This is a great opportunity for anyone who hasn’t tested yet to discover the power of DNA. MyHeritage offers a unique combination of global reach and powerful tools: A detailed ethnicity breakdown across 79 ethnicities and 2,114 geographic regions A growing international DNA database with over 9 million users Advanced DNA tools that can help you understand how your matches are related to you Ancient Origins, a unique feature that allows you to trace your origins back 10,000 years and discover the ancient civilizations you descend from *Note that access to the advanced DNA tools and Ancient Origins is available as part of a Complete or Omni subscription or free trial.

The following is a press release written by the folks at the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies:

FORT WAYNE, IN (August 6, 2025) – Visit Fort Wayne is excited to welcome the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies (IAJGS) to Fort Wayne for their 2025 Annual Conference, August 10 – 14 at the Grand Wayne Convention Center. Most recently held in Philadelphia in 2024 and London, England in 2023, the group comes to Fort Wayne with an expected 1,000 attendees.  Registration is still open and IAJGS invites anyone interested in Jewish genealogy to sign up for the educational conference “to learn, to research, and most importantly, to share.” The Genealogy Center at the Allen County Public Library is world-renowned for its physical collection of genealogical items as well as its professional Genealogists on staff, led by Curt Witcher, Director of Special Collections and former president of both the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) and the National Genealogical Society (NGS), and the founding president of the Indiana Genealogical Society. This asset in the Fort Wayne Community was the linchpin to hosting this highly acclaimed conference here in our city. “IAJGS is no stranger to the Genealogy Center at ACPL with its global status and reputation, so presenting the complete package with the award-winning hosting capabilities at the Grand Wayne Convention Center made a strong case for bringing their 2025 event to Fort Wayne,” said Josie O’Donnell, Senior Sales Manager at Visit Fort Wayne, who started talks with the organization in 2021 to secure this year’s conference.  Special thanks to the local Northeast Indiana Jewish Genealogist Society (NEIJGS) Chapter with representative Irv Adler, who was instrumental in bringing this event to Fort Wayne. Adler says, "Embark on a transformative journey at the 45th IAJGS International Jewish Genealogy Conference in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where the past comes alive. Delve into the rich tapestry of your ancestry, gain exclusive insights from world-renowned experts, and connect with a dynamic community dedicated to preserving the legacy of Jewish heritage. This is your chance to turn curiosity into discovery and stories into treasured memories."  Keynote Speaker CeCe Moore - Sunday, August 10: 7:00PM - 9:00PM The 2025 keynote speaker will be CeCe Moore, a prominent American genetic genealogist, most recently known for her work on Finding Your Roots. Moore is also recognized for assisting law enforcement agencies in over 300 cold cases of high-profile human identification cases using DNA and genetic genealogy — even helping to solve the local April Tinsley case in 2018, 30 years after the homicide. The public is welcome to attend and can find tickets here. Advanced ticket sales are required. Ticket sales will end at 9:00PM on August 8. There will be no tickets sales at the door.  Learn more and sign up for the conference at IAJGS2025.org.

A cold case, involving the death of a 4-year-old boy with ties to the Philadelphia area, may now be solved after five decades.

Police in Fairfax County, Virginia, say genetic testing has identified the body of Carl Matthew Bryant.

A cold case, involving the death of a 4-year-old boy with ties to our area, may now be solved after five decades.

On June 13, 1972, the little boy's body was found under a bridge in Lorton, Virginia, according to Fairfax County police. The boy was was labeled a John Doe.

It was determined that he died from blunt force trauma and the case was ruled a homicide, police said.

For over 50 years, police worked to find his name and what caused his tragic murder.

Authorities said the breakthrough came thanks to genetic genealogy, which uses an unknown person's DNA to trace his or her family tree. His DNA profile was obtained from just a few millimeters of hair, police said, and then genetic genealogy helped detectives track the little boy's family to Philadelphia.

Through a relative, detectives zeroed in on Vera Bryant as the mother, police said.

In June 1972, detectives say Vera and her boyfriend James Hedgepeth -- who was a convicted murderer -- were traveling from Philadelphia to Hedgepeth's relatives in Middlesex County, Virginia, with Carl and his six-month-old brother.

However, when the couple arrived, they didn't have her sons with them, police said.

Then, over Thanksgiving in 1972, when the couple visited Vera Bryant's family in Philadelphia, Vera allegedly told them the children were in Virginia with Hedgepeth's family, police said. The couple never reported the boys missing, police added.

