Given to the university more than 20 years ago, the Langston Heritage Group Collection includes a wealth of historical information about Black churches, schools, civic clubs and organizations throughout Washington County from the end of the Civil War to the present.

Thanks to archivists at East Tennessee State University, the collection has been digitized and made available online to anyone interested in this history.

“The physical collection was first donated to ETSU in 2000, and it has since been accessed in the Archives’ reading room by dozens of researchers who have utilized the materials for scholarly and creative projects,” said Dr. Jeremy A. Smith, director of the Archives of Appalachia. “But digitizing and making this collection available online will push it out to a global audience, providing unprecedented access to this valuable resource while helping to draw attention to an essential but underrepresented part of Johnson City’s history.”

You can read more in an article published in the Rogersville Review web site at: https://bit.ly/3zypkDW and at https://archivesofappalachia.omeka.net/collections/show/135.

Appalshop has been a cornerstone of Whitesburg, Kentucky, since 1969, working to tell stories about Appalachian people through art, film, music and more with a focus on their voices. Its theater usually hums with actors portraying the experiences of the region; the community radio broadcasts music and local news; and its rich archive provides a huge repository of central Appalachian history.

But on Wednesday, as Alex Gibson, the organization’s executive director, stood inside the building that has housed Appalshop for four decades, all he could see was mud.

Water damage covered the walls of the radio station. Every chair in the newly renovated 150-seat theater was caked in sludge. Filing cabinets, tables, CDs and loose film strips were tangled together. And possibly worst of all, many of the contents of Appalshop’s archives were covered in mud and debris after devastating floods in the region last week left the building submerged.

You can read the rest of the sad news in an article by Remy Tumin as published in the Baltimore Sun at: https://bit.ly/3vJ8KQX.

Over 50 cassette tapes and two 8mm films with hours of history and stories were converted to a digital format.

Newly digitized recordings of the testimonials of Holocaust survivors are now available on the Youngstown Area Jewish Federation's website.

Jews undergo a selection on the ramp at Auschwitz-Birkenau. Photo courtesy of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

The Federation's Jewish Community Relations Council teamed up with the Mahoning Valley Historical Society to digitize numerous analog audio and video recordings of these testimonies contained in the Dr. Saul Friedman Collection.

You can read more in an article by Zach Mosca published in the WFMJ.com web site at: https://bit.ly/3d7mxKx.

The following press release was issued by the Missouri State Archives:

Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft has announced the launch of a new YouTube channel curated by the Missouri State Archives, a division within his office. The platform offers the public unprecedented access to historic films created by Missouri state government, along with recordings of the State Archives’ Thursday Evening Speaker Series and other Missouri history-related content.

In celebration of the launch, the channel now features four new-to-the-archives films produced in 1931 by the Missouri Bureau of Public Information for the state’s Game and Fish Department, the precursor of today’s Missouri Department of Conservation and Missouri State Parks. The recordings — “Arrow Rock,” “Big Spring,” “From Whence the Rainbows Come!” (about Bennett Spring State Park) and “Meramec State Park” — were graciously donated, along with digital conversions, by Melissa Naylor Applegate. Originally created to promote the virtues of Missouri’s outdoors, they were all produced in black and white on silent 16mm film and are between six and eleven minutes in length.

For more information about the YouTube channel or the Missouri Game and Fish Department films, contact the Missouri State Archives reference staff at archives@sos.mo.gov or 573-751-3280.

The following was written by Los Bexareños of San Antonio, Texas:

Join Los Bexareños Genealogical and Historical Society on Friday, September 30, 2022 - October 1, 2022, for the 42nd Annual Texas Hispanic Genealogical and Historical Conference. This conference is attended by genealogical research enthusiasts of all levels and is open to the public for those wanting to explore ancestral research. The event will take place at Estancia Del Norte San Antonio Hotel, 37 NE Loop 410, San Antonio, Texas. The speaker sessions begin at 2:00 p.m. Friday afternoon through 4:30 p.m. The evening festivity, 'Sangria and Sombreros' Welcome Reception, begins at 7:30 p.m. The speaker sessions will continue Saturday morning at 9:00 a.m. and run until 4:30 p.m. and conclude with an evening Banquet.

