Hat’s off to Baylor University anthropologists who are undertaking an unusual project: identifying unknown persons buried along the Texas border. Using their forensic and DNA skills, the Baylor anthropologists are determining everything they can about each corpse they recover. The information generated by this effort is going into the Missing Migrant DNA Database to... (Read More)
Introduction: Gena Philibert-Ortega is a genealogist and author of the book “From the Family Kitchen.” In this guest blog post, Gena searches through historical newspaper archives and finds old menus—and shows how these provide social history that helps us better understand our ancestors’ times. When was the last time you ate out? How often... (Read More)
I. D. Lilly, a retired trucker and promoter of the largest family reunion ever held, died in March of this year. He was an active participant in the famous West Virginia family’s gatherings, and served on the Lilly Family Reunion Board of Directors. In 2009 some 2,585 Lilly relatives gathered in Flat Top, West... (Read More)
It’s nice to think that everyone is related—but as genealogists we have known that would be difficult to prove. Now science is proving that theory is correct. A new DNA study shows that everyone alive on the earth today shares common ancestors only 1,000 to 2,000 years ago. What? “Group Hug!” Wow—what is this... (Read More)
How many stories can a family remember and pass down? Some of the great family stories from the past were not recorded and have been forgotten. Time after time genealogists have found amazing stories in their ancestry research that they never knew about their family. Look at what we learn from the obituary of... (Read More)
Scott Phillips explains how he adds the “5 Ws” (Who, What, When, Where & Why) of newspaper journalism to enliven his family history research... (Read More)
It was a happy day in 1914 when Clevelanders learned that a cache of old city photos had been found. A photograph, after all, is worth a thousand words—and these old Cleveland, Ohio, photographs told quite a story about the city’s development. This massive collection of more than 5,000 negatives had been taken over... (Read More)
Introduction: In this article, Gena Philibert-Ortega writes about how difficult it can be finding information about an ancestor who was committed to an asylum (i.e., state hospital)—and how using old newspapers can help. Gena is a genealogist and author of the book “From the Family Kitchen.” When I look at the latter years of... (Read More)
The “Old Man of the Mountain” was a granite rock formation in the White Mountains of New Hampshire that looked like the rugged profile of a man’s face. First discovered in 1805, the 40-foot-high face had been N.H.’s state emblem since 1945. But centuries of freezing and thawing eventually did the Old Man in.... (Read More)
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