Tag Archives: Spotlight

Genealogical complexity: writing it up

Family Stories, Research Methods,

Penny at podium_croppedYesterday, Scott wrote about genealogical complexity: addressing all the different ways we make modern families and write about them genealogically. As it turns out, many family historians ask questions about just such things:

  • How do I talk about a child born out of wedlock?
  • Do I list my sister’s stepchildren?

As Scott said, we think you should report it all – without judgment. Well, what does that look like? The first place a child appears in a Register­-style sketch is in a child list, and it’s the child-intro line where you give the salient information. Here are some examples: Continue reading Genealogical complexity: writing it up →

Genealogical complexities

Family Stories, Research Methods,
Amy Lowell2
Amy Lowell

When I started out as a genealogical writer, I followed the model of genealogies published earlier in the twentieth century. The genealogical world they depicted was an orderly one, with generation after generation born in one place, married in another, and buried in a third. The greatest dramas I faced in writing my first book (The Sarsaparilla Kings, published in 1993) concerned cousins who deplored the information I had uncovered on their brief first or second marriages, information they were reluctant to see in print. Continue reading Genealogical complexities →

A primer on current copyright law

News, ,
Lecture 2 5 screenshot 1
Images from Anne Gilliland’s lecture “Public Domain,” part of the “Copyright for Educators and Librarians” course at Duke University

In this information age, many of us worry about others sharing pieces we have written, scanned, or recorded. What we may not consider, but should, is whether we ourselves have the right to use, donate, or sell certain items.

Recently, I participated in a four-week online course on copyright (for teachers and librarians) via Duke University. Meanwhile, my colleague Sally Benny attended a two-day education session during the Society of American Archivists (SAA) conference in Washington, D.C. Continue reading A primer on current copyright law →

International posts at Vita Brevis

News, Research Methods, , ,

Scotch Irish Pioneers coverFollowing on from Jean Maguire’s post yesterday on NEHGS collection research options covered this year at Vita Brevis, I thought it might be useful to look at the coverage of international research at the blog. A lively group of articles follow, suggesting the range of our bloggers’ interests and research skills, beginning with Lael Dalal’s post on the Aghassi family’s hegira from Iraq to Mexico to Massachusetts:

Isak Aghassi was born in 1889 in Baghdad and worked with his father importing dyes and teas from India, eventually focusing on carpets and tobacco. In 1946, Isak put himself, his wife Marcelle, and his two sons Badri and Jacob on a waiting list as prospective immigrants to the United States. He wrote the American Embassy in Baghdad at least once a year (receiving a yearly reply) inquiring when he and his family would be able to leave their dangerous country. The reply was always the same: the quota was over-subscribed and they would need to wait patiently. Continue reading International posts at Vita Brevis →

Guides for using the NEHGS collection

Research Methods, , ,

Building_exterior_night 076Back in February, Vita Brevis began posting a series of guides to using the NEHGS collection here in Boston and remotely at home. For ease of reference, I have collected them here, with short excerpts from the articles themselves.

Anne Meringolo began the series: Have you wished that you could use NEHGS library resources from home? Have you wondered where to find copies of genealogies online? You can do this by starting with the NEHGS library catalog.Staff and dedicated volunteers have been working to add links to freely available e-books as well as to genealogies and items from our manuscript and book collections for members to use. Continue reading Guides for using the NEHGS collection →

Ideas for Cuban research

Research Methods, ,
Havana Cathedral
The Cathedral in Havana

During my career in genealogy, I’ve become somewhat expert on a variety of subjects, even Cuban research – unexpected, perhaps, but true! Research at a distance – and for Americans, all Cuban research must currently be at a distance – is a challenge, but Brigham Young University’s Guide to Cuba may be a good start for references to publications and websites related to Cuban research. Continue reading Ideas for Cuban research →

Adding context to my genealogy

Family Stories, Research Methods, ,
Amos 1
Images from the author’s collection

I could easily go up to the seventh floor here at NEHGS and find a lot of my ancestry in published genealogies, but my research interests have gone in a different direction: I have spent close to the last six years researching the branches of my Italian family in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, and writing a genealogy that traces all of the descendants of the earliest generation. Continue reading Adding context to my genealogy →

Like father, like son – like daughter?

Family Stories, Research Methods,
Athlone Castle cropped
S.S. Athlone Castle, on which my grandfather was a deck hand in 1936. Courtesy of State Library of Queensland, John Oxley Library/Wikimedia Commons

Like many people in their early to mid-twenties, I am still struggling to figure out who I am. One day not too long ago, I was told that I was acting “just like my father.” Ah yes, the age-old phrase that was said to me when I was a child (and typically when I was misbehaving). This time, however, instead of shrugging off the comparison as I typically would, I decided to dig a bit deeper. If I act just like my father, then maybe I am destined to be like my father… Continue reading Like father, like son – like daughter? →

Notes on Robin Williams’s ancestry

Family Stories, News, Research Methods, ,
RobinWilliamsArmisteadChart_2
Click on the image to expand it.

When public figures die, I sometimes undertake research on their ancestry as a kind of summing up. In the days since the death of comic and acting icon Robin Williams, for example, I have been thinking about his potential connection to three American presidents.

From most online biographies, one learns that Robin McLaurin Williams’s mother, Laurie McLaurin (Smith) Williams, a native of Jackson, Mississippi, was the great-granddaughter of Mississippi senator and governor Anselm J. McLaurin (1848–1909). However, while most online trees indicated Laurie was the daughter of Laura McLaurin Berry (daughter of Stella Mae McLaurin, daughter of Governor McLaurin), there is disagreement about Laurie’s father, with some identifying him as Robert Forest Smith and others as Robert Armistead Janin. Continue reading Notes on Robin Williams’s ancestry →

Nineteenth-century life in Newton

Family Stories, Research Methods,
Tainter diary
Emily J. (Cook) Tainter diary. R. Stanton Avery Special Collections

NEHGS has a rich collection of diaries. While browsing our Guide to Diaries in the R. Stanton Avery Special Collections, I came across the mid-nineteenth century diary of Emily J. Tainter of Newtonville, Massachusetts. Newtonville, one of thirteen villages in the City of Newton, is just a few miles from Boston; the area was first settled in 1630. The Guide described the diary as concerning marriage and family life, and I was curious to get a glimpse of a Newton woman’s life during the mid-1800s.

The first entry was dated 5 September 1855; the last during 1881. The diary described weather conditions, the day’s outfit, as well as daily chores and activities. It spoke of whom the diarist visited and who visited her, neighbors who became sick, friends who got married, and family members who died. Continue reading Nineteenth-century life in Newton →