The Creole Culture Exhibit will open to the public at Lafayette City Hall on Tuesday Oct. 1, showcasing Acadiana's rich Creole heritage.

The exhibit entitled, "Creole Tapestry and Luminary Voices: A Cultural Mosaic", kicked off with an opening ceremony on Monday Sept. 30.

Curated by photographer and co-founder of Louisiana Creole Culture, Milton Arceneaux, the exhibit features black and white portraits of members of the Acadiana Creole community for their contribution to their communities. 

"Creole culture, to me, represents family—it is a family. It is a culture. I do my best to keep Creole culture alive." He added, “The way you can honor Creole culture is to spend time with the elders and learn their ways. We try to live their history and learn their culture," said Arceneaux. 

Creole culture will be fully displayed in Grand Coteau on Saturday, Oct. 5, for Creole Culture Day. Attendees will be able to connect with elders and learn about Creole customs, Creole language, and genealogy, further emphasizing the importance of preserving this cultural heritage.

The Creole Culture Exhibit will remain open at City Hall through Oct. 31.

The Northeast Louisiana Delta African American Heritage Museum held a family history weekend to help locals track their genealogy, preserve important documents and record family stories.

The event was hosted by those who worked on the documentary film “Acts of Reparation”, which follows the stories of Selina Lewis Davidson and Mackey Alston. Selina spoke about how finding her genealogy brought her closer to one of her lifelong friends.

“We were interested in the conversations that were arising around discussing reparations, and we decided to ask each other, ‘What does reparations mean to you?’ And we both answered those questions differently, but it both took us to our ancestral lands.”

Alicia Jones, who worked on the film, says knowing your ancestry can be important when it comes to building your future.

“My grandmother, her family were sharecroppers, and so I wanted to know more about that history, and just for my own child, like to be able to tell her the stories and accurately represent it for her; so even for myself, like I’ve definitely been inspired.”

Andrea Woods, a participant says that through learning about their ancestry, her family has been brought closer.

“It just gave me a little more insight on family as a whole. You know how important it is for us to remain strong, for us to remain close and together so that we could keep what they worked so hard for, which was us being strong and being pulling together as a family.”

To learn more about the “Acts of Reparation” documentary, click here. 

For more information on the Northeast Louisiana Delta African American Heritage Museum, visit their website.

Five students from Leeward Community College and UH Mānoa participated in the inaugural “Indigenous Data Hub Fellows” program, where they learned an equitable community-centered co-design practice, collaborated on place-based data visualization projects relevant to the Hawaiian community, and took advantage of the high-tech resources in the Create(x) lab housed in the Academy for Creative Media Building. The lab features immersive visualization environments such as a projection system that projects onto three walls and the floor for various augmented virtual environments.

“As a Native Hawaiian studying computer science in the data science track at UH Mānoa, this experience has allowed me to integrate the practices of my culture as kānaka ʻōiwi with the knowledge and skill set of a computer scientist, nurturing two critical parts of my identity,” said undergraduate student Shaelyn Loo. “It has been a transformative journey that has shaped my personal and professional growth in ways I never expected.”

OIKI Director Kamuela Enos said the Indigenous data hub’s goal is to provide contemporary data visualization technology to community practitioners to allow them to show the impact of their work, while training youth that live in their community the fundamentals of both ancestral and contemporary sciences.

“Our intention with this project is to equitably engage with both regional community organizations and students in pairing the ancestral sciences and technologies that have allowed our ancestors to be self-sufficient for millennia with contemporary technologies,” Enos said. “The Indigenous data hub model focuses on four key components: a named geography, the ancestral practices that still exist within that geography, the community organizations that are still holding on to these practices in that geography, and the next generation learners that live within that geography.”

Mapping, sailing, restoring

The students worked on three projects:

• Moʻolelo Mapper—An immersive visualization project intended to augment a classroom with illustrations to weave together place, story and ways to investigate lessons passed on from ancestors. This is in collaboration with Kumu UʻiKeliʻikuli from Leeward CC.
• Hoʻokele Table—An augmented visualization table intended to supplement the curriculum around designing sail plans for non-instrumental navigation. The simulation allows for students to become familiar with the natural phenomena that need to be taken into account while navigation on the open ocean. This is in collaboration with Kumu Kekai Lee from Leeward CC.
• Kipuka o Kahinahina—An augmented visualization table intended to share the story of the restoration of kālua mahi (sinkholes) in Kalaeloa. These kālua mahi were originally used for agriculture, and archaeologist and kumu hula Ulukoa Duhaylonsod along with other community volunteers are restoring this practice to propagate and preserve endangered endemic species of plants such as ʻEwa Hinahina. The table visualizes observation data from the site over time.

