tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75794642336935827942024-03-14T02:51:34.623-07:00The Generations Projectgenerationstvhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04660027692577662369noreply@blogger.comBlogger37125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7579464233693582794.post-41304125480228682372011-05-23T11:47:00.000-07:002011-05-23T11:49:44.004-07:00A new link in the blog treeThe Generations Project team would like to thank you for reading our blog! <br /><br />We are so happy with the community that has developed on our blog; sharing videos, family history tips, and other conversations and questions leading people to their past. This post is to let you all know that we are moving our blog and the community over to BYUtv, and would love for you to join us! We will still be posting about family history and giving you updates on the show, just at a new location. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6z5M6BVIKBOxOuti7C-hNuR2feLyGPkjAjk424SbQ4yBWRYdQVhyc94YmLOuJUO7Yq-SyeLQZQiiO8yvLAqt10FWG5_gXwi5UIEMUAYvRI8DJ_Oo6xlE3_xtiI3yhigTg5Cj9O2c6Azs2/s1600/Screen+shot+2011-05-23+at+12.35.25+PM.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 275px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6z5M6BVIKBOxOuti7C-hNuR2feLyGPkjAjk424SbQ4yBWRYdQVhyc94YmLOuJUO7Yq-SyeLQZQiiO8yvLAqt10FWG5_gXwi5UIEMUAYvRI8DJ_Oo6xlE3_xtiI3yhigTg5Cj9O2c6Azs2/s400/Screen+shot+2011-05-23+at+12.35.25+PM.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5609985646323573890" /></a><br />So, come check out our new blog and update your subscription feed to <a href="http://www.byutv.org/seethegood/category/The-Generations-Project.aspx">the new home of The Generations Project blog</a>. We look forward to seeing you there!daniellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09803019954913462294noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7579464233693582794.post-655635171157277702011-03-31T10:24:00.000-07:002011-03-31T10:24:42.252-07:00Genealogy is a Life-Saver. Literally.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br />
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Here's a daily dose of inspiration for you - the true story of how family history saved the lives of two twin boys suffering from a rare genetic disorder. If this doesn't inspire you to keep doing your genealogy, I don't know what will.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">In what ways have you seen genealogy save lives - metaphorically, spiritually, or literally?</span><br />
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Be sure to catch new episodes of <i>The Generations Project</i> Season 2, Mondays at 7 and 10pm on <a href="http://byutv.org/">BYUtv.org</a>.Adriennehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03267080742215460829noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7579464233693582794.post-66393521329175695682011-03-29T11:06:00.000-07:002011-03-29T11:11:00.565-07:00Genealogy: The "Hip" FactorHas anyone else noticed how "hip" genealogy is lately? The celebs are <a href="http://www.hulu.com/watch/227270/who-do-you-think-you-are-preview-gwyneth-paltrow">all over it</a>, the new <a href="http://familysearch.org/">FamilySearch.org</a> site got a sleek makeover, and Season 2 of <i>The Generations Project</i> features some really interesting stories. What's going to be cool next, canning?<br />
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(Oh, wait. <a href="http://www.foodchannel.com/articles/article/1-food-trend-2011-canning-comeback/">It is</a>.)<br />
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No doubt about it, genealogy is going artsy.<br />
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For instance, a quick look on <a href="http://etsy.com/">etsy.com</a> (an online flea market/craft bazaar) shows you just how cool family history has become, especially in the gift/design/home decor world.<br />
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Like this interesting typographical take on a family tree (customized version <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/68348997/your-modern-family-tree-canvas-bus?ref=sr_gallery_2&ga_search_query=genealogy&ga_page=3&ga_search_type=handmade&ga_facet=handmade">available here</a>):<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjEU041aOuyPkVwKabFEakpSkisSBz9sYyWx0-VizMosAw8RBL7Zh72C4IfsZJEA-Xnd_RBxvpqm0P7pOQgnrOuGZmteLEjiQJmV-wIsM9cEdIb9dduFwiVm6QVJFTkiphJ-TL5MDQb0qq/s1600/YOUR+Modern+Family+Tree+Canvas+Bus+Scroll.+Genealogy+Tram+Roll.+Personalized+for+you.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjEU041aOuyPkVwKabFEakpSkisSBz9sYyWx0-VizMosAw8RBL7Zh72C4IfsZJEA-Xnd_RBxvpqm0P7pOQgnrOuGZmteLEjiQJmV-wIsM9cEdIb9dduFwiVm6QVJFTkiphJ-TL5MDQb0qq/s400/YOUR+Modern+Family+Tree+Canvas+Bus+Scroll.+Genealogy+Tram+Roll.+Personalized+for+you.jpeg" width="400" /></a> </div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Or this <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/68670467/custom-digital-portrait?ref=pr_shop">digital family portrait</a>: </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvl3E9uH6jMQP6PYHeqZzuxXvSpFMGnPqq4tW41F_8zh75JiOJk7Xj1Zg75dQln4ek5g8ixPu9uK2MBi0PjiTwbAYnfdLr6DUWb-qPJZXiKexBQwIYW1U9ZF0_fpjDhbwPiRv-42OzYi-R/s1600/custom+digital+portrait.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvl3E9uH6jMQP6PYHeqZzuxXvSpFMGnPqq4tW41F_8zh75JiOJk7Xj1Zg75dQln4ek5g8ixPu9uK2MBi0PjiTwbAYnfdLr6DUWb-qPJZXiKexBQwIYW1U9ZF0_fpjDhbwPiRv-42OzYi-R/s400/custom+digital+portrait.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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Is your family more of the whimsical type? You can get a family portrait in <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/62870250/8x10-custom-family-portrait-matryoshka?ref=sr_gallery_32&ga_search_query=custom+family+portrait&ga_page=3&ga_search_type=handmade&ga_facet=handmade">Russian Doll format</a>:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDrZAJFYi37BJ9o_fnXPBef8THrf7ztvXhbNejcjpjQ8A-yDzEKSDHJQiBRZz91RoAwRWcnyfmA1NO-lrxsVT6ihnc4v2jOsb2PYrIkZrRwSkS9AoiQrUZYQ8f2nCo7HBshKC1aFvcwkfH/s1600/+Nesting+Doll+%2528Black%252C+White+and+Red%2529.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDrZAJFYi37BJ9o_fnXPBef8THrf7ztvXhbNejcjpjQ8A-yDzEKSDHJQiBRZz91RoAwRWcnyfmA1NO-lrxsVT6ihnc4v2jOsb2PYrIkZrRwSkS9AoiQrUZYQ8f2nCo7HBshKC1aFvcwkfH/s640/+Nesting+Doll+%2528Black%252C+White+and+Red%2529.jpeg" width="512" /></a></div><br />
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Silhouetting is big lately, and now you can get <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/29969893/custom-family-silhouette-portraits">custom silhouettes</a> made of your family members for about $15 bucks each. Might make a great Mother's day gift?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5hb9XgVQ1jyUTm7B4OEdt5RBJ_48blfLkLtggbZFf2qqW6TxSbnn3oMLpEJNshI_FzWvcuu-Y2BZXnG19sBXWvfBRpsgk0nHSpG6fktdzRD-ZZdQTRcVa3jWA61ts5THFM6hMOYSpKpzP/s1600/Custom+Family+Silhouette+Portraits.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5hb9XgVQ1jyUTm7B4OEdt5RBJ_48blfLkLtggbZFf2qqW6TxSbnn3oMLpEJNshI_FzWvcuu-Y2BZXnG19sBXWvfBRpsgk0nHSpG6fktdzRD-ZZdQTRcVa3jWA61ts5THFM6hMOYSpKpzP/s400/Custom+Family+Silhouette+Portraits.jpeg" width="400" /></a><br />
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This <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/48409837/wooden-star-house-custom-family-two?ref=sr_gallery_22&ga_search_query=custom+family+portrait&ga_page=11&ga_search_type=handmade&ga_facet=handmade">3-D family portrait</a> takes the cake for originality. And tangibility. Plus little kids will love these. Love to chew on them, that is. And probably throw them when they're mad at you. Ah, families.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi597kRFLtyCVO14freNEdDyfvRIABtBoPV0fy_XdaGvOpqVy3WyvNpCu2wfB3z0AqSkkaCRZ9cusRtkl4n4ZN19YDqtcgdGiEzmqittStVW5yTmwAdd7xWLDFi47fJZgz3M-q9fuHEaqSv/s1600/Wooden+Star+House+Custom+Family-+Two+Adults%252C+One+Child%252C+and+Two+Sweet+Pets+%2528please+convo+me+if+you+need+a+diffrent+sized+family%2529.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi597kRFLtyCVO14freNEdDyfvRIABtBoPV0fy_XdaGvOpqVy3WyvNpCu2wfB3z0AqSkkaCRZ9cusRtkl4n4ZN19YDqtcgdGiEzmqittStVW5yTmwAdd7xWLDFi47fJZgz3M-q9fuHEaqSv/s400/Wooden+Star+House+Custom+Family-+Two+Adults%252C+One+Child%252C+and+Two+Sweet+Pets+%2528please+convo+me+if+you+need+a+diffrent+sized+family%2529.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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And best of all, here's a cute <a href="http://byutv.org/thegenerationsproject/apps/familytree/">customizable family tree that's free</a>! There are a few cool designs to pick from and you can share it on your blog or Facebook page, or print it off and frame it.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhivYxLgCXEZ4H5yM9kCEG4vGDrmn1V2Lz-9Yz02faPoLYtLV_y1Ld1fm5-u6mBsu_gJOX3-ZVcj-QQqT4lsEQPW2YgwKIUxOg3FsBxmD9K9cDUqkM0BWlYgReRYAyn_NN5oRae-2YzJOVR/s1600/My-Family-Tree.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhivYxLgCXEZ4H5yM9kCEG4vGDrmn1V2Lz-9Yz02faPoLYtLV_y1Ld1fm5-u6mBsu_gJOX3-ZVcj-QQqT4lsEQPW2YgwKIUxOg3FsBxmD9K9cDUqkM0BWlYgReRYAyn_NN5oRae-2YzJOVR/s640/My-Family-Tree.jpeg" width="465" /></a><br />
