Recently, a colleague of mine received a reference request that highlights a common misperception some people have regarding original records. The request involved a researcher who complained that their family name had been misspelled on the 1930 census and they wanted the National Archives to “fix” the mistake. Now, most expert researchers know that original … Continue reading Family Tree Friday: Preserving the integrity of original records…including the mistakes!
Category: Genealogy / Family History
Family Tree Friday: Vital Statistics in Military Records
In a previous blog post, my colleague Katherine talked about vital statistics that sometimes show up in federal records. I thought it might be worthwhile to point out that, under specific circumstances, vital records were also intentionally created by the government, particularly the U.S. military. In our vast collection of records relating to 19th-century military forts--all … Continue reading Family Tree Friday: Vital Statistics in Military Records
Agenda for the DC-Area Users Group Meeting on Friday, May 21st
Our next Users’ Group meeting will be held at National Archives at College Park, in lecture room C, on Friday, May 21, 2010, at 1pm The agenda for the meeting includes Briefing on Archives II Reference Studies Updates on: Presenting the “Know Your Records” series as webinars Current Digitization Activities We hope to see you there!
Join Us May 19th for an Archives Wiki Planning Meeting
We’re launching a public wiki pilot project that will allow researchers, historians, archivists, and citizen archivists to create pages on records or themes. We need your ideas and enthusiasm to make the wiki a success. Please join us for the second planning meeting at the National Archives in College Park, Maryland, on Wednesday, May 19th from … Continue reading Join Us May 19th for an Archives Wiki Planning Meeting
C and XC Pension Files for the Civil War
UPDATE: The custodial information presented in this post may be out of date. Please visit the Civil War Military Records Research page on archives.gov for information on how to order Civil War Pension Files. The following is a guest blog from Diane Dimkoff, director of the Customer Services Division. Most Union Army soldiers, their widows, or minor … Continue reading C and XC Pension Files for the Civil War
Family Tree Friday: Getting Started With Census Records
New researchers are always asking us how to start tracing their family tree. We have so many records that it’s very easy to become overwhelmed when you are beginning your research. We usually tell people to gather as much information about their family as possible, and to ask themselves how their ancestors interacted with the … Continue reading Family Tree Friday: Getting Started With Census Records
Family Tree Friday: Navigating federal records about ethnic groups–come prepared!
If you had the opportunity to attend NARA's 6th Annual Genealogy Fair last month, visitors were treated to a variety of lectures on the theme of "The World of Genealogy." The theme highlighted the ethnic diversity that is documented in specific federal records, whether they are newspapers published by Japanese-Americans through the War Relocation Authority during … Continue reading Family Tree Friday: Navigating federal records about ethnic groups–come prepared!
Join us Friday, May 7th for our first Archives wiki planning meeting
We're launching a public wiki that will allow researchers, historians, archivists, and citizen archivists to create pages on records or themes. We need your ideas and enthusiasm to make the wiki a success. Please join us for the first organizing meeting at the National Archives Building in Washington, DC, on Friday, May 7th from 1-2 … Continue reading Join us Friday, May 7th for our first Archives wiki planning meeting
Name your wiki!
Last week we asked for your help developing an “Archives wiki.” The first order of business is to name the wiki. We have a few names that you have told us you don’t want (like People’s Pedia) and a request not to be too stuffy, but no suggestions for names yet. So tell us what do … Continue reading Name your wiki!
Family Tree Friday: The last word on CMSR personal papers.
My last few posts have explored the compiled military service records (CMSRs) at the National Archives, highlighting in particular the extra information found in the records, especially the personal papers relating to individual soldiers such as enlistment and discharge forms, casualty sheets, or final statements of service. One last point to make is that personal … Continue reading Family Tree Friday: The last word on CMSR personal papers.