“Working with these talented students has been incredibly rewarding,” said Create(x) Director Kari Noe. “Learning how to equitably co-design data science tools, visualization software, and any technology with community partners and faculty is a critical skill and practice, but it is challenging. These students have a passion to learn these skills to be able to create projects that will bring a positive impact to their communities. I’m happy we are able to give them the space to.”

Students also learned skills from mentors such as Kūhaʻo Zane, Solomon Enos and Mikiʻala Lidstone who advised the fellows and taught them about Indigenous design, creative practice and community-centered design, respectively.

Along with Loo, other students who participated include Austin Cataluna (Leeward CC, engineering), HalaʻiNapulehua (Leeward CC, computer sciences), Leilehua Kila (Leeward CC, Hawaiian studies) and Kieren McKee (UH Mānoa, digital media).

The intention of the Indigenous Data Hub project is to expand its network to other locations around the state to provide access to this kind of programming to local students, starting with Leeward CC. The Indigenous Data Hub project was funded in part by the National Science Foundation EPSCoR award 2149133, the Academy for Creative Media System and Abundant Intelligences.

Partnering with the National Library of Medicine (NLM), the NIH Office of Research on Women’s Health (ORWH) launched the first phase of a novel discovery resource for women’s health research (WHR), called DiscoverWHR. This innovative resource simplifies the finding of women’s health information by patients, caregivers, medical professionals, researchers, and the public.

Users can explore the following research areas:

The NIH-Wide Strategic Plan for Research on the Health of Women and feedback from NIH users will be used to identify future research areas.

DiscoverWHR resource is a centralized resource for women’s health research and information that helps close the gaps in women’s health across the life course. A goal of the DiscoverWHR portal is to facilitate research discovery by sharing information on NIH-supported grants, intramural research, clinical trials, and literature on issues that uniquely, disproportionately, and/or differently affect women across their lifespan. ORWH and NLM will enhance DiscoverWHR with additional NIH-funded research topics and resources, as well as incorporate data science tools such as artificial intelligence. Over time, users will be able to quickly learn about NIH-funded research and information for specific women’s health-related topics. Try out this new resource and submit your feedback (via the blue “Give Feedback” button on the right-hand side of the page)!

Learn more about the DiscoverWHR Portal.

You can watch the annular solar eclipse live on Oct. 2 with this free livestream. Here's how.

On Oct. 2, the moon and sun will produce a dazzling "ring of fire" in the sky. The annular solar eclipse is going to be a sight to behold. 

However, many of us will be nowhere near the path of annularity — a route that passes across the Pacific Ocean, southern Chile and southern Argentina. Instead we must look to the next best thing: livestreams! You'll find some information below about how to watch the event play out virtually, and in fact, you'll also be able to catch the eclipse action unfolding on our solar eclipse live blog. When the time comes, we will bring you views of the eclipse as they appear online as well as some on-the-ground reporting from a lucky few who will be there in person. 

During an annular solar eclipse, the moon appears slightly smaller than the sun. As such, it doesn't block the entire solar disk like it would during a total solar eclipse. Instead, the moon's shadow covers most of the disk, leaving the outer rim, and resulting in a beautiful "ring of fire." On Oct. 2, the moon will cover approximately 93% of the sun's disk at the point of greatest eclipse.

ANNULAR SOLAR ECLIPSE LIVESTREAM

LIVE: Annular Solar Eclipse - October 2, 2024 - YouTube

You can watch the annular solar eclipse online and follow along with a livestream news feed courtesy of Timeanddate.com.

The livestream will begin at 2:45 p.m. EDT (1845 GMT) on the website's YouTube channel. 

Watching in person 

The "ring of fire" will be visible only within a path of annularity that passes across the Pacific Ocean, southern Chile and southern Argentina. 

During an annular solar eclipse, it is NEVER safe to look directly at the sun without solar eclipse glasses designed for solar viewing. Read our guide on how to observe the sun safely. 

