Call to Action

Let's get moving!

Quote from Despair Is a Lie We Tell Ourselves:

I do not believe the wicked always win. I believe our despair is a lie we are telling ourselves. In many other periods of history, people, ordinary citizens, routinely set aside hours, days, time in their lives for doing the work of politics, some of which is glam and revolutionary and some of which is dull and electoral and tedious and not especially pure – and the world changed because of the work they did. That's what we're starting now. It requires setting aside the time to do it, and then doing it. Not any single one of us has to or possibly can save the world, but together in some sort of concert, in even not-especially-coordinated concert, with all of us working where we see work to be done, the world will change. And we have to do it by showing up places, our bodies in places, turn off the fucking computers, leave the Web and the Net – and show up, our bodies at meetings and demos and rallies and leafletting corners.

Because this is a moment in history that needs us to begin, each of us every day at her or his own pace, slowly and surely rediscovering how to be politically active, how to organize our disparate energies into effective group action – and I choose to believe we will do what is required. Act. Organize. Assemble. Oppose. Resist. Find a place a cause a group a friend and start, today, now now now, continue continue continue. Being politically active is for the citizens of a democracy maybe the best way of speaking to God and hearing Her answer: You exist. If we are active, if we are activist, She replies to us: You specifically exist. Mazel tov. Now get busy, She replies. Maintain the world by changing the world.

Read then entire essay at http://www.alternet.org/story/19867. See Michael Moore's take on the same subject - Put Away Your Hankies!: http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/092204W.shtml. More on Politics: http://valoriez.blogspot.com/2004/01/politics.html

Action Item: Alert the Senate Judiciary Committee to Reject the Nomination of Thomas Griffith to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit

In the next four years, Americans can expect to see lifetime appointments to many of the vacancies in our country's highest courts including, potentially three vacancies in the Supreme Court. ...A progressive judiciary is key to securing the safety and equality of our loved ones. ...

Now is the time to act to help defeat an extremist judicial nomination. President Bush has nominated Thomas Griffith, General Counsel of Brigham Young University, to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, widely considered the second most important court in the U.S. after the Supreme Court. As a member of the 2002 Commission on Opportunity in Athletics, Griffith not only supported the Commission recommendations that would have reduced opportunities for women and girls, but he also opposed Title IX which since 1972 has been instrumental in expanding opportunities for women and girls in education and sports. Griffith's opposition to Title IX, which seeks to compensate for societal discrimination against women, puts into question his ability to enforce and expand civil right's law. Griffith's stance on the separation of church and state is equally troubling. According to Alliance for Justice, "His (Griffith) record indicates that he believes that the rule of law is based in faith and that lawyers should work to build a religious community."

Write your Senators to oppose Griffith's confirmation. You may find your senators' email address and telephone number at http://www.senate.gov. More information here: http://www.capwiz.com/pfaw/issues/alert/?alertid=6653076


Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage. - Anais Nin

Win PC Essentials

Running your computer with the Windows operating system, and connected to the Internet? If so, you will find the following products necessary to the safe operation of your machine.

1. Virus protection. If you cannot afford a commercial program, try AVG: http://free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php/doc/2/. Occasionally stop by Pandasoft, and run their free scanner, also: http://www.pandasoftware.com/activescan/. This is a great backup between updates of your main virus software. If you have a suspect file or two, try Kaspersky Lab: http://www.kaspersky.com/scanforvirus. Another free antivirus program is Avast Home Edition: http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html.

2. Firewall. If you have no firewall hardware, use software: http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/company/products/znalm/freeDownload.jsp

3. Popup blocker. Makes web browsing safer, and easier. Google makes an effective one, built into their Toolbar: http://toolbar.google.com/

4. Spyware tools. I've found that one is not enough. Run both Ad-Aware and Spybot Search and Destroy: http://www.lavasoftusa.com/support/download/ and http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.html. They will catch different junk. A good new one is BHODemon: http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_download.asp?fid=23611&fileidx=1

5.  Download and install a safe web-browser! Try Firefox: http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox or Opera: http://www.opera.com. Both Opera and Mozilla offer an integrated safe email program, which is also important. Other secure email programs are Eudora: http://www.eudora.com, Thunderbird: http://www.mozilla.org/products/thunderbird and Pegasus: http://www.pmail.com/.

If every Windows computer connected to the Internet was regularly using (and keeping updated) these programs, the virus/worm/spam load would be reduced to nothing. Imagine how pleasant THAT would be! For more in-depth information, see Computer Internet Security Class: http://members2.1stnetusa.com/~a/comintsec.

