Footnote.com: BusinessWeek spotlight

Genealogists and family historians know that genealogy is big business. We know what it costs us personally to pursue our passion - multiply that by thousands and hundreds of thousands of ancestry-oriented researchers!

It is obvious that the major release of Footnote.com's Holocaust Collection was the impetus for Business Week's recent story in its Tech Beat column. Tracing the Tribe noted previously that the new release is accessible (at no charge) during October.

The Library of Congress has been aggressive in getting its assets online. Now the National Archives & Records Administration has partnerships with Google, Ancestry.com, and Footnote.com to create and make available a growing part of its vast collection.

The most recent fruit of these efforts: A large collection of holocaust-related documents just made available through Footnote. Full access to Footnote’s data normally costs $11.95 a month or $79.95 a year, but the Holocaust collection is free for the month of October.

The magazine noted that this Footnote release is - after Bad Arolsen and Yad Vashem - the world's third most significant collection of this period. Previously, the only way to access the records (from NARA and the US Holocaust Memorial Museum) was via a personal visit to NARA sites.

The article also mentions the Ardelia Hall component, which deals with Nazi looting of art and cultural treasures, as compiled by the US State Dept. Other elements include war crimes transcripts, concentration camp registers and more. Footnote offers researchers the ability to annotate items, add stories or photos.

Footnote.com's partnership with NARA means that fragile documents are now not only protected, provides expanded public global access and - most importantly - are now searchable.

The story did say that it was unfortunate that beginning in November, viewers will have to pay to see the images. NARA's partnerships fund digitization projects which preserve records and offer global access. There is a cost to that technology, but NARA - and the public, I think - understand that the ability to share and access important resources, while protecting them for future generations, is also valuable.

For researchers based around the world, online document images are valuable. An on site personal visit to look at these documents costs much more than a subscription to Footnote.com, and anyone with a computer connection can access and search the collections.

Montreal: Family Tree Workshop, Oct. 18

If you are near Montreal, this Sunday morning family tree workshop sponsored by the Jewish Genealogical Society of Montreal may help you jump start your quest.

The workshop, for researchers of all levels, is from 10am-noon on Sunday, October 18, at the Jewish Public Library, lower level Greenberg Board room.

Have questions? Bring them along. JGS members are now doing live Internet searching for workshop participants.

The monthly program is informal and include open forum discussions of problems and successes. Participants just might hear an essential bit of information needed to solve a problem, find missing data or get their research back on track.

For more information, view the

Australia's Jewish museum receives grant

The Australian government will contribute $200,000 to develop the Zelman Cowen Gallery of Australian Jewish History at the Jewish Museum of Australia.

According to this announcement, the contribution to this cultural project marks the 90th birthday of Sir Zelman Cowen on October 7.

Cowen has contributed immeasurably to Australia as a naval intelligence officer during World War 2, a Rhodes Scholar, Dean of Law at Melbourne University, Vice-Chancellor of the University of New England and University of Queensland, and Governor-General from 1977 until 1982. He has been a patron of the Museum since its inception in 1982.

The museum is planning to raise $1.5 million to bring the project to life. The government hopes its contribution will encourage the Jewish and general Australian community,State government and other sectors to support the project.

The Jewish Museum of Australia was established to explore and share the Jewish experience in Australia and benefit Australia's diverse society.

Carnival of Genealogy 81: The day the geneablogs died

Tracing the Tribe is hosting its first Carnival of Genealogy, and sincerely thanks geneacolleagues for sending in such interesting posts.

A special shout-out to footnoteMaven for her theme badge (see right).

Please remember that this was a virtual exercise - no blog sustained injuries or died during this 81st edition of the Carnival of Genealogy. Certified blog wranglers were present at all times to provide proper care.

Keeping in tune with the times, here's Tracing the Tribe's entry a la Twitter for the 81st Carnival of Genealogy:

ICYMI twitty cre8v fab 1st jugen blog TTT ded 2day @3+yo.b2006 w/2500 posts.#10 pop genblog + honors.J/K.L8R 4mor

In case you can't read it, ask any 10-year-old. If you don't have one handy, here's a translation:

In case you missed it, the witty, creative, fabulous first Jewish genealogy blog Tracing the Tribe died today at 3-plus years of age. Born in 2006 and with 2,500 posts, it was the #10 ranked most popular genealogy blog and had other honors. Just kidding. Later for more.

