You can read a lot more at: https://www.findmypast.com/blog/new/pow-audio-recordings 

From an article by Line Sidonie Talla Mafotsing published in the Atlas Obscura web site:

In 2019, Tsuru For Solidarity, a social justice organization led by Japanese Americans, wanted to organize a rally in Washington DC to protest the separation of migrant children from their families at the US-Mexico border. Because many in Tsuru for Solidarity had family members who were incarcerated at detention sites in the United States during World War II, they planned to chant the names of the people currently being held along with the names of those who were incarcerated during the war—but there was no list of the Japanese Americans imprisoned at the internment camps.

“I had somehow presumed that because the US government passed the Civil Liberties Act in 1988, that there was a list,” says Duncan Ryuken Williams, a professor at the University of Southern California and a Buddhist priest who works with Tsuru for Solidarity. The Civil Liberties Act of 1988 was a federal law issuing a formal apology for President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s February 1942 order establishing the detention camps and $20,000 checks to camp survivors. “They did end up issuing 81,000 checks, but nobody really knew how many people were incarcerated,” he says. Williams began accounting for every single person who had been incarcerated in approximately 75 camps that existed mostly along the West Coast with a few in the South.

With a core group of 12 researchers and 100 volunteers undertaking thousands of hours of work, the Ireichō was born: it is a massive book listing the names of the 125,284 Japanese Americans who were incarcerated during World War II. The book is currently on display at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles’s Little Tokyo.

The Ireichō is more than 1,000 pages and weighs almost 30 pounds. “It’s a very hefty book and it’s quite a big procedure to open,” says Williams. The book is surrounded by ceramic tiles infused with soil retrieved from the incarceration sites, and people are encouraged to stamp a Japanese hanko seal—a carved stamp used in lieu of a hand-written signature—next to the names of their family members and next to those that have no descendants as a way of also keeping their memories alive.

There is much more in the article at: https://tinyurl.com/2v9bs6ur. Please note that the information is not (yet) available online.

From the MyHeritage Blog:

On April 1, 2022, the 1950 U.S. Federal Census images were released to the public, 72 years after the enumeration was initiated. Since then, we have been working tirelessly to get the entire 1950 U.S. census collection available to you as a searchable index with the census images, publishing several states each month. We are excited to announce our largest release for this collection, covering 30 million records from the states of Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Virginia. The 1950 U.S. Census collection now includes more than 150 million records from all of the U.S. states and territories and it is available for you to view, search, and add to your MyHeritage family tree for FREE! 

Search the 1950 U.S. Federal Census for free!

The census provides fascinating details about the lives of the entire population living in the U.S. and its territories in 1950. For all individuals, it includes names, ages, addresses, relationships, households, gender, birthplace, marital status, and other facts. If you had family living in the United States during this time period, you are likely to find important details about their lives in the 1950 U.S. Census collection.

The 1950 census collection searchable index contains all records from all 48 U.S. states and territories (Alaska and Hawaii were only added as states in 1959): Alabama, Alaska, American Samoa, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Panama Canal Zone, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virgin Islands, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Texas. In addition, the collection includes the Indian Reservation Schedules, and four overseas islands of Canton, Johnston, Midway, and Wake.

There are still a few million records remaining that will be added over the next few months. These are records that couldn’t be scanned and indexed accurately through more automated means and require some additional manual handling. We will keep you posted once these are added.

Exclusive MyHeritage census resources

Last year we released the Census Helper a useful new feature that tells you who in your family tree is likely to appear in the 1950 U.S. Census and other censuses. Learn more about how to best utilize this free tool in Jump-start Your 1950 U.S. Census Research with the Census Helper

For more tips on searching the 1950 U.S. Census and all other censuses on MyHeritage, please visit our Census Content Hub and our dedicated 1950 U.S. Census page.

You can read a lot more at: https://blog.myheritage.com/2022/11/myheritage-publishes-the-1950-u-s-census-search-all-states-and-territories-for-free/ 

From an article by Jo Marchant and published in the Smithsonian Magazine:

Proteins left behind on historic artifacts are revealing centuries-old secrets

One rainy morning in May, a Romanian archivist named Tudor Arhire retrieved a brown envelope from a wooden filing cabinet, slid out a small, yellowed page and placed it carefully on the table. Arhire is the custodian of a government archive in Sibiu, Romania, a medieval city in the region of Transylvania. Inside the grand, historic building, elegant windows and parquet floors contrasted with yellowed lace curtains and battered upholstery; on a desk in the corner, a pile of books and parchments spanned hundreds of years. The document he produced was a letter, more than 500 years old. Despite the ancient creases and stains, its nine lines of flowing Latin script, translated long ago, were clearly legible. But nobody here was intending to read it. Instead, two visitors, a married couple named Gleb and Svetlana Zilberstein, waited eagerly with latex gloves and plastic tubes.