In trouble, and need a boot disk? FreePCTech has all the MS operating systems: http://freepctech.com/pc/002/files010.shtml

Enough about safety. If you want to USE your computer, here are some great FREE programs:

1. Genealogy - Legacy: http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/, Ancestry Family Tree: http://www.ancestry.com/ Embla Family Treasures: http://www.embla.us and of course the venerable PAF (Personal Ancestral File): http://www.familysearch.org

Genealogical Research Note-Keeping - Bygones: http://www.bygonessoftware.com/

General note-taking, to-do lists and so forth -EverNote: http://www.evernote.com/en/

2. Office - OpenOffice.org, hands down!: http://www.OpenOffice.org. Tutorials for OpenOffice: http://www.tutorialsforopenoffice.org

3. Graphics and Graphics Editing - Picasa: http://www.picasa.com/
IrfanView is also popular: http://www.irfanview.com/. The Gimp: http://www.gimp.org/~tml/gimp/win32 cross-platform.

4. Web Authoring - New! NVU: http://www.nvu.com/ (Win, Mac, Linux)

5. RSS Newsreaders - I use Bloglines online, but if you prefer to download a free program, there is SharpReader for Windows: http://www.sharpreader.com. More about RSS and readers: http://www.lights.com/weblogs/rss.html

6. Backup and Storage: Karen's Replicator: http://www.karenware.com, Yahoo Briefcase: http://briefcase.yahoo.com/ - 30 MB.

7. Have a website? You will need to up and download files. DataFreeway will FTP, SecureFTP, and SSH in an intuitive interface: http://www.enginsite.com/download/DataFreeway.exe

8. To Do lists: What To Do

9. File sharing (P2P), chatting/IM, voice over IP, even video-conferencing: Qnext at http://www.qnext.com

Many good free programs for the Windows OS are available from The OpenCD: http://www.theopencd.org

PCMag reviews 26 freeware packages, some of which are listed above: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1864515,00.asp


If your computer is hopelessly compromised by viruses, worms or spyware, it can be recovered with a Knoppix (Linux) disk: http://www.shockfamily.net/cedric/knoppix/


We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. - Aristotle

Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen

This document was published by the National Assembly of France, August 1789. English translation from http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/town/terrace/adw03/c-eight/france/decman.htm

The representatives of the French people, sitting in the National Assembly considering that ignorance of, neglect of, and contempt for the rights of man are the sole causes of public misfortune and the corruption of governments, have resolved to set out in a solemn declaration the natural, inalienable and sacred rights of man, in order that this declaration, constantly before all members of the civic body, will constantly remind them of their rights and duties, in order that acts of legislative and executive power can be frequently compared with the purpose of every political institution, thus making them more respected; in order that the demands of the citizens, hence forth founded on simple and irrefutable principles, will always tend towards the maintenance of the constitution and the happiness of everyone.

Consequently the National Assembly recognises and declares, in the presence of, and under the auspices of, the Supreme Being, the following rights of man and of the citizen:

I. Men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Social distinctions can only be founded on communal utility.

II. The purpose of all political associations is the preservation of the natural and imprescriptible rights of man. These rights are liberty, property, security and resistance to oppression.

III. The principle of all sovereignty emanates essentially from the nation. No group of men, no individual, can exercise any authority which does not specifically emanate from it.

IV. Liberty consists in being able to do whatever does not harm others. Hence the exercise of the natural rights of every man is limited only by the need for other members of society to exercise the same rights. These limits can only be determined by the law.

V. The law only has the right to prohibit actions harmful to society. What is not prohibited by law cannot be forbidden, and nobody can be forced to do what the law does not require.

VI. The law is the expression of the general will. All citizens have the right to take part personally, or through their representatives, in the making of the law. It should be the same for everyone, whether it protects or punishes. All citizens, being equal in the eyes of the law, are equally admissible to all honours, offices and public employment, according to their capacity and without any distinction other than those of their integrity and talents.

VII. A man can only be accused, arrested or detained in cases determined by law, and according to the procedure it requires. Those who solicit, encourage, execute, or cause to be executed, arbitrary orders, must be punished, but every citizen called upon or arrested in the name of the law must obey instantly; resistance renders him culpable

VIII. The law must only require punishments that are strictly and evidently necessary, and a person can only be punished according to a established law passed before the offence and legally applied.

IX. Every man being presumed innocent until he has been declared guilty, if it is necessary to arrest him, all severity beyond what is necessary to secure his arrest shall be severely punished by law

X. No man ought to be uneasy about his opinions, even his religious beliefs, provided that their manifestation does not interfere with the public order established by the law.

XI. The free communication of thought and opinion is one of the most precious rights of man: every citizen can therefore talk, write and publish freely, except that he is responsible for abuses of this liberty in cases determined by the law.

XII. The guaranteeing of the rights of man and the citizen requires public force: this force is therefore established for everybody’s advantage and not for the particular benefit of the persons who are entrusted with it.