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Which of these would you love to put in your house or on your wall?<br />
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Also, what other "old-fashioned" pastimes do you predict will come into vogue again?Adriennehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03267080742215460829noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7579464233693582794.post-30001479237945669642010-12-14T11:44:00.000-08:002010-12-14T11:59:30.432-08:00<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:130%;">We don't want you to miss this special preview of Season 2 of </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><br />The Generations Project.<br /></span><span style="font-size:130%;">Watch Monday, January 3rd at 7:00pm Mountain Standard Tim</span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:130%;">e</span></span><span><span><span style="font-size:130%;"> on BYUtv.</span></span></span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">If you don't have the channel you can stream it live by clicking <a href="http://www.byutv.org/live">HERE.</a></span></span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCvhYKsY-_dQ2JvQ6eWnJCOqMXy0uHkwJplmH8J3GOc2DqwEteqh2UKwjUlZDnDlEo6Gehyu1sHd5_q9qiqRW_R0Aq9FBdoG0jGNYrQ2TGrZuQY-2Tv8L4UqYKIiOLSFqsMaG0soerYoM/s1600/The+Denke+Family.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 515px; height: 288px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCvhYKsY-_dQ2JvQ6eWnJCOqMXy0uHkwJplmH8J3GOc2DqwEteqh2UKwjUlZDnDlEo6Gehyu1sHd5_q9qiqRW_R0Aq9FBdoG0jGNYrQ2TGrZuQY-2Tv8L4UqYKIiOLSFqsMaG0soerYoM/s400/The+Denke+Family.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5550627174573167202" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><b><span style="border-collapse: separate;"><b><span style="font-size:130%;">Xander & Carrie, whose twin boys were saved from a genetic disease by an anonymous bone-marrow donor, set out to test the relationship between genetic and genealogical ancestry while searching for the disease in their own family histories. While genealogists and geneticists compare their heritage and DNA with the donor's, their search for child mortalities in their family trees takes them as far away from their Seattle home as 19th century Denmark.<br /><br /></span><br /><object height="340" width="560"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/xlZDQbZ1MFQ?fs=1&hl=en_US&hd=1&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/xlZDQbZ1MFQ?fs=1&hl=en_US&hd=1&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="340" width="560"></embed></object><br /></b></span></b></span></b></div>maryjanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07961679225307311529noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7579464233693582794.post-44338411351893834102010-11-11T15:31:00.000-08:002010-11-19T14:40:01.418-08:00Mystery Location<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="UIStory_Message"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" ><br />SNEAK PEEK AT SEASON </span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">2</span></span></span><br /><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.byub.org/thegenerationsproject/"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Generations Project</span></a><span> is visiting cities and countries all over the world </span><span>filming episodes for Season 2.</span><br /><span class="UIStory_Message"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span>Can you guess where we are filming in this picture?</span></span></span><br /><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivNiZIbXX1R2vSWO0iO-4esCFizNj8-3oqyGrILXIFDJMHbUdGsRB2UHUh5KEfCprse79nJ09OJddXK0FNRQqY8t_Z89Owa5oYjlc5MtGct9Ognh6ZG9ytOtG-oBc8XJnnqpz61EebN-0/s1600/Filming+at+Lake.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivNiZIbXX1R2vSWO0iO-4esCFizNj8-3oqyGrILXIFDJMHbUdGsRB2UHUh5KEfCprse79nJ09OJddXK0FNRQqY8t_Z89Owa5oYjlc5MtGct9Ognh6ZG9ytOtG-oBc8XJnnqpz61EebN-0/s400/Filming+at+Lake.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5540597922650512754" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="UIStory_Message" style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Whoever can guess closest will win a free DVD of an episode from Season 1</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">Submit your guess under "comments".</span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">If you are the winner you will be contacted to receive your DVD.</span><br /></div>maryjanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07961679225307311529noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7579464233693582794.post-90083869022154993352010-11-09T16:14:00.000-08:002010-12-14T12:00:26.710-08:00Here's What's in Store for Season 2<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIXIHS5YDPtl7jxito3Ek70Bhjz2rNjgWgLxnPE54me_-HCrKAJY2eRlg2ix3RYgxKh-hUy0UtE7OmRnHkBrkIdkFvJ6Uu0uNnsXL6cYRtxxvuIfo7wHY2i7rcubFF1IxYefHoQzZrYqk/s1600/Rachel+in+the+field.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIXIHS5YDPtl7jxito3Ek70Bhjz2rNjgWgLxnPE54me_-HCrKAJY2eRlg2ix3RYgxKh-hUy0UtE7OmRnHkBrkIdkFvJ6Uu0uNnsXL6cYRtxxvuIfo7wHY2i7rcubFF1IxYefHoQzZrYqk/s400/Rachel+in+the+field.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5537708045180492130" border="0" /></a><br />The second season of The Generations Project takes you from Germany to Holland to New York’s “Little Pakistan” and everywhere in between, following eleven journeys into the past: the Denkes explore the origins of their children’s life-threatening genetic disease. Kerry hopes his ancestors will help him find his estranged son, and Ty delves into his complicated heritage as a son of Nazi Germany. They along with eight other guests engage with the past to understand the present.<br /><br />A sneak peek at Season 2 airs January 3rd at 7:00pm MST on BYUtv.maryjanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07961679225307311529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7579464233693582794.post-66158477635020998402010-11-02T09:27:00.000-07:002010-11-02T10:08:11.752-07:00U.S. Census Sites<div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" dir="ltr"><span style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;font-family:Arial;font-size:130%;" ><br />Searching the US Census on the web</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span><span style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;font-family:Arial;font-size:130%;" >There are many websites with digitized and indexed US Censuses. Some you have to pay for, some not. Here are a few, with the pro’s and con’s of each (this information is current as of Oct 2010):</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><br /><a href="https://beta.familysearch.org/"><span style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;font-family:Arial;" >FamilySearch Record Search</span></a><br /></span><span style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;font-family:Arial;font-size:130%;" >Pro’s: free access. Allows you to search* for people in the 1850 to 1920 U.S. censuses. Sometimes, you can also see a scanned image of the actual census page with all the information collected on that person. </span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span><span style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;font-family:Arial;font-size:130%;" >Con’s: you can only see an image of the census page for the years 1850 to 1870 and 1900. If there isn’t a scanned image of the page your ancestor’s on, you won’t be able to see all the information that was recorded about him or her. Also, does not include the censuses after 1920.