New or Improved Genealogy Apps! Ancestry, FamilySearch and MyHeritage
Have you downloaded the apps that go with your favorite genealogy websites? You should! And if it's been awhile, you should do it again. Why? They just keep getting better! Here's a rundown of new or improved apps from Ancestry.com, FamilySearch.org, and...
Special FREE Genealogy Gems Premium Episode Featuring Dan Bucatinsky of WDYTYA?
Who Do You Think You Are? has become a worldwide television phenomenon, starting in the UK and making its way around the world, telling the stories of well-known celebrities in search of their family history. July 23, 2014 marks the debut of season 5 of the series...
“Long Lost Family” Season 4 Starts Strong
Have you caught the new season of the British television show Long Lost Family? Critic Michael Hogan of The Telegraph (UK) did, and he gave it a 4-star review. This ITV series follows the stories of people who are trying to reunite with (you guessed it) long lost...
FREE Microsoft Office 2013 Guides
Do you have Microsoft Office 2013? Microsoft Office has published a series of new FREE Quick Start Guides to help users better navigate the 2013 editions of Microsoft Word, Access, Excel, OneNote, Outlook, PowerPoint, Publisher, Visio and Project Standard. Don't have...
Find a Grave Canada: Now Search by Province!
Genealogy Gems Premium member Ken Lange recently wrote us about a GEM of his own he'd like to share with everyone. If you've got Canadian ancestors, check this out! "Dear Lisa, I just renewed my Premium membership (thanks so much for all you do there, BTW), which...
Atten-TION! Calling all War of 1812 Graves
Do you have a U.S. ancestor who participated in the War of 1812? Do you have a picture of the grave? The Federation of Genealogical Societies and cemetery website BillionGraves recently announced a joint project to image all of gravestone markers for participants of...
Join the Crowd: International Indexing Challenge THIS Sunday
FamilySearch is hosting a worldwide crowd-sourcing challenge aimed at establishing a new record for the most volunteer indexing participants online in a single day. The challenge will take place during the 24-hour period beginning at 6:00 p.m. (MDT in Utah, USA) on...
FREE WWI Genealogy Records on MyHeritage.com (Just in July!)
To commemorate 100 years since WWI, MyHeritage has granted free access to various record collections from now through the end of July. Were your ancestors among those who fought? Learn more about their service by searching hundreds of thousands of WWI military...
Genealogy Gems Podcast Episode 169: Blast from the Past–Episode 14
Genealogy Gems Podcast Episode 169 has been published--and it's a blast from the past! I've re-published original Genealogy Gems episode 14, inspired by a passage from my grandmother's journal: a list of the silent films she saw that year and the actors who starred in...
German Newspapers in America: Read All About Them!
Do you have German roots in the U.S.? Have you ever looked for them in newspapers? The folks who run Chronicling America, the most comprehensive free collection of digitized U.S. newspapers, have published a new article on historical German newspapers. Here's an...
How to Set Up Google Alerts for Genealogy
How can you keep up with new online information on your family history that may appear at any moment? You can't, unless you run constant searches on your web browser, and who's got time for that? Google does! And it accomplish that incredible search feat for you...
Living in the past? This woman is–1938, to be exact
Just when you thought a claw-foot tub was the epitome of living in the past.... A historical consultant in Amsterdam is living in the past. To be more precise, she's chosen to live like it's 1938. Her apartment (except for the computer and the refrigerator) is...
TLC’s WDYTYA? New Sneak Peek Video & Honors for the Series
TLC's WDYTYA? is about to start its 5th television season here in the U.S. but you can watch a new sneak peek video here. The video was posted yesterday on the Rachel Adams Online website. Rachel will be featured along with her sister in one of the new episodes. Other...
WWI 100 Year Anniversary: 5 Ways to Discover Your Family History in World War I
This summer, the world is commemorating the 100th anniversary of the beginning of World War 1. It's hard to imagine any family that wasn't touched by it in some way. If you want to learn more, here are 5 great resources: 1. The Great War and the Shaping of the 20th...
New African American Oral History Collection at Library of Congress
A video archive of oral history interviews about African-American life, history and culture and struggles and achievements of the black experience in the United States has been donated to the Library of Congress. It's called the HistoryMakers archive, and it's the...
Organize a Family Reunion on Facebook? 9 Tips You Can Use
A couple weeks ago, I helped host 47 people at my family reunion here in Cleveland, Ohio. Local relatives made up about half the group: the rest flew and drove in from Arkansas, Nevada and Washington state. We spent 4 days splashing in Lake Erie, driving through the...
Family History Episode 39 – How to Start a Genealogy Blog, Part 2
Family History: Genealogy Made Easy with Lisa Louise Cooke Republished July 8, 2014 [display_podcast] Download the Show Notes for this Episode Welcome to this step-by-step series for beginning genealogists—and more experienced ones who want to brush up or learn...
Who Do You Think You Are? Story Website Coming Soon
Findmypast in conjunction with Wall to Wall, the makers of the popular television series Who Do You Think You Are? in the United Kingdom will soon be launching a new commercial website called Create Your Family Story. The site will offer a "quick, free and easy way to...