There was even room for nine more characters!

Okay, back to our geneablogger colleagues. Some carnivals list submissions in alpha order or in a very subjective best-first. Tracing the Tribe will list them as they arrived. Do read all of them!

Amir Dekel: R.I.P. Dream-of-Genea at I Dream of Genea(logy). Amir's work is always good for a giggle. I'm still grinning over this one.

The 'I Dream of Genea(logy)' blog died earlier this morning at about 5:30am in a private sector of underused disk space in the Blogger.com hosting facility. It was just a little over one year old at time of death and cause of death has not yet been determined although it is highly likely that the young blog died of boredom and neglect by its owner. Proper archiving and burial will take place later this evening and the final resting place will be at the owner's external backup HD device. ...

Sharon Klein: Thanks For The Memories at Genealogy. Sharon reported on how her deceased blog helped her connect with bloggers and family members and how two cousins found her while Googling for a mutual cousin. She's not going anywhere - she's hooked on geneablogging!

Earline Bradt: COG #81 - A Short But Full Life at Ancestral Notes. Earline covers the short life of her blog, ending with:

...Ancestral Notes can be viewed in the Google cache anytime, day or night. Private cremation of remains. Donations can be made to the Genealogy database of your choice in lieu of flowers.

Apple: What Is and What Could Be at Apple's Tree. Apple wrote a 2019 obit when her blog's circulation was 250 million, and a GeneaVillage Gazette editorial dated December 2009:

I have been unhappy with Apple's Tree for several months now and perhaps I've been a little hard on myself - but only a little. Writing about what could be will hopefully point me back in the right direction. This was a very interesting exercise and harder to write than I thought it would be.

Ken Spangler: COG #81 ? Blog Obituaries at Beyond Fiction. Hopefully, this won't happen soon but just in case, this is what would be on my blog!

...Arrangements have been made for the blog to continue to stay online for at least another year or so. No new posts will be added but those who would like to take one last look at Ken’s writings will have an opportunity to do so. After that, it will be left to the descendants of Ken Spangler to continue his quest.

Bill West: "WiNG-NUTS MOURN GENEABLOG'S PASSING" at West in New England. Although Bill claims this was a hard one to figure out, I'm still laughing:

... Rumor has it that a secret society of devotees known as WiNG-nuts are decrying the early demise of WiNG and some claim it's not dead but merely the victim of a vast conspiracy of town hall clerks.

But whatever the case, we bid farewell to "West in New England" with a softly murmured "Well done, o good and faithful geneablog..."

footnoteMaven: The Day footnoteMaven's Blog Died at footnoteMaven. fM's work is always evocative, as her piece on Big Blue Bird demonstrates:

... The blog struggled for time, eventually succumbing to a vociferous bird, by the name of Twitter;

Twitter fed on time. And thus, it consumed all fM had left, until the blog was no more.

And only the memories remained…

Jasia: Creative Gene's Obituary (COG #81) at Creative Gene. Jasia, the COG Queen, covered her blog's life and beginnings, her heritage and more.

... Creative Gene is survived by an extensive network of genealogy blogs written by friends ....

Jessica Oswalt: If Something Were To Happen ... at Jessica's Genejournal. Her piece detailed her back-up plan in case her blog were to disappear. Good advice!

John Newmark: Writing a Blog Obituary posted at TransylvanianDutch. Rumors are that the cause of death for TransDutch was beverage-related:

... The Coroner's Report is uncertain about cause of death. There are rumors that a programmer in Mountain View, California spilled a glass of orange juice on the servers and the bits and bytes containing two years worth of data were lost in a second. Author, John Newmark, hadn't backed up the posts. ...

Contributions should be sent to the Dead Blog Fund.

Leslie Mehana: RIP Genea-Rooter: You Made a Good Start at Rooting Around Genealogy.

... But buck up, old girl, you made your Wordless Wednesdays, you added some wisdom to the search. Better luck next time. ...

Randy Seaver: Genea-Musings dies - blogger goes... at Genea-Musings. Randy asks: When a blog dies, what happens to the blogger? Vacation? Funny Farm? Rest and recuperation? Back to real life? All of the above? Are there enough beds at the Farm for all of us?

