I have awarded my latest grant to the Sturgis Library of Barnstable, MA to assist with the purchase of materials necessary to make the 15 new collections of family papers and historical materials donated since 2016 ready for use by the public. Click through to the post for more details and to see how you can join me in supporting the library, which has become a premiere resource for the study of Cape Cod history, genealogy, and the maritime trades.
In this week's Roundup: Wedding photos taken 60 years "late" reflect a lifetime of love, a commemorative notebook from Lin-Manuel Miranda with 100% of the proceeds going to relief efforts in Puerto Rico, and more.
Among legendary chef, restaurateur, activist, and patron of the arts Leah Chase's more intriguing ancestors are one of the first African American members of the Louisiana state legislature, a fellow who purchased the freedom of several relatives, a gentleman who served as the military legal counselor to the Spanish governor, and a great-great-grandmother whose cause attracted the attention of the then governor of Florida and future American President, Andrew Jackson. To share the entirety of her family saga would require a book, but here are some highlights.
Katy Perry describes herself as a “singer-songwriter masquerading as a pop star.” As one of the best-selling artists of all time with sold-out world tours, she’s nailing that charade, but the story of Hannah Mulhare, one of Katy's Irish immigrant ancestors, makes it clear that Katy is not the first in the family to pull off such a convincing deception.
In this week's Roundup: Angel Island Immigration Station is "a reminder of the difficult journey many immigrants have endured in the last century in America," Reclaim the Records news, saving music for the future, and more.
This quarter, I awarded a grant to the Westside Cemetery Preservation Association to support their work of restoring and cleaning up the gravesites of enslaved African Americans and their descendants, found in cemeteries that have become overgrown and are largely hidden in secluded woods near sugar cane fields in West Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana. Click through to the post for more details and to see how you can join me in supporting the work the WCPA is doing.
This week, Dale Earnhardt shared some thoughts after learning his family's immigration story; the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing from the Korean War, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors; play with a fun tool to see how the world has changed in your lifetime, and more.
This week: explore DNA travel, the George Peabody Library, a fun history mystery book, the story of the researcher who discovered and mapped out more than 3,000 burials of black people in nearly 30 cemeteries, most hidden in secluded woods near sugar cane fields, and more.
This week, explore Pitcairn Island, a new online index to Oklahoma births and deaths, slang, Barack Obama Plaza, and a project to mark the 100th anniversary in 2016 of the start of the first Great Migration.
In this week's Roundup: See how librarians came to the rescue of books and records damaged in a fire started by a 19 year-old Naval Reservist who feared being sent to war in Korea and thought that “a little fire” would gain him probationary status, check out how the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources is commemorating the upcoming 100th anniversary of the United States entry into World War I, discover a unique museum in Venice, and more . . .