</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><br /><a href="http://www.ancestry.com/search/rectype/default.aspx?rt=35"><span style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;font-family:Arial;" >Ancestry.com</span></a><br /></span><span style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;font-family:Arial;font-size:130%;" >Pro’s: the most comprehensive online database. Allows you to search* the 1870 - 1930 censuses and view the original image of every page.</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span><span style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;font-family:Arial;font-size:130%;" >Con’s: Requires a paid yearly subscription (but if your local library or archive has a subscription, you can access it there). </span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><br /><a href="http://persi.heritagequestonline.com/hqoweb/library/do/census/search/basic"><span style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;font-family:Arial;" >HeritageQuest</span></a><br /></span><span style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;font-family:Arial;font-size:130%;" >Pro’s: you can search* the complete 1870 - 1920 censuses. You can also search part of the 1930 census.</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span><span style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;font-family:Arial;font-size:130%;" >Con’s: does not offer personal subscriptions—only available at some libraries. Does not include the entire 1930 census.</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><a href="http://www.footnote.com/institution-index.php"><br /></a><a href="http://www.footnote.com/institution-index.php"><span style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;font-family:Arial;" >Footnote.com</span></a><br /></span><span style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;font-family:Arial;font-size:130%;" >Pro’s: allows you to search* and see images of the 1860 census and ninety percent of the 1930 census.</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span><span style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;font-family:Arial;font-size:130%;" >Con’s: does not include other census year. Tequires a paid subscription (but you may be able to access it for free at your local library or archive).</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><a href="http://worldvitalrecords.com/contentsearch.aspx?cat=usfedcen"><br /></a><a href="http://worldvitalrecords.com/contentsearch.aspx?cat=usfedcen"><span style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;font-family:Arial;" >WorldVitalRecords.com</span></a><br /></span><span style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;font-family:Arial;font-size:130%;" >Pro’s: allows you to search* the 1860 and 1930 censuses.</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /></span><span style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;font-family:Arial;font-size:130%;" >Con’s: does not include other censuses. Requires a paid subscription (but again, you may be able to access it for free at libraries and archives). </span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><br /></span><span style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;font-family:Arial;font-size:130%;" >* Keep in mind that each site’s search page works a little differently. So, if possible, it’s worthwhile to try each one and see which serves your tastes.</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><br /></span><span style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;font-family:Arial;font-size:130%;" >And here are some other places where you can read about online U.S. census collections:<br /><br /></span><a style="color: rgb(102, 0, 204);" href="http://www.genealogylinks.net/usa/all-us/all-us-censuses.htm"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;font-family:Arial;" >Genealogy Links</span></span></a><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 204);font-size:130%;" ><br /><a href="http://www.census-online.com/"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;font-family:Arial;" >Census Online</span></a></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 204);font-size:130%;" ><a href="https://wiki.familysearch.org/en/United_States_Census_Online"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;font-family:Arial;" >Cindi’s List</span></a></span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 204);font-size:130%;" ><a href="https://wiki.familysearch.org/en/United_States_Census_Online"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;font-family:Arial;" >FamilySearch</span></a></span></div>maryjanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07961679225307311529noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7579464233693582794.post-84290037467957488272010-11-01T14:07:00.000-07:002010-11-01T14:14:05.766-07:00An article about The Generations Project<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKPcwPLYPF9W7qi2n2RT4GRPXKreGMG0Tm9zRLcfAeQFjf0-KQkn7k_tzR-GK6BJxxWmDn00PPLbpJLiyjmSBU0FrdZb5eQCyiGzlmyKK5goD7tQfl4UJn-n3pICA9Vufzil2NDcbleRQ/s1600/Picture+4.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKPcwPLYPF9W7qi2n2RT4GRPXKreGMG0Tm9zRLcfAeQFjf0-KQkn7k_tzR-GK6BJxxWmDn00PPLbpJLiyjmSBU0FrdZb5eQCyiGzlmyKK5goD7tQfl4UJn-n3pICA9Vufzil2NDcbleRQ/s400/Picture+4.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534691566054688114" border="0" /></a><br />While filming an episode from Season 2 in Duxbury, Massachusetts, a local news source wrote an article about <a href="http://byutv.org/thegenerationsproject"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Generations Project</span></a>. <br /><br />Click <a href="http://www.wickedlocal.com/duxbury/features/x1696237692/Vermont-man-learns-about-his-ancestors-in-Duxbury?img=2">HERE</a> to read the articlemaryjanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07961679225307311529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7579464233693582794.post-57963169173594216632010-10-26T15:17:00.000-07:002010-10-26T15:45:45.342-07:00Coming Soon on The Generations ProjectHere is another sneak peek at an episode that will air as part of Season 2 of <span style="font-style: italic;">The Generations Project</span>. Tune in to <a href="http://www.byutv.org/">BYUtv</a> on <span style="font-weight: bold;">Monday,</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">January 3rd</span> for the Season Premiere.<br /><br /><object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/BrB1wwOnxR8?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/BrB1wwOnxR8?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object>maryjanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07961679225307311529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7579464233693582794.post-53471045791343293792010-10-19T08:58:00.000-07:002010-10-19T12:49:02.684-07:00And the winner is ...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6yMzQ-dTmLRwzo9aLTdU5et3WVX7cCxBz37loXSzRZOKlDcVbH7aypL42qV_ak41SQQW-0HJxua8IqfjVQIisexB4vYfnhDom4kLtPIwy0HWDsUMajzFSQPdxGrf8jU0yLtm_gKoDJA0/s1600/Crew+filming+in+street.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 204px; height: 63px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEior59Ah7WTPlOQ0ug8DV3M2DrK9CY5PkPnr9RSbJaXhms_oBUeRvxeozukLiGgIubPWxQ8w9KMbkl-cRQ89t2c96aERhqttgJoeQ1OSeNc854cprNtogfKHjrt-T_T6mzLBXz0xkjra0g/s200/Picture+2.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529845043221546962" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghccblYbPZwuvYoCm2wgaE2ho8p758xQSPM1ym8PSeSJ2BJlyIqJ3UuWmFbqFXQ5bQMl0bra9_NAO33yGwYJEb8d01QfaWMIeRAHLnkbZemgGheJaQUrGPpjyC3bZWcrBViJEaeXOi63g/s1600/Emily.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 183px; height: 244px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghccblYbPZwuvYoCm2wgaE2ho8p758xQSPM1ym8PSeSJ2BJlyIqJ3UuWmFbqFXQ5bQMl0bra9_NAO33yGwYJEb8d01QfaWMIeRAHLnkbZemgGheJaQUrGPpjyC3bZWcrBViJEaeXOi63g/s200/Emily.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529843825738895682" border="0" /></a>The correct location is <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Winthrop+square,+Cambridge+Massachusetts+&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=36.726391,79.013672&ie=UTF8&hq=Winthrop+Square&hnear=Winthrop+Square,+Cambridge,+Middlesex,+Massachusetts+02138&ll=42.07784,-71.356201&spn=2.152748,4.938354&z=8">Winthrop Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts</a>.<br /><br />Congratulations to <span style="font-weight: bold;">Carrie Rorabaugh Balas</span> for guessing Boston, Massachusetts on our <a href="http://www.facebook.com/GenerationsProject?v=info#%21/GenerationsProject?v=wall">Facebook Page</a>. Carrie will be sent a FREE DVD of <span style="font-style: italic;">The Generations Project</span>.