5 Places to Improve Your Genealogy Skills Online

When you want to learn more about genealogy but getting to in-person classes is difficult, online courses may be just what you need.

NOTE: Keep in mind that access to learning platforms with a library card can change over time. Course offerings can change.

NOTE: Courses are provided by a variety of entities. Some introductory courses may be offered as a starting point for certificate or degree programs.

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MOOCs

FutureLearn

FutureLearn offers massive open online courses (MOOC).  Courses are free BUT you need to create a free account. You may have access to the materials only for the duration of the class, so download what you think you will need later. You may be asked to pay for a certificate of completion, but whether you choose to do so is entirely up to you.

Search for courses at: https://www.futurelearn.com/courses

Two of the courses can be found at:

https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/genealogy

https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/genetic-genealogy-researching-your-family-tree-using-dna

Genealogy: Researching Your Family Tree by University of Strathclyde, Glasgow has a British isles flavor to it, which might be of interest to those with ancestors who originated there.

Alison.com

Alison.com offers massive open online courses (MOOC).  Courses are free BUT you need to create a free account. You may be asked to pay for a certificate of completion, but whether you choose to do so is entirely up to you. Users have the option to share a basic free learner record as proof of completion.

Search at: https://alison.com/

I enjoyed An Introduction to Irish Family History published by IrelandXO.

Alison also has free courses set out as a potential pathway to become a genealogist, which include several biology courses. (I am not sure that virology will help with becoming a genealogist, but it does sound interesting!)

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Use Your Library Card To Access Resources

Check which digital resources you can access with your library card. These resources can vary by county. Here in Maryland, you can obtain a library card for any other county. Check if the counties in your state offer this reciprocity. It is important to check library subscriptions as these may change over time.

Kanopy

This streaming platform is accessible through my home county’s library. While there are many movies, it also offers online access to The Great Courses lectures. You can download the accompanying book in PDF form. There are courses about history, wars, touring countries, and more. 

Individual episodes of “Discovering Your Roots: An Introduction to Genealogy” are shown in the search results for: genealogy. Although Dr. Colletta’s class offers sound principles, even though it is a bit dated in how records are accessed. Clicking on one episode takes you to the page to use 5 of your monthly tickets for 5 days of access to the course. (through Anne Arundel County Public Library you receive 30 tickets per month.) It also has a link to access the supplemental material, which is the PDF file of the Course Guidebook that accompanies the course.

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FamilySearch

FamilySearch Classes in the Learning Center

I have included this resource because some of the classes are part of a course. You may have seen links to the videos listed in the individual research wiki pages. Examples are the classes in Immigration—Crossing the Pond, Ireland Beginning Research, and Strategies for Using Civil Registration in the British Isles.             

There are a multitude of classes about research in U.S. geographical areas, specific countries, the research process, and topics of interest to genealogists like paleography. You have to register for a free account to view courses. Having a free account is a great idea to access the records on FamilySearch. (Some classes, like the ones presented in Russian, are only available to Church members.) Although some classes may be slightly dated, the process and the records that are used are relevant; accessing the records themselves may now be online.

This page will give you a list of all the current classes available in the Learning Center:

https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Classes_in_the_Learning_Center

To find classes of interest, you can sort the table of classes by any column or search the webpage. The last column, Country Topic, might be the most helpful to find classes to support your genealogical growth.

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OpenLearn

Although there are no specific genealogy/family history courses at OpenLearn, you can focus on developing particular genealogy and family-history skills with their courses. You can access the material without creating an account, when you register you can enroll, save your progress, and earn a free Statement of Participation.

The issue with this platform is that courses relevant to genealogists might not be located using the search terms genealogy or family history.

When searching OpenLearn, try more than just the word genealogy. Useful search terms include family history, family photographs, archives, historical records, local history, oral history, and DNA. Courses useful to genealogists are often categorized by the research skill or historical subject rather than specifically as genealogy.

https://www.open.edu/openlearn

When you search, the results will contain courses, videos and articles. You can filter the results.

One course that could be of interest is Picturing the family, available at: https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/visual-art/picturing-the-family/content-section-0

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Bonus Resource

Even though the title promises only 5 places, it is always good to have something extra. So, here is one more introductory course. By the way, look for learning materials on other genealogy websites.

