RootsTech 2024: Genealogy Education at It's Best!

RootsTech 2024 starts in 3 days! This is the largest genealogical conference in the United States and possibly the world. This conference is an in-person as well as a virtual genealogy educational experience. If you have not registered for the FREE virtual aspect of  RootsTech, you still can! Register at this link: https://www.familysearch.org/en/rootstech/

RootsTech is one of the best opportunities for genealogists to educate themselves on a variety of genealogy subjects. When you visit the RootsTech website, you can follow the daily schedule of presentations at this link: https://www.familysearch.org/en/rootstech/schedule?day=2024-02-29

I am giving two virtual presentations during RootsTech:

Digging Into Finding Aids: The Road Map to Any Manuscript Collection

Thursday, February 29, 2024 at 1:30 p.m. Mountain Time/2:30 p.m. Central Time

Church Records in Archives

Friday, March 1, 2024 at 3:00 p.m. Mountain Time/4:00 p.m. Central Time

Attending RootsTech, whether in-person or virtually, is one of the best genealogical educational gifts you can give yourself! Register for FREE to attend virtually today!

REMEMBER: IT'S NOT ALL ONLINE, CONTACT OR VISIT AN ARCHIVE TODAY!

Have Tennessee ancestors?

Check Out My Legacy Family Tree Webinar

The Tennessee State Library and Archives: A Mega Archives for Your Tennessee Ancestors

http://legacy.familytreewebinars.com/?aid=7644

Archives Have Genealogy and Family History Books!

When you think of an archive, maybe you think of original documents, vertical files and manuscript collections. But do you think of genealogical, historical and family history books being in archives? You should!

Many of our wonderful archives have a section of historical and genealogical books. These books can be located in the research area where the researcher can access them easily and research in them. Yet some archives keep their books in back rooms on shelves and require the researcher make a request to see them.

Houston County, Tennessee Pictorial History Book, Located in Houston County, TN. Archives

These collection of books could include just about anything. They could include local histories of the area and all the different communities. They could include donated published family histories of various surnames. There could even be pictorial history books of the local area and the surrounding areas.

In order to access these books or an index of what is available, ask the archivist. Many records collections, books and other items are stored in back rooms or vaults and asking the archivist about what is available is a must for every genealogist. Archivists are there to help you!

Books on families are donated to archives all the time. Many genealogists have done the research, compiled the genealogies and then published a book. It is possible the local archive could have a copy of that family book.

The Adams Family Kith and Kin, Located in the Houston County, TN. Archives

Books about local communities is also a popular book found in an archive. These could be a published book on a small area of a county that was once a booming area but today is just a spot in the road. These types of books could have history about the families that lived in the area or founded the area.

Danville, Tennessee: Gone....But Not Forgotten, Located in Houston County, TN. Archives

Libraries are not the only place that could have published books for your family, the local community or the local area in general. Archives have these types of books too!

REMEMBER: IT'S NOT ALL ONLINE, CONTACT OR VISIT AN ARCHIVE TODAY!

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Are you intimidated about visiting archives? Maybe you get overwhelmed when you walk through the door?

Get my Legacy QuickGuide and Get Tips About Researching in Libraries and Archives!

Researching in Libraries and Archives

http://legacy.familytreewebinars.com/?aid=1159

RootsTech 2024! Don't Miss It!

I am happy to announce that RootsTech 2024 is only 15 days away! The hybrid conference will take place February 29th to March 2nd and it's going to be a great event.

This annual genealogical conference is available to anyone who can attend in-person or to anyone who would like to attend virtually. 

To register for the in-person or virtual event, click this link: https://www.familysearch.org/en/rootstech/

There is a cost for the in-person event but the virtual registration is 100% FREE!

You can even Create Your RootsTech 2024 Schedule. Check out the speakers for the 3-day event and craft your own schedule at this link: https://www.familysearch.org/en/rootstech/

Every year at RootsTech there are Keynote Speakers and this year is no exception. This year the keynote speakers are Lynne M. Jackson, Henry Cho, Nancy Borowick, Katie James and Steve Rockwood.

RootsTech is all about connections. Discover your connections with relatives around the world through Relatives at RootsTech, check out this cool way to connect with cousins you didn't even know you had around the world: https://www.familysearch.org/en/rootstech/

Lastly, I will be presenting two LIVE presentations at RootsTech! Sign up to attend my live virtual presentations and put them on your RootsTech Calendar:

Melissa Barker RootsTech Virtual Presentations

Thursday, February 29, 2024 at 2:30 p.m. Central, Digging Into Finding Aids: The Road Map to Any Manuscript Collection

Friday, March 1, 2024 at 4:00 p.m. Central, Church Records in Archives

Here is my speaker page where you can add my presentations to your calendar or watch them virtually and you can also watch for FREE my previous RootsTech presentations. https://www.familysearch.org/en/rootstech/speakers/melissa-barker/en

So, get ready for RootsTech 2024! Register Today!