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">This specific episode is about Emily, an artist and musician who feels very in tuned with her ancestors and spiritual intuitions about their personalities. Emily wants to see if the historical facts back up what she has felt. What she finds leads her on a journey to bring to light the inaccuracies that fault her grandfather's reputation. </span><span>Emily's episode will air as part of </span>Season 2, coming January 2011.<br /><br />Another opportunity to win will be coming up soon.<br /><br /><br /><a class="actorName" href="http://www.facebook.com/crbalas"></a>maryjanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07961679225307311529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7579464233693582794.post-34910706991723874252010-09-28T15:28:00.001-07:002010-10-12T16:13:53.648-07:00Another Mystery Location<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="UIStory_Message"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >SNEAK PEEK AT SEASON </span><span style=";font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">2</span></span></span><br /><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.byub.org/thegenerationsproject/"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Generations Project</span></a><span> is visiting cities and countries all over the world </span><span>filming episodes for Season 2.</span><br /><span class="UIStory_Message"><span style=";font-size:130%;" ><span>Can you guess where we are filming in this picture?</span></span></span><br /></div> <span class="UIStory_Message"><span style=";font-size:130%;" ><span><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6yMzQ-dTmLRwzo9aLTdU5et3WVX7cCxBz37loXSzRZOKlDcVbH7aypL42qV_ak41SQQW-0HJxua8IqfjVQIisexB4vYfnhDom4kLtPIwy0HWDsUMajzFSQPdxGrf8jU0yLtm_gKoDJA0/s1600/Crew+filming+in+street.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6yMzQ-dTmLRwzo9aLTdU5et3WVX7cCxBz37loXSzRZOKlDcVbH7aypL42qV_ak41SQQW-0HJxua8IqfjVQIisexB4vYfnhDom4kLtPIwy0HWDsUMajzFSQPdxGrf8jU0yLtm_gKoDJA0/s400/Crew+filming+in+street.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5527301008038908802" border="0" /></a><br /></span></span></span><span class="UIStory_Message" style="font-size:100%;"> </span> <div style="text-align: center;"><span class="UIStory_Message" style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Whoever can guess closest will win a free DVD of an episode from Season 1</span></span><br /><br /><span style=";font-size:100%;" >Submit your guess under "comments".</span><br /><span style=";font-size:100%;" >If you are the winner you will be contacted to receive your DVD.</span><br /></div>maryjanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07961679225307311529noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7579464233693582794.post-42954287128810142272010-09-28T15:22:00.000-07:002010-10-07T11:05:55.551-07:00Another Mystery Location<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="UIStory_Message"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" >SNEAK PEEK AT SEASON </span><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;" >2</span></span></span><br /><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.byub.org/thegenerationsproject/"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Generations Project</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><a href="http://www.byub.org/thegenerationsproject/"> </a>is visiting cities and countries all over the world </span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">filming episodes for Season 2.</span><br /><span class="UIStory_Message"><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Can you guess where we are filming in this picture?</span></span></span><br /></div><span class="UIStory_Message"><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdmRC3y08gNkz-6mzxAFxddb3pAbqqyO8vLkAIan1gbT3-Czgx6QrsHq53iSDH86UHPRk7dv7RX5dPOyTWPXFYkBD3sXUWwKKP4sPtHqQW-wAegxbPYHTKdPqjyzJG5ge-NMIo4wKU_Xc/s1600/Sam+in+Mine.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdmRC3y08gNkz-6mzxAFxddb3pAbqqyO8vLkAIan1gbT3-Czgx6QrsHq53iSDH86UHPRk7dv7RX5dPOyTWPXFYkBD3sXUWwKKP4sPtHqQW-wAegxbPYHTKdPqjyzJG5ge-NMIo4wKU_Xc/s400/Sam+in+Mine.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5522093950563514994" border="0" /></a><br /></span></span></span><span class="UIStory_Message" style="font-size:100%;"> </span><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="UIStory_Message" style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;" >Whoever can guess closest will win a free DVD of an episode from Season 1</span></span><br /><br /><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;" >Submit your guess under "comments".</span><br /><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;" >If you are the winner you will be contacted to receive your DVD.</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Posted September 30, 2010<br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">* The correct location</span></span> is the Pocahontas Exhibition Coal Mine in West Virginia. Sam Reed from Georgia, is learning what working in a coal mine would have been like for his African American ancestors. Sam's episode will air as part of Season 2 of The Generations Project, coming January 2011.</div></div>maryjanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07961679225307311529noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7579464233693582794.post-5218588881918672292010-09-23T14:34:00.000-07:002010-09-24T13:02:31.489-07:00The House My Ancestors Bought at Sears<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOMmAPmkCtrUfePZUZsOXiaHMXfqnuJzDyPBC79mT35X2uyg3H-rPSNH1w40tH4VF7GEDq4cOG5GhQJbU3ZFGTZAgXGyKmPDRoJMj1x9_Xbjiy1cZH8qPUx-28-c31_8sHQQPe67MOAd0/s1600/house+in+a+box.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 344px; height: 344px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOMmAPmkCtrUfePZUZsOXiaHMXfqnuJzDyPBC79mT35X2uyg3H-rPSNH1w40tH4VF7GEDq4cOG5GhQJbU3ZFGTZAgXGyKmPDRoJMj1x9_Xbjiy1cZH8qPUx-28-c31_8sHQQPe67MOAd0/s400/house+in+a+box.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5520227500815847250" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;">By: Nephi Henry </span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">As I imagine a lot of people do, I used to think of genealogy as one of the blandest, most tedious things a person could do. The endless list of names and dates to be memorized, the stale pedigree charts, the distant places with names I couldn't pronounce—genealogy was too much for my busy 21st-century brain to keep track of, the kind of thing I'd have to store away in spreadsheets and could never really find a way to sink my teeth into.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:100%;">Then, one day, that very same 21st-century brain gave me my breakthrough into how personal and real genealogy can be. I called my dad, who lives on the other side of the country, and due to my habitual multitasking I was also browsing the Web on my laptop. Dad started talking about his grandparents, my great-grandparents, whom I don't remember ever meeting or even seeing pictures of. They lived in a little white farmhouse near Canton, Illinois, and Dad reminisced at length about the idyllic summers he spent there as a boy, walking the fields and drinking fresh milk straight from the dairy cows. He tried to describe the house for me, but his memories were vague and sparse.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:100%;">Dad then mentioned casually that his grandparents had bought their house—or rather, the kit for their house—from the Sears, Roebuck and Co. catalog. Frankly, I was astonished: I knew Sears had essentially revolutionized American consumerism with its mail-order catalog, but I had no idea that the company had ever dealt in anything as big as houses. So on a hunch, I opened a Web browser and searched for "Sears houses."<br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:100%;">Lo and behold, there were entire websites dedicated to these houses, complete with scans of original catalog pages featuring the kits, their exteriors, and their floor plans. It turns out that like my great-grandparents' old farmhouse, many of these decades-old kit homes are still standing today. As landmarks of an American sociocultural phenomenon, they create quite a niche community online.