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Ellis Island Resources for the Family Historian 9/23/10

by | Aug 31, 2011

 
“Mama arrived with 4 year old Martha gripping her hand tightly.  She said she looked feverishly around for Papa, and spotted him across the room.  She ran to meet him and gave him a kiss, which she normally would never have done in public!”
That was the scene my Grandma described as Louise and Gustaf reunited near a wooden column outside the Registry Room at Ellis Island aptly known as “The Kissing Post.”  Many public displays of affection took place there after long journeys across the ocean.
Approximately 12 million immigrants were processed through Ellis Island between 1892 and 1954.  It seems like only yesterday that the long dilapidated buildings were finally restored and reopened to the public.  They have become one of the most popular tourist destinations in New York City, welcoming over 35 million visitors to date.
This month marks the 20th Anniversary of the Immigration Museum at Ellis Island which first opened on September 10, 1990.

Learn more about the Museum by watching this video: (you can check email while the ad runs at the beginning!)

According to a recent Ellis Island press release , “Just half a mile from the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor, the museum’s exhibits highlight the growth of America during the peak immigration years of 1880-1924. The galleries illustrate the Ellis Island immigrant reception process, the immigrants’ arrival and settlement throughout the United States and feature their “Treasures From Home” – the cherished personal objects, photographs and papers they brought with them from their homelands. And the American Immigrant Wall of Honor® celebrates the immigrant experience with the inscription of the names of over 700,000 individuals and families who have been honored by their descendants.”
Of special note is the Ellis Island Oral History Archive, which was created by the Foundation and contains the reminiscences of over 1700 individuals who either immigrated through or worked at Ellis Island during its heyday as the country’s largest immigration processing center.   If you are lucky enough to visit in person, you can listen to excerpts from these oral histories through the museum’s popular audio tour.  You’ll walk the corridors vividly reliving the immigrant experience as if you were a “new arrival.”
If an in-person trip is not on your horizon any time soon, don’t fret.  More than 1,700 first-hand life story audio recordings of Ellis Island immigrants are now available online for the first time free at Ancestry.com.
 “As immigrants created new lives in the U.S., the stories of their homelands and their remarkable journeys to America were often lost,” said Christopher Tracy, senior vice president of global content for Ancestry.com.  “We are thrilled to offer people the opportunity to hear the voices of their ancestors sharing stories of their lives.”
The oral histories were originally recorded by the National Park Service starting in the 1970s, and contain first-hand accounts recalling the lives these immigrants left behind, their reasons for leaving and their incredible and often-trying journeys to America.  In addition to oral histories from immigrants, the collection also includes recordings from former Ellis Island/Statue of Liberty workers, and military personnel who were stationed on Ellis Island.
“To our family it is important that we in the U.S. know the origin of the people who came to this country, settled here and made it what it is today. It makes us very proud to know that our mother was part of this,” said Yvonne Rumac, daughter of oral history participant Estelle Belford, who immigrated to the United States from Romania via Ellis Island in 1905.
And if you are interested in learning more about your own immigrant ancestors here are some resources for you:
 
Ancestry boasts the world’s largest online collection of U.S. immigration records. www.ancestry.com/immigration.
(Comprised of more than 170 million records, the Ancestry.com U.S. Immigration Collection includes lists of passengers who immigrated by ship to America between 1820 and 1960, including those who came through Ellis Island; more than 7 million citizenship and naturalization records; border crossings, passport applications and more to help reconstruct our ancestors’ journeys and early lives in America. Ancestry.com has also added nearly 2 million new U.S. naturalization record indexes.)
The FamilySearch Wiki
A brain trust of some of the best researchers out there, the FamilySearch Wiki allows you to search on keywords to learn more about a vast array of topics including immigration.  Much of the information comes from the experts who work at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.  You get the benefit of their immigration research knowledge from the comfort of your own home.
https://wiki.familysearch.org/en/Main_Page  Then search for the records themselves on the free FamilySearch Beta website
http://beta.familysearch.org/
Stephen P. Morse’s One Step Pages
http://stevemorse.org/
If your search at the EllisIsland.org website doesn’t retrieve your ancestors head on over to Stephen Morse’s One Step Pages.  There you will find  dozens of links to search resources including the Ellis Island Gold Form for arrivals between 1892 and 1924.  Even the folks at Ellis Island refer researchers to Morse’s site.  Listen to my interview with Stephen Morse on Genealogy Gems Podcast episode #10
http://www.genealogygemspodcast.com/genealogy_gems_episode_10
Family History: Genealogy Made Easy Podcast Episodes on Immigration and Naturalizaton
Genealogist Steve Danko covers immigration and naturalization in depth in episodes 29, 30, and 31.  Steve even offers up some little known tips about deciphering some of the crytic notes researchers often find on passenger lists.
29 – http://personallifemedia.com/podcasts/415-family-history/episodes/45846-immigration-naturalization-part
30 – http://personallifemedia.com/podcasts/415-family-history/episodes/46854-immigration-naturalization-part
31 – http://personallifemedia.com/podcasts/415-family-history/episodes/47994-immigration-naturalization-part
 

Family History Comes to Your BlackBerry with Genealogy Gems Podcast 8/12/10

by | Aug 31, 2011

We are happy to announce that you can now download Genealogy Gems podcast episodes on your BlackBerry! 

Today Research In Motion (RIM) launched BlackBerry Podcasts, a free application and service that allows BlackBerry smartphone users to gain access to free audio and video content that can be downloaded and then enjoyed on a BlackBerry media player.

In a press release, Alistair Mitchell, Vice President, Multimedia Integration said that “The new BlackBerry Podcasts app and service makes it easier than ever to discover and download a wide range of content directly from a BlackBerry smartphone, and users can even subscribe to their favorite podcasts and receive an alert when new content is available.”

We are excited that the Genealogy Gems Podcast is among the first 1000 shows available through this service.

To get the free app for your BlackBerry, go to www.blackberry.com/appworld  You will need a BlackBerry smartphone running BlackBerry OS v4.6 or higher.

Do You Have Pretty Little Pony Pics in Your Family History? 6/4/10

Do You Have Pretty Little Pony Pics in Your Family History? 6/4/10

by | Aug 31, 2011

Blacks and bays, dapples and greys
Running in the night
When you wake
You shall have
All the pretty little ponies

 
Are there any pretty little ponies in your family tree photos?
 
That’s what my friend genealogy blogger Ian Hadden asked in a recent post called Riding Ponies.  He starts us off my sharing a pic of baby Ian riding high on a pony and then goes further back in his tree to a photo of his father doing the same. 
 
Roaming photographers snapped pony pictures in towns across the land.  Ian’s photos reminded me of photos in my own collection and I quickly retrieved some favorites of my grandfather, Al…
 

Genealogy Gems Premium Members and those who’ve picked up a copy of the Google Earth for Genealogy DVD will recognize this street as 288 Connecticut, in San Francisco.  The location was unknown to my family for many decades, but through the intersection of census records, voters registrations, and Google Earth the mystery was solved and the location identified

The year was 1908, and San Francisco was still recovering from the great earthquake of ’06.  That’s Al’s father Charles Allen standing on the sidewalk (the man on the right) keeping an eye on his little buckaroo.  (A bit of trivia: Charles is the son of the man in the Genealogy Gems Podcast logo.)  The difference between Al’s pony and Ian’s is that this pony was stuffed!  However, Al did eventually make his way on to the real thing…

Do you have a pretty little pony picture in your collection?

 

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