Vera died in 1980; her body was exhumed and DNA confirmed she was Carl's mom, police said. Hedgepeth has also since died.

Although Carl has a name, police are now searching for his little brother, James Bryant.

James has never been found.

Detectives believe the missing baby was killed around the same time as his older brother, police said.

At a news conference on Monday, Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis praised the detectives who did the "hard work" to identify Carl.

"You still knock on doors, you still talk to family members, you still talk to potential witnesses," Davis said. He also highlighted the power of genetic genealogy, which he said allows the department to "bring closure far, far more often than we ever have."

"To see the extent of that boy's injuries and what he had suffered through, I'm happy to be here today announcing that at least we've identified him," detective Melissa Wallace added. "He can have his name, we can get him his name back on his gravestone and the family can have some semblance of closure or resolution."

The homicide investigation is ongoing. The Fairfax County Police Department urges anyone with information to call its Major Crimes Bureau at 703-246-7800, option 2.

The Williamsburg Area Genealogy Society will host its first-ever conference in September.

The Williamsburg Area Genealogy Society will host its first genealogy conference, “Discovering Your Ancestry Can Be Revolutionary,” Sept. 20 at the Reserve at Williamsburg Clubhouse.

After becoming a nonprofit this past spring, the WAGS team decided that the community was ready for a genealogy conference.

“Our theme is Discovering Your Ancestors Can be Revolutionary.  As we are into the America 250! celebration, and there is perhaps greater interest in finding your ancestors, we thought this might be a great time to share resources, to learn about what work is being done in this community, to share ideas and help others with their own journey of finding their ancestors,” Debbie Misiag, president of WAGS, shared.

Multiple sessions are planned for the conference. William & Mary will present a panel discussion about the school’s research into The Bray School. There will also be a presentation on updates to Ancestry.com, a beginner class, a discussion on planning research trips and more.

The WAGS team has also booked a keynote speaker. Stuart Butler, a retired archivist from the National Archives, will discuss resources that the D.C.-based archives have available.

“We are excited to share our organization with the greater community of Williamsburg.  We have members just starting their genealogy journey, and some that have been doing research for 20 or more years. What we do have is fun, interesting and caring members that support each other on their journeys to find their ancestors and to break down ‘brick walls.’ We love to celebrate a member who has found something they have been looking for for quite a while. It makes us all happy. I am proud to be a part of this group as we share our ideas, research strategies, new resources and knowledge with each other. We all have grown in our skills and our friendships,” Misiag shared.

The event will also feature vendors and lunch is included with the $60 registration fee.

Registration for the conference is open to the public and is ongoing until all 70 spots are filled or Sept. 1. For more information, visit wagsva.org/2025-wags-conference.

Newspaper articles can provide a wealth of information to help round out your family history. Kim Thurman will offer guidance in how to find publications and news items that may include your ancestor.

Class is from 10:30 – Noon followed by an optional hands-on help session from 1:00-3:00. In person at the RVGS Library and Via ZOOM.

Register at rvgslibrary.org > Classes and Events >Genealogy Week Registration

All Classes during GENEALOGY WEEK are FREE to all.

Date & Time:

September 27, 2025 @  10:30 am -  3:00 pm

Cost:

Free

Rogue Valley Genealogy Library

3405 S. Pacific Hwy
Medford,OR,97501

+ Google Map

541-512-2340

The following is a press release written by the folks at the Library of Congress:

Library of Congress Unveils Major Upgrades to Chronicling America Website

Enhanced Platform Improves Accessibility and Research Capabilities for Historic Newspapers

The Library of Congress has launched a significant upgrade to its Chronicling America website, the nation’s leading free resource for historical U.S. newspapers. The updated platform now integrates fully with the Library’s broader loc.gov digital collections, offering enhanced accessibility, modern design and powerful research tools across all devices.

The redesigned interface introduces numerous user-focused improvements, including a fully responsive design that ensures seamless use on computers, tablets and smartphones; enhanced image viewing for improved readability; and intuitive browsing options with refined filters. An upgraded advanced search tool provides greater precision, and a new interactive map allows users to explore digitized newspaper titles geographically.

All newly digitized newspapers will now appear exclusively on the upgraded site. Content uploads to the previous site have been discontinued, and existing URLs now automatically redirect to the updated platform. Users can explore the new features with the help of the Library’s Research Guide on using Chronicling America.

“Upgrading Chronicling America into the loc.gov platform allows us to share newspapers more broadly and connect them with books, maps, photographs, and other resources,” said Deborah Thomas, chief of the Serials & Government Publications Division. “We’re excited to see this long-planned project improve public access to historical newspapers and related collections.”