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:100%;">Soon Dad booted up his home computer and we were looking together through page after page of the houses. Within a few short minutes we found the very one my great-grandparents had built on the Illinois plains—<a style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(51, 102, 255);" href="http://www.searsarchives.com/homes/images/1927-1932/1927_p3202-p7009.jpg" target="_blank">the Starlight</a>. And as we looked at the floor plan and the pictures, it was as though a dam broke. Memory after memory came back to him; he hardly had time to share one with me before the next came rushing into his mind.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:100%;">About a week later, I got an email from Dad and found that he'd attached a dozen photographs of faces I'd never seen, but I could tell almost at once they were relatives: the great-grandparents I'd never known, along with my grandmother and her siblings. And there behind them was the house Dad had struggled to recreate in his mind. I'm not sure where he found the pictures, but I'm pretty certain he went looking because we'd found that old farmhouse using some very 21st-century technology.<br /></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br />How have you mixed the old and the new in genealogy? Has technology unexpectedly opened doors to your own family history? </span>maryjanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07961679225307311529noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7579464233693582794.post-85549999942842532922010-09-14T12:18:00.000-07:002010-09-14T13:07:19.115-07:00Billy the Kid Wasn’t Left-Handed, and Other Family History Truths<span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;">By: Rob Burt</span><br /><br />Have you ever heard the expression, “A picture is worth a thousand words”? That is definitely true for family history work. You can learn lots of valuable information from family and historical photographs . . . as long as you interpret them correctly.<p> </p><p>Take the following picture as an example. It is a well-known photograph of Henry McCarty, alias Henry Antrim and William H. Bonney—better known as Billy the Kid.</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP6cxHgQCrH8qDxgM2KvjivQWxy1DCub5k77c5eGVX3MkyRgWBmiHFHxufbnkPYEu-tXKc3tEb_Kx4rlOeiOjAaeKA1NXFHxEJ0t0ExEP47fEf0P4eGa0oaHjRt_ciSmUsza9kKIi158k/s1600/billy+1.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 247px; height: 375px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP6cxHgQCrH8qDxgM2KvjivQWxy1DCub5k77c5eGVX3MkyRgWBmiHFHxufbnkPYEu-tXKc3tEb_Kx4rlOeiOjAaeKA1NXFHxEJ0t0ExEP47fEf0P4eGa0oaHjRt_ciSmUsza9kKIi158k/s400/billy+1.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5516855274835631122" border="0" /></a></p><p><br /></p><p>For years, historians, writers, and aficionados of the West used this image to argue that the infamous Western outlaw was a minority in the gunfighter community—a left-hander. This idea was so common that a film titled <i>The Left-Handed Gun </i>on the life of Billy the Kid and starring Paul Newman was released in 1958, and many history books note that he was a southpaw.</p><p>In this picture, the rifle Billy is holding is a Winchester Model 1873. If you look closely at the gun, the loading gate (where bullets are put into the rifle) appears on the left-hand side of the gun. (See highlighted area below.)</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoNzVWDlZkGq2m9DcnKQurPw-l0tLCdogSYauWAeUkL3Xy3_q0xRZJT8488F98qmbRFKTCSnykiZ8ziWkfKQ7mA7c7KXZYVBX9Bqrea9csa6F-9FwuxdxS7MCYv-q7Yz3fbXit8WUnLQ4/s1600/billy+2.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 247px; height: 375px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoNzVWDlZkGq2m9DcnKQurPw-l0tLCdogSYauWAeUkL3Xy3_q0xRZJT8488F98qmbRFKTCSnykiZ8ziWkfKQ7mA7c7KXZYVBX9Bqrea9csa6F-9FwuxdxS7MCYv-q7Yz3fbXit8WUnLQ4/s400/billy+2.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5516855170112095170" border="0" /></a></p><p><br /></p><p>However, an observant historian eventually noted a problem with the picture: the 1873 Winchester didn’t have a loading gate on the left side—only on the right side. The picture was reversed! In the early days of photography, most negatives were produced backwards as a result of the technical process used in the first cameras. If the technicians were not careful when developing the film, they would produce a mirror image of the actual scene. This is what happened to the famous photo of Billy the Kid.<br /></p><p> </p><p>The correct image, depicting Billy as a right-hander, is shown below.</p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-size:100%;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjooiSOua_LwREKl6xinTgFMo61nuGb3Qk3GoQ80mryi5qWi1vwOQKu2x2ZYOMiEWDRn8LmNDrCTlKZw9qRN3CA_lImns0ATH6mr__IhLkHxn6KT5mJzLhmFWa3v8Nx-QKX0mMe-7EZimk/s1600/Billy+3.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 246px; height: 369px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjooiSOua_LwREKl6xinTgFMo61nuGb3Qk3GoQ80mryi5qWi1vwOQKu2x2ZYOMiEWDRn8LmNDrCTlKZw9qRN3CA_lImns0ATH6mr__IhLkHxn6KT5mJzLhmFWa3v8Nx-QKX0mMe-7EZimk/s400/Billy+3.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5516855086240197266" border="0" /></a></b></span></p><p><br /></p><p>This example illustrates how important family photographs can be. Not only do they give us an image of our ancestors, but important clues about the past can be found in the details surrounding them. Clothing, hairstyles, pins, military awards, automobiles, even rocks and plants can all help tell our ancestors' stories, even if they have not left a lot of written information for us. Some of these details are easily identified; others are more difficult and may need a specialist’s eye in order to be fully understood. Regardless, a picture may be worth a thousand words of an ancestor’s life story, so don’t delay! Pull out those old pictures and see what they may tell you about the lives of your loved ones.</p><p><br /></p><p>Have you found interesting facts from old photos? Tell us about it, leave a comment.<br /></p>maryjanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07961679225307311529noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7579464233693582794.post-74927612239317852992010-09-06T15:44:00.000-07:002010-10-07T11:04:30.892-07:00Coming Soon on The Generations ProjectHere's a sneak peek at what's coming January 2011. Don't miss Season 2 of The Generations Project.<br /><br /><object height="340" width="560"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/SuaZ_j1pD_I?fs=1&hl=en_US&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999&hd=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/SuaZ_j1pD_I?fs=1&hl=en_US&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999&hd=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="340" width="560"></embed></object>maryjanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07961679225307311529noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7579464233693582794.post-22675440184351449442010-09-02T10:53:00.000-07:002010-09-02T14:35:00.172-07:00Best Movies About Family?Perhaps no art form can capture the complexity of family dynamics more than film.<br /><br />This was the first thought that occurred to me after I watched the 1991 remake of <span style="font-style: italic;">Father of the Bride.</span><span> It's a great example of the hilarity and insanity that runs wild within the family unit. It's also a very touching film at its core. (Rated PG)<br /></span><span><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji00Uu8KSiM1Cn9ct4l2WHBgJ_TDOgLgHGSWvdbqXLr4Q5FSknRHM3IG5D_YbdKcVd8xFAUoIpQhKVsFpa5FN1HE65f3nQEfZUYsoZpnDe-SJ1ucwGAlMWelT5rKw4NlxOii7f2Av5lj65/s1600/Father+of+Bride.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 346px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji00Uu8KSiM1Cn9ct4l2WHBgJ_TDOgLgHGSWvdbqXLr4Q5FSknRHM3IG5D_YbdKcVd8xFAUoIpQhKVsFpa5FN1HE65f3nQEfZUYsoZpnDe-SJ1ucwGAlMWelT5rKw4NlxOii7f2Av5lj65/s400/Father+of+Bride.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512394296480798930" border="0" /></a><br /><span><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />It also got me thinking about other movies I've enjoyed that explore these odd little units we call families.<br /><br />A quick google search pulls up many movies classified as "family relationship" movies.