Notable locations where the "ring of fire" is visible

For an in-depth look at the timings of each stage of the eclipse depending on location, check out these resources on Time and Date.

Notable locations where the partial solar eclipse is visible

For those outside the path of annularity, a partial solar eclipse will be visible during which the moon will appear to take a "bite" out of the sun. 

Here are some notable locations where a partial solar eclipse will be visible (along with the percentage coverage of the sun) on Oct. 2, 2024.

The Clarence Dillion Library will be hosting a Webinar entitled “Garden State Genealogy Records of the NJ State Archives" on October 1, 2024 at 12 PM. 

When conducting genealogy research in the great state of New Jersey, there is no better place than the NJ State Archives.  Whether you are looking for vital records, wills, state census, court records or military records, the NJ State Archives has you covered. 

Please join us for National Family History Month as Jon Bozard from the NJ State Archives talks about their collections and what is available for in-person and mail reference, including new records that are coming in 2025.

Jon Bozard is a Senior Library Assistant with a degree in History from Rutgers University.  He has been working at the New Jersey State Archives for 18 years.  He has represented the Archives over the years at various events and given many presentations around the state.  To expand access to the State Archives collections He has entered thousands of death records for online databases. He is currently working on data entry for a future database of New Jersey Tax Ratables 1772-1822.  A lifelong Civil War enthusiast, he has organized and processed the Civil War Regimental Records and completely reorganized the Muster Rolls by Congressional District, 1863-1865.

Click Here to Register! 

The following announcement was written by the folks at TheGenealogist:

Discover over 18.4 million individuals on historical maps

Leading genealogy research website TheGenealogist has announced the integration of the 1841 census into its cutting-edge MapExplorer^TM tool. This significant addition allows family historians and researchers to delve deeper into their ancestral past with unprecedented geographical context.

[TheGenealogist’s MapExplorer^TM showing households across the streets of London in 1841]

Key Highlights:

• The 1841 census, the first modern census of England, Scotland and Wales, is now on TheGenealogist's MapExplorer^TM

• Locate your ancestors to the parish, street or even house they lived in

• Over 18.4 million individuals are recorded in the 1841 census and you can now explore their neighbourhoods

• Users can visualise their ancestors' locations on historical maps, providing a unique perspective on family history

Mark Bayley, Head of Online Development at TheGenealogist, stated, "We're proud to announce the completion of our project to "map the census". Never before could you pin down your ancestors through each year, from 1841 all the way to the 1939 register. This visual approach to genealogy brings the past to life in ways never before possible."

Found in these records is Surgeon Nurse Eliza Roberts, the forgotten hero of the Crimea, read her story here:https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/2024/eliza-roberts-a-forgotten-pioneer-in-nursing-7666/

To celebrate this release, for a limited time you can claim a Diamond Subscription for just £99.45, a saving of £40. You can claim this offer here: https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/MGBCEN924

Offer expires 30th December 2024.

About TheGenealogist

TheGenealogist is an award-winning online family history website, who put a wealth of information at the fingertips of family historians. Their approach is to bring hard to use physical records to life online with easy to use interfaces such as their Tithe and newly released Lloyd George Domesday collections. 

TheGenealogist’s innovative SmartSearch technology links records together to help you find your ancestors more easily. TheGenealogist is one of the leading providers of online family history records. Along with the standard Birth, Marriage, Death and Census records, they also have significant collections of Parish and Nonconformist records, PCC Will Records, Irish Records, Military records, Occupations, Newspaper record collections amongst many others.

Today the Tor Project, a global non-profit developing tools for online privacy and anonymity, and Tails, a portable operating system that uses Tor to protect users from digital surveillance, have joined forces and merged operations. Incorporating Tails into the Tor Project's structure allows for easier collaboration, better sustainability, reduced overhead, and expanded training and outreach programs to counter a larger number of digital threats. In short, coming together will strengthen both organizations' ability to protect people worldwide from surveillance and censorship.

Pooling resources to better serve a global community

Countering the threat of global mass surveillance and censorship to a free Internet, Tor and Tails provide essential tools to help people around the world stay safe online. By joining forces, these two privacy advocates will pool their resources to focus on what matters most: ensuring that activists, journalists, other at-risk and everyday users will have access to improved digital security tools.