XIII. A common contribution is necessary for the maintenance of the public force and for administrative expenses; it must be equally apportioned. between all citizens, according to their means.

XIV. All citizens have the right, personally or by means of their representatives, to have demonstrated to them the necessity of public taxes. so that they can consent freely to them, can check how they are used, and can determine the shares to be paid, their assessment, collection and duration.

XV. The community has the right to hold accountable every public official in its administration.

XVI. Every society which has no assured guarantee of rights, nor a separation of powers, does not possess a constitution.

XVII. Property being a sacred and inviolable right, nobody can be deprived of it, except when the public interest, legally defined, evidently requires it, and then on condition there is just compensation in advance.


When one door closes, another opens. But we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we fail to see the one that has opened for us. - Alexander Graham Bell

My Country Awake

My Country Awake

Where the mind is without fear and the head held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by Thee into ever-widening thought and action;
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.

- Rabindranath Tagore (Recited by Martin Sheen on The Actor's Studio)


We can throw stones, complain about them, stumble on them, climb over them, or build with them. - William Arthur Ward

The Privilege of Voting

This has been zipping around the 'Net at the speed of email. Reflect a moment, and pay attention. Thanks to Deane for passing it along to me.

A short history lesson on the privilege of voting

The women were innocent and defenseless. And by the end of the night, they were barely alive. Forty prison guards wielding clubs and their warden's blessing went on a rampage against the 33 women wrongly convicted of "obstructing sidewalk traffic."

They beat Lucy Burn, chained her hands to the cell bars above her head and left her hanging for the night, bleeding and gasping for air. They hurled Dora Lewis into a dark cell, smashed her head against an iron bed and knocked her out cold. Her cellmate, Alice Cosu, thought Lewis was dead and suffered a heart attack. Additional affidavits describe the guards grabbing, dragging, beating, choking, slamming, pinching, twisting and kicking the women.

Thus unfolded the "Night of Terror" on Nov. 15, 1917, when the warden at the Occoquan Workhouse in Virginia ordered his guards to teach a lesson to the suffragists imprisoned there because they dared to picket Woodrow Wilson's White House for the right to vote. For weeks, the women's only water came from an open pail. Their food--all of it colorless slop--was infested with worms. When one of the leaders, Alice Paul, embarked on a hunger strike, they tied her to a chair, forced a tube down her throat and poured liquid into her until she vomited. She was tortured like this for weeks until word was smuggled out to the press.

So, refresh my memory. Some women won't vote this year because--why, exactly? We have carpool duties? We have to get to work? Our vote doesn't matter? It's raining? Last week, I went to a sparsely attended screening of HBO's new movie Iron Jawed Angels. It is a graphic depiction of the battle these women waged so that I could pull the curtain at the polling booth and have my say. I am ashamed to say I needed the reminder. All these years later, voter registration is still my passion. But the actual act of voting had become less personal for me, more rote. Frankly, voting often felt more like an obligation than a privilege. Sometimes it was inconvenient.

My friend Wendy, who is my age and studied women's history, saw the HBO movie, too. When she stopped by my desk to talk about it, she looked angry. She was--with herself. "One thought kept coming back to me as I watched that movie," she said. "What would those women think of the way I use--or don't use--my right to vote? All of us take it for granted now, not just younger women, but those of us who did seek to learn." The right to vote, she said, had become valuable to her "all over again."

HBO will run the movie periodically before releasing it on video and DVD. I wish all history, social studies and government teachers would include the movie in their curriculum. I want it shown on Bunko night, too, and anywhere else women gather. I realize this isn't our usual idea of socializing, but we are not voting in the numbers that we should be, and I think a little shock therapy is in order.

It is jarring to watch Woodrow Wilson and his cronies try to persuade a psychiatrist to declare Alice Paul insane so that she could be permanently institutionalized. And it is inspiring to watch the doctor refuse. Alice Paul was strong, he said, and brave. That didn't make her crazy. The doctor admonished the men: "Courage in women is often mistaken for insanity."

Please pass this on to all the women you know. We need to get out and vote and use this right that was fought so hard for by these very courageous women.