...the writer of Genea-Musings was admitted today to the Geneaholic wing of the Geneabloggers Sunnybrook Farm in Salt Lake City, Utah for rest and rehabilitation. His lovely wife is there with him... trying to pry his fingers off the wornk eyboard thatk eeps makingt ypographic error sin everyp ost. He just keeps repeating "Control-C, Control-V, spell check, damn fingers, genealogical proof standard, it's not all on the internet, Ancestry is..., they're coming to take my blog away! it's Carnival time, Saturday Night Genealogy Fun rocks..."

What comes next? It's the call for submissions for the 82nd edition of the Carnival of Genealogy, of course. The deadline for entries is October 15. So sharpen your virtual pencils and get ready to write:

The guest host is Kathryn Doyle of the California Genealogical Society and Library blog, and the topic is:

What's your favorite genealogical society?
Do you belong to a society?
Tell us why! Or if not, why not?

Kathryn's COG will be the inaugural edition of the all-new GenSo Blog Carnival, which will focus strictly on genealogical societies and will begin in January 2010. She'll provide more details about the GenSo Carnival in her post, so stay tuned for more.

San Francisco: Geneablogging workshop, Oct. 10

The California Genealogical Society and Library is celebrating October Family History month with numerous events.

My good friends and geneablogging buddies, Thomas MacEntee and Craig Manson, will present "Blog Your Genealogy: Why, How, Do's and Don'ts," from 1-4.30pm Saturday, October 10 at the California Genealogical Society and Library in Oakland.

Are you curious about genealogy blogs? Or have you dismissed them as fluff and not worth your valuable time? Two experts will show why blogs are more than just "the latest fad" and how they are a valuable way to enhance your genealogy research.

The three-session afternoon presentation is suitable for teens and up, so bring along your younger family members - who already know everything about blogs, but perhaps not that much about genealogy!

Both Thomas (always smiling, creative and ebullient) and Craig (calm, reasoned and a true gentleman) are renowned geneabloggers who will share their expertise and have some fun. The Thomas and Craig duo should go on the road more often! They will show why blogs are more than just “the latest fad” and how they are a valuable way to enhance your genealogy research.

Thomas is a genealogist specializing in the use of technology and social media to improve genealogical research and as a means of interacting with others in the family history community. With more than 25 years of experience in the information technology field, Thomas writes and lectures on the many ways blogs, Facebook and Twitter can be leveraged to add new dimensions to the genealogy experience. As the creator of GeneaBloggers.com, he has helped organize and engage a community of more than 600 bloggers who daily document their own journeys in the search for ancestors.

Craig is Distinguished Professor and Lecturer in Law at the Capital Center for Public Law and Policy (University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law, Sacramento). He teaches administrative law and has been a lawyer for 28 years. In 2004, he began the study and practice of genealogy. He writes the popular blog, GeneaBlogie and a weekend column called Appealing Subjects on the highly-regarded magazine Shades of the Departed. Although GeneaBlogie focuses on genealogy, Craig often writes about legal topics of interest to genealogists.

The program:

1-2pm: How to Use a Blog. Start with the ABCs of blog use in a basic introductory demo. Leave with a list of great genealogy blogs to read, tips on how to best use the information found in blogs and wonder why you didn’t start following blogs sooner!

2:15-3:15pm: Building a Genealogy Blog. With the help of an audience member, Thomas will create an individual family history blog right before your eyes.

3:30-4:30pm: Blogging and the Law. Learn about copyright laws and how to protect your information on your blog.

Only 30 can attend what will be a very popular session (quick registration advised!). It is free for CGS members, while others pay $10, which can be applied toward membership on the day of the workshop. Registration (email) required, no walk-ins permitted.

For other October events at CGS, click here. For a map, click here.

Ancestry Magazine: Technology triggers memories

A journalist and a genealogist for some three decades, Howard Wolinsky's "When Genealogy Tech Triggers Memory" appears in the current issue of Ancestry Magazine.

In his story, Howard's story discusses the Holocaust and his personal quest for family history.

My grandparents left the Russian Empire two generations before Adolph Hitler’s “Final Solution” killed off two-thirds of the Jews in Europe.

