The Alzheimer’s Foundation of America (AFA) is launching a significant new tool to assist families across America impacted by Alzheimer’s disease and other dementia-related illnesses. The AFA Virtual Helpline Assistant, an avatar named “Allison,” is a free, fully interactive resource on AFA’s website (www.alzfdn.org) which answers users’ questions about dementia, caregiving, brain health, memory issues, and more. 

Allison is a friendly, professional avatar designed to supplement the work of AFA’s Helpline, which is staffed entirely by licensed social workers who are specifically trained in dementia care. The avatar is programmed to answer hundreds of common dementia-related questions, ranging from basic ones such as “What is Alzheimer’s disease?” to more advanced issues such as “What do I do if my loved one keeps asking to go home when they are already home?” 

Users can ask questions by typing text into a chat box or through voice interaction using their device’s microphone and will receive instant feedback and information. At any time during their session, users can ask Allison to create a ticket and have a Helpline social worker contact them to discuss more detailed, complex, or personalized issues. 

“This new service greatly expands our ability to provide people with helpful information in their time of need,” said Charles J. Fuschillo, Jr., AFA’s President & CEO. “Individuals will be able to get answers to many questions quickly and easily, without having to search through a website, while still having the option to ask to speak with a licensed social worker.” 

The system is completely confidential and free to use. Allison can serve individuals in all major languages. Users do not have to input any personal information to use the system unless they are asking to speak with a licensed social worker, in which case they only need to provide contact information so the social worker can follow up with them. 

“Allison will be a helpful supplement to AFA’s Helpline social workers,” said Jennifer Reeder, LCSW, AFA’s Director of Educational and Social Services. “By providing answers to general questions and connecting users to social workers for help with more in-depth, detailed issues, this new service helps us better serve families, caregivers, and the general public.” 

The streaming animation service for this interactive Help avatar is powered by D-ID. It is programmed by David Norris of Bold Crow AI. 

Nearly 7 million Americans currently live with Alzheimer’s disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). One in six seniors are living with Alzheimer’s disease and more than 11 million people care for someone living with the disease every day. Caregivers need constant information and support to care for loved ones living with Alzheimer’s and other dementias. 

Individuals wishing to utilize this service can do so by clicking here. Information about AFA’s other support services and programs is available on AFA’s website.

Rhode man, Danny Leavy and Edenderry's Kevin Guing have put their site live, documenting the contributions of over 540 people from Offaly who fought in a brutal fight that determined the long term future of the USA when the north based Union prevailed over the southern Confederacy.

The Civil War took place from 1861 to 1865 and erupted after Abraham Lincoln became USA president in 1860. Lincoln was opposed to slavery and with the USA continuing its westward expansion to the Pacific Ocean, there was building angst over whether these states should be allowed to have slavery or prohibited from doing so. After Lincoln's election, seven southern slave states seceded from the Union, trying to establish their own Confederacy.

Several fierce bloody battles were fought during the war before the Confederacy collapsed and slave owning declared illegal – Lincoln was assassinated at the end of the war.

Thousands of Irish fought in the Civil War, the vast majority on the Union side. The Civil War erupted after a wave of mass emigration to the USA following the 1840s famine in Ireland. Many of those emigrants headed to New York, Boston and other big cities the Union states in the north and on the Eastern seaboard.

Many of them lived in horrific conditions of poverty and then, healthy males were conscripted or enlisted to fight in the Civil War.

Former Rhode footballer, Danny Leavy emigrated to New York in the 1990s and in recent years, he has developed a huge passion in researching and documenting the lives of Offaly exiles who fought in the Civil War, often travelling to viewing their graves. Leavy played minor and U-21 for Offaly, as well as a few senior games, before departing to Yonkers in New York. Now living in Manhattan, he was elected on to the board of the New York based American Irish Historical Society last year and is also researching and writing a book on Cornelius Heeney, a Meath born man who spent much of his childhood in Edenderry, before emigrating to New York in the 1780s – he became a successful business man and also made a great contribution to the Catholic Church and charitable causes there.