The letter is one of the archive’s most precious possessions. Dated August 4, 1475, it was written to the burghers of Sibiu by a man describing himself as “prince of the Transalpine regions.” He informed the townspeople that he would soon be taking up residence among them. He signed with a name sure to strike fear into their hearts: Vlad Dracula.

The Zilbersteins were interested not in the words on the page, however, but something else—physical remnants of the prince himself, including molecule fragments from his sweat, saliva and tears. Their work harnesses breathtaking advances in a field known as proteomics, which seeks to understand the interaction of proteins within living cells and organisms. Proteins have long been studied in the context of biology and medicine, but spectacularly sensitive analytical techniques now allow researchers to use protein traces to gather intimate information from materials that were once primarily the domain of historians and archaeologists, opening a new window onto the past. The project is part of a scientific revolution that is profoundly expanding the type of information that can be gleaned from historical texts and artifacts, from X-ray and CT scanning to carbon dating and genetic sequencing.

Already, DNA is used to identify individuals from biological remains and reveal large-scale relationships, from family trees to evolutionary timelines. But DNA remains constant throughout a person’s life, and it degrades badly over time. Which is why researchers are also interested in proteins, the molecules DNA encodes and that do most of the work inside our cells. If DNA keeps a static record of our ancestry, proteins, which metabolize our food, store and transport resources, and carry messages from one place to another, provide a running commentary on our health and habits. They leave evidence of our diets, our illnesses, the drugs we use, even our cause of death. And they are left behind on everything we touch.

I found this to be a fascinating article. You can read all of it at: https://tinyurl.com/s3hbzw2a.

Could this be used on documents left behind by one of our ancestors?

A searchable database of over 1,000 people from Co Donegal who died as a result of World War 1 has been launched by Donegal County Museum

The database was compiled as part of Donegal County Council's Decade of Centenaries Commemorative Programme and contains information on each known person from the county who died as a result of WW1.

Entries include the person's name, service number and place of birth, as well as additional information researched by Donegal County Museum staff.

Assistant Curator at the museum Caroline Carr said the database is a work in progress with further information, including more photographs, yet to be uploaded.

There are 1,148 names included so far, but Ms Carr said that the database is designed to be updated as new information is uncovered and she said they welcome anyone with new information to contact the museum in Letterkenny.

You can read more in an article written by Eileen Magnier and published in the RTÉ web site at: https://www.rte.ie/news/ulster/2022/1109/1335137-donegal-database/.

This is a follow-up to the message I posted yesterday: "I May Be Off-line For a While (Again)."

In case anyone is interested:

Hurricane Nicole arrived and has mostly departed this morning. It is still  raining lightly and the wind is gusting to perhaps 30 or 40 miles per hour. But the storm is winding down.

It was a rather wild night. I woke up a couple of times and checked on things. I think the storm was stronger than what the weather forecasters had predicted. The wind noise was rather intense. However, I walked outdoors around the house this morning and everything looks fine. No damage to my property.

The lights flickered a couple of times but otherwise the power remained on.

My next-door neighbor has a young tree that was blown over. It is a new tree, only planted 2 or 3 months ago.  I haven't yet walked around the neighborhood but I don't see any other damage when looking out my windows.

OK, now I plan to go back to normal and resume a normal life.

I live in Florida. One of the risks of living here is the occasional hurricanes. We are looking at one right now.

As I write this, Hurricane Nicole is in the Atlantic Ocean, east of Florida. Unfortunately, it is headed this way and is expected to hit landfall this evening. 

Predicting the path of hurricanes is notoriously difficult to do, as hurricanes tend to "wobble" a bit, especially after moving over land. However, the weather forecasters are predicting that Hurricane Nicole will probably move directly over the town where I live or else over a nearby town during the night tonight.

This is "déjà vu." Hurricane Ian came through here a couple of months ago and caused widespread damage. (Luckily, my home escaped damage entirely.) The new hurricane, named Nicole, is following a very different path but it, too, is aimed directly where I live.

Hurricane Nicole is a rather low-level hurricane, only a shadow of the predecessor storm called Ian. Nicole barely has reached hurricane force winds (74 miles per hour or 119 km/h) and the weather forecasters expect it will be downgraded to a tropical storm (no longer a hurricane) shortly after it reaches landfall this evening. I doubt if this will cause any damage to my property.

However, power outages will probably be common during Hurricane Nicole. During the last hurricane (Hurricane Ian) I did not have commercial power for 12 hours. I suspect I will have the same problem this time, possibly for an even longer period of time.