The young women of today, free to study, to speak, to write, to choose their occupation, should remember that every inch of this freedom was bought for them at a great price. It is for them to show their gratitude by helping onward the reforms of their own times, by spreading the light of freedom and of truth still wider. The debt that each generation owes to the past it must pay to the future. - Abigail Scott Duniway, suffrage organizer in the Pacific Northwest

Slavery Era Insurance Policies Registry

Current version of this page is now at: http://genweblog.blogspot.com/2006/02/slavery-research.html

The State of Illinois has put their report of the policies issued to slaveholders for death or damage of their slaves during the slavery era from every licensed insurer (or predecessor company): http://www.ins.state.il.us/Consumer/SlaveryReporting.nsf

Listed are compiled reports by slave name, and by slave holder name. The slaves and slave holders aren't just in Illinois, but all over the United States. A sample finding for the search "walters":

Slave Holder Name: Wm Bowen
Slave Holder County/Parish: Fredricksburg
Slave Holder State: VA
Slave Name: John Walters
Slave County/Parish: Fredricksburg
Slave State: VA
Slave Other: Policy Number(s): 453
Slave Job/Skill:
Machine builder and pattern maker

Clicking on Wm Bowen's name, I get a bit more information:

Name of Slave: John Walters
County/Parish: Fredricksburg
State: VA
Other Identifying Info (policy no. etc): Policy Number(s): 453
Job/Occupation/Skill (optional if known): Machine builder and pattern maker

Slave Holder Name: Wm Bowen
County/Parish: Fredricksburg
State: VA
Reporting Insurer: New York Life Insurance Company

California Slavery Era Insurance Registry: http://www.insurance.ca.gov/SEIR/main.htm
Alphabetical lists by name of slave, and slave holder. No search, but entire database is available.


AfriGeneas is the place to start African American genealogy, slave or free: http://www.afrigeneas.com/

NARA has federal records: http://www.archives.gov/research_room/genealogy/research_topics/african_american_research.html

Also essential is the Freedman's Bureau Online: http://freedmensbureau.com/

New initiatives just in time for Black History Month - African-American Migration from the Schomburg Center: http://www.inmotionaame.org/

A partnership between leading black media placement firms has been created to digitize back-issues from more than 200 black newspapers throughout the US to create an Internet-searchable database. For more info, see: http://eogn.typepad.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2005/02/new_collaborati.html

Africa WorldGenWeb Page: http://www.worldgenweb.org/africa.html

African-Native American History and Genealogy Home Page: http://www.african-nativeamerican.com/

African American Research Center: http://www.ancestry.com/aahistory

Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System - US Colored Troops: http://www.itd.nps.gov/cwss/


Exploitation and oppression is not a matter of race. It is the system, the apparatus of world-wide brigandage called imperialism, which made the Powers behave the way they did. - Han Suyin, 1917-, Chinese writer, feminist, physician

The Süss Collection

Die Sammlung Süss of Henri Süss have been microfilmed by the LDS. Here is their description of the 44 volumes: "The Süss Collection contains the genealogies from Bühl, Niederrödern, Hatten, Oberbetschdorf, Rittershofen, Birlenbach, Cröttweiler, Fröschweiler, Kutzenhausen, Langensulzbach, Nehweiler bei Wörth, Preuschdorf, Rothbach, Sulz, Westhofen, Wörth, and Zutzendorf complied from parish registers and civil records. The families are arranged alphabetically within each community. Some of the volumes are indexed by family surname. Text in German."

To find all 14 films, do an Author search in the Family History Library Catalog: http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Library/FHLC/frameset_fhlc.asp on "Suss, Henri". Daniel Debus has integrated the surnames into Alsabase: http://ddebus.free.fr/, giving you an finding aid to the Süss Collection. See contact N°900002.


If one is lucky, a solitary fantasy can totally transform one million realities. - Maya Angelou

Travels in Alsace & Lorraine Articles Online

Source: Post by Robert Behra to the Alsace-Lorraine list 27 Jun 2004

Among the journals that have been digitized by the Bibliothèque Nationale is one called Le Tour du monde : nouveau journal des voyages, published in Paris between 1860 and 1914. In the mid-1880s this journal ran a series of articles by Charles Grad, an Alsatian deputy to the German Reichstag, that documented his travels through Alsace and Lorraine. These articles formed the base for Charles Grad's book L'Alsace : le pays et ses habitants (Paris : Hachette, 1889; and later editions). That book has also been digitized by the BnF. Below I give links to the serialized articles and then to the book.

Article A travers l'Alsace et la Lorraine (this is probably not a complete set, since the BnF's collection of Le Tour du monde seems to be missing some volumes during this period)

1) http://visualiseur.bnf.fr/Image/CadresPage?O=NUMM-104974&I=149&Y=Image

2) http://visualiseur.bnf.fr/Image/CadresPage?O=NUMM-104976&I=84&Y=Image

3) http://visualiseur.bnf.fr/Image/CadresPage?O=NUMM-104977&I=372&Y=Image

4) http://visualiseur.bnf.fr/Image/CadresPage?O=NUMM-104978&I=148&Y=Image

5) http://visualiseur.bnf.fr/Image/CadresPage?O=NUMM-34420&I=84&Y=Image

6) http://visualiseur.bnf.fr/Image/CadresPage?O=NUMM-34421&I=244&Y=Image

7) http://visualiseur.bnf.fr/Image/CadresPage?O=NUMM-104979&I=276&Y=Image

8) http://visualiseur.bnf.fr/Image/CadresPage?O=NUMM-104980&I=211&Y=Image

If you initially get an error message saying the content isn't available ("Le document que vous avez demandé n'est pas accessible") just hit the reload button and it should come up.