MyHeritage

MyHeritage offers a 5-hour introductory course: Introduction to Genealogy Course. Each lesson walks through different topics in the world of genealogy to help you to grow your family tree. Registering for the course is required to save your progress, so you can pick up where you left off. (Registration is also required for MyHeritage users.) https://education.myheritage.com/courses/genealogy-for-beginners

While you are on the page, also check out the downloadable resources: https://education.myheritage.com/downloadable-resources/

Be sure to check out your county library or another county library for access to the Library Version of MyHeritage. In Maryland, with a Howard County Library System library card, you can access the Library Version of MyHeritage from home.

Keep learning!

Second Edition Now Available: Finding and Using U.S. Army WWI and WWII Morning Reports

We’re pleased to announce the Second Edition of:

Finding and Using U.S. Army WWI and WWII Morning Reports

is now available on Amazon at: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HKV8X3B2

This Second Edition has arrived with updated guidance for finding, understanding, and using one of the most valuable sources available for researching U.S. Army service during World War I and World War II: Morning Reports.

The Second Edition includes major updates to two important chapters:

• How to find World War I Morning Reports using Fold3
• How to find World War II Morning Reports using the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) Catalog

Morning Reports can allow you to travel back in time with a soldier or military organization, following locations, personnel changes, and events day by day.

For researchers dealing with Army personnel files lost in the 1973 National Personnel Records Center fire, Morning Reports can be especially valuable. They may help you overcome gaps left by burned personnel files, and, in some cases, help you reconstruct a soldier’s military experience in greater detail than a personnel file alone.

You can look for references to a specific soldier, but the real power of Morning Reports comes from following that soldier’s unit even on days when the soldier is not specifically named.

What You Will Learn

The book explains the formats used for WWI and WWII Morning Reports, the information they contain, and how those records changed over time.

Examples throughout the book introduce readers to the specialized language, abbreviations, and terminology used in WWII Morning Reports so that the records become easier to interpret.

Because locating Morning Reports is not always straightforward, the book also includes techniques for finding elusive reports, recognizing gaps in a record set, and developing strategies for working around missing records.

Going Beyond Individual Morning Reports

Morning Reports become even more useful when analyzed as a series rather than as isolated documents.

Case studies in the book demonstrate how reports from different parts of a military organization can be combined to reconstruct events.

These records place your soldier within the larger story of the military organization and the history unfolding around it.

For Genealogists and Historians

Genealogists can use Morning Reports to reconstruct military service when traditional personnel records are incomplete or unavailable.

Historians can use the same techniques to follow the activities and movements of military organizations through a world war.

The book also points researchers toward additional military records and sources that can help expand the story beyond what is contained in the Morning Reports themselves.

Bonus material covers reporting done by other military branches.

Finding and Using U.S. Army WWI and WWII Morning Reports Second Edition can be found in paperback using eco-friendly groundwood paper on Amazon at: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HKV8X3B2

Search Changes for WWII Morning Reports

Several previous posts have been updated to reflect changes in the search experience for NARA’s Catalog. As a result, how to search for WWII Morning Reports online at NARA has changed. This post ties together new recommendations to help you find the reports you seek.

Note: At the time of writing this post, no Morning Reports for January 1945 or beyond are posted online on the NARA Catalog.

After updates to NARA’s Catalog software, I recommend searching within the Morning Report series. Click on the Search within this Series button in the Series Description page for Morning Reports, 1940-1946 at: https://catalog.archives.gov/search-within/85713825

This will take you to the page where your search is limited to the Morning Reports series.

Enter search terms or search phrases within double quotes in the Search within this Series box. Be sure that the double quote marks are straight, not curly. One thing that is different from past recommendations is that Boolean terms such as AND no longer work. The search terms or exact search phrases that are within quotes are just listed one after the other, which is a little easier.

Remember that you need to stay in that same tab of the browser to view links to where the search terms have been found within the results.

Remember to be flexible in your searches, and to try different terms.

Be looking for a revised edition of my Morning Report book very soon!

Good luck, and let me know how you do.

Changes When Searching The NARA Catalog

The way that you search the NARA Catalog has changed.

NARA has made changes to the backend of how Catalog searches are implemented. The change means that a search using Boolean operators between more than two phrases within double quotes will result in an error screen.

More simply explained, if you have been using quotation marks and Boolean operators (e.g. AND) in your searches, don’t! Strip out all operators and quotes because multiple search keywords are now automatically interpreted as having an AND between them. That means the search results will have all the keywords in them.

In the past, where I might have used in the search bar:

“Morning Reports” AND “500th AAA” AND “Greenland”

I would NOW enter this is the search bar:

Morning Reports 500th AAA Greenland

For all the search terms you find, remove the double quotes and the Boolean operator AND and you should be error free.