Guing was a key member of the great Edenderry team that dominated Offaly football from 1995 to 2001, winning titles in '95, '97, '99 and 2001. He played several senior football games for Offaly from 1990 to 1997 and was a very solid defender. He was an Offaly senior football selector recently during John Maughan's time in charge.

He also has a great interest in history and combined with Leavy to research this project. It is a great resource, providing details of soldiers' family in Ireland, where they emigrated to, their war record and fate here, and when they died. It also provides a list by their home place in Offaly and details of soldiers are being uploaded to the site on an ongoing basis.

It is very much a labour of love for the two men and the site can be accessed on: https://americasoffalyheroes.com/.

A new interactive map highlighting information about publicly-owned land across Scotland has been created. The new resource – which can be found HERE – also allows people to see the land managed by the Scottish Crown Estate. Users can explore information on individual land parcels, including its ownership and size.

The information has been brought together as a searchable map for the first time and, as well as information on the Crown Estate, it also includes the four main landowning public bodies in Scotland.

These are:

Rural Affairs and Land Reform Secretary Mairi Gougeon said: “I would like to thank all of our partners who have helped develop this resource that will allow people to explore the range of public or Scottish Crown Estate land in Scotland.

“Given the scale of it, at more than 10% of Scotland, this land provides us with opportunities for increasing opportunities for agriculture, woodland creation and peatland restoration, which in tandem with the existing capacity for timber production and renewable energy generation, are crucial to reducing our emissions. This is a significant demonstration of our commitment to providing transparency of public land ownership in Scotland.”

Public and Scottish Crown Estate managed land makes up 11% of Scotland – equivalent to around 857,000 hectares.

Chief executive of Crown Estate Scotland Ronan O’Hara said: “Crown Estate Scotland’s land and assets – which are held in trust for the people of Scotland – represent both a crucial resource and a key part of the country’s natural landscape.

“Crown Estate Scotland wants these assets to be used for the long-term benefit of the people of Scotland and we are delighted to be as open and transparent about those assets as possible.

“This is to make sure people know what is being held on their behalf and what we are doing to protect those assets for the long term.”

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

The National Archives has approved $2,434,000 in awards for 30 historical records projects in 21 states, American Samoa, and the District of Columbia. The National Archives grants program is carried out with the advice and recommendations of the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC). 

A complete list of grants is available online. 

In partnership with state historical records advisory boards, the National Archives will fund 15 states to carry out programs that assist smaller archives, provide workshops and educational tools, and provide statewide archival services. 

Two Major Initiative grants will go to: 

• Washington College in Maryland to work with the Chesapeake Heartland Digital Archive to document Black heritage on the Eastern Shore,
• Franco American Collections Consortium in Maine to document the French-Canadian and Acadian diaspora from 89 collections held at 13 repositories.

Seven grants will be awarded to Archives Collaboratives.

• Planning grants will go to: 
  • the Highlander Research and Education Center in Tennessee to partner on a Southern memory workers’ collaborative,
  • Dance/USA to develop archival resources for three dance companies which represent traditional, cultural, and contemporary dance forms. 
• Implementation grants will go to:
  • the New York Folklore Society and partners across the state
  • the Association of Moving Image Archivists to work with four cultural organizations on digital readiness;
  • the Blacklidge Community Collective in Tucson, Arizona;
  • Urban Archives to support a location-based digital platform and collection management system;
  • Efforts of Grace, Inc. to work with the Alliance for Cultural Equity and over a dozen small museums and community-based archives in New Orleans.

Six projects will receive support from our Publishing Historical Records program to document major historical figures and important eras and social movements:

• the Correspondence of Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore,
• the Civil War Governors of Kentucky Digital Documentary Edition,
• a digital edition of Los Angeles Issei Poetry,
• the “Willie Jumper Stories” as part of the Digital Archive for Indigenous Language Persistence,
• Slavery Law & Power: Debating Justice & Democracy in Early America and the British Empire,
• Kinship and Longing: Keywords for Black Louisiana, a digital edition documenting 18th century French and Spanish Louisiana.