The book L'Alsace : le pays et ses habitants: http://visualiseur.bnf.fr/Image/CadresPage?O=NUMM-37434&M=pageseule&Y=Image

You can navigate within these resources using the < [back] and > [forward] buttons, or by going to the table of contents ("Aller Table des Matières") in the book and then putting a specific page number into the Aller Page box.

Nothing is more fairly distributed than common sense; no one thinks he needs more of it than he already has. - Rene Descartes

Graphics Sites for Website Building

Fonts: http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2007/11/08/40-excellent-freefonts-for-professional-design/

Clip Art

Clip art of civilizations, cultures and eras: http://webclipart.about.com/od/civilizations/

Pennsylvania Department Clip Art: http://www.einpgh.org/clp/exhibit/pahomex5.html

Graphic Maps clipart and maps: http://www.graphicmaps.com/custmaps.htm

Clip Art and Banners: http://geneasearch.com/st7.htm

J.O.D's Old Fashioned Black and White Clip Art Collection: http://www.oldfashionedclipart.com/clip.htm or http://www.users.fl.net.au/~joanod/clip.htm

ImageMagick Studio: http://www.imagemagick.org/MagickStudio/scripts/MagickStudio.cgi/
   Resize, rotate, sharpen, color reduce, paint on or add special effects to your image and save the completed work in the same or differing image format on the web.

Digital Blasphemy 3D Wallpaper: http://www.digitalblasphemy.com/dbhome.shtml

Color

VisiBone Webmaster's Color Lab: http://www.visibone.com/colorlab/

Web Safe Colors Chart: http://seurat.art.udel.edu/Site/InfoDocs/WebColor/WebColors.html

HTML Tutorial - 216 web safe colors: http://www.pagetutor.com/pagetutor/makapage/picker/index.html

Clickable RGB "Safe Colors":
http://freepages.computers.rootsweb.com/~moorecrossing/color/other_links.htm


We belong someplace. The day we are given a name we are also given a place which no one but us can fill. - Maya Angelou

---

Ain't I A Woman?

That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain't I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain't I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man - when I could get it - and bear the lash as well! And ain't I a woman? I have borne thirteen children, and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain't I a woman? - Sojourner Truth, c1797-1883

Washington State Historical Records

Washington Census, Naturalization records, and Social Security Death Index: http://www.secstate.wa.gov/history/search.aspx

Census Records: 1847 Lewis County Heads of Family, 1851 Lewis County, 1854 & 1857 Pierce County, 1857 & 1871 Clallam County.

1857 King, Kitsap, Lewis, Mason, & Wahkiakum Counties.

1871 Cowlitz, Grays Harbor, Island, Jefferson, Kitsap, Klickitat, Lewis, Mason, Skamania, Snohomish, Stevens, Thurston, Whatcom, & Yakima Counties.

1875 & 1877 Jefferson County.

1878 Jefferson & Stevens County.

1879 Grays Harbor, Mason, & Pierce Counties.

1880 Mason County

1883 Clallam, Clark, Cowlitz, Island, Klickitat, & Yakima Counties.

1885 Asotin, Cowlitz, Douglas, Franklin, Grays Harbor, Kittitas, Skagit, Stevens, Thurston, Wahkiakum, Walla Walla County (Partial), Whatcom, & Yakima Counties.

1887 Asotin, Cowlitz, Douglas, Garfield, Island, Kittitas, San Juan, Skagit, Skamania, Spokane County (Partial), Stevens, & Yakima Counties.

1889 Clallam, Island, & Skagit Counties.

1892 Columbia, Douglas, Island, & Walla Walla County (Partial).

1860 Federal Census (Partial), 1910 Federal Census, 1910 Federal Census Clear Lake Precinct

Naturalization Records: Adams, Benton, Chelan, Columbia, Douglas, Ferry, Franklin, Grant, Island, Kitsap, Kittitas, Klickitat, Lincoln, Mason, Okanogan, Pacific, San Juan, Skamania, Spokane, Wahkiakum, Walla Walla, Whatcom and Yakima Counties. Supreme Court Register.

Additional/Miscellaneous Records: Brinnon Cemetery;

McNeil Island Area Burial Removal Permits 1917-1938, Burial Transit Permits 1944-1961, Register of Births 1914-1923, Register of Deaths 1914-1935;

McNeil Island Death Records 1940-1943, Disinterment Permits 1937-1938.

