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Nu?
What's New? Gary Mokotoff, Editor Volume 14, Number 21 | May 26, 2013 Every
government puts value on preserving its history. That is why we have
national archives. Genealogy preserves history; the history of a
family. It cannot be done without access to records, just as historians
cannot preserve a nation's history without access to records. It is a
greater good than the right to privacy. It is a greater good than the
risk of identity theft.
Past issues of Nu? What's New? are
archived at http://www.avotaynu.com/nu.htm
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Commercial
Genealogy Websites Offer Free Access to Military Records
 What
family history research needs is more holidays. It will permit
annual access, at no charge, to various components of fee-based
genealogy sites. There could be free access to Irish records on St.
Patrick’s Day; free access to Jewish records on Israel
Independence day; records of women, at no charge, on Mother’s
Day; and for men, on Father’s Day. To commemorate U.S. Memorial Day three major fee-based genealogy sites are offering access to their military records at no charge: Ancestry.com, MyHeritage and FindMyPast. Their offers end on Memorial Day, May 27. All three are normally paid-subscription sites. Ancestry.com boasts 155 million military records. Searching for the surname Mokotoff, the results include five World War I Draft Registration Cards, five World War II Draft Registration Cards and one World War II Enlistment Record. The collection is located at http://tinyurl.com/AncestryFreeMilitary. MyHeritage claims to have “millions” of military records. None of them are for people named Mokotoff. Ancestry.com and Findmypast.com have the Army Enlistment Record of Max Mokotoff. MyHeritage includes this record group, but doesn’t include Max. The collection is located at http://tinyurl.com/MyHeritageFreeMilitary. FindMyPast has 26 million (34 million according to their news release) U.S. and international military records. They have one Mokotoff in their World War II Enlistment Records, Max, and only one Mokotoff in their World War I Draft Registration Cards. The collection is located at http://tinyurl.com/FindmypastFreeMilitary. Try all three sites. Each has unique collections as well as those that overlap. U.S. Version of Who Do You Think You Are? Returns to Television The U.S. version of the family-history based show Who Do You Think You Are? returning to television on July 23 at 9pm Eastern, 8pm Central time. It will appear on the TLC network. Ancestry.com will remain as the sponsor. There will be eight one-hour episodes in the new season. The celebrities featured this year include: Christina Applegate, Kelly Clarkson, Cindy Crawford, Chris O’Donnell and Zooey Deschan. The announcement is at http://tinyurl.com/WDYTYA2013. New “Forced Labor 1939–1945” Website A website “Forced Labor 1939–1945” has interviews with nearly 600 persons from 26 countries who had to perform forced labor during the Nazi period. It is located at https://zwangsarbeit-archiv.de/archiv/en/archive. Some are undoubtedly Jews because 25 of the interviewees live in Israel. An interactive map shows sites of biographical relevance to the interviewees: place of birth, deportation, camps, companies and prisons, places of residence after 1945. You check off which of nine categories are relevant to your search and then all locations are highlighted on the map. Clicking on a location identifies which interviews include the location. If you are registered, you can listen to the interview. The most comprehensive search is “Mentioned Places” which includes hundreds of locations. To hear the interviews requires registration which is processed by the site’s creators. You then receive a response in e-mail containing login details if your application to register was successful. I registered but never received a response. USHMM Identifies Organizations Who Have Taken Oral Testimonies The United State Holocaust Memorial Museum has a list of organizations who have taken oral testimonies. The aim of the catalog is to provide a tool for those interested in the location of Holocaust oral history collections worldwide. There are in excess of 125 entities represented in this catalog. The collections vary from museums, universities, and other major institutions where thousands of professionally produced interviews are archived; to local community organizations that have a handful of interviews conducted by volunteers; to individual documentary filmmakers who have produced Holocaust testimony for their films. The catalog contains names, addresses, and contact information for each organization. Where possible, there is a narrative description about the organization and its oral history collection, as well as information about the content of the collection. Additionally, relevant technical information is usually included; for example, number of interviews, formats used, access to the collection, finding aids, etc. The site is at http://www.ushmm.org/research/collections/oralhistory/search/. UK National Archives Adds Naturalization Records Online  The
records of thousands of 19th-century immigrants to Britain are now
available to search and download online at http://tinyurl.com/UKNaturalisation.