Remember: It's Not All Online, Contact or Visit and Archive Today!

It's Not All Online: Researching In Archives Webinar!

Researching in archives, libraries, historical societies, genealogical societies, courthouses and any other repository can be intimidating. This webinar will show you how to plan ahead for a successful research trip and also help you with your "To-Do List" once you get there. Contacting or visiting an archive will help the genealogist be more successful in their genealogy research.

http://legacy.familytreewebinars.com/?aid=1145

Genealogy Records Off the Beaten Path

Court records, deeds records, scrapbooks, photographs... these are some of the more well known record groups that most researchers access when they visit an archive, historical society or library.  

But did you know that there are numerous other record groups and types that are housed in archives that are almost never requested to be viewed by researchers. Why is that? Maybe it's because the researcher doesn't know these wonderful collections exist.

Wisdom Lodge #300 Newspaper Clipping, Houston County, TN. Archives

                     

Here are 5 tips for genealogy researchers to learn about and view unique records in the archives where their ancestors lived:

1. Plan, plan, plan! Every genealogist who visits an archives, historical society or library to do research needs to have a research plan in place before they step foot in the door of the facility.  

2. Ask the archivist or librarian what record collections they have that are unique or unknown to the general public. Possibly there is an index of what is in the collection or better yet a Finding Aid.

3. Ask the archivist or librarian to allow you to view all of their records indexes or all of their Finding Aids. Most repositories will have these printed and in notebooks or they will be available on patron computers in the facility.

Election Worker's Payroll Request, Houston County, TN. Archives

                                       

4. Specifically ask to view the Vertical File Collection index. This index will be alphabetical and will include surnames as well as subjects such as "Erin United Methodist Church". Each file could contain just about anything. Remember...Vertical Files are like a box of chocolates, you never know what your going to get!

5. Specifically ask to view the index to the Manuscript Collection. Again, this listing will be alphabetical. The titles could be named anything, some of the more familiar titles will look something like this: "John Doe's Family Papers 1812-1900", "Erin Methodist Church 1848-1920". These collections could be contained in one box or in multiple boxes. The Finding Aid for the collection will help you decipher what is in the collection.

The next time you visit an archives, historical society or library to dig up those records on your ancestors, try these 5 tips to help you find those unique records, the ones that will tell more of your ancestor's story, the ones that will put "meat on your ancestors' bones"!



REMEMBER: IT'S NOT ALL ONLINE, CONTACT OR VISIT AN ARCHIVE TODAY!

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Want to know more about researching in archives?

Get My Legacy Family Tree QuickGuide:

Researching in Libraries and Archives: The Do's and Don'ts

PDF Version:  http://legacy.familytreewebinars.com/?aid=1159

A Great Companion QuickGuide is:

It's Not All Online: Researching in Archives

PDF Version: http://legacy.familytreewebinars.com/?aid=1202

Archived Records Tell the Story of Our Ancestor's Daily Lives

As genealogists, we are always searching for the basic genealogy records for our ancestors: birth certificates, marriage records, death certificates, census records, etc. But have you given any thought to your ancestor's daily lives, the daily activities and the records that could have been produced?

A local archive is a genealogist's gold mine when it comes to finding records and ephemera about our ancestor's daily lives and activities. Many times these types of records are not online and can only be accessed on site at the archive.

W.V. Pulley Probate File. Houston County, Tennessee Archives

For instance, your female ancestors and maybe even your male ancestors, shopped at the local grocery store. Maybe your curious about the prices of groceries or what was available. Local mercantile and store records can help you tell that story. You could even find store ledgers in the archive that may have your ancestor's account listed by name with the items they purchased and the cost of each item.

Skelton's Supermarket Flyer ca. 1962. Houston County, Tennessee Archives

Banking Records. Did your ancestor have a bank account or did their banking at the local bank? Banking records can help us when we are trying to piece together our ancestor's financial matters. Banking ledgers are a great resource and can sometimes be found at local or state archives.

Erin Bank and Trust Notes Left at the Bank, ca. 1898. Houston County, Tennessee Archives

Entertainment! Your ancestor's worked hard but they also played when they got the chance. Maybe your ancestors went dancing, went to the local church social or maybe they saw the latest movie release. Don't think of your ancestors as always putting in a hard days work. When they had the chance, they may have attended the local movie theatre and checked out the latest movie release!

Erin Theatre Handbill, ca. 1958. Houston County, Tennessee Archives

These are just some of the types of records that are in our archives, the possibilities are endless!

It is important that we collect those basic records that give us dates of when our ancestors lived and the milestones in their lives. But it is just as important to seek out records and ephemera that help to tell our ancestor's full story. Finding records about all aspects of their daily lives will help us to understand our ancestors better and hopefully bring them to life!