Admission information: Early registration is $135.00 per person (May - August) and includes admission to all of the Speaker Sessions held Friday-Saturday. Also included in the conference registration fee, is entry to the Welcome Reception (Fri. 7:30 p.m.). The Banquet Event on Saturday evening is $60.00 per person. Register here to join the festivities: REGISTER NOW

The annual conference brings all of the Texas Hispanic genealogy societies under one roof to share and learn about their heritage through numerous speaker sessions and presentations. This year, 'GET YOUR GENEALOGY ON' sessions will feature speakers presenting Genealogy Information and Research Tips to keep expanding family trees, the 'TEXAS TALKING' sessions will feature speakers presenting Texas Historical topics and events, and finally, the 'FOR THE ROOTS & RECORD' sessions, speaker presentations will consist of records and archives available for family history and research. For a complete list of presenters click here: 2022 CONFERENCE SPEAKERS

Los Bexareños Genealogical and Historical Society is a 501(c)(3) organization chartered in 1987, by founder Gloria Cadena. It is a group of like-minded individuals dedicated to Hispanic history and ancestral research. The Bexareños mission is to promote awareness of Hispanic genealogy and history through publications, public forums, research, consultations, education, and to promote the preservation of archival material for public research. Membership is open to the public (no proof of lineage is required). For more information please visit our website: LOS BEXAREÑOS WEBSITE

I discovered an article written by Caroline Bourque and published in the BusinessOfHome.com web site that interested me and that I suspect will also be of interest to many genealogists. It starts with:

"When Chelsey Brown started her design blog City Chic Decor in 2017, her focus was on decorating small rental spaces on a budget—so naturally, she often found herself at flea markets. Having grown up with a genealogist father, the e-designer began wondering about the people who’d originally owned the furniture, art and other objects that were for sale. “I realized these items should be with their rightful families, not sitting in a box,” Brown tells Business of Home.

One day, she decided to take that instinct a step further. After picking up a few letters and postcards at various flea markets, she began hunting online for public family records to match the names on the documents. Within 30 minutes, she located the living descendants of the heirlooms she’d picked up. “I was really happy that first day, [realizing] this is something I can do—it’s feasible,” says Brown.

Flea markets became Brown’s regular haunt, where she went every Saturday and Sunday in search of new items to reconnect with their owners. Her efforts multiplied when she began documenting the process on social media, where her stories of tracing family heirlooms quickly went viral. Since then, she’s tracked down hundreds of original owners, following a research process that involves scouring online genealogy databases like MyHeritage, old obituaries, newspaper articles, Facebook and even the white pages to get in touch with family members about all manner of heirlooms, including jewelry, photo albums, bibles, artwork, diaries, letters, medals, historical artifacts and books."

You can read the article at: https://bit.ly/3Q1AacP

Newspapers 

Ten brand new titles and over 400,000 pages have been added to the archive this week. 

  New titles: 

·         Antigua Standard, 1883-1890 

·         Australian Spiritualist, 1881 

·         Battersea Polytechnic Review, 1894 

·         British Yachtsman, 1894 

·         Evans and Ruffy’s Farmer’s Journal, 1809-1832 

·         Hampstead News, 1882-1961 

·         Holloway Press, 1872-1962 

·         Land & Labor, 1918 

·         Sutton Journal, 1863-1896, 1898-1902 

·         West Kent Argus and Borough of Lewisham News, 1894-1931 

Updated titles: 

·         Ashbourne News Telegraph, 1998 

·         Birmingham Weekly Mercury, 1936-1945, 1947-1948, 1951-1955, 1957-1958, 1961-1962, 1964-1966, 1968, 1970, 1972, 1974, 1976-1979, 1983-1985, 1993-1994, 1998 

·         Birmingham Weekly Post, 1879 

·         Bracknell Times, 1998 

·         Brentwood Gazette, 1993 

·         Bucks Advertiser & Aylesbury News, 1845, 1851, 1863 

·         Cambridge Town Crier, 1993 

·         Caterham Mirror, 1993 

·         Chester Chronicle, 1998 

·         Crewe Chronicle, 1998 

·         Derby Express, 1998 

·         Dorking and Leatherhead Advertiser, 1993 

·         East Cleveland Herald & Post, 1993 

·         East Grinstead Observer, 1993 

·         Edinburgh Evening News, 1951 

·         Erdington News, 1911-1917 

·         Evening Despatch, 1908-1911, 1913, 1920-1923, 1925-1929, 1933-1935, 1937-1938, 1948-1949, 1951-1954 

