Old Music in Historical Newspapers: Tips for Finding Songs

Introduction: Mary Harrell-Sesniak is a genealogist, author and editor with a strong technology background. In this blog post, Mary provides newspaper search tips to find articles and musical scores about the songs our ancestors enjoyed When doing your family history research, have you ever wondered about the old music your American ancestors enjoyed? What... (Read More)

Arlington National Cemetery Removing Mementos Left at Graves

Military cemeteries traditionally have a uniform look: clean, unadorned, orderly. The appearance of the military crosses was immortalized in the lines of the poem “In Flanders Fields,” written by Canadian John McCrae during WWI on 3 May 1915: In Flanders fields the poppies grow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place;... (Read More)

A Peek into Yesteryear: Using Scrapbooks for Genealogy Research

Introduction: Gena Philibert-Ortega is a genealogist and author of the book “From the Family Kitchen.” In this guest blog post, Gena describes how scrapbooks can be a surprising and valuable resource for your family history research. Did you ever keep a scrapbook? I’m not referring to the modern-day scrapbooks that are essentially decorated photograph... (Read More)

Books of the Week – Donald Lines Jacobus

Millions of books are going online. Entire libraries – that never close; available 24/7. It is now possible for genealogists to read, download and keep genealogies, local histories – publications of all types and sizes. Instantly accessible online and easily stored on your personal laptop or handheld computer. Donald Lines Jacobus (1887-1970) – well... (Read More)