Great New (Mostly) Free Resource

JSTOR is an online database of articles from academic journals.  It is generally available only at major academic institutions and libraries, but it has started a new program called Register and Read (still in beta testing), an effort to allow access to JSTOR's materials to researchers not affiliated with subscribing institutions.

Register and Read includes approximately 1,200 journals from more than 700 publishers.  Content runs from the first volume through to "recent" (about three to five years ago, depending on the journal).  If you find an article of interest, you can add it to your online "shelf" and have it available for 14 days.  Some articles can be purchased and downloaded as PDF files.

Another way that JSTOR has made articles available is through its Early Journal Content database, which includes almost 500,000 articles from more than 200 journals.  This program begin in 2011.  These articles are totally free and were published before 1923 in the United States and before 1870 elsewhere (in other words, they are in the public domain).

Both Register and Read and Early Journal Content have a list of titles in the collection and a FAQ.

Searching for articles related to my genealogy research gave me such interesting results as "Arrival of alien steerage passengers at Havana, Cuba, during the week ended January 13, 1900", "Germany:  Report from Berlin, Cholera in Galicia", "A Posthumous Change of Name (Birkenthal not Bolechower)", and "On the Progress of the Population of Russia."

Patrons of the San Francisco Public Library are very lucky, because the library subscribes to the complete JSTOR database.  If you have an SFPL library card, you can access JSTOR from the comfort of your home.  And any California resident can go to the library and get a card.

So many articles, so little time ....

Wordless Wednesday

It's My Second Blogiversary!

How did that happen?  I blinked, and whoosh!, another year just flew by.  Today is the second anniversary for my blog!  (Yes, I know, the cake has only one candle, but I couldn't find a cake with two candles.  So there.)  I've actually managed to maintain about the same frequency as last year, posting on average almost every other day.  Who knew I had so much to say about genealogy?  And I have so much more that I want to say, but I somehow never have enough time to write everything I plan.  I'm going to work on that for this year.  In the meantime, I'm thrilled to have two years under my belt, and I appreciate the support from everyone who reads and comments on my blog.  Thank you!

Recent Updates to Online Newspaper Archives Page

I posted recently about the Wikipedia page for online newspaper archives, a portal with links to other sites with digitized newspapers, abstracts, and indices.  I just completed another round of updates and additions to the page:

• Israel: updated the list of digitized newspapers on the National Library of Israel site
• Missouri: updated the list of available newspapers on the State Historical Society of Missouri Digital Newspaper Project page
• Washington State: added newspapers on the University of Washington Library site, including four student newspapers and the Pacific Fisherman Journal (nope, not kidding, it's real!)
• General USA: added many links to ProQuest newspapers that allow purchase of individual articles.  Most ProQuest databases are for large institutions, but these newly added links allow consumers to access content from home.  Almost all of them are for more recent content, but that can also be helpful in family history research.  In addition, five new states were added to the U.S. list, plus Guam now has an entry.

And remember, since this is Wikipedia, if you find an online newspaper archive that is not listed, you also can contribute to this growing resource.  If you don't want to get involved with Wikipedia, send links to me and I will be happy to add them to the page.

Researching a Slave Forward in Time from a Bill of Sale

The McWhite family in the 1880 census

The PBS program History Detectives continues to have interesting segments related to family history.  The most recent episode included the story of Jeanie Hans, a woman from Wichita, Kansas, who was going through some of her grandfather's possessions and found an original 1829 bill of sale from Charleston, South Carolina for a 17-year-old slave girl named Willoby.  She was sold by Asa Brown to Stephen McWhite.  Hans contacted History Detectives because she wanted to know whether Willoby had survived to see emancipation.

The research on Willoby began with a visit to Nichole Green, director of the Old Slave Mart Museum in Charleston.  Green had found the will of McWhite, the buyer.  He died in 1831 and had bequeathed Willoby to his sister, Mary Daniels.

To research Mary Daniels and her husband James, Pagán went to the Marion County Archives and History Center.  There archivist Maxcy Foxworth and Cynthia Greenlee-Donnell, a doctoral student at Duke University, had found James Daniels' probate and other documents relating to Willoby.  They also found Willoby and her husband (under different spellings), using the last name McWhite, in the 1870 and 1880 censuses.  So she did live past emancipation!

For the final scene Pagán met with Hans on some property that had belonged to Willoby's husband.  Foxworth and Greenlee-Donnell had found a deed indicating that he had purchased 160 acres from another Daniels for $150.

I know they keep these segments compact, but I wish they had gone backward in time with their research also.  Maybe we would have learned if Willoby (or her husband) had had a family name previously.

The Web page for the segment includes a transcript and viewable (but not downloable) images of several of the documents shown.

Wordless Wednesday

Free Informational Webinars from ProQuest

ProQuest, the company that presents HeritageQuest and many historical newspaper databases online, also offers informational Webinars on how to utilize HeritageQuest (HQ) and Ancestry Library Edition.  The Webinars are free (yay!) and are stored online for later viewing, also for free.

The current list of upcoming Webinars is available here.  The list includes HQ Freedman's Bank and Serial Set records (coming this Monday, January 7, so register soon!), HQ Books and Revolutionary War records, Ancestry U.S. records, and Ancestry Canadian records.  Some of the previously broadcast Webinars available are Ancestry U.K. and Ireland records; HQ Census, PERSI, and Serial Set records; and Ancestry 1940 census.  You even have the option to download the recorded Webinars to your computer and view them at your leisure.  They require a specific viewer, but even that is available for free.

Sounds like an all-around good deal to me!  I'll be watching the Freedman's Bank/Serial Set Webinar on Monday for sure, and I've signed up for a couple more after that.

Bringing More History into Jewish Family History Research

Ahuzat Bayit letter
c. 1909

The educational philosophy of the Jewish Women's Archive (JWA) includes the idea that historical documents such as photographs, letters, posters, and sermons can provide an entry point into any aspect of Jewish life.  It is easy to see how how this can apply to genealogy.  Primary sources can provide fresh perspectives and help show the historical context of our ancestors' lives.  Some historical sources are in English, which can make them more accessible.

JWA's Webinars are geared primarily toward teachers, and if you teach Jewish genealogy, you are a teacher!  But the information is often useful to researchers also, and the Webinars are open to everyone.  I find these Webinars to be interesting educational opportunities at a very reasonable price (free!).

The second Webinar in JWA's 2012-2013 series is "Historical Sources in Jewish Education."  Registration is free.  The Webinar is being offered at two times:  Tuesday, January 8, at 1:00 p.m. EST, and Wednesday, January 9, at 8:00 p.m. EST.  Register here.

The first Webinar in the 2012-2013 series was "Butchers, Babushkas, and Consumer Activism."  It was about the 1902 kosher meat boycott in New York City, which I had not heard of previously.  I was very surprised to learn that a bunch of immigrant Jewish housewives, many of whom did not speak English, organized a boycott.  A recording of the November 13 Webinar is available on the JWA Web site.

Wordless Wednesday