Remember: It's Not All Online, Contact or Visit and Archive Today!

It's Not All Online: Researching In Archives Webinar!

Researching in archives, libraries, historical societies, genealogical societies, courthouses and any other repository can be intimidating. This webinar will show you how to plan ahead for a successful research trip and also help you with your "To-Do List" once you get there. Contacting or visiting an archive will help the genealogist be more successful in their genealogy research.

http://legacy.familytreewebinars.com/?aid=1145

Nesting Boxes for Small Storage Spaces

Let's face it, as genealogists we can collect a lot of "stuff"! Even if we try to digitize all that we can and do away with as much paper as we can, we sill have genealogy "stuff".

Lyle Family Records Collection, Houston County, TN. Archives

A storage space tip that I can give you is to use nesting boxes. In fact, Gaylord Archival has produced a NEW line of nesting boxes that are great for small spaces.

Nesting boxes are smaller boxes that fit into a larger box. This way you can preserve several different items in small archival boxes and then nest those boxes into a standard archival storage carton.

Gaylord Archival Nesting Boxes

Now you can preserve your smaller family heirlooms in their own box but yet fit these nesting boxes into one large box that fits nicely on a shelf in your closet where it is cool, dark and dry, just the right climate conditions to preserve such items.

Each box is sold separately so you can mix and match box sizes or choose multiples of the same size box to suit the needs of your collection. Once you have filled the smaller boxes you can then layer them as you would like into the large archival storage carton.

Gaylord Archival Nesting Boxes

You can purchase these very useful nesting boxes from their catalog on the
Gaylord Archival Website: http://www.gaylord.com/

I have chosen to use these nesting boxes for the Fenton Glass Shoes that I inherited from my Mom after her passing in June of 2017. I have 20 of them which I have wrapped each one with archival tissue paper and put each one in a separate nesting box. Once all the glass shoes have been boxed, I then put all the nesting boxes in the standard archival storage carton. These precious family heirlooms are now protected, preserved and in one box that stores very nicely on my closet shelf.

Fenton Glass Slippers

So, if you have a small space to store your family heirlooms, I would highly recommend Gaylord Archival NEW Nesting Boxes!

Remember: It's Not All Online, Contact or Visit an Archive Today!!

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Want to Learn More from The Archive Lady?

Check Out My Webinars and QuickGuides over at Legacy Family Tree Webinars:

http://legacy.familytreewebinars.com/?aid=2967

(Disclaimer: Gaylord Archival provided me with nesting boxes to try out for this blog post and review.)

Removing Staples, Paper Clips and Rubber Bands from Genealogy Records

Working in an archive on a daily basis, there is a lot of time spent removing staples, metal paper clips and rubber bands from documents. Why do archivists remove these items from documents? Because they cause damage and sometimes so bad that it can not be repaired.

• Staples: A stapler is a common office supply that every genealogist has and uses. Using staples to fasten multiple pages of documents together has been in use since 1877 when Henry R. Heyl filed the first patent for the stapler. The metal staples, however, can cause damage to genealogical records. The staples will rust and leave stains on documents and that rust can eat away at the paper. It is highly recommended that all genealogists remove all staples from their documents, ephemera and memorabilia. In place of staples, use plastic paper clips.

Rusty Staple

• Metal Paper Clips: Another hazard to genealogy records are metal paper clips. Many of our ancestor's records are held together with metal paper clips. The metal will rust over time and stain the documents in such a way that can not be repaired. If the metal paper clips have been attached to the documents for a long time, they may be even be stuck to the documents. Remove all metal paper clips very carefully and replace them with the recommended plastic paper clips. 

Rusty Metal Paper Clip

• Rubber Bands: These types of fasteners are not used near as much as staples or metal paper clips but they can be just as destructive, if not more. Rubber bands that are wrapped around stacks of documents, old letters or photographs is a disaster waiting to happen. Over time, rubber bands will deteriorate and actually rot. They will stick to whatever they are touching and cause damage. Also, if rubber bands are wound tightly around a stack of old letters the pressure can cause damage to the letters. Do not use rubber bands under any circumstances. If something is to be wrapped around a stack of documents, old letters or photographs, use soft string or yarn loosely around the stack. Better yet, put the items in an archival box, folder or envelope.

Rubber Band Stuck to Document

A lot of time is spent on researching and collecting records on our ancestors. Using items like staples, metal paper clips and rubber bands that can cause damage to these records needs to be avoided at all costs. Future generations will be grateful for the efforts made to preserve those family records.

REMEMBER: IT'S NOT ALL ONLINE CONTACT OR VISIT AN ARCHIVE TODAY!!

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Metal Paper Clips, Rubber Bands and Tape, OH MY!

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Metal Paper Clips, Rubber Bands and Tape, OH MY!

http://legacy.familytreewebinars.com/?aid=2883