Lots of great reads this week: a true WWII POW escape story, a most intriguing tombstone, and news from the Library of Congress. We finish up with an interesting interview with a photographer commissioned by the National Park Service, who, when asked why the assignment was important, responded, "Because I think a lot of people forget about where we came from all too easy. It’s what shapes us. It’s how we know where we got to.”
In this week's Roundup: Discover Central Park before it was Central Park, when the site housed a village where African-Americans "had a rate of property ownership four times as great as New Yorkers as a whole". Also enjoy the story of the 75th baby in his family to wear a baptism gown made from his great-great-grandmother's wedding dress!
This week: A look at some of the highlights from Who Do You Think You Are? over the years, in which "participants often come away with a deeper understanding of themselves and their place in their world". Various guests explore the appeal of genealogy on The Why Factor.
This week, check out some stunning drawings by a soldier who sketched his way through WWII and shared that, "For me, drawing is sort of synonymous with thinking.”
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 . . .
Lots of history covered in this week's Roundup, from a treasure trove of Civil War artifacts to a former Navy/NSA base now town-for-sale in WV.
This week: The oldest existing Ellis Island ferry to be sold at auction, two formerly missing soldiers laid to rest, an adoption mystery solved, and more...
Get ready to time-travel this week: past, present, and future! To start, cemeteries face special challenges in densely-populated urban areas. Check out the fascinating history of a Hong Kong cemetery where lie diplomats, missionaries, opium smugglers, soldiers, revolutionaries and local Christian converts and then concept art for a light-filled potential cemetery in New York City. Next, enjoy a story in which DNA plays a role in introducing two half-siblings to each other. Round off this week's exploration with more on the 2016 Ellis Island Family Heritage Awards.
In this week's Roundup: an ancient cemetery, an in-depth conversation with Bruce Springsteen, and the Ellis Island Family Heritage Awards.
In this week's Roundup, explore the long-vacant custodian's apartment at the Fort Washington branch of the New York Public Library (including the "death chute"!) and read about a sad motivation for DNA testing (fortunately the exception, rather than the norm).
