Working with the papers of so many prominent genealogists here at NEHGS, I’ve developed an interest in the history of genealogy in America. An offshoot of this personal research interest has been an informal effort to identify the repositories where various prominent genealogists donated their papers. Over the years, this interest has broadened to a general interest in identifying “sizeable” genealogical collections and the repository where they are preserved. Data from this personal interest has supported several projects of the NEHGS Special Collections and vice versa. Continue reading Locating genealogical manuscript collections in the U.S.
Tag Archives: Spotlight
Queen Victoria’s family tree
NEHGS recently bought a luxuriant “genealogical tree” chart* of Queen Victoria and her descendants, published for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in June 1897. The chart, removed from the issue of The Graphic dated 26 June 1897, was at one time in the collection of the West Ham (Surrey) Public Libraries.
What makes the chart unusually interesting is both the extent of the Queen’s family in 1897, and the fact that almost every family member was illustrated – three of the blanks are for children who died in infancy, including Prince Alexander of Wales, the youngest son of the then-Prince and Princess of Wales. Another blank is for “Princess” Tatiana, the new-born daughter of the Emperor and Empress of Russia, who would perish with her parents and siblings at Yekaterinburg in 1918. Continue reading Queen Victoria’s family tree
See you at RootsTech 2014
Next week brings the first big genealogical conference of 2014, with RootsTech in Salt Lake City from February 6–8. I’ll be there with some of my colleagues from NEHGS, and we hope to meet a number of you there!
We’ve been attending the conference since it started in 2011 and look forward to the chance it gives us to meet with members and other genealogists who are using technology to make family history easier and more engaging. There’s also something for every skill level, whether you are just starting to use your smartphone for research or you want to get involved in the conversation about the next GEDCOM standard. Continue reading See you at RootsTech 2014
NEHGS in Dublin
As the NEHGS Director of Education, it’s part of my job to plan and coordinate our research tours and programs across the country and beyond the U.S. In past years, we have offered research trips to such places as Washington, D.C., Salt Lake City, London, Belfast, and Montreal, among others. Continue reading NEHGS in Dublin
U.S. Veteran memorials
For many years one of my personal projects has been to mark the graves of ancestors without gravestones. In the case of ancestors who were honorably discharged from the United States military, I honor their memory by adding an inscription relating to their service. If this idea seems appealing to you, you may wish to know that the United States government will assist in creating and will often pay the costs to erect a standard upright or flat marker for military veterans’ graves. Continue reading U.S. Veteran memorials
Speaking in public
The first month or so of the New Year is turning out to be quite a busy one in terms of presenting lectures. Part 1 of a Mobile Genealogist series on Dropbox and Evernote is done, part 2 of the series on the Flip-Pal scanner and cameras is upcoming on February 1, and I will be off to Salt Lake City to present on Evernote at RootsTech the week after. Under development is a lecture for the Fundamentals track of the 2014 Massachusetts Genealogical Council (MGC) Annual Meeting and Seminar on July 26 in Mansfield, Massachusetts. Continue reading Speaking in public