Thankful for Scanfest!- Tombstone Tuesday

In my determination to continue onward with several projects (one which involves putting many family photos- the older the better- into a digital frame for my parents as an anniversary gift) I decided that I couldn't miss the opportunity to participate in Sunday's Scanfest sponsored by Miriam Robbins Midkiff on her blog AnecStories: The Stories of My Ancestors.

Scanfest is typically held the last Sunday of the month, and the future dates (as they stand at this moment) are actually listed on The February 2011 Organization Checklist at DearMYRTLE's Genealogy Blog. I would highly recommend taking a look at those lists, even if you have utilized last years' because she revamps them as neeeded,and as we all know, genealogists always need more organizing.

Anyway, Scanfest was fantastic for me on so many levels. I connected with some  new people, have a list of more resources to check, got advice for ways to scan different items such as an old journal and suggestions for documents (the consensus is 300 to 600dpi and always in tif, not jpg, by the way), and just the camaraderie of it all kept me at the scanner the whole time. As a result, a mystery in my family was solved.

My paternal grandparents are buried in a little country cemetery as big as most current families house lots called "Little Prarie" in White County, Illinois. There are few markers in this little place in the middle of nowhere. Bbecause the family was so poor they couldn't afford to engrave the stones and instead attached a metal sign to the front of them.

Over time those signs have gone away, and I have not known which stone representated my grandmother and which was my grandfather-until I happened to find a few photographs among a file that I decided at the last minute to scan.

Even as I placed the photo on the scanner I didn't realize that my answer to the question was in front of me until I got out  my magnifying lupe to see, but now I can proudly place a photo on this blog for Tombstone Tuesday of my paternal grandparents:

Flora Maude McDaniel (left)    Clarence Lemuel Tucker
Little Prarie Cemetery  White County, IL

The Day I Was Born- Saturday Night Fun

The weekly theme created by Randy Seaver of Geneamusings theme for this week consists of the following:

1) What day of the week were you born? 

On February 10th, which was a Sunday morning. My parents had gone to an Aces basketball game the night before followed by dinner when my mother said she had had enough and wanted to get out of there NOW!

2) What has happened in recorded history on your birth date (day and month)?  


1840     Queen Victoria married her cousin Albert von SaksenCoburg
1855     US citizenship laws were amended so that all children of US parents which were born abroad were  
granted US citizenship
1933     Hitler proclaims the end of Marxism
1940     Tom and Jerry [the cartoon] created by Hanna and Barbera debuted by MGM
1947     World War II peace treaties signed
1990     South African President de Klerk announces that Nelson Mandela will be free on February 11

3) What famous people have been born on your birth date? 

1893     Jimmy Durante (comedian)
1929     Jim Whitaker (first American to climb Mount Everest)
1939     Roberta Flack (singer- famous for song "If Ever I Saw Your Face")
1950     Mark Spitz (nine Olympic Gold medalist, swimmer)
1958     Sharon Stone (actress)
 

Space Shuttle- 25 Years Later

Time moves so quickly, yet some experiences remain intimately connected no matter how far in the past, and the explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger was one of them for me.

Still enamored by all events space related (I always watched the space launchings and landings starting in  childhood when the men landed on the moon on our old black and white TV), I couldn't wait to watch the launch that cold January morning.

I knew the astronauts by name (Michael Smith, Dick Scobee, Judith Resnik, Ronald McNair, Greg Jarvis, Ellison Onizuka, and teacher Christa McAuliffe) and was so impressed with NASA because of the diversity of the crew and of course that we had a teacher on board. Christa had an infectious smile and laugh whenever she was interviewed that just pulled me in all the more.

Feelings that ran from anticipation, fear, excitement, shock, tears, and anger were all part of my day. The images that have always remained with me included the dismay on the face of Christa McAuliffe's parents as they continued to look to the skies for an answer that would never come and the students siting in the auditorium with their noisemakers who appeared to believe the disaster was a joke at first, but so accurately demonstrated the emotions we all felt that day.

Who can forget the immortal words of of President Reagan that night when he spoke of how they were now
                                           "touching the face of God."