Oaths of Office, Physicians, Seatco Prison at Bucoda, Soldier's Home & Colony.

Spokane County Birth Index 1890-1906, Marriage Index 1880-1903, World War I Soldiers Veterans Home.

Walla Walla City Register of Births 1907, Register of Deaths 1907

Walla Walla County Death Returns 1903-1906

Walla Walla Penitentiary, World War I Serviceman Cards (Aaberg - Baukol only

Social Security Death Index: http://www.secstate.wa.gov/history/search_ssdiwa.aspx
Social Security card issued in Washington State, last residence in Washington state, or last benefit payment mailed to an address in Washington State just prior to death. The database contains approximately 1,434,000 records (as of July 2004).


Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one. - Jane Howard, 1935-1996, US journalist, writer

Preserve Your Research

The key to preserving research is publishing. Not just your GEDCOM online, not just on CD-ROM, but in actual book form. Who will buy your book? What is the best way to organize your book? Where will you get the time to do the work?

There are two main types of family histories; the descendancy book, which is all the descendants of one or a couple of ancestors, and the ancestral book, which is all the ancestors of a person or family. Think about how you have done your research, and you'll know which form to choose.

The question of who will buy your book is important, because the wider the scope of your book, the more possible buyers you will have. If you choose to research all of the descendants of a seventeenth century couple, you will have a LARGE book, and hundreds or even thousands of potential purchasers. How will you find all these people? Hopefully your research has led you to contacts with many cousins, with whom you have shared research tasks. These cousins will become your partners in the writing and publishing, right along with the research. If you have not found cousins yet, start posting data and queries to the genealogy mail lists and message boards! See How to Use Rootsweb for some ideas on getting started. Become the beautiful flower drawing the bees and butterflies to you, with the nectar of your shared research and queries.

No matter what type of book you write, or how large it is, be sure to include an index. As you write and compile your book, you will find the word processor to be your best friend. Even if you use your genealogy program to "write" your book, you will want to use that automatically generated text as a rough draft only. Family stories and your own voice are what bring a book to life, and the stories are worth telling even if your research has proven parts or all of them incorrect or mistaken. If you can't put the story in your own words, quote a family member, with their permission. The more you speak in your own voice, and allow family members to be heard, the better your book will be. Let the past come alive! I use the word processor Open Office, which is open source and FREE. It is available for Windows and Linux.

I hope you will consider including copies of documents and photographs in your book. Also, you should explain your reasoning, your proof for the relationships you assert. Notice I said YOUR proof, not the documents' proof. Documents can only document; it is your task to prove your arguments. If some relationships are cloudy, it is even more important to include copies of documents, and your explanation of various possibilities. Remember, your book will not be the last word. Once your fellow researchers have your book in their hands, your reasoning will be tested, and perhaps disputed. Isn't that great?

Where will you get the time to do the book? You are already writing your book! You are finding documents, pondering their implications, and writing queries based upon your findings. Your book is just the organized collection of these parts. In fact, some people choose to write small books - say, 3 generations of one family - so that this task is manageable. Once you have the text, included documents and pictures, and index just the way you want them, visit your local copy shop, and ask their advice about publishing. You may be able to print out the text and index on one of their printers to make the best possible copy for reproduction. Even if you decide to write a major work and publish in hard-cover, your copy shop will be able to help you in pre-press and photograph preparation.

Once you have a master copy, it's time to reproduce and bind. Consider having a few extra master copies made, because with family history, there are some interesting possibilities open to you. One is the Allen County Public Library, who will photocopy your unbound master copy, and bind the photocopied book to place on their shelves. They will return your master copy, along with a free bound photocopy! Pretty cool offer. I found this mentioned in the Genealogy Blog, here: http://genealogyblog.com/index.php?p=2490. To use this service, "mail your unbound 'master copy' to Steve Myers, Assistant Manager, Historical Genealogy Department, PO Box 2270, Fort Wayne, IN 46801-2270. Include a note that reads, 'Photocopy Exchange Program.'" Thanks to Curt Witcher for writing about this great service to genealogists all over the world.

Another way to get your book circulated is to donate a copy to the Family History Library. If you permit them to microfilm your book, you will get a free microfilmed copy of your own, along with your original master copy back. For more information about this service, see: http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Library/FHL/frameset_library.asp?PAGE=library_donations.asp
Of course, you can also donate a bound copy of your book. People will be able to consult your bound copy only at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. Books do not circulate to the Family History Centers unless they are microfilmed.

You may want to donate a copy to your local library, or libraries local to the subject family. Your book will become much better known if researchers who travel to the localities where your family lived are able to consult your book. Be sure to include contact information in the book, if you want to continue to sell copies!

