Calling someone a “Renaissance” person is an overused – and overblown – term these days. If a rock guitarist paints a portrait, the critics gush that he is a “Renaissance man.” However, America – and the whole world – truly did lose a Renaissance woman on 28 May 2014 when the remarkable Maya Angelou... (Read More)
Introduction: Gena Philibert-Ortega is a genealogist and author of the book “From the Family Kitchen.” In this blog article, Gena searches old newspapers to learn about how our ancestors cleaned their homes. How did your great-grandmother know how to cook dinner, clean her house, or launder the family clothes? You may instantly reply that... (Read More)
Introduction: Mary Harrell-Sesniak is a genealogist, author and editor with a strong technology background. In this guest blog post, Mary searches old newspapers to find some of the cute, funny, and heartwarming letters our ancestors wrote to Santa Claus. In our genealogical quests, we often overlook valuable sources of family history—such as time-honored childhood... (Read More)
Introduction: Gena Philibert-Ortega is a genealogist and author of the book “From the Family Kitchen.” In this guest blog post, Gena addresses the problem that it’s often hard to find information about our ancestors when they were children. One solution? Look for their participation in fashion and coloring paper doll contests run by newspapers.... (Read More)
Fort Johnson in South Carolina was no different from Army bases across the country. From time to time soldiers deserted, as these men did on 3 January 1810. Captain A.B. Armistead wanted them back—and so he ran a newspaper ad offering “ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS REWARD for six Deserters, who deserted from this post on... (Read More)
It is generally rare for families to change the spelling of their names (although some immigrant families did so in an attempt to make their names sound more familiar to American ears, so be aware of this possibility). When doing your family history research, however, you may encounter variations on the spelling of your... (Read More)
Alex Haley home dedicated as a genealogy library and museum. When 17-year-old violinist Joseph Matthews performed at the dedication of the Alex Haley Museum and Interpretive Center, he had no idea he would discover his family roots. Joseph, a high school senior from Memphis, Tennessee, was among hundreds who participated in two days of... (Read More)
National Archives Celebrates 75th Anniversary on Friday, June 19th. Susan Logue (Voice of America) distributed this commentary on the 75th Anniversary of the National Archives. Before the National Archives was founded, many governmental records were kept in poor conditions. On June 19, 1934, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the legislation creating the National Archives.... (Read More)
Robert F. Kennedy died 41 years ago today. With GenealogyBank.com you can read the newspapers just as your ancestors did. It has the stories of your ancestor’s lives – the famous or the obscure – whether it is 40 years ago or over 300 years ago GenealogyBank has the coverage genealogists rely on to... (Read More)
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