The Flood of 1937

Patricia Sides, the Archivist/Historian at Willard Library here in Evansville gave a presentation Thursday (January  27) on Evansville during the 1937 Flood titled "Water, Water, Everywhere" before approximately 40 guests as well as library staff during the lunch hour.

Pat did a very good job with the presentation, combining photographs from the ever growing collection that Willard has (many which are available for view online) with newspaper, oral, and other written accounts about the flood and the effects this devastation had on our city and so many others that were based on the Ohio River from Pennsylvania and other points east down the river to the Mississippi.

My parents were children at the time of the flood and I had the opportunity to ask my mother her recollections this week, not sure what she remembered. My mother told me that the house that she grew up in was not one of those flooded, so instead her father brought home a co-worker's family with two small boys who were not as fortunate. My grandmother was a hard worker and a spiritual woman, but I can only imagine how different that house must have been with three energetic children who my mother said would run around the circular layout of the main floor repeatedly. Mom also said that they kept their bathtub full of water everyday, which she didn't understand, and that men would come everyday and open the covers over the sewers to check the water level because they were blowing all over the city. (I learned today that because the water plant was well under water clean water was brought in for consumption, thus the full bathtub. The American Red Cross was very fearful at the time that there would be an epidemic of typhoid and/or scarlet fever, so precautions were taken very seriously),

Aerial View of Evansville (Knecht 2108) Courtesy of Willard Library

Listening to Patricia Sides in the presentation and in watching the photos, I gained a larger perspective for all that occurred here.

I didn't know that at one point the National Guard was brought in and martial law was enacted in order to protect property and people. Many people had evacuated. (Tonight my mother told me of a friend of hers that was on the last railroad train leaving the city and that water was actually lapping the wheels as they were moving down the track). I know of a family closer to Cincinnati  in which part of the family went to Indianapolis and the family never was able to reunite.

Patricia reminded us that this flooding came on the heels of a year of serious heat, a time of depression, and that the flooding was coupled with ice storms, snow, and other weather events. So much went on in this city during that time, and those of you that lived in adjoining areas know the story well. Because of the popularity of the session, Willard Library will repeat the presentation in the evening in April for those who could not attend today. I think I am going to attend again. As we all know, the more knowledge we have about the daily lives our families lived, the better.

Now For My More Rational Side

I have had many hours to think this whole situation regarding Ancestry and the rapid demise of Expert Connect in favor of promoting its acquisition of ProGenealogist as its research base, not all of them good I have to admit, but its time to look at what this change can offer.

I spent some time connecting with family and friends, connected with Thomas MacEntee of Geneabloggers and  High -Definition Genealogy  among his many other activities, and read the blogs of Marian Pierre- Louis (Roots and Branches), Kerry Scott (Clue Wagon), and Amy Coffin (We Tree). I also went to several of my message boards to read the opinions of other researchers (those who used Expert Connect and those who did not), which I must admit was at times insightful and at others quite frustrating.

The very last move I made was to go to the ProGenealogist site and look at it from a professional perspective and as a prospective client. One of the areas I always prided myself on as a strength in my life was the ability to look at an issue from every single angle.This served me very, very well as a Masters Level Social Worker who worked with very traumatic children/teenagers that the world considered were going to be the next serial killers (I'm not kidding. Some of my kids were the ones that have would have been on TV shows today. Working with them and seeing their angle, connecting with their parents, getting along with judges, etc. helped increase that strength.)

Anyway, I have looked at all the angles and now believe I am at a better place with the whole situation, but not completely. Researchers and clients were not treated respectfully or professionally by Ancestry by the way the program was shut down.

 I believe that researchers who worked with and for Expert Connect should have received a more professionally written letter prior to the information being sent to our clients. Would the word have leaked out? Absolutely, but I suspect a great percentage of our clients would have received the word personally from their professional researchers FIRST instead of becoming alarmed or dismayed. 


The more I look at various items from Ancestry it is clear they knew this was coming before Monday afternoon. Further warning instead of 8 days would have been more professional. I know that the bidding situation on Expert Connect probably played a role in how they needed to shut the program down, but I also think they could have simply put up some information for potential clients to let them know that they needed to  look at a shorter time frame.

I do appreciate the fact that Ancestry is allowing professionals the opportunity to make private arrangements with clients if projects cannot be completed within a certain time frame, or even if we choose to do so immediately. That I consider the one positive for researchers.

