When Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white person on an Alabama bus 58 years ago, her act of defiance against racist laws sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott and accelerated the Civil Rights Movement, forever changing America. In a ceremony Wednesday in Washington, D.C., which was attended by dozens of... (Read More)
In this article, Mary Harrell-Sesniak writes about finding government records and newspaper descriptions of our ancestors’ inventions... (Read More)
I recently received an email from some GenealogyBank users, asking why they couldn’t find any newspaper articles about a tragic death that occurred in 1956: “We are having trouble finding information about a couple of deaths in our area. A couple, Wilbert Arvo Pernu and Dagmar Charlotte Bolborg Pernu, died by asphyxiation on 8... (Read More)
In this article, Scott Phillips discovers the name of an ancestor he never knew about – and turns to old newspapers to fill in his family tree... (Read More)
Americans have taken care of their vulnerable neighbors in different ways over the centuries. For example, in Colonial Philadelphia there was established an “Alms House & House of Employment,” often called the Alms House for short. It was located on Spruce Street. Back in Colonial and Early America, when families, the elderly, or those... (Read More)
Introduction: Mary Harrell-Sesniak is a genealogist, author and editor with a strong technology background. In this guest blog post, Mary writes about our ancestors’ petitions to the government, an often-overlooked source of family history information. From the establishment of companies, to divorces, to relief from tobacco weighing, the right to petition the government “for... (Read More)
Here’s a 19th century mystery concerning a certain Matthew Brayton, who disappeared as a small boy, was held an Indian captive for 34 years, then one day reappeared. But, was it really him? This is a gripping story about a young boy being kidnapped and then returning home as an adult. You will want... (Read More)
Gena Philibert-Ortega writes about the women volunteers in the Salvation Army during WWI, the “lassies,” who served doughnuts to the American troops... (Read More)
Introduction: In this article, Scott Phillips turns to old newspapers to research the history of St. Valentine’s Day—and shares a personal Valentine’s Day story. Scott is a genealogical historian and owner of Onward To Our Past® genealogy services. Nothing much beats holidays as a way to get everyone talking about family, memories, stories, and... (Read More)
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