Greetings Fellow Family History Sleuths,

There is so much going on in the genealogical world these days, but probably the most exciting for many is the return of "Who Do You Think You Are?" on NBC. You can read about that as well as two of my favorite subjects - genetic genealogy and identification of soldiers from past conflicts - along with a mish-mash of other topics such as photo mash-ups created by artificial intelligence, displaying your heritage in mugs, and death certificates for limbs.

As for this month's feature, I've gone nostalgic sharing my first-ever TV appearance from more than 20 years ago now. NBC decided to do roots segments on some of their talk show personalities, and one of my second cousins, Jack Ford, was then a weekend host for the Today Show. I'm the family genie and his mother was a sort of partner in crime(!), so I was asked to help. Unlike many, I never wanted to be on TV, so did my darndest to avoid it by steering them to Jack's mom, but the producer eventually wound up convincing me. If you're curious, you can see the outcome. I'll just add that I subsequently managed to identify the town the Reynolds hail from (shout out to Bornacoola!). And if you haven't already, I invite you to subscribe to my YouTube channel. I'm about 80 shy of 2,000 so would appreciate your help getting to that threshold.

Until next time, keep on sleuthing!

My First-Ever TV Appearance

Click here to watch my first-ever TV appearance with my second cousin, Jack Ford.

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Genealogy Roundup, June 22

Photo Credit: Georgina Dhillon under Creative Commons license

Charles Blockson’s grade school teacher told him Black people have no history. He set out to prove her wrong. – Always amazed when I learn about remarkable people like Charles Blockson.

Who Do You Think You Are? Season 11 Promo Reveals Emotional Journeys

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Genealogy Roundup, June 15

Photo Credit: Rich Syndram under Pixabay license

DNA Can Now Identify Unknown Soldiers. It Also Reveals Tangles of Old Mistakes. – Eye-opener. I did the research for one of the soldiers mentioned in here.

I've been seeing a lot about how Ikea Norway is helping with baby names, but no one was linking to the source. But of course, genealogists want to know! So here's where to look for the navnekatalogen. So many good ones – Jeppe, Figge, Torkel, Malina, Ranfrid and Pernilla – but I think my favorites are Ulf and Yngve!

New “Lost Voices” Exhibit Translates and Digitizes America’s Oldest Parish Archive to Provide Rare Insight Into Early Florida History – It's so weird how we're hardly taught anything about the history of Florida when we learn about American history in school, but it's deep, multicultural, and fascinating. Here's an intriguing resource designed to help tell it.

Podcast: Hidden clues of a Black family’s Bible – Bibles can be magical to genealogists. Podcast explains how a Black family's Bible ended up at the Smithsonian Institution.

Acromegaly: 'Giant gene' bond forged between US and Mid Ulster – There are a lot of tall people in the part of my family that hails from Ulster - including my grandfather who was known by his buddies in WWI as "Yardandahalf Shields." My mom was 5'10" or so when few women were. Now I'm wondering. 🤔

Your Eye Color Confirms Your Ancestry – well, kind of.

Lifereel Academy: Capture the memories of your loved ones – If you've ever thought about interviewing your loved ones, you'll want to check out this course. This fellow and his family are charming (I promise, you're going to fall in love with his grandmother), and his bite-size learning approach will appeal to many. Check it out! And if you like what you see, please share. 🙏

BTW, in case you're curious, I have no skin in this game. I get approached by folks all the time wanting me to share their offerings, and rarely do so, but I was genuinely impressed and think/hope y'all will find this useful.

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Genealogy Roundup, June 8

Photo Credit: PublicDomainPictures under Pixabay license

There are certain things that never stop being weird no matter how long you've been a genealogist. Finding a death certificate for a limb is one of them. Sadly for this woman, the amputation didn't help so her actual death occurred just 6 days later. She and her leg are both buried at the same cemetery. RIP, Mary.

7 Things You Didn’t Know about Prince’s Roots

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Genealogy Roundup, June 1

Here are a few of the WWII & Korean War soldiers I've had the privilege of researching for the Army. Please spare a thought for these recently identified heroes and their families, and for those still who are still waiting.

Shared this on Twitter and thought I’d share it here as well. Here’s the video Tapper linked to with a lovely interview about Andrew Edward “Ed” Tuck.

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Genealogy Roundup, May 25

Photo Credit: DPAA (Staff Sgt. Olenik seated left)

19-Year-Old Michigan Airman from World War II Accounted For by DPAA – Welcome home, Sgt. Adolph "Leonard" Olenik. Honored to have researched your family.

On This Day: US President Barack Obama arrives in Ireland for a visit – I've done a lot of digging into the Obamas' roots over the years!

How Iceland’s Horses Learned to Type Emails – I love that they took the time to do this. 🇮🇸 🐴

Heart - All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You (Official Music Video) – Whenever I hear this song, my genetic genealogy brain ponders how many "boys in the rain" are hearing from their previously unknown children now. 🧬

New ancestry archive allows Argentines to track ancestors’ arrival – New immigration database from Argentina. So many of us of Irish, Italian, Eastern European (Jewish & Slavic), etc. heritage have relatives who went to South America. Here's a tool to help you find that missing great-granduncle!

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