The National Endowment for the Humanities “has long partnered with the Library of Congress to preserve U.S. newspapers,” said National Endowment for the Humanities Acting Chairman Michael McDonald. “We are excited that this new platform will enhance broad public access to these invaluable primary sources about America’s past from any device. The ability to search historical newspapers alongside the Library’s vast digital collection will open new avenues for research for all of Chronicling America’s users.”

Launched in 2007 and last updated in 2011, the Chronicling America collection has expanded to include more than 23 million newspaper pages from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The website is a product of the National Digital Newspaper Program, a partnership between the Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities. The National Digital Newspaper Program continues to support newspaper digitization efforts in cultural institutions across the United States.

The public is invited to explore the new interface through notable newspaper stories, such as:

• Sojourner Truth’s “Ain’t I a Woman?” speech (Anti-Slavery Bugle, June 21, 1851)
• “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus” (The Sun, Sept. 21, 1897)
• Titanic disaster coverage (New-York Tribune, April 16, 1912)
• Equal Suffrage article by Alice Stone Blackwell (The Commoner, Aug. 1, 1913)
• U.S. entry into World War II (Ypsilanti Daily Press, Dec. 8, 1941)
• “Supreme Court Bans School Segregation” (Key West Citizen May 17, 1954)
• “A Letter From the Birmingham City Jail: King’s Explanation of Non-Violent Approach,”(Evening Star, June 16, 1963). 
• “Some Quaint Halloween Customs and Their Origin,” (The Evening Star, Oct. 26, 1913). 
• “Girls Organize Sure ‘Nough Ball Club—Know How to Play,” (The Day Book, Jan. 6, 1916). 

For more information and to access the collection, visit chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.

The Library of Congress is the world’s largest library, offering access to the creative record of the United States — and extensive materials from around the world — both on-site and online. It is the main research arm of the U.S. Congress and the home of the U.S. Copyright Office. Explore collections, reference services and other programs and plan a visit at loc.gov, access the official site for U.S. federal legislative information at congress.gov and register creative works of authorship at copyright.gov.

Tulane University Special Collections (TUSC) is pleased to announce a digitized collection of Black New Orleans nightlife posters, 1979-1980, newly published via the Tulane University Digital Library. 

The collection consists of posters representing concerts and other music and dance events presented in New Orleans and the surrounding region for young participants who made up the primary target audience for R&B, funk, disco, DJ and dance culture, and hip hop in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The posters reveal happenings, locations, events, businesses, photographs, and both locally and nationally known artists of Black New Orleans popular culture and youth culture of the time. 

Notable local artists listed include Johnny Adams, Chocolate Milk, The Creators (featuring Branford Marsalis and Wynton Marsalis), DJ Sabu, the Electrified A. G. B. (All Girls Band), Earl King, Bobby Marchan, The Meters, the Sugar Hill dancers, Patsy Valdez, Walter Wolfman Washington, and more. Notable locations for events or tickets include the Autocrat Club, City Park Stadium, Crash Landing, D.H. Holmes, Dooky Chase, I.L.A. Hall, Municipal Auditorium, Our Lady of Lourdes School Gym, Prout’s Club Alhambra, Saenger Theatre, Werlein’s, and more.  

The selected posters are a sub-collection from the Hogan Archive poster and calendar collection, HJA-095, of the Hogan Archive of New Orleans Music and New Orleans Jazz, a unit of Tulane University Special Collections.

The digitized collection of Black New Orleans nightlife posters, 1979-1980, is accessible at this link: https://library.search.tulane.edu/discovery/collectionDiscovery?vid=01TUL_INST:Tulane&collectionId=81478083450006326

For more information, contact Hogan Archive curator Melissa A. Weber at mweber3@tulane.edu or 504-247-1807. To learn more about Tulane University Special Collections, visit the TUSC website at library.tulane.edu/tusc, email specialcollections@tulane.edu, and follow them on Facebook and Instagram. 

The following is a press release written by the folks at: DigitalNC.

Thanks to the owners and publishers, we are excited to announce that the Ocracoke Observer (Ocracoke, N.C.) is now available on DigitalNC! This latest addition includes 154 issues, spanning from May 1999 to May 2025. The island newspaper is published monthly from March to December, and covers news about Ocracoke Island and its residents. Featured below is an example of the exciting stories that can be found in the Ocracoke Observer, but DigitalNC visitors should be sure to check out more issues, linked here, to discover more stories making waves across the island.