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The Parent Trap</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Incredibles</span></span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The Godfather</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Hamlet</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">My Big Fat Greek Wedding<br />Finding <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Nemo</span></span><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br /></span>and so on.<br /><br />Why do you suppose there are so many movies about family? What makes them resonate with us? Why do we love so many of them?<br /><br />Here are some I love:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">In America</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The Sound of Music</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Incredibles</span></span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Kramer vs Kramer</span><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></span><span><span style="font-style: italic;">The Lion King</span></span><br /><br /><span>What are your favorite family-centric films?<span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span></span>Adriennehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03267080742215460829noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7579464233693582794.post-24078616562520159502010-08-31T15:23:00.000-07:002010-10-07T11:05:27.688-07:00This Week's Mystery Location<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="UIStory_Message"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" >SNEAK PEEK AT SEASON </span><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;" >2</span></span></span><br /><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.byub.org/thegenerationsproject/"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Generations Project</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><a href="http://www.byub.org/thegenerationsproject/"> </a>is visiting cities and countries all over the world </span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">filming episodes for Season 2.</span><br /><span class="UIStory_Message"><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Can you guess where we are filming in this picture?</span></span></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu4bh01RYDdOK4A40ueZJGRsUY8H-_aq_QVWZSwidxtciNU2yuOfPQaGQOJuzJIIMHhm8YLWlV4Sb2RURkxJxM4X10PkGjN6CZeIyKbiJOGOulwuDVbcf5wJp7c3fb_GltqTHAr-uro1g/s1600/Tara+talking+to+man.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu4bh01RYDdOK4A40ueZJGRsUY8H-_aq_QVWZSwidxtciNU2yuOfPQaGQOJuzJIIMHhm8YLWlV4Sb2RURkxJxM4X10PkGjN6CZeIyKbiJOGOulwuDVbcf5wJp7c3fb_GltqTHAr-uro1g/s400/Tara+talking+to+man.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5511710817542002466" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKpxYUM3TTFg-5uNACDq3Rdy0U_ZbgC4oM52yv6fYElFpaljNIX0gLzMnFSuEWdHGr3UcYvG0JmTwNQZUffYvWAN5LivQsRPEh30tIb2Ylan-gONCoynPNQXkW-S19nb6NIUpdVrPTyX8/s1600/Rachel+in+the+field.jpg"><br /></a><span class="UIStory_Message" style="font-size:100%;"> <span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;" >Whoever can guess closest will win a free DVD of an episode from Season 1</span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /><br /></span><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;" >Submit your guess under "comments".<br />If you are the winner you will be contacted to receive your DVD.</span><br /><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;" >Only guesses submitted on this blog post will qualify.</span></div>maryjanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07961679225307311529noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7579464233693582794.post-36976021703081870092010-08-25T11:21:00.000-07:002010-10-07T11:07:09.066-07:00My New Favorite Website<span style="font-size:100%;"><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhYZ2SR47wNgjaKQ_NKGDuULOjfug-RCJZiROIYXagkjMi_QUCnTZybu0SS4DdLfbUYqwtCpVFmHLCSF3wXje9X71jYBMaYy0bZI5ScncwAuri8pXX8tAumh_xpinPcKWwXpEdDHNTgs8/s1600/Picture+2.png"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 252px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhYZ2SR47wNgjaKQ_NKGDuULOjfug-RCJZiROIYXagkjMi_QUCnTZybu0SS4DdLfbUYqwtCpVFmHLCSF3wXje9X71jYBMaYy0bZI5ScncwAuri8pXX8tAumh_xpinPcKWwXpEdDHNTgs8/s320/Picture+2.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509418606218143394" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br />By: Bess Hayes<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhYZ2SR47wNgjaKQ_NKGDuULOjfug-RCJZiROIYXagkjMi_QUCnTZybu0SS4DdLfbUYqwtCpVFmHLCSF3wXje9X71jYBMaYy0bZI5ScncwAuri8pXX8tAumh_xpinPcKWwXpEdDHNTgs8/s1600/Picture+2.png"></a></span><div><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" >Berlin is probably my favorite city on the whole planet, so I was delighted when research for an upcoming episode of <a href="http://www.byub.org/thegenerationsproject/"><i>The Generations Project</i></a> took me (well, digitally) to 19th-century Berlin.<br /><br /></span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" >Researching 19th-century Berlin might seem like a difficult task, but thanks to my new favorite website </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" ><a href="http://www.berlin.ucla.edu/hypermedia/2003.php" target="_blank">http://www.berlin.ucla.edu/hypermedia/2003.php</a></span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" >, it was easy and fun</span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" >. Simply put, I heart it. A lot.</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /><br /></span></div><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:100%;" >It was created for a class at UCLA, and luckily the blessed dears have left it up for our perusal and enjoyment. This website combines dozens of maps to create a cartographic history of Berlin, mapping its last 800 years. I love tracing the development of this city on the Spree. And as a cartophile, I love following the stylistic evolution of maps depicting it.<br /><br />Even if your family history doesn't take you back to Berlin, I hope you enjoy these cartographic snapshots of this beautiful city. Oh, and let us know if you've found any similar exciting websites while doing research.<br /><br /></span>maryjanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07961679225307311529noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7579464233693582794.post-57901285945793426892010-08-18T11:21:00.001-07:002010-10-07T11:08:34.163-07:00This Week's Mystery Location (it's a tricky one)<div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><span class="UIStory_Message"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" >SNEAK PEEK AT SEASON </span><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;" >2<br /></span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.byub.org/thegenerationsproject/"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Generations Project</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> is visiting cities and countries all over the world </span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">filming episodes for Season 2.</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Can you guess where we are filming in this picture?</span><br /><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBvJ6tqiGqEWG7aH7_jwcYRYEoLHOPlGqYmqHRT1DhBoKLug6EaRaDU1DG_1BLHpKB5eFakZNtJXqr4XQMxlp5PMAprfMgwdMM3YNd73J6tOVlzGpSj2ZIoks0pbMLegtA8u5CGW7zoNA/s1600/Random+Shot.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBvJ6tqiGqEWG7aH7_jwcYRYEoLHOPlGqYmqHRT1DhBoKLug6EaRaDU1DG_1BLHpKB5eFakZNtJXqr4XQMxlp5PMAprfMgwdMM3YNd73J6tOVlzGpSj2ZIoks0pbMLegtA8u5CGW7zoNA/s400/Random+Shot.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506816994687888306" border="0" /></a><span class="UIStory_Message" style="font-size:100%;"> <span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:trebuchet ms;" >Whoever can guess closest will win a free DVD of an episode from Season 1</span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;" >Submit your guess under "comments".<br />If you are the winner you will be contacted to receive your DVD.</span><br /><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;" >Only guesses submitted on this blog post will qualify.</span><br /><br />August 20<br />AND THE WINNER IS....<br /><br />CONGRATULATIONS to Jody!<br />This picture shows The Generations Project filming at<br />Restaurant Les Filles du Roy in Montreal, Canada.<br />Jody, please send your mailing address to<br />moreinfo@thegenerationsproject.com to receive your free DVD.