealogists are nuts anyway, so this is just further...ahem...evidence.
Monday, December 19, 2011
First Female Jury in Kansas
I'm really enjoying the Kansas trivia column in the Wichita Eagle lately...they've run through all the usual stuff and are getting to bits of history I've never seen before. Today's column is about the first female bailiff in the U.S. and first all-female jury in Kansas, and includes the names of the participants; the bailiff was Eva Rider and the jurors were Hattie Riley Ritcherdson, Maggie Clark, Geneva Selig, Agnes Foulks, Frances Boston, Genevieve Munson, Rachel Stewart, Anna Ruddick, Esther Kirkpatrick, Blanche Cron, Nannie Elson and Clara Willis. Wouldn't it fun if one of these were in your family?
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories: Fruitcake!
Today's prompt for the Geneabloggers is: Fruit Cake – Friend or Foe?
My Dad always liked fruitcake, so for many years I got him one for Christmas; you'd be amazed how many odd mailing lists that gets you on. Me, I always preferred my grandmother's fruitcake cookies, which are fresh and don't have any alcohol.
Grandmother's Fruitcake Cookies
6 tablespoons shortening
1/4 cup sugar
3 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup walnuts, chopped
2 cups raisins
1/2 cup candied citron
1 cup molasses
1/4 cup sour milk
candied cherries
Plump raisins in hot water.
Cream shortening and sugar.
Sift together flour, salt, soda, nutmeg and cinnamon.
Toss walnuts, raisins and citron in dry ingredients.
Mix molasses and milk.
Add dry ingredients and molasses alternately to creamed mixture.
Shape into logs about 2 inches round and chill.
Preheat oven to 350.
Slice logs about 3/8 inch thick and arrange on baking sheet.
Place 1/2 candied cherry on each cookie.
Bake 10 minutes.
Store in a very airtight container.
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Advent Calendar -- Holiday Foods
My grandfather was an owner of the Jo-Mar Dairy in Salina, KS, and one of our family's Christmas food traditions stems from that...sort of. The dairy used pewter ice cream molds to make colorful holiday treats; vanilla ice cream was molded into holiday shapes and then painted with food coloring. I'm told that they were beautiful, but very labor intensive. By the time I came along, the dairy no longer sold molded ice cream for the holidays, and my grandfather had brought some of the molds home.
For many years, we tried, and mostly failed, to make molded ice cream at home. The molds were individual serving sized, so there wasn't a lot of mass to the ice cream, and the difference between too cold to pop out of the mold and to warm to hold the detail was a pretty small temperature band that's hard to find in a kitchen already warm from cooking a holiday dinner. I'm sure that having small "helpers" added to the challenge, as well! Still, it felt special to have them, even if they didn't stand up properly or have totally crisp details.
In 2003, we tried again. Success!
Of course, nowadays, those molds are collectibles and people are warned not to use them for food because of lead concerns. Pity.
For many years, we tried, and mostly failed, to make molded ice cream at home. The molds were individual serving sized, so there wasn't a lot of mass to the ice cream, and the difference between too cold to pop out of the mold and to warm to hold the detail was a pretty small temperature band that's hard to find in a kitchen already warm from cooking a holiday dinner. I'm sure that having small "helpers" added to the challenge, as well! Still, it felt special to have them, even if they didn't stand up properly or have totally crisp details.
In 2003, we tried again. Success!
Of course, nowadays, those molds are collectibles and people are warned not to use them for food because of lead concerns. Pity.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)