I haven't written my first book yet. This collection of ideas has come from my history as the newsletter editor of my local genealogy society, The South King County Genealogy Society, as well as speeches and workshops I've attended, and good genealogy books published by fellow researchers. As I refine my ideas, this post will be updated.

As always, comments and suggestions are welcome.


When you put your hand to the plow, you can't put it down until you get to the end of the row. - Alice Paul, 1885-1977, US lawyer; founded the World Woman's Party, 1913; author of proposed Equal Rights Amendment to the US Constitution

The Future, as seen in the Past

Transportation Futuristics: http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/news_events/exhibits/futuristics/

Worth more than a glance; this is a great site! What happened to all that optimism?


There is no king who has not had a slave among his ancestors and no slave who has not had a king among his. - Helen Keller

French Emigration Indexes

The up-to-date copy of this post will be maintained at: http://genweblog.blogspot.com/2006/07/french-emigration-indexes.html

From the Research Outline at http://familysearch.org: http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/Rg/guide/Germany14.asp#emigration_and_immigration

Many Germans beither lived in Elsaß-Lothringen (Alsace-Lorraine) or passed through it to emigrate. The following sources help identify many of them.

Alsace Emigration Index. The Family History Library has compiled an index of persons who emigrated from or through Elsaß-Lothringen from 1817 to 1866. About half the names are from southern Germany. The alphabetical index gives the emigrant's name, age, occupation, place of origin, residence, destination, passport date, and source microfilm number. Not everyone who emigrated via Alsace is in this index. The index is easiest to find in the Author/Title Search of the Family History Library Catalog under Alsace Emigration Index.Look this term up in the glossary. It is also listed as:

France. Ministre de l'Intrieur. Registres des émigrés, 1817-1866 (Index of emigrants, 1817-1866). Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1977. (FHL films 1125002-7; computer number 403094.)

Alsace Emigration Books. Cornelia Schrader-Muggenthaler used the Alsace Emigration Index, other emigration records, passenger lists, genealogies, genealogy periodicals, and newspaper articles to compile the following index:

Schrader-Muggenthaler, Cornelia. The Alsace Emigration Book. 2 vols. Apollo, Penn.: Closson Press, 1989-1991. (FHL book 944.38 W2s; computer number 549007.) This index has over 20,000 entries, mostly of 1817 to 1870 emigrants.

More books on the subject:

• Burgert, Annette Kunselman. Eighteenth Century Emigrants from the Northern Alsace to America. Camden, Maine: Picton Press, 1992. (FHL book 974.8 B4pgp v. 26; computer number 684917.) This book is still for sale from the publisher, Picton Press, and as such are not available on microfilm or microfiche through the FHL lending system. It is also available directly from the author,at: AKB Publications, 691 Weavertown Road, Myerstown, PA 17067. *** Excellent book! ***


• Alsatian Connections, by Doris Wesner. Covers 5 villages in Krumme Elsass (Hilly Alsace): Dehlingen, Diemeringen, Butten, Waldhambach, and Ratzwiller. Closson Press, 1995


• Emigrants from France (Haut-Rhin Department) to America. Part 1 (1837-1844) and Part 2 (1845-1847) by Clifford Neal Smith. 84 pages. Republished 2004, ISBN 0806352329. Available from Genealogical Publishing Company.


• Liste nominative des Haut-Rhinois ayant émigré en Amérique (1800-1870) by Dominique DREYER

The books may be available via Interlibrary Loan; ask your local librarian. Support your local author -- buy genealogy books! Read the entire Research Guide, too. :-)


Every now and then, go away, have a little relaxation, for when you come back to your work your judgment will be surer. - Leonardo da Vinci, 1452-1519

Your Local Family History Center

The up-to-date copy of this post will be maintained at http://genweblog.blogspot.com/2006/12/your-local-family-history-center.html

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Once you have searched the Family History Library Catalog, and found the film number you need to order, what then? You will need to locate the nearest Family History Center (FHC) and visit the center to order your film. To find your nearest Family History Center, go to http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Library/FHC/frameset_fhc.asp. If you are facing a long drive, please call ahead to make sure that the Center is actually open. They are kept open by volunteers, and open hours may have changed since the last website update.

Family History Centers are branches of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. Each is owned and operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS, or "the Mormons") and are in local Mormon churches. Each local FHC provides access to most of the microfilms and microfiche that are available in Salt Lake City. Books do not circulate unless they are on film, however. It will cost you about $5.50 for each roll of microfilm ordered; microfiche is about 15 cents per sheet. Microfiche stays in the FHC once it is ordered in, so it's a great bargain. Film, on the other hand, stays in the FHC for about a month. You can pay for 2 extensions, after which (in most FHCs) it becomes "Permanent Loan." If it is a film you know you want permanently available to you, ask about paying for that up front. All films and fiches will be used in the FHC itself; not to be taken home.