<br /></div>maryjanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07961679225307311529noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7579464233693582794.post-39290143514879100732010-08-16T15:58:00.000-07:002010-08-16T16:05:25.572-07:00"My car gets 40 rods to the hogshead, and that's just the way I like it!"By: Rob Burt<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEro__oUnpeoyLyM6Xlllbmg6DdUCxMmlaMdBJOt5a377xhbYSkTjBHQb6GImg8PCfKL8Y5cVt7ZKbBqaGH543B3ukcfQBAi5s3xMWugn6NrKmFG9EiFf0cNUt2gUlvI1lZyx0KJyatHg/s1600/IMG_0870.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEro__oUnpeoyLyM6Xlllbmg6DdUCxMmlaMdBJOt5a377xhbYSkTjBHQb6GImg8PCfKL8Y5cVt7ZKbBqaGH543B3ukcfQBAi5s3xMWugn6NrKmFG9EiFf0cNUt2gUlvI1lZyx0KJyatHg/s400/IMG_0870.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506146677513048354" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Anyone who has seen Grandpa Ed talk about the good ol' days realizes that going into the past is like visiting a foreign country: they both speak totally different languages!<br /><br />Just as today, language in the past had its own slang, meanings, and expressions that can mean something totally different than what we understand a word to mean today. For example, take the word <i>villain</i>. Today we understand that word to mean an evil individual. However, its original meaning from the middle ages meant a poor individual who worked on a farm.<br /><br />When reading journals, or doing family history research, it is a good idea to locate a dictionary from the time period in order to understand the language our ancestors were speaking. Another good option is the <i>Oxford English Dictionary</i>, which records how words and their meanings have changed over time.<br /><br />So don't get in a hurly-burly if you can't understand your ancestors' language. Everything will be roses, just find the nearest period lexicon and peruse away!<br /><br /><br />Tell us, what are some of the documents you've had to decipher or translate. Have you found any strange words that meant something different than you expected?maryjanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07961679225307311529noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7579464233693582794.post-33767086875647286342010-08-11T15:10:00.000-07:002010-10-07T11:15:05.724-07:00And the winner is...<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk397Nc3mPMbwjKY5bH2n1BBSPhKACGb7RyVxy70IwlSQaJIbqAxIQUxcqUxp0u6HT-qjK9rwHBK1BPlb5ZtKsUwZzSXefCtIKLR0blx6rr4MikRX07apU6Q_tNvuYASkgVrnUKv-e1wo/s1600/Red+Oak+Victory.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk397Nc3mPMbwjKY5bH2n1BBSPhKACGb7RyVxy70IwlSQaJIbqAxIQUxcqUxp0u6HT-qjK9rwHBK1BPlb5ZtKsUwZzSXefCtIKLR0blx6rr4MikRX07apU6Q_tNvuYASkgVrnUKv-e1wo/s400/Red+Oak+Victory.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5504282720856416146" border="0" /></a><br /></div>The correct answer is San Francisco, Ca. (Richmond to be exact). The photo was taken on the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Red_Oak_Victory">SS Red Oak Victory.</a><br /><br />Congratulations to Jean-Francois de Buren from California, he was the first one to guess San Francisco. We are also awarding Bryan from Ohio, for his specificity. Both will receive a DVD from Season 1. Be sure to look out for next week's Mystery Location, you'll have another chance to win.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;">To receive your free DVD please email your address to moreinfo@thegenerationsproject.com</span><br /></div><br /><a href="http://www.blogger.com/profile/05111413410387940080" rel="nofollow"></a>maryjanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07961679225307311529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7579464233693582794.post-16914551501091316572010-08-04T12:41:00.000-07:002010-08-06T11:41:44.137-07:00The (Family) Tree of Knowledge<p style="text-align: center;"><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQombc-fGYnLCmZ_b7aOBh8CQCmNGtPGNyDBL1JVkFcGpanrz3njX-4W_Ic_T08HiV0I64-idgUJvB3PwMxUNypCz9pszF96pbiwu4rUvVzEF9RwQcCf4qenVUzMV9JYKKTN-zji0-fKU/s1600/maria+johns001.jpg"> </a></p><p style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQombc-fGYnLCmZ_b7aOBh8CQCmNGtPGNyDBL1JVkFcGpanrz3njX-4W_Ic_T08HiV0I64-idgUJvB3PwMxUNypCz9pszF96pbiwu4rUvVzEF9RwQcCf4qenVUzMV9JYKKTN-zji0-fKU/s1600/maria+johns001.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 332px; height: 101px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQombc-fGYnLCmZ_b7aOBh8CQCmNGtPGNyDBL1JVkFcGpanrz3njX-4W_Ic_T08HiV0I64-idgUJvB3PwMxUNypCz9pszF96pbiwu4rUvVzEF9RwQcCf4qenVUzMV9JYKKTN-zji0-fKU/s320/maria+johns001.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5501645278506862082" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwLY6YdbK9MfgY_X7T1TVvJihmNTL5-DHsd8mQKz_v1uqWzzq1Yjw3ESGKdn71XuGnLKsal7VawtaxQwo6TMDLUDx58igAsAka389e9sa97e8BzJTfnKyfCeXo0mcxtLZoskpLhe6TE8c/s1600/Ellen001.jpg"> </a></p><p style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwLY6YdbK9MfgY_X7T1TVvJihmNTL5-DHsd8mQKz_v1uqWzzq1Yjw3ESGKdn71XuGnLKsal7VawtaxQwo6TMDLUDx58igAsAka389e9sa97e8BzJTfnKyfCeXo0mcxtLZoskpLhe6TE8c/s1600/Ellen001.jpg"><br /></a></p><p> </p><p> </p>When I was a few months into my pregnancy and feeling alone, I came across this quote by Harriet Lerner: <p style="margin-left: 1in;"> </p><p style="margin-left: 1in;">“We are never the first in our family to wrestle with a problem, although it may feel that way. . . . Learning how other family members have handled their problems similar to our own down through the generations, is one of the most effective routes to lowering reactivity and heightening self-clarity.” <a href="https://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AYpum_JA8_7pZGc0emR4YjdfMTc4Y2pwa2Z2Yzk&hl=en#_ftn1" name="_ftnref" target="_self" title=""></a></p><p> </p><p>I thought, “Yeah, right. Who does this happen to? No one else in my family has been abandoned three months into a planned pregnancy.”</p><p>I kept reading:</p><p style="margin-left: 1in;">“If we do not know about our own family history, we are more likely to repeat past patterns or mindlessly rebel against them, without much clarity about who we really are, how we are similar to and different from other family members, and how we might best proceed in our own life.” <a href="https://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AYpum_JA8_7pZGc0emR4YjdfMTc4Y2pwa2Z2Yzk&hl=en#_ftn1" name="_ftnref" target="_self" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[1]</span></a></p><p style="margin-left: 1in;"><a href="https://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AYpum_JA8_7pZGc0emR4YjdfMTc4Y2pwa2Z2Yzk&hl=en#_ftn1" name="_ftnref" target="_self" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><br /></span></a></p><p>Since I was already passionate about genealogy and family history (I am president of a personal history company), I decided to test out this idea. I re-examined my family tree to see if I had overlooked any single mothers and to find out what, if anything, I could learn from them.</p><p><br /></p><p>To my great surprise, there were more than a few, and the details of their stories left me in awe. For the purpose of brevity, I will share only two here:<br /></p><p>The first was my great-grandmother, Ellen. She lived for a time in the Mormon Mexican Colonies (which explains my affinity for Mexico). She had four daughters with her husband, but after the fourth was born, he accused Ellen of cheating on him. He said that Violet was not his child. With this announcement, he left her and moved back to the United States.</p><p><br /></p><p>Things in Mexico at this time (early 1900s) were tense. Pancho Villa, the revolutionary general in Chihuahua, was suspicious of the white Mormon settlers. According to the colony’s history, he threatened to kill the white people if they did not leave. So Ellen and her four daughters, and the rest of their colony, fled Mexico on foot after only a few days’ notice. Ellen returned to her parents' home in Cedar City, Utah, and lived with her family. Sometime later, she was reunited with her childhood sweetheart, married him, and had four sons—one of which is my grandfather.</p><p><br /> </p><p>The next story is from my father’s side. My father was adopted by his stepfather (meaning my grandmother was a single mom for a while, too), and I had been trying to track his biological father’s line for some time. A few years before, I had already discovered the big surprise—I (with naturally blonde hair and freckles) am of slave ancestry (which explains my love for African American heritage). I found Maria Johns, my third-great-grandmother, in an 1860 census that listed her as a single black woman living with her young mulatto daughter in a small town in western Pennsylvania. Maria's occupation was “washer woman,” and she was listed as owning property.