·         Faversham Times and Mercury and North-East Kent Journal, 1993, 1995 

·         Field, 1857 

·         Formby Times, 1993, 1995 

·         Gloucester News, 1993 

·         Harlow Star, 1993 

·         Harrow Informer, 1993 

·         Harrow Observer, 1998 

·         Heartland Evening News, 1999 

·         Herald Cymraeg, 1993 

·         Hertford Mercury and Reformer, 1998 

·         Herts and Essex Observer, 1998-1999 

·         Hounslow & Chiswick Informer, 1993 

·         Huntingdon Town Crier, 1998 

·         Irvine Herald, 1994 

·         Isle of Thanet Gazette and Thanet Times, 1993 

·         Kentish Express, 1961 

·         Leatherhead Advertiser, 1993 

·         Long Eaton Advertiser, 1998 

·         Middlesbrough Herald & Post, 1993 

·         Midweek Visitor (Southport), 1993 

·         Neath Guardian, 1993 

·         Ormskirk Advertiser, 1992 

·         Ottawa Free Press, 1903 

·         Plymouth Extra, 1989, 1993 

·         Retford, Gainsborough & Worksop Times, 1998 

·         St Neots Town Crier, 1993 

·         St. Kitts Daily Express, 1906, 1909-1915 

·         Stockport Express Advertiser, 1993 

·         Strathearn Herald, 1993 

·         Sun (Antigua), 1911, 1913-1920 

·         Sunbury & Shepperton Herald, 1991 

·         Thanet Times, 1993 

·         Uxbridge Informer, 1995 

·         Walton & Weybridge Informer, 1993 

·         West Surrey Times, 1918 

·         Whitstable Times and Herne Bay Herald, 1993 

·         Woodford Times, 1870-1881, 1896, 1899-1915 

The following announcement was written by Findmypast:

Colleen Shogan, a nearly 15-year federal service veteran and currently an executive at the White House Historical Association, has been nominated to serve as the U.S.’ archivist, the Biden administration announced Wednesday.

She would succeed David Ferriero, who retired from the National Archives and Records Administration in April after 12 years of leadership, if the Senate confirms her nomination.

Shogan serves as senior vice president and director of the David M. Rubenstein National Center for White House History at WHHA.

Prior to her current role, she held a decade-long career at the Library of Congress and took part in the 112th Congress Stennis Congressional Fellowship Program. The Boston College graduate also worked at the Senate as a policy staffer.

Before she joined the federal government, Shogan taught government and politics at George Mason University in an assistant professor role. Shogan holds a PhD in political science from Yale University.

Do you plan to live forever? No? I didn't think so.

Have you thought about creating a secure credential inheritance plan for your loved ones? That is, once you are gone, how will your heirs be able to log into your bank accounts, stock broker account, crypto currency wallets, email, social media accounts (somebody has to inform the rest of the world of your demise and that certainly won't be you!), utility bills, mortgage account, Netflix and other streaming service subscriptions, or any of the other password-protected accounts that are so common these days.

I am sure there are plenty of ways of making sure your heirs have access to all your accounts, including passwords. However, probably the easiest method is to provide them with access to your password manager. (You DO have a password manager, right?)

Giving a trusted person access to your password manager vault could be the most useful legacy you leave behind. Talk about your online account inheritance plan with the people who will receive your passwords when you die. Let them know which password manager you use, and leave written instructions for accessing your digital vault.

If you do not yet gave a password manager, you might waant to consider some of these:

Bitwarden - https://bitwarden.com/ - FREE for personal use, modest fees for families, "teams," or for corporate use. Also, Bitwarden Send is a feature that allows all users to transmit data directly to others, while maintaining end-to-end encrypted security and limiting exposure. Versions available for a web browser (any sort of computer) plus native versions for Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Chromebook, Apple iOS, or Android. There is also a command line option that you can run by itself or embed it into scripts. This is the password manager I use and I haven't yet found any other password manager that tempts me to switch.

1Password - https://1password.com/ - $4.99 U.S. for access by a family of five. Versions available for a web browser (any sort of computer) plus native versions for Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Apple iOS, or Android.

LastPass - https://www.lastpass.com/ - Offers 30-days free access, $3 U.S. after that. Each user gets their own personalized account with LastPass Families.

Dashlane - https://www.dashlane.com/ - FREE although limited to use on only one device, additional devices cost money, families pay $8.99/month for use by all family members, an extension for the Chrome web browser.

Keeper - https://www.keepersecurity.com/ - Available for Windows, Macintosh, Android, and Apple iOS - primarily aimed at use by corporations, FREE for use by one person, $4.99 for use by families.

NordPass - https://nordpass.com/ - Set up emergency contacts so if unexpected happens, someone you trust could access your passwords.

RoboForm - https://www.roboform.com/ - for Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android plus web browsers (on any sort of computer).

Finally, talk about your online account inheritance plan with the people who will receive your passwords when you die. Let them know which password manager you use, and leave written instructions for accessing your digital vault.