I do have two Jackery power generators (the modern-day replacements for gasoline-powered generators) and also a gas stove so I should be able to run lights, appliances, and be able to cook food. In short, I think I should be well-prepared except for one item beyond my control: internet connectivity.

I may be offline for 12 hours or even for much longer (a few years ago, after a previous hurricane,  I was without power or internet connectivity for 8 days). 

So if you don't read anything new from me for a while, please do not be surprised. I am probably OK, probably well fed, and probably reading a book or something. But I may not be online.

The Society of Genealogists today announced that it had purchased Unit 2, 40 Wharf Road, London, N1 7GS. The Society had sold its previous premises at Charterhouse Buildings several years ago and finally vacated the site in October 2021, having packed up its immense holdings into storage temporarily. The organisation has been operating out of temporary offices in the old Jones Brothers Department Store on Holloway Road, with a retrieval system and visits which can be booked on Wednesdays. It has also continued to welcome its valued volunteer team to the site on Fridays. The new site will require a fit-out and it is estimated that the Society will re-open at the site in the Summer of 2023. 

Dr Wanda Wyporska, Chief Executive, Society of Genealogists, said:

“It’s been a long time coming, but we are delighted that it is third time lucky for the Society. It has been extremely difficult to find the right venue for all our needs, and this was the third attempt to purchase the right premises. I want to thank all our members, staff and volunteers for being so patient and for the support they have continued to give in so many areas. We very much look forward to welcoming everyone back to a new refreshed and revitalised Society in 2023. New premises are just one part of the ambitious transformation programme that we’ve been undertaking over the past eighteen months. 

“The Society also hopes to welcome partners in the genealogy community, academics, local, family and social historians through its doors. We are looking forward to holding another youth conference as well as a conference exploring African and Caribbean disaporas in September as part of the events marking Windrush 75. Our ambition is for this building to become a destination venue, where we shall hold exhibitions, conferences, courses and continue to promote genealogy and family history.”

The following announcement was written by the Board for Certification of Genealogists (BCG):

“Their Mark Here: Signatures and Marks as Identifying Tools”
by Nicole Gilkison LaRue, CG  
Tuesday, November 15, 2022, 8:00 p.m. (EDT)

Marks and signatures can be highly effective tools when researchers are attempting to untangle the identities of our forebears. But how do you know whether the signature in front of you is original? Can you still use it as evidence in your case even if it’s not? These questions and more are answered by looking at the fundamental concepts of source and evidence analysis. Once you know how to evaluate your sources, we’ll go over a few records to look at when searching for those marks and signatures in your own research. And finally, we’ll look at some examples of published articles which incorporate the use of marks and signatures.

Nicole Gilkison LaRue, CG, is a full-time professional genealogist with articles in NGS Magazine and National Genealogical Quarterly (NGSQ). Nicole has served on the board of directors of the Association of Professional Genealogists and has presented at national conferences, in addition to teaching at the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy (SLIG). Special interests include researching women, “brick-wall” obstacles, and paleography.

BCG’s next free monthly webinar in conjunction with Legacy Family Tree Webinars is “Their Mark Here: Signatures and Marks as Identifying Tools” Nicole Gilkison LaRue, CG.  This webinar airs Tuesday, November 15, 2022, at 8:00 p.m. EST.  

When you register before November 15 with our partner Legacy Family Tree Webinars (http://legacy.familytreewebinars.com/?aid=6798) you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. Anyone with schedule conflicts may access the webinar at no charge for one week after the broadcast on the Legacy Family Tree Webinars website.

"We appreciate the opportunity to present these high-quality educational webinars," said President Faye Jenkins Stallings, CG. "At BCG, our purpose is to promote public confidence in genealogy by supporting uniform standards of competence. These webinars help to achieve that by providing  educational opportunities to family historians of all levels of experience."

Following the free period for this webinar, BCG receives a small commission if you view this or any BCG webinar by clicking our affiliate link: (http://legacy.familytreewebinars.com/?aid=2619).

To see the full list of BCG-sponsored webinars for 2022, visit the BCG blog SpringBoard at https://bcgcertification.org/bcg-2022-free-webinars.  For additional resources for genealogical education, please visit the BCG Learning Center (https://bcgcertification.org/learning).

The words Certified Genealogist and its acronym, CG, are a registered certification mark, and the designations Certified Genealogical Lecturer and its acronym, CGL, are service marks of the Board for Certification of Genealogists®, used under license by board certificants after periodic evaluation.

The following announcement was written by the Caribbean Genealogy Library:

• A short description of the topic of presentation (150 to 250 words), including the anticipated sources.

• Indicate the format of the presentation (papers, panel, short film, etc.)

• A brief bio of the person presenting (about 100 words), and include the languages you know and your proficiency.

• Abstracts and presentations must be in English.

• Format: Microsoft Word document