In late 2023, Tails approached the Tor Project with the idea of merging operations. Tails had outgrown its existing structure. Rather than expanding Tails’s operational capacity on their own and putting more stress on Tails workers, merging with the Tor Project, with its larger and established operational framework, offered a solution. By joining forces, the Tails team can now focus on their core mission of maintaining and improving Tails OS, exploring more and complementary use cases while benefiting from the larger organizational structure of The Tor Project.

This solution is a natural outcome of the Tor Project and Tails' shared history of collaboration and solidarity. 15 years ago, Tails' first release was announced on a Tor mailing list, Tor and Tails developers have been collaborating closely since 2015, and more recently Tails has been a sub-grantee of Tor. For Tails, it felt obvious that if they were to approach a bigger organization with the possibility of merging, it would be the Tor Project.

"Running Tails as an independent project for 15 years has been a huge effort, but not for the reasons you might expect. The toughest part wasn't the tech–it was handling critical tasks like fundraising, finances, and HR. After trying to manage those in different ways, I’m really relieved that Tails is now under the Tor Project’s wing. In a way, it feels like coming home," says intrigeri, Team Lead Tails OS, The Tor Project.

Welcoming new users and partners into our communities

Whether it’s someone seeking access to the open web or facing surveillance, Tor and Tails offer complementary protections. While Tor Browser anonymizes online activity, Tails secures the entire operating system–from files to browsing sessions. For journalists working in repressive regions or covering sensitive topics, Tor and Tails are often used as a set to protect their communications and safeguard their sources. The merger will lead to more robust treatment of these overlapping threat models and offer a comprehensive solution for those who need both network and system-level security in high-risk environments.

It will also open up broader training and outreach opportunities. Until now, Tor’s educational efforts have primarily focused on its browser. With Tails integrated into these programs, we can address a wider range of privacy needs and security scenarios. Lastly, this merger will lead to increased visibility for Tails. Many users familiar with Tor may not yet know about Tails OS. By bringing Tails within the Tor Project umbrella, we can introduce this powerful tool to more individuals and groups needing to remain anonymous while working in hostile environments.

"Joining Tor means we’ll finally have the capacity to reach more people who need Tails. We've known for a long time that we needed to ramp up our outreach, but we just didn’t have the resources to do so," intrigeri.

"By bringing these two organizations together, we’re not just making things easier for our teams, but ensuring the sustainable development and advancement of these vital tools. Working together allows for faster, more efficient collaboration, enabling the quick integration of new features from one tool to the other. This collaboration strengthens our mission and accelerates our ability to respond to evolving threats," says Isabela Fernandes, Executive Director, The Tor Project.

Your support will go a long way to support this merge. Please consider making a donation to the Tor Project. If you'd like to earmark your donation specifically for Tails activities, you can continue to do so through Tails' donation page until further notice. To learn more about how we are integrating our donation infrastructures and how your funds will be used, please refer to our updated Donation FAQ

Cochise College alumni and history enthusiasts can now explore past issues of The Heliograph, a student newspaper, through the Arizona Memory Project (AMP), a statewide digital repository.

Volumes of The Heliograph published between 1960 and 1980 are now accessible online, providing insight into the college’s history and the lives of its students. Readers can browse all issues at azmemory.azlibrary.gov. In addition, The Heliograph is featured as a subcollection on the AMP landing page, making it easy to find and view.

“The digitization of The Heliograph represents a significant step toward preserving the college’s legacy,” said Ashlee Gray, college librarian-archivist. While the AMP files are available at 150 dpi to ensure faster load times and efficient storage, those seeking higher-resolution copies can request them directly from Cochise College Libraries.

“The Heliograph captures student life, community involvement, and Cochise College through the decades,” added Gray. “We’re proud to make this valuable resource available to the public and to archive the college’s history for future generations.”

According to the AMP website, “The Arizona Memory Project helps researchers discover information related to the history and government of Arizona by providing access to primary sources in Arizona archives, museums, libraries, and other cultural institutions.” The Arizona State Library, Archives, and Public Records manages the project and is dedicated to preserving and sharing the state’s historical and cultural heritage.

First published in the 1960s, The Heliograph covers a range of topics from student achievements, athletics and college events with famous performers. The newspaper provides a unique lens on the changing perspectives of students at Cochise College, making it a unique resource for alumni, students, faculty, staff and the general public. 

For more information or to explore The Heliograph, visit the Arizona Memory Project website: azmemory.azlibrary.gov.