Expert Connect was not a perfect system, nor is the professional genealogy field itself, and I am sure that allowing a subsidiary to conduct all the procedures, deal with the customer service, etc. is better for Ancestry.  For as many successful stories and situations there were on Expert Connect there were some problems (the Ask a Question to a Professional section comes to mind here).

The Pro Genealogist site still contains reference materials for all of us to access, a newsletter to subscribe to, and the most detailed description of the the research procedures for potential clients that I have ever seen. Costs may be a concern in the future, and I will be interested to see what effect this has on the research profession. For all they can do, unless they hire hundreds (at least) of professionals, not all research can be completed by them nor at Utah. We all know that there are many items that are not microfilmed, or if so, still may need to be viewed in person for many reasons.

What will I do?

Continue with my Pro-Gen class (and catch up with all my assignments)
Complete the work I am currently assigned and do a bang-up job in the process
Continue to do all I can to increase my knowledge of all things Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois, especially in my geographic area given that this region plays such a huge migration role for so many families
Get may face out there in a variety of means
Attend more conferences

In the meantime, consider this:


         There are two ways of meeting difficulties: you alter the difficulties, or you alter yourself to meet them.
                                   - Phyllis Battome 





This is my final word on this issue. Now its time to move on and ahead.

When Ancestry Owns The World Part II

Late last summer I wrote with some trepidation about Ancestry acquiring the professional genealogy company known at the time as ProGenealogy. I questioned why this already well connected organization needed to go out and buy a company when Ancestry had already developed an in house professional research service known as ExpertConnect.

Researchers throughout the United States and the world contracted with Ancestry to provide research services to customers needing assistance beyond the "shaking leaf." I need to admit as I write this that I have provided some limited services on the site since its inception, so I do have some bias, with successes and times of mixed results, however I always felt as though I was treated with respect by the employees working in the department and must say that here as I finish my impressions of the "Big Guy."

Yesterday the bottom fell out towards my impressions of "Mr. World." I came home from a day at a local courthouse (whose records by the way are not all living in Utah) to open my email with 3 frantic messages from clients questioning why Ancestry is closing ExpertConnect! This was before I even knew the news for myself that Ancestry was closing the service. That news came a few emails later.

Yes, with a total of 8 days notice, researchers were honored with an email to state that Expert Connect was closing effective February 3 and we were encouraged to do whatever we needed to close our current projects or make private arrangements.

I could not help but think how curious that date was knowing that the second season of "Who Do You Think You Are" is premiering on February 4th and that I am sure there will be several commercials for the "shaky leaf" as I would expect given the increased interest. After thinking about it a little more, I went to the Progenealogist blog today, and lo and behold (as my grandmother would say)- it has a whole new look!!!

It now is an Ancestry research service! What do you know! What I find interesting is that for Ancestry all the answers are in Utah. It is an interesting site. They list the prices of all their competitors, tell you in absolute detail (and I mean detail) what they cover, etc.

The rest I will let you read for yourself.  However, should you need a researcher for southern Indiana, Kentucky or southern Illinois, let me know.  

My calendar is going to be free soon (and I go to courthouses) (Sorry, sometimes I just can't help myself).

Your Library Has Databases- Tuesday Tip

I am in the process of determining which databases, magazines, journals, and societies that I am going to remain attached to at this time of increasing gas prices, food, and the need to keep a child in college. I also would like to go to one of the major conferences this year- God willing!

Can you imagine how surprised I became at myself when I discovered or rediscovered that my local genealogy library had its own subscription to one of the newspaper archive databases that I could use at my leisure from home instead of paying a monthly fee? All I need to do is enter my library card code whenever I want to use it.

My local public library also has access to other databases that will assist in cutting my costs and allow me to allocate those funds to other priorities (including some late fees, darn it). For example, there was an obituary from our local newspaper a year old that would cost a fee to acquire through Scrips, but by accessing the local library and checking its databases I was able to obtain the obituary for free.

January might be a good time to check your local repositories to see which databases you can access for free. Also, many genealogy societies provide access to other online databases through your membership. That might be a way to consolidate as well.

Good luck! Just wish I would have caught this one sooner!