While you're there, browse the books, fiches and films available in the Center. As long as the person who ordered the film isn't using it at the moment, you can use anything there. Most Centers also have some genealogy CDs available, some computers, and both film and fiche readers and copiers. If you would like your local center to be open more hours per week, volunteer! Volunteers do not have to be LDS, and users will not be subjected to any proselytizing.

If you have never visited an FHC -- do so! There are so many resources available to you that are not, and may never be, on the Internet.


Above all things, never be afraid. The enemy who forces you to retreat is himself afraid of you at that very moment. - Andre Maurois

Deja Vu (All Over Again)

Did you hear 'em talkin' 'bout it on the radio
Did you try to read the writing on the wall
Did that voice inside you say I've heard it all before
It's like Deja Vu all over again

Day by day I hear the voices rising
Started with a whisper like it did before
Day by day we count the dead and dying
Ship the bodies home while the networks all keep score

Did you hear 'em talkin' 'bout it on the radio
Could your eyes believe the writing on the wall
Did that voice inside you say I've heard it all before
It's like Deja Vu all over again

One by one I see the old ghosts rising
Stumblin' 'cross Big Muddy
Where the light gets dim
Day after day another Momma's crying
She's lost her precious child
To a war that has no end

Did you hear 'em talkin' 'bout it on the radio
Did you stop to read the writing at The Wall
Did that voice inside you say
I've seen this all before
It's like Deja Vu all over again
It's like Deja Vu all over again

- John Fogerty
©2004 Cody River Music / ASCAP

Thanks to Brian for finding these lyrics, and this link to John Fogerty's homepage.


You are not here merely to make a living. You are here to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, and with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world. You impoverish yourself if you forget this errand. - Woodrow Wilson

The Stars

Archeoastronomy: http://directory.google.com/Top/Science/Social_Sciences/Archaeology/Topics/Archaeoastronomy/

Earthlights: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0011/earthlights_dmsp_big.jpg Thanks to Joan Gallo for sending this link to me.

Safely Observing the Sun: http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/SEhelp/safety2.html Thanks to AstroAlert for this link.

Galaxy with dustbunnies!: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020703.html
Margaret found this one.

Sky & Telescope have a wonderful site and free email newsletter: http://SkyandTelescope.com/news/


We must not allow the clock and the calendar to blind us to the fact that each moment of life is a miracle and mystery. - H. G. Wells

Download/Read the 9/11 Report as PDF file

The 9/11 Commission Report, by National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States: http://pdfhacks.com/911Report/pdfportal-1.0/pdffile.php?pdf=/911Report/911Report.pdf

Sid Steward, PDF guru, has it "optimized for faster download, ... including bookmarks and other PDF add-ons. His site offers a fast full text search of the PDF with links that will open the file and hit those bookmarks," according to Glenn Fleishman. Found on BoingBoing.

My question is -- will our elected representatives in Washington DC read and heed and ACT on this, or merely use it as partisan ammo? We are less free these days because of travesties like the Patriot Act, but certainly no more SAFE. In fact, since our soldiers are being killed at an almost daily pace, I would say we are much LESS safe these days.

I welcome your opinion in turn.

Valorie

NARA

US National Records and Records Administration

Current news - "In the fight at the National Archives between democracy and secrecy, right now secrecy is winning.": http://www.kansas.com/mld/eagle/news/editorial/10732349.htm
   We can only hope that a professional remains at the helm, rather than Bush's political hack appointee.

The online site is more useful to the genealogy research every day! One can

Learn about the National Archives holdings - Archival Research Catalog (ARC): http://www.archives.gov/research_room/arc/

View electronic records - Historical Documents Online: http://www.archives.gov/research_room/arc/topics/highlights.html

Order document reproductions online - Order Forms for Military Service and Family History Records: http://www.archives.gov/research_room/obtain_copies/military_and_genealogy_order_forms.html
and https://eservices.archives.gov/orderonline

There are also local programs available at the Regional NARA facilities: http://www.archives.gov/research_room/genealogy/genealogy_workshops.html


The truth is out there. - Fox Mulder

Genealogy Search Engine

Genealogy Today reports:

TreEZy is a selective search engine. It attempts to limit the index to sites that are pertinent to genealogical and family history research. It does this by applying intelligent filters during the indexing process, followed by a manual site screening effort. It then further filters sites based upon amount of original content. All of this cuts down the extraneous results that often occur in using a general Internet search engine: http://www.treezy.com/

Also see Google Advanced Search for Genealogy: http://valoriez.blogspot.com/2004/02/google-advanced-search-for-genealogy.html


Example is leadership. - Dr. Albert Schweitzer