But my parents never told me anything about family members killed in the Shoah, the Hebrew word for Holocaust. We all assumed there were family members who died, but we never had names, details, or records to support our assumption.

I was a teen before I learned that my father’s father and mother’s mother came from Lithuania, a Baltic country about which my parents knew little. For first-generation Americans such as my folks, that was the past and best left behind. Still, I was curious, which led me to research my family roots starting in the late 1970s. It drove me to search the archives in Lithuania and ultimately to visit the “old country” in 2007.

On their trip, they wanted to visit the places where their grandfather Henry Wolinsky (who was born Hillel Sragan) had walked. Guide Simonas Dovidavicius took them to the Ninth Fort outside Kovno, where 5,000 Jews were marched from the ghetto and executed. They also visited Ponar, where 100,000 people, including 70,000 Jews, were killed.

Technology got involved when Howard took a random digital shot at a Kaunas pedestrian mall that made the Shoah "personal and real" for him. He posted the photos he took with an audio slideshow to the internet.

One photo was the building where his Israeli cousin's mother had grown up.

Avi had obtained a family tree I had constructed 30 years earlier and sent to Maxim Schrogin, a cousin I discovered in the late 1970s. Maxim passed the tree on until somehow it found its way to Avi. Avi and I became research partners, unearthing records in Lithuania. Each time we purchased a record, we felt as though we were liberating a relative. We found our grandparents in census records and eventually brought our tree back to sometime around 1720.

Howard also details the WWI family dispute that separated the family until a 2003 reunion reunited three family branches in the same place since the mid-1880s.

Avi saw the photo of his mother's home and told Howard additional stories of his family, including those who died in the Holocaust. Howard learned about his father's first cousins in Pages of Testimony at Yad Vashem.

Howard, who has been involved with DNA genetic genealogy since FamilyTreeDNA.com began operations, also signed up to test with the DNA Shoah Project, whose goal is to match relatives and provide orphans and lost children with biological family data and to assist in forensic identification of Holocaust-era human remains.

Read the complete story for more on the DNA Shoah Project.

Philadelphia: The new Jewish archives, Oct. 12

The Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Philadelphia will welcome Carole Le Faivre-Rochester, president of the Philadelphia Jewish Archives, at its next meeting on Monday, October 12.

The topic is "The New PJAC: Where We Are and Where We Are Going." The meeting begins at 7.30 pm at Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel, in Elkins Park.

The collection of the Philadelphia Jewish Archives Center is one of the nation's finest regional collections documenting Jewish culture and history.

The PJAC's 5 million item collection is now part of the Temple University Libraries' Urban Archives, which documents the Delaware Valley's social, economic and physical development during the 19th-20th centuries.

At a September 9 ceremony marking the official handover, LeFaivre-Rochester received a priceless item, the 1924-29 diary of Lithuanian immigrant Israel Chanin.

For more information, see the JGSGP site. See more on the PJAC here.

Atlanta: Turkish Jewish history, Oct. 12-23

Turkish Jewish history includes both Sephardic and Ashkenazi elements. The majority of Sephardim arrived after the 1492 Expulsion from Spain, while the small Ashkenazi community dates to the 14th century.

During October, an exhibit and lecture program will be sponsored by Georgia State University's Middle East Institute, Department of Religious Studies and Program in Jewish Studies.

"Under Vine and Fig Tree: 500 Years of Turkish Jewish History" will run from October 12-23, and will show images of artifacts and treasures from the Quincentennial Foundation Museum of Turkish Jews in Istanbul.

When Jews who refused to convert to Catholicism were expelled from Spain, Ottoman Sultan Beyazid II invited them to come to the Ottoman Empire, where some rose to prominent Ottoman Empire positions.

Some of the images in the exhibit will include that of the decree of Sultan Abdülmecid I in the 19th century railing against the “blood libel” that incited anti-Semitic beliefs across Europe and led to atrocities against Jews, as well as a menorah shaped as a minaret.

There will also be a lecture on Jewish contributions to Turkish society with Kennesaw State associate history professor Catherine Lewis, at 7pm October 20. The lecture, at Atlanta's Congregation Or VeShalom, is free and open to the public. Those interested in attending should RSVP.

Exhibit co-sponsors include the Istanbul Center, Bremen Jewish Heritage Museum and the Southeast US Consulate General of Israel.