By Jeanne Rollberg “Erin go Bragh” means Ireland forever! The holiday season is a good time to think of the traditions of each country of our migrant ancestors. When we think of Irish forebears, we may often envision Midnight Mass or the tradition of leaving two candles on the sill on Christmas Eve –to symbolize…
By Rachel Silverman Pop quiz time! What do the following historical documents have in common? Your family’s pre-Civil War vital records from Mobile, Alabama Your Irish ancestor’s official 1850 birth record from County Galway The will of your 3x great grandmother from Connecticut, who died in 1799 Give up? The answer is they don’t exist.…
By Roccie Hill What Kind of Genealogy Jobs Exist? The diversity of genealogy careers is as broad as those in medicine or the arts, and where you land much depends on your interests and specialties. Although most are genealogy research jobs, the type of research and your subsequent responsibilities presenting your findings differ widely. For…
By Jeanne Rollberg Embrace the Power of Facebook, Put a ‘New Face’ On Your Family Tree Are you a frequent Facebook user? If not, and you’re interested in family history, you may want to join. The social media platform has about 2 billion monthly users, many of whom are also our family members. That makes…
By Jayne McGarvey If you have spent years, even decades, researching, collating and analysing genealogy and family history evidence, have you made plans for what happens to your research after you are dead? I don’t want to be morbid, and if your “other half” is as interested as you are then it probably is not…
By Jamie Drake If you are reading this I am sure you have probably read a few articles about genealogy and genetic inheritance, so I’m not going to to bore you with the same speech about how that works. Instead, I want to present a context for you to consider when looking at your ethnicity…
By Ericka Guzzard As family historians, I think we could all agree that we are always on the hunt for family photos. We beg family members for originals and copies alike, peer at film negatives, and look through albums time and time again searching for a clue that will send us off on a renewed…
By Marge Bitetti Have you ever thought about writing your life story? How about writing the story of one of your relatives? You don’t need to be Danielle Steel, Nicholas Sparks or James Patterson to write about your life story. You are the only person who can tell your story. Don’t worry about not having…
By Rachel Silverman One of the major challenges in Jewish genealogy is figuring out our immigrant families’ precise town(s) of origin in the “old country.” There are a great many roadblocks on the path to discovering this key information, not the least of which is the constantly changing political borders in Eastern Europe, leading up to the…
By Marge Bitetti Old photos have a hidden story to tell. When you learn to look for tips you can become a detective in solving the hidden story that a photo tells you. Is the photo in question black/white or color? This is perhaps the most noticeable clue to revealing when the photo was taken.…