The National Historical Publications and Records Commission includes representatives from all three branches of the Federal government as well as the leading archival and historical professional associations. Archivist of the United States Dr. Colleen Shogan is the Chair, and Christopher Eck is the Executive Director. Since it was established in 1934 along with the National Archives, the NHPRC has awarded 5,300 grants for preserving, publishing, and providing access to the nation’s historical documents.

RootsTech by FamilySearch has announced four of its keynote speakers for the world’s largest family discovery celebration, which will take place March 6–8, 2025.

Author Ndaba Mandela (grandson of Nelson Mandela), prominent artist Dana Tanamachi, and Olympic and Paralympic Gold-medalists Tara Davis-Woodhall and Hunter Woodhall, are the first keynote speakers to be announced. They will take the main stage to share their unique and inspiring personal, family and historical experiences with the global RootsTech 2025 audience.

Register to attend the 3-day event online or in person at RootsTech.org.

Ndaba Mandela

RootsTech by FamilySearch has announced that speaker, writer and philanthropist Ndaba Mandela (the grandson of Nelson Mandela) will be a keynote speaker during the world’s largest family discovery celebration, which will occur March 6–8, 2025. Photo provided by FamilySearch.All rights reserved.

Ndaba Mandela, a renowned speaker, author and social activist, grew up in South Africa. His grandfather, Nelson Mandela, was a prominent politician and public influence, spending 27 years in prison for his activism against Apartheid. When he was released, he invited Ndaba to live with him. While living with his grandfather, Ndaba was taught many lessons that inspired him to become a happy and effective global citizen. He attributes many of his teachings to his grandfather. Ndaba Mandela’s virtual keynote message will be available to watch at RootsTech.org starting Thursday, March 6.

Dana Tanamachi

Dana Tanamachi is a world-renowned artist. She is well known for her three-story mural at Starbucks inside New York City’s Empire State Building and for many other projects, including features on the covers of O Magazine and Time Magazine and her art on the US postal stamp. Dana is coming to Rootstech to share her own family story and its influence on her journey of becoming the artist she is now. Listen online or watch in person on Friday, March 7.

Tara Davis-Woodhall and Hunter Woodhall

Olympic Gold medalist Tara Davis-Woodhall and husband, Paralympic gold medalist Hunter Woodhall, met at a high school track meet in Pocatello, Idaho, in 2017. They were married 5 years later. They both competed for Division I universities on their respective journeys to the Olympics, Tara at the University of Georgia, then the University of Texas, and Hunter for the University of Arkansas. Their journeys and relationship have captured the attention and hearts of fans all across the globe. They will share their incredible relationship and story with RootsTech on Saturday, March 8, available to watch in person or online.

What Is RootsTech?

RootsTech is a place to learn, be inspired, and make connections through family history. Hosted by FamilySearch and sponsored by other leading genealogy organizations, we have hundreds of expert classes, tips and tricks videos, and inspiring stories that can help you experience family history like never before. Visit our on-demand learning library, or make plans to join us for our next virtual or in-person conference event.

Register for RootsTech 2025

Watch previous RootsTech keynotes and classes now on the RootsTech on-demand library.

About FamilySearch

FamilySearch International is the largest genealogy organization in the world. We are a nonprofit, volunteer-driven organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Millions of people use our records, resources, and services to learn more about their family history. To help in this great pursuit, FamilySearch and its predecessors have been actively gathering, preserving, and sharing genealogical records worldwide for over 125 years. People access our services and resources free online at FamilySearch.org or through over 6,000 FamilySearch centers in 129 countries, including the main FamilySearch Library in Salt Lake City, Utah

Lithographic print of P.T. Barnum

Milner Library is proud to announce the publication of the P.T. Barnum Letters and Ephemera, a digital collection drawn from Special Collections’ world-class circus holdings. This assemblage of 136 documents relating to Barnum and his many business ventures was originally collected by Walter Scholl, a former balloon ascensionist, parachute jumper, and retired printer from Chicago, who amassed a stellar collection of over 22,000 circus books, pieces of ephemera, and other items from a wide variety of sources. Scholl donated the lot to Milner Library in 1963-64, forming the basis of today’s Circus and Allied Arts Collection.