<br /></p><p><br /></p><p>If your hair isn’t already blown back, here are a few more details. Maria was born in Virginia, so she was almost certainly born into slavery. Her child was mulatto, and she was never married, so I can only speculate about what master may have impregnated her and whether she was willing. I can only speculate about how she escaped or earned her freedom. But I do know that 1860 was pre–Emancipation Proclamation, and it was a time when even white women rarely owned property.</p><p><br /></p><p>What this tells me about Maria Johns is that she was awesome.</p><p><br /></p><p>I found a few clues and rumors that indicate that Maria was a Quaker, which I believe; Quakers lived in her area of Pennsylvania and were the only group that would be accepting enough to embrace a black woman in their community and let her own property.</p><p><br /></p><p>After learning these stories about my ancestors, I felt much less alone. I felt connected to and inspired by these powerful women. I looked to what Ellen and Maria (and others I found) did in their times of trial, and I saw that those who turned to their family and their faith were the most successful. I knew I would be wise to do the same.</p><p><br /></p><p>By meditating on these and other strong women in my life stream, I felt them draw nearer to me. They helped me and lifted me up. When my daughter was born, I felt them all surrounding me—my mother, my grandmother, Ellen, Maria, and many more I didn’t even know, but who knew me and knew my daughter.</p><p><br /></p><p> <span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">This was the first time I had really applied what my ancestors' stories taught me.</span></span>Since then, during each major struggle in my life, I consult my family history to see what I can learn. The results continue to amaze and humble me.<br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p> </p><p><i>Felice Austin is (among other things) a freelance writer and president of <a href="http://memoirsink.com/">Memoirs, Ink,</a> a company who shares </i>The Generations Project<i>'s ambtion to rediscover, share, and preserve meaningful family legacies.</i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkufztbaNYvO9Rp4iZyVCLj9rKEPQT8nB2sK2Z17BchEdZOeaSezuyMCXFVxkInFjECwNRCuuGLVXg7_EZm4_5ROUcr21hIWNrdSPSFMWvPPPhd1SGXpKWDAm5fx6nh6uW8BXbIOGEia0/s1600/Felice.jpg"> <img style="cursor: pointer; width: 129px; height: 178px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkufztbaNYvO9Rp4iZyVCLj9rKEPQT8nB2sK2Z17BchEdZOeaSezuyMCXFVxkInFjECwNRCuuGLVXg7_EZm4_5ROUcr21hIWNrdSPSFMWvPPPhd1SGXpKWDAm5fx6nh6uW8BXbIOGEia0/s320/Felice.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5501647193815533634" border="0" /></a></p><hr align="left" size="1"><a href="https://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AYpum_JA8_7pZGc0emR4YjdfMTc4Y2pwa2Z2Yzk&hl=en#_ftnref" name="_ftn1" target="_self" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference">[1]</span></a> <span style="font-family:Calibri,Verdana,Helvetica,Arial;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Harriet Lerner, <i>The Dance of Anger </i>(Harper Paperbacks, 2005), 117–18.</span></span><p><i></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkufztbaNYvO9Rp4iZyVCLj9rKEPQT8nB2sK2Z17BchEdZOeaSezuyMCXFVxkInFjECwNRCuuGLVXg7_EZm4_5ROUcr21hIWNrdSPSFMWvPPPhd1SGXpKWDAm5fx6nh6uW8BXbIOGEia0/s1600/Felice.jpg"> </a></p>maryjanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07961679225307311529noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7579464233693582794.post-39053387244806945362010-08-02T09:08:00.000-07:002010-10-07T11:18:34.149-07:00Be a good tipperWe have a new feature we're adding to our growing blog - the family history tip!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV1Jrt2_Gnd1wF5SzH_y4HxZ9vs9LRbMcfxg7wdWV9C7rO83lw3gLwFihyphenhyphenMyijzpMQU3yKRMC-i2CRYXeZncYAhoSMj0mdROXXglEws281AB17f3AgjzGG_FAjDl2JklFWc2J7CLi_UJep/s1600/Family+History+Tip-01.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 264px; height: 50px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV1Jrt2_Gnd1wF5SzH_y4HxZ9vs9LRbMcfxg7wdWV9C7rO83lw3gLwFihyphenhyphenMyijzpMQU3yKRMC-i2CRYXeZncYAhoSMj0mdROXXglEws281AB17f3AgjzGG_FAjDl2JklFWc2J7CLi_UJep/s400/Family+History+Tip-01.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5499808122545967042" border="0" /></a><br />Every time you see this symbol, it means we've found something useful we'd like to share to help those who are new to family history. While in production on <span style="font-style: italic;">The Generations Project</span>, we learn many great new tips from the professional genealogists that we consult with. We also hope you'll contribute your favorite tips and tricks.<br /><br />The whole mission of our TV series (and this blog) is to bring a fresh perspective to genealogy, and hopefully to be a point of entry for amateurs.<br /><br />We want to show the world (especially young adults) how cool family history can be.<br /><br />We want to focus on the stories behind all the online researching, microfiche, and treasure-hunting. We want to emphasize the emotional impact of family history. And we need your help to do that.<br /><br />So we come to you, wise genealogist friends, to help us get this section started. Be a mentor to a younger researcher. If we post your family history tip, we'll credit you on our blog.<br /><br />What tips do you have for people who are just becoming interested in family history?<br /><br />Send your tips to moreinfo@thegenerationsproject.comAdriennehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03267080742215460829noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7579464233693582794.post-14368414946248809312010-07-26T08:54:00.000-07:002010-07-26T09:01:52.031-07:0018 Points for CreativityI thought this was a pretty fun and unorthodox way to display your family tree.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3ruNkjkoP3Lt5xIF0oCap8iDWT7va1210doTKuYD5voNeyBSOp-6nOaIMAG8KqIbHq0dc15C3n_xPv4uXu1O9cCUO8FXCUvUJvHM1lYyy1Hj6yjnK6Q40PO996NdJJpBJtUvAZI6QiDcx/s1600/il_fullxfull.147076441.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3ruNkjkoP3Lt5xIF0oCap8iDWT7va1210doTKuYD5voNeyBSOp-6nOaIMAG8KqIbHq0dc15C3n_xPv4uXu1O9cCUO8FXCUvUJvHM1lYyy1Hj6yjnK6Q40PO996NdJJpBJtUvAZI6QiDcx/s400/il_fullxfull.147076441.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5496838175915310946" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;">(scrabble family board found <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/48134020/personalized-family-name-wall-art-for?ref=sr_gallery_37&ga_search_query=genealogy&ga_search_type=handmade&ga_page=&order=&includes[]=tags&includes[]=title">here</a>)</span><br /></div><br />Perhaps it was a family of writers. I wonder if they argued over whose name was worth the most points.<br /><br />But what do you do if you're a family of, say, whalers? How would you show off your ancestors? Or a family of haberdashers? You know, all those many, many families of haberdashers out there. . . .<br /><br />What has your family done to display its roots?Adriennehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03267080742215460829noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7579464233693582794.post-33405782996223170592010-07-12T10:21:00.000-07:002010-07-12T10:22:43.352-07:00What goes around comes aroundIt seems like every young mother I run into these days is toting along a new baby girl with an old name. I can't believe how many Graces, Charlottes, Victorias, Ellas, and Sophias I've been meeting.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">The top 5 female baby names of last year:</span><br /><br />Isabella<br />Emma<br />Olivia<br />Sophia<br />Ava<br /><br />Is this odd to anyone else? Where do all these antique names come from? Are they family names? Are we aiming for some sort of connection to the past, to times we consider (however naively) to be simpler?<br /><br />Also, if what's old is new again, what about naming your daughter some of the forgotten names of yore:<br /><br />Bessie, Hattie, Pearl, Cora, Blanche, and perhaps my favorite unfortunate old-time name, Dorcas.<br /><br />What names do you predict will rule the 2010s?Adriennehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03267080742215460829noreply@blogger.com2