Archival Survival: California, Missouri, and Texas Archives Enhance Family Sleuthing      

By Jeanne Rollberg Are there things you’d like to learn about your great-great-grandfather as we celebrate Father’s Day this week?  Have you fully explored archives to flesh out his life? We family history researchers often give thanks for all of the critical documents and resources provided by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). We…

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Giving Thanks for Overlooked Ancestor Resources

By Jeanne Rollberg One we’ve discovered basic birth/marriage/death facts about our ancestors, we often yearn for details about them to help us understand the context of their lives and their values. Thankfully, there are many lesser-used or overlooked resources that can help in our quest. The focus of the resources identified here will be in…

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Jewish Genealogy: Periods of Mass Emigration and Immigration

By Rachel Silverman Author’s Note: This series focuses on Jewish genealogy in Eastern Europe and North America, and is intended to offer advice for researching families of Ashkenazi heritage. The information provided will not necessarily apply to Sephardi or Mizrahi genealogy. In my most recent post, I imparted a sad account of many—but not all—hardships that were placed upon…

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Mrs. John Smith – Why It’s so Hard to Find Information about Female Ancestors

By Jayne McGarvey Do you sometimes look at your family tree and wonder why it can be so difficult to find out any information about your female ancestors? Once married they often simply disappear until a small death notice is discovered. On many occasions this only refers to them as “the wife of …”. Changes…

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