These intriguing, mundane, and sometimes confounding documents flesh out the world and writings of legendary showman Phineas Taylor Barnum, the man who revolutionized entertainment in 19th-century America. From important personal and professional correspondence to curious souvenirs saved from the dustbin of history, the collection illuminates the origins of modern show business through the works of a visionary self-promoter who blurred the lines between reality, entertainment, and humbug.

The collection includes a miniature oil painting of Swedish opera singer Jenny Lind.

Many of these seldom-seen documents deal with Barnum’s acquisition and later disposition of 760 acres of land in what is now metropolitan Denver, Colorado. On the advice of his daughter Helen and her husband Dr. William Buchtel, Barnum purchased the property for cheap during the bankruptcy of the Denver Villa Park Association in 1878, but his lofty goals for its development ran up against the relative undesirability of the land. Barnum ended up selling what he could, then transferring the remaining parcels to Helen for the price of one dollar. William became mayor of Villa Park, then renamed Barnum, upon its incorporation in 1887.

Other materials deal with the triumphant American debut of famed “Swedish Nightengale” Jenny Lind, which Barnum arranged and initially managed, as well as his eponymous dime museum in New York. The collection also sheds light on the Greatest Showman’s cozy relationship with the press and his embrace of the lecture circuit to generate additional revenue during the slow winter months.

The P.T. Barnum Letters and Ephemera are freely available online. Whether you’re a scholar researching American cultural history, a student exploring primary sources, or a circus enthusiast looking for a journey into the past, this collection promises to captivate and educate.

Officials with Stratford-Perth Archives say their new historical newspaper database has proved popular with the public, recording more than 53,000 visits in the nearly three months it's been online.

The archive launched in mid-September, allowing amateur and professional historians, and curious residents a way to look at old local newspapers dating back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The project kicked off in 2022, spearheaded by Jennifer Georgiou, an assistant archivist at the archives. For the last three years, she and two summer students have been working to scan the archives' microfilm and physical newspaper collection at a rate of about 12,000 to 28,000 pages each summer.

"I find now that a lot of researchers want a Google-esque database when looking for research," Georgiou said this week. "The numbers show that this has been a really great tool for researchers."

Users from as far away as New Zealand and Norway have looked at the database, said Betty Jo Belton, manager of archives services at Stratford-Perth Archives.

"We have heard from people who found information about family members just by searching the surname across a number of papers."

An advertisement for Milverton, Ont., merchant T.P. Roe, printed in the Nov. 13, 1913 edition of the Milverton Sun, makes a pitch to readers for "up-to-date" boots heading into the winter season. (Stratford-Perth Archives)

The scanned newspapers have been uploaded to a website operated by the non-profit OurDigitalWorld, which hosts digital artifacts for various Ontario libraries and archives.

You can read more at: https://tinyurl.com/mpwdvedf.

Zoominar Series! IIJG Bi-Monthly Jewish Genealogical Online Presentations

“A Moroccan Jewish Genealogical Journey: Tracing Roots through DNA and the Paper Trail” with Dr. Raquel Levy-Toledano (France)

When: Sunday. Jan. 12, 2025, at 8:00 PM Israel / 1:00 PM EST (NY)   Sessions will last 1-hour, featuring a 45-minute presentation followed by a 15 minute Q&A period   Registration: Click here to reserve your place

Upcoming Zoominars:   * Baghdadi Surnames (Amb) Jacob Rosen, IIJG Deputy Chair (Israel) March 16, 2025   * History of the Farhi of Damascus and their involvement in Ottoman finance and politics Mr. Alain Farhi (USA) May 11, 2025

We look forward to seeing you!

To learn more about IIJG, please visit our website at https://www.iijg.org

The following is a press release written by folks at TheGenealogist:

Today TheGenealogist, a leading online family history and genealogy resource, announced the release of the complete 1910 Lloyd George Domesday survey records for Kent, a groundbreaking digital collection that offers unprecedented insights into early 20th-century British land ownership, properties and occupancy.