A front page story from the March 2021 issue of the Ocracoke Observer (Ocracoke, N.C.)

To search through all available issues of the Ocracoke Observer (Ocracoke, N.C.), click here.

Information about the Ocracoke Observer (Ocracoke, N.C.) can be found on their website here.

The University of Notre Dame Australia’s internationally-renowned expert on the Kennedy political dynasty, Associate Professor Leigh Straw, has authored a fascinating new book that reveals how one summer in the 1940s shaped the trajectory of the famous political family.

The Kennedys at Cape Cod, 1944: The Summer That Changed Everything tells the overlooked story about a time when the Kennedy family, already stressed by an inter-faith marriage “scandal”, is broken by the human tragedy of war.

The book gives an insight into a devastating turning point faced by the Kennedy family before they become the larger-than-life, heroic and tragic figures depicted in both history books and popular culture.

It takes the reader back to a time when the US was on the cusp of becoming a superpower and invites reflection on central characters within American political history.

Associate Professor Straw has spent years working in the archives at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston to bring to life the Kennedy’s summer of 1944 for the first time.

Backed by leading global publisher Bloomsbury, the book is international recognition of her standing as a researcher into a topic typically dominated by American scholars.

“This is a story that resonates today in terms of looking back on significant American political families in what many would regard as a more settled time in political affairs domestically for the US,” Associate Professor Straw said.

“It’s a fascinating book about the ‘what ifs’ of the past. What if JFK’s older brother, Joe Jr, hadn’t been killed in WWII? He was the first political hopeful of the family. Would he have been successful in politics? He was far more conservative than JFK and may have divided more people.”

Associate Professor Straw has been invited to Boston, Hyannis and Washington D.C. to launch the book this month.

She has been invited to take part in the Summer Author Series at the John F. Kennedy Hyannis Museum during the Labor Day weekend in the US, which draws big crowds to the Cape Cod region.

The book has been endorsed by three best-selling Kennedy scholars, including Harvard University’s Pulitzer Prize winning historian, Professor Fredrik Logevall.

“The summer of 1944 was an extraordinary time for the Kennedys and for America, and Leigh Straw captures the moment wonderfully in this absorbing narrative,” Professor Logevall wrote.

“With nuance and sensitivity, she deepens our understanding of a fraught – and consequential – moment in a family’s history.”

The publication of this book highlights Associate Professor Straw’s contribution to understanding the past not merely to document historical events, but as a means to uncover the lived experiences that shape our understanding of society today.

The Kennedys at Cape Cod, 1944: The Summer That Changed Everything will be released worldwide on 7 August.

The following is a press release written by the folks at the (U.S.) National Archives and Records Administration:

Japanese Instrument of Surrender The Japanese Instrument of Surrender ended World War II on September 2, 1945. In the surrender, Japan formally agreed to the terms set forth in the Potsdam Declaration, and ordered a cessation of hostilities of all Japanese forces.  There are additional instruments of surrender that were carried out at other areas under Japanese control, including South Korea, the Philippines, Southeast Asia, and other Pacific islands. The Japanese Instrument of Surrender will go on view as a Featured Document Display at the National Archives Museum in Washington, DC, on Thursday, August 28, 2025. Japanese Instrument of Surrender, page 1, September 2, 1945.  NAID: 1752336 We Can Do It! This iconic poster presents a powerful image of a woman war worker's strength and determination during World War II.  In 1942, the Westinghouse Company's War Production Coordinating Committee hired Pittsburgh artist J. Howard Miller to create a series of posters for the war effort. His "We Can Do It!" poster was initially used only internally by Westinghouse; it resurfaced decades after the war and soon became associated with the "Rosie the Riveter" moniker. Click here to explore more historical posters and graphic works held by the National Archives. “We can do it!” poster, ca. 1942. NAID: 535413 Pieces of History: USS Indianapolis July 30, 2025, marked the 80th anniversary of the sinking of USS Indianapolis (CA-35), a Portland-class heavy cruiser secretly tasked with delivering parts of the first atomic bomb to the Pacific Island of Tinian during World War II.  With its task completed, on the night of July 30, 1945, two weeks before the end of the war, while sailing from Guam to Leyte, the Indianapolis was torpedoed twice by a Japanese submarine. The crew of 1,199 men ended up in the waters of the Pacific. Accounts of the disaster are preserved in oral histories of those who survived. USS Indianapolis (CA-35) - Cruiser. NAID: 496082659