As a way to wrap up the discussion about records relating to military service in the 20th century, it would be a good idea to check out the electronic records available on NARA's Access to Archival Databases (AAD) . AAD is an online resource available on the NARA web site at http://aad.archives.gov/aad/ and contains a … Continue reading Family Tree Friday: Check out AAD for 20th century military databases.
Category: Family Tree Fridays
Family Tree Friday: DC Building Permits
If you live in Washington, DC, or your ancestors did, or you are just interested in DC history, you might want to take a look at the DC Building Permits. Aside from using them to find out when a house was built or remodeled, you can also find individuals by name. If your ancestors owned … Continue reading Family Tree Friday: DC Building Permits
Family Tree Friday: An overview of Vietnam War-era records
As I've been reviewing pertinent records over the past several weeks relating to 20th-century military service, it's finally time to say a few words about those that document the Vietnam War. Instead of focusing on any one specific series, a general overview seems to offer the best approach to highlight these records, especially since they have … Continue reading Family Tree Friday: An overview of Vietnam War-era records
Family Tree Friday: Korean War-era Command Reports
While World War II usually dominates attention as the largest and most important U.S. war of the 20th century, let's also consider that perennially "forgotten" conflict of the early 1950s, the Korean War. The participation of U.S. military units in the Korean War is also well documented in Record Group 407, Records of the Adjutant General's … Continue reading Family Tree Friday: Korean War-era Command Reports
Family Tree Friday: Pension Indexes Examined
Have you ever looked at a pension index, only to be confused because it didn’t make sense? Or frustrated because you couldn’t read the numbers? It’s probably happened to most of us, at one time or another. Researchers normally start with T288, General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934, or T289, Organization Index to Pension Files … Continue reading Family Tree Friday: Pension Indexes Examined
Family Tree Friday: Post Office Records, Continued (part 3)
Today I want to talk about a type of Post Office Department record that most people probably haven’t considered – Letters Sent by the Postmaster General, 1789-1836. As the series title implies, these are letters that were sent by the Postmaster General. They deal with a lot of different types of activity – the establishment … Continue reading Family Tree Friday: Post Office Records, Continued (part 3)
Family Tree Friday: Post Office Records, Continued
Last time I talked about the records of appointment of postmasters. This time, I want to talk about a different type of post office record – one that doesn’t provide a lot of family history information, but can provide a great deal of information about the community. Reports of Site Locations provide, as the series … Continue reading Family Tree Friday: Post Office Records, Continued
Family Tree Friday: World War II Records at College Park
Continuing the theme of my last post, which introduced alternate ways to research 20th century military service (to compensate for the personnel files lost in the 1973 file at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis), this time we'll look at two essential series of unit records relating to World War II. By far … Continue reading Family Tree Friday: World War II Records at College Park
Family Tree Friday: Using military unit and operational records–World War I
A recent post in the "NARA Coast to Coast" blog here on NARAtions (see Pay Day for Some World War I Military Personnel Records from September 27, 2010) highlighted problems in researching 20th century military service that resulted from the July 12, 1973 fire at the Military Personnel Record Center in St. Louis, Missouri. In addition to … Continue reading Family Tree Friday: Using military unit and operational records–World War I
Family Tree Friday: Fighting both sides in the Civil War
Since we've been highlighting special fighting units that served in various wars, I thought I would mention a group I'm sure many people have probably heard about (even if you're not exactly sure who they are): the Galvanized Yankees. These men were former Confederate prisoners of war who opted to enlist in the Union Army to … Continue reading Family Tree Friday: Fighting both sides in the Civil War