The collection, which covers the
period 1801 to 1871, includes records relating to more than 7,000
people who applied to become British citizens under the 1844
Naturalisation Act, as well as a small number of papers relating to
denization, a form of British citizenship that conferred some but not
all the rights of a British subject. The records include: • All naturalization applications to the Secretary of State, 1844–1871 • Some naturalizations by private Act of Parliament, 1801–1868 • Some letters applying for denization, 1801–1940 The announcement can be found at http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/news/840.htm. Plan to Document British People Who Participated in World War I August 2014 will mark the centenary of the start of World War I. The British Imperial War Museum and Brightsolid, parent company of FindMyPast, are working in partnership to create “Lives of the First World War” an interactive digital platform that will hold the stories of more than eight million men and women who served in uniform and worked on the home front. It will bring together records from museums, libraries, archives and family collections across the globe. The platform will go live later this year in time for the start of centenary commemorations from summer 2014. Further information, including a short film about Lives of the First World War can now be found at http://www.livesofthefirstworldwar.org. You can register at the site to be kept informed of the project’s progress. JewishGen Offering Intermediate-Level Course in New York Research Many Jewish family historians have ancestors or collateral relatives with roots in New York City. Starting June 1, JewishGen is offering an intermediate-level course in New York City research. It will focus on the more esoteric documents generated such as naturalization, probate, landsmanshaftn, voter registration, newspapers, and court cases. The four-week course has seven text lessons that are downloaded; there are no specific times for the course; students interact with the instructor though a 24/7 forum, in a query and answer format. Phyllis Kramer, JewishGen Vice-president for Education is the instructor. Tuition is $100 (there are no waivers for this course). Additional information, including a video, as well as the registration process, is at http://www.JewishGen.org/education. Library and Archives Canada Updates 1871 and 1901 Censuses Library and Archives Canada has announced that updated versions of the 1871 and 1901 censuses are now online. The 1871 census was the first general census and covered the four provinces that were then part of Confederation: Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. The 1901 census covered the seven provinces and the territory that were then part of Confederation: British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and the Territories. Both updates include suggestions for corrections received from users in recent months, as well as revised district and sub-district information. The 1871 census is at http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/census/1871/Pages/1871.aspx. The 1901 census is at http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/census/1901/Pages/1901.aspx. Irish Calendars of Wills and Administrations, 1858–1920  The
National Archives of Ireland made an addition to its online
genealogical resources with the Calendars of Wills and Administrations,
1858–1920. For the first time, users can search by the name
of the deceased person and also by name of executor/beneficiary. The
Calendars give details of principal family relationships and the assets
of the person who died. Up to 1917, the Calendars cover the whole of
Ireland, but since 1918 they cover only the 26 counties in the Irish
Republic. The indexes are linked to digital images of the original
calendars. Information is at http://www.willcalendars.nationalarchives.ie/search/cwa/home.jsp.
FamilySearch Additions for the Week Recent additions to FamilySearch, both indexes and browseable images, can be found at https://familysearch.org/node/2181. This site provides direct links to the individual collections. They include records from Argentina, Austria, Italy, Paraguay, Portugal, Spain, and the U.S. states of Georgia, Illinois, Indiana and Oklahoma. Most notable are Illinois County Marriages, 1810–1934: 702,642 index records and 450,188 images. Note that at the website announced collections may not be complete for the dates specified and will be added at some later date. Also note that counts shown are the number added, not the total number available in the collection. MyHeritage Subscription at 50% Off MyHeritage is offering 50% off their regular Premium Plus + Data subscription price of $238.80 through Dick Eastman’s Genealogy Newsletter. Subscribe at https://www.myheritage.com/partner/eogn to take advantage of an annual price of $119.39. The offer ends June 1.
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| Nu?
What's New?
is published weekly
by Avotaynu, Inc. Copyright 2013, Avotaynu, Inc. All rights reserved To change an e-mail address, send a request to nuwhatsnew@earthlink.net To subscribe to AVOTAYNU, The International Review of Jewish Genealogy, go to http://www.avotaynu.com/journal.htm To order books from our catalog, go to http://www.avotaynu.com/catalog.htm To contact us by postal mail, write: Avotaynu, Inc.; 155 N. Washington Ave.; Bergenfield, NJ 07621 Telephone (U.S.) : 201-387-7200 |
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