Smallhythe Place, Home of Actress Ellen Terry (Mrs Carew) in these new records 

This extensive record set covers over 1,400 square miles of Kent and documents nearly half a million individuals and organisations, providing genealogists, historians, and researchers with a detailed snapshot of the county's social and economic landscape at the turn of the 20th century.

The Lloyd George Domesday survey, officially known as the Finance Act 1910 valuation, was a comprehensive land and property assessment conducted to implement a new land taxation policy. The records represent a unique historical resource that captures intricate details about land ownership, property values, and local demographics during a pivotal period in British history.

Key Features of the Release:

- Comprehensive coverage of Kent's 1,400 square miles

- Detailed records of nearly 500,000 individuals and organisations

- Geolocated maps providing precise geographical context

- High-resolution digital images of original survey documents

"These records offer an extraordinary window into the social fabric of Kent in 1910," said Mark Bayley, Head of Online Development at TheGenealogist. "Researchers can explore detailed property information, trace land ownership, and uncover fascinating historical insights about communities across the county."

These records are now available to TheGenealogist subscribers, offering researchers an invaluable tool for understanding the historical landscape of Kent during the early 20th century.

This release brings the total coverage of the Lloyd Geoge Domesday to 8,600 Square miles and over 3.7 Million individuals and organisations covering London, Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Kent, Oxfordshire, Middlesex, Northamptonshire, Surrey, and Wiltshire.

In these records is Robert Dyas, founder of the famous Ironmongors - read his story here:https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/2024/the-untold-story-of-robert-dyas-a-century-of-customer-service-and-innovation-7910/

Explore the new records and start your genealogical journey today with TheGenealogist. To celebrate this release, for a limited time you can get a Diamond Subscription with a £25 S&N Genealogy Supplies Voucher and 12 Month Subscription to Discover Your Ancestors Periodical for just £119.95, saving over £69! You can claim this offer here: 

https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/MGBLGD1224

The offer expires 31st January 2025.

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.

TheGenealogist uses the latest technology to help you bring your family history to life. Use TheGenealogist to find your ancestors today!

The National Library of Finland has reached another milestone: it has now digitised all Finnish newspapers published in the 1940s. The newspapers offer a glimpse into an interesting turning point in Finnish history: the period after the Continuation War and the post-war ‘years of danger’ from 1944 to 1948 when issues covered in the press included the terms of peace, the Finnish weapons cache case and the Soviet-led Allied Control Commission in Finland.

In the 1940s over 200 Finnish-language newspaper titles were published, with a combined total of some 1.4 million pages. “We are pleased to add more newspaper material to our digi.kansalliskirjasto.fi service. The 1940s were an interesting phase of Finnish history, and the digitisation of the material provides many new opportunities for its use,” says Director of Services Johanna Lilja. Swedish-language newspapers were digitised earlier with separate project funding under an agreement with the copyright management organisation Kopiosto. This means that both Finnish- and Swedish-language newspapers are now available in the digi.kansalliskirjasto.fi service.  

Tutkain agreement enables remote research use of Finnish 1940s newspapers 

As Finnish-language newspaper content from the 1940s is partially protected by copyright, the National Library cannot make it openly available online. However, the online research use of newspapers published until the end of 2021 is permitted to researchers and both seminar and master’s thesis students. This right is based on the Tutkain agreement concluded by the National Library, Kopiosto and Finnish higher education institutions. The agreement provides a foundation for research using digital methods.   
 
For Finnish-language newspapers, open online use is possible for those published until the end of 1939. In addition, the National Library’s digital material can be accessed in full at legal deposit libraries, where anyone can study, for example, the digitised newspapers from the 1940s.   

The digitisation of newspapers has continued at the National Library since the 1990s. At present, almost 20 million pages of newspapers are available in the digi.kansalliskirjasto.fi service. We are currently digitising newspapers issued in the 1950s.