‘Who Do You Think You Are?’ Reboot In Limbo At NBC After One Season – déjà vu, eh?

‘Proof I was there’: every Japanese American incarcerated in second world war finally named

Oh wow! How getting more awe can improve your life – and even make you a nicer person – “We recently interviewed 320,500 people from 26 countries about what brings them awe – and no one mentioned their smartphone.”

For those who got a kick out of the exact-DOB-for-babies enumerator I mentioned previously, here are a few of his entries. Looking for a few to snag for this, I realized that he also carefully numbered twins 1 & 2 (and that included twins up to the age of 32). I suspect he actually troubled to ask which was born first.

Photo Credit: Mike Mozart under Creative Commons license

The post Genealogy Roundup, October 12 appeared first on Megan Smolenyak.

Transkribus User Conference 2022 – A whole conference “that brings together researchers and practitioners from a wide range of disciplines to explore the future of handwritten text recognition” – with particular emphasis on technology for doing so!

Their ancestors came to America. After Dobbs, they want out. – Have been wondering when this phenomenon would get covered.

“Paige thinks her great-grandparents might even be proud of her efforts to find a way out. ‘They came over looking to the future, right? They probably had a similar thing, where they had to break up with their past,’ she says. ‘In that way, it almost feels like the family tradition.'”

For the First Time, Government Asks Public for Input on Census Design – Want to weigh in on the 2030 census design?
h/t (@dickeastman, www.eogn.com)

The post Genealogy Roundup, August 31 appeared first on Megan Smolenyak.

Who Do You Think You Are? Allison Janney Review

Police Are Using Newborn Genetic Screening to Search for Suspects, Threatening Privacy and Public Health – This is disturbing.

Photo Credit (Hatfield-McCoy GeoCoin): SonnyandSandy under Creative Commons license

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

Getty Images Launches Initiative to Elevate Black History and Empower Storytellers

Sandra Boynton’s CHANSON PROFONDE with Yo-Yo Ma – Love this! Perfect for July 14th

Nick Offerman confronts bittersweet ancestral past

Photo Credit (The Café in the Crypt): Michael Brace under Creative Commons license

The post Genealogy Roundup, July 20 appeared first on Megan Smolenyak.

Billy Porter discovers the real story behind great-grandfather’s death and Twitter is in tears – WDYTYA is back, y’all

Photo Credit: Corey Taratuta under Creative Commons license

The post Genealogy Roundup, July 13 appeared first on Megan Smolenyak.

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

Top Photo Credit: Georgina Dhillon under Creative Commons license

The post Genealogy Roundup, June 22 appeared first on Megan Smolenyak.

The first census records of three American presidents … almost – Fun article on presidents in the 1950 census with a little shout-out for yours truly!

As we count down the hours until the release of the 1950 census, I thought I’d share some memorabilia from the release of the 1930 and 1940 census collections!

My mother Seton’s census debut!

First Mom, and here’s Dad.

And there he is, baby Bruce, in the 1950 Census.

Oh, how I wish she were still with us to see this. 25 year-old “television actress” Betty M. White with her parents, Horace and Tess, in the 1950 Census.

Anyone who knows me knew I was going to look this up. President Joe Biden with his family – including his grandfather Ambrose Finnegan whose tales he likes to share & his aunt Gertie who made the best rice pudding – in Scranton, PA in the 1950 Census.

The Green and White House: Ireland and the U.S. Presidents – I’m admittedly biased because I’m in here, but am reading “The Green and White House” by Lynne Kelleher and finding it really interesting. Have read about Kennedy, Nixon, and Reagan so far and looking forward to the rest. If you’re Irish or have Irish heritage, I suspect it might grab your attention as well.

NBC Summer Lineup Includes ‘Who Do You Think You Are?,’ 10 Years After Last Network Airing – Hey, y’all, Who Do You Think You Are? finally returning to NBC this July.

Due to questions in Facebook post comments about my 1950 census finds, I’m posting this here so it’s not buried in the comments:

• If you know at least the city where they lived, you can try searching by place and name here: https://1950census.archives.gov
• This first round transcription has been done by AI, so it’s hit or miss.
• If that doesn’t work, find their address circa 1950 and then use https://stevemorse.org/census/unified.html OR use Ancestry’s address search feature for the 1950 census (they just got it so are in the process of uploading it, but you can at least search for the enumeration district).
• Once you’ve identified the Enumeration District, search here by place/ED and page through: https://1950census.archives.gov.

Top Photo Credit: Kent Kanouse under Creative Commons license

The post Genealogy Roundup, April 6 appeared first on Megan Smolenyak.

Flashing back to when I helped Emmitt Smith with his roots on Who Do You Think You Are? I talked him through his DNA results and got to reveal to him that he was going to Africa later that day.

Fun coincidence! Was researching a case and stumbled across this in a local newspaper. I had the honor of doing the research for the Army for two WWI soldiers to receive the Medal of Honor back in 2015, and these are the daughters of one of them!

The post Genealogy Roundup, March 4 appeared first on Megan Smolenyak.

Tips for Tracing Your Family Tree – Um, so my “Who Do You Think You Are?” book was supposedly the inspiration for the series Who Do You Think You Are?

#HeyJohnKelly: Trump Chief of Staff Takes Heat Over Assimilation Comments

Unclaimed but still remembered – I have worked with Lackawanna County, PA for over a decade to keep the number of unclaimed people to a minimum, but it’s lovely to see the way the exceptions are treated.

My great-grandfather had the awesome name of Yurko Sydorko. What’s the most amusing/unexpected name in *your* family tree?

Photo Credits: Chuck Kennedy/Public Domain (photo of Michelle Obama) and Northern Ireland Office/Creative Commons license (photo of Meghan Markle)

The post Genealogy Roundup, May 17 appeared first on Megan Smolenyak.

DNA from Genealogy Sites Led to Break in East Area Rapist Case – If this is accurate, brace yourself for genetic genealogy backlash in 3, 2, …

Take Caution: DNA expert warns of genealogy testing, privacy issues – Well, that didn’t take long…

Genealogy and the Golden State Killer – Recommend whole thing, but especially “Two Ideas, Both Important” section

‘Who Do You Think You Are?’ Season 10 to Feature Megan Mullally & More (VIDEO) – And now for something completely different – Megan Mullally, Hilary Duff, Jon Cryer (husband of host of Long Lost Family), Laverne Cox, Molly Shannon, and Jean Smart in upcoming “Who Do You Think You Are?” season

The bull in the DNA china shop – Judy G. Russell’s concerns mirror my own.

How the Supreme Court Could Rewrite the Rules for DNA Searches – Next chapter??

Virtual Genealogical Society – Hey, have y’all checked out the Virtual Genealogical Society yet?

Um, Ancestry?

Top Photo Credit: USCIS and the Legacy of Ellis Island

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