Ukrainian IT worker created the “Bridge” project to research the genealogy and history of Ukrainian villages – For those who also have Ukrainian roots.

Photo by Thomas Kinto on Unsplash

The post Genealogy Roundup, September 16 appeared first on Megan Smolenyak.

“Buzko and her team have a generator that keeps their scanners going through blackouts, and the women work through the air-raid alerts that frequently interrupt public life in Kyiv.”
“When there are students in the archive, of course I take them to the bomb shelter because I’m responsible for them,” the archivist says. “But for my colleagues, it’s their own decision.””

Top photo by Marjan Blan on Unsplash

The post Genealogy Roundup, September 10 appeared first on Megan Smolenyak.

UPDATED: Owner of Pageturners sells mysterious 318-year-old Bible to local collector – Fingers crossed that the new owner bought it to do the sleuthing to return it to the family of origin.

The Great Cousin Decline – Food for thought!

132 years ago, 17 year-old Annie Moore of Ireland was the first immigrant to arrive at Ellis Island. It took 4 years of research, but I finally managed to pluck her out of obscurity back in 2006. Seen here with her brothers on Jan. 1, 1892.

The Low Down on the Greatest Dictionary Collection in the World – I wish I had known Madeline Kripke.

Soldier Accounted for from WWII (Hurst, R.) – Welcome home, Pvt. Robert Lee A. Hurst. Honored to have researched your family.

Photo Credit: Chun Yip So under Creative Commons license

The post Genealogy Roundup, January 3 appeared first on Megan Smolenyak.

Megan Smolenyak geneloygist to the stars – Points for creativity!

Top Photo Credit: Victoria Pickering under Creative Commons license

The post Genealogy Roundup, March 1 appeared first on Megan Smolenyak.

Meet the world’s new oldest person — a French nun who enjoys chocolate and wine – Anyone else notice in the course of their genealogy research how many nuns have long lifespans?

Top Photo Credit: Roel Wijnants under Creative Commons license

The post Genealogy Roundup, April 27 appeared first on Megan Smolenyak.

Captured in Time: 8-Year-Old Percy Hemingway upon Arrival in America in 1890 – Check out this little fellow crossing the Atlantic on his own in 1890 at the age of 8!

The Wallpaper That Is Also a ‘Reminder That My Ancestors Had My Back’ – I love everything about this.

The True Crime-Obsessed Philanthropists Paying to Catch Killers – This makes me all kinds of uncomfortable.

Countdown to finding my mother in the census for the first time!

Bride Will Be the 11th Woman in Her Family to Wear 120-Year-Old Heirloom Wedding Dress – Love these living heirloom stories!

Top Photo (The Holodomor Memorial in Kyiv, Ukraine) Credit: Andrew J.Swan under Creative Commons license

The post Genealogy Roundup, March 30 appeared first on Megan Smolenyak.

I sort of accidentally fell into a story that just keeps unraveling & I can’t stop digging. To give a taste, I’m now trying for long shot documents in England & Lebanon, and I’m loving every minute because I get a kick out of ancestors (not mine in this case, but still fun!) who make you work for it.

Hey y’all, remember a couple of weeks back when I told you about a Ukrainian Etsy shop owner you could help (thanks to those of you who quietly did so! )? Well, I just heard from him today and while they had to leave their home, they’re still in Ukraine, and astonishingly, he and his wife are re-opening their Etsy shops and they would greatly appreciate any purchases you might be interested in making. By way of example, here’s a wheeled album storage I had ordered that just happened to arrive the Saturday before Russia invaded.

Both of the shop URLs are in the comments of this post, but please consider doing a little shopping if you can. Thank you so much!

Someone posted about Osturna kroj today over on Twitter, which caused me to dig out this classic with the Osturna mayor. That’s my niece, Lindsay, on the left. Took a couple of women about 20 minutes to get us in these. They’re more complicated than they look!

Ukraine Independence Day 2021 (Live) – If you’d like to a quick overview of Ukraine’s history, and to see a teary-eyed Zelenskyy appreciating it all. And not so incidentally, a swift but blunt description of the Holomodor when the Soviets killed 4 million Ukrainians through starvation in a single year. Ukrainians are survivors. (English subtitles available)

The post Genealogy Roundup, March 23 appeared first on Megan Smolenyak.

New York City Municipal Archives has launched a brand new website with online scans of ALL of their historical New York City vital records. – Who’s excited?!?!?!

The NYC Historical Vital Records Project – It’s certainly temperamental with all the traffic, and some of the current gaps are frustrating, but when it works …

If you want to understand the backstory in Ukraine better, I highly recommend this book. Plus, you’ll be helping Ukrainian charities.
From the author: “For those who asked: My book ‘Red Famine’ is back in stock, on Amazon and everywhere else. It offers background to the current conflict, and starts with a chapter on the longer history of Ukraine. All 2022 royalties go to Ukrainian charities.”

Top Photo (taken in Lviv, Ukraine) Credit: bartolomeo koczenasz under Creative Commons license

The post Genealogy Roundup, March 16 appeared first on Megan Smolenyak.

LiveStory — Make your family photos speak – Um, the latest from MyHeritage. Your take? (click through to see examples)

WHEN THE LOTUS BLOOMS | A Documentary of Acute Survival – Hey, y’all, I know so many of you have been giving until it hurts to help with Ukraine, but if you have anything to spare, here’s a worthy, inspirational documentary project – spearheaded by genealogist Sarah Ferguson Potter – you might wish to support. Please take a couple of minutes to learn more, and if you’re not able to donate, please consider sharing.

Just snagged one of these.

The post Genealogy Roundup, March 9 appeared first on Megan Smolenyak.

Photo Credit: SerenityRose under Creative Commons license

The post Genealogy Roundup, March 2 appeared first on Megan Smolenyak.