I'm not going to lie. This has been a tough month in the genealogy world. It's bad enough that vital records are at risk in New York - a state that so many of our ancestors have lived in at one time or another - but now we're all holding our breath about the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and the treasure trove of records it offers that we've all come to rely on. Both of these have the potential to greatly affect the POW/MIA accounting research I've been part of for the last 25 years - and as you'll see from one of the article links below, that work itself is up in the air at the moment.
But it's not all doom and gloom. Two of the soldiers I've had the privilege of researching were identified last month, there's a new TV series combining genealogy and cooking, I had the good fortune of discovering a photo of my dad in Germany in 1974 (from NARA), and a 100-year-old woman has been journaling for 90 years!
And oh, yeah, my "The Quest for Annie Moore of Ellis Island" book has been released and early feedback has been so much more than I could have hoped for! Incidentally, Amazon had some hiccups with the release, but they all seem to be sorted now, so the book should be readily available. So it's not the best of times for genealogists, but there are always glimmers of hope, and I intend to keep them in focus!
There's nothing more nerve-wracking than putting your baby book out into the world and holding your breath to see how people will react. How fortunate am I that these are the first three reactions I received to The Quest for Annie Moore of Ellis Island?! And from Sharn White, Jennifer Mendelsohn, and Marian Burk Wood, no less!
I'm beyond grateful and hope that you will consider adding this book to your reading list and perhaps even tell a friend or two about it. Reviews - whether on Amazon, Goodreads, BookBaby, Barnes & Noble, or wherever -- are tremendously helpful, so if it's not too much trouble, I'd welcome them!
For those who prefer to support indies, you can purchase the book on Bookshop.org, but I don't think you can leave a review. I've also heard about a number of libraries that have made it available.
Photo: Army National Guard Photo by Sgt. Lance Alan Schroeder (via Wikimedia)
Trump’s targeting of Pentagon hits a nerve in POW/MIA recovery office – The Washington Post has an article about how what’s happening in the government could affect our efforts to bring our heroes home. It happens to feature Master Sgt Charles Hobert McDaniel, a soldier I researched for the Army way back in 2004. I thought it important to share.
Florence Pugh ‘wasn’t supposed to live’ as she recalls heartbreaking diagnosis – I’ve spent much of my career being too early for my own good and this is an example. Years ago, I made the rounds with Marcus Samuelsson for a “Cooking with Roots” series, but this was before there was an entire genealogical genre of tv programming, so none of the execs we met could grasp the potential. Enter “No Taste Like Home.” Bummed to not have gotten to do this myself, but very glad it now exists as it sounds as if they’ve done a great job!
A Conversation with Megan Smolenyak – Just a reminder that I’ll be chatting with Gay Conroy and Audrey MacCready of the Irish Genealogical Research Society on Feb 16th! (This was a live event and is available online, but only for IGRS members - and BTW, we had a lot of fun!)
You know what’s cool? Finding a photo of your dad at the National Archives! I was exploring the online catalog and spotted a collection of alpha-index cards for 20th century US military photos. Looked up my father, and sure enough, there was an entry. This is from when he was a battalion commander in Germany in 1974. It pays to be curious, even if randomly so!
On January 1, 1892, Annie Moore of Ireland tripped into the pages of history and became the poster child of immigration by being the first to arrive at Ellis Island. And then she disappeared. Adding insult to injury, a different Annie Moore usurped her place in history decades later. Now – 150 years after her birth and 100 years after her death – a determined genealogist finally sets the record straight and reveals the true story of Ellis Island’s first.
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