Researching WWI Contractors

There is a picture of Thomas Patrick McMahon in a dough boy’s uniform, but no records can be located that document any military service. So, why was he wearing a WWI US Army uniform in a picture?

This post includes how artificial intelligence (AI) was used to begin the investigation of the answer, and how it provided context for additional work.

At the time of his WWI draft registration he was 25, single, and a naturalized citizen. His trade was carpenter and he was self-employed.

The answer was discovered by his descendant, my cousin, in the US Army Transport Service (US ATS) records. If you have read my books or blog, or seen me lecture, then you know how much I appreciate these records. They are a mini-census, showing details of Army personnel who were transported on US Navy ships. Thomas McMahon had sailed from Hoboken, NJ, and traveled to France as a 2nd Class Civilian Employee in the organization: U.S. Civilian Employees, U. S. Engineer Department, James Stewart & Co. Contract, on Agamemnon and returned on

The US ATS records found online are digitized of records that were originally stored in folders; there was one folder for each sailing. When you find a manifest containing an entry with the person you are researching, I recommend going backwards through the images to the front of the set to locate the pages containing details about the sailing. In this case, the front images contained the description of cargo that was transported on Agamemnon to France (both handwritten and typed) was interesting. Agamemnon was transporting 25 tons of telegraph supplies, 9 tons of aviation supplies, 79 tons of Signal Corps General supplies, 993 tons of French steel, and other supplies.

The Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC) provided information about Agamemnon (Id. No. 3004) during 1917-1919, which included her voyage to Europe in mid-January 1918. Five days into the voyage the convoy faced heavy seas, and Agamemnon turned on lights and circled back after a report of a man overboard. Falling into a trough, a 43-degree roll caused the loss of some material. Fortunately, no one was lost. She continued on for a brief stop at St. Nazaire, then on to Brest where she docked on 24 January.

The images at the front also included information about the cablegram received by the Navy Department stating that the ship had made it safely to France.

I decided to use AI as an assistant to strategize how to learn more about contractors in WWI and the specific contractor.

ChatGPT provided some information about the engineering effort during WWI, and recommendations about where to search. It suggested searching in NARA’s Record Group 77, which contains records for the Army Engineers which would have information about the contracts let by the organization. I suspect all that we might find is what the contract was for; it would be up to the company to find the people to fill the roles.

Google Gemini was more helpful in this case.

Gemini explained that uniforms were worn by civilians so that they would not be mistaken for spies if captured, and they would receive treatment under the Geneva Convention. (This explains photographs of civilians wearing uniforms in war zones!) It also shared information about James Stewart & Co. recruiting a skilled workforce for infrastructure project in France, such as piers, warehouses, fuel tanks and depots.

It captured its findings in a nifty report WWI Civilian Contractor Research Report
Subject: James Stewart & Company | Port of Brest | Militarized Civilians

Gemini referred me to a source: United States Army in the World War 1917-1919 General Orders, GHQ, AEF, Volume 16. This volume was one of seventeen which compiled selected American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) records. Volume 16 captured all of the General Orders given by General Pershing.

The General Orders contain directives issued from the top, the General Headquarters. They dictated the command structure, logistical support, and standards of conduct for the entire force. I scanned these orders for the reference material that Gemini promised. I did not find details of the contractors’ uniforms in the G.O.’s listed by Gemini. There were many references to uniforms, but I did not find full details of the contractors’ uniforms. G.O. 46, 1917, did have details about the uniforms worn by the French interpreters, including the sphinx insignia they wore. G.O. No. 63, 20 Nov 1917, address identity cards which were required for all the AEF and the militarized civilians. There were G.O.’s with details of civilian pay. Additionally, G.O. No. 30, 15 Feb 1918, IV. 7. (n)(1) “Two aluminum identification tags, to be furnished by the Q. M. C. [Quarter Master Corps], will be habitually worn by all officers and enlisted men, and also by all civilians attached to the A. E. F.” G.O. No. 23, 20 Aug 1917, 1. 5. discussed the importance of clerks and civilians in uniform saluting officers.

Thomas P. McMahon traveled back to the U.S. on the U.S.A.C.T. Honolulu, which sailed from France on 1 Dec 1918. He arrived at Newport News, VA, on 21 Dec 1918. His Group or Classification was shown as “Civilians for Discharge.”

The war was over for Thomas, and he was back home in the U.S. for Christmas. His brother, my grandfather, would march to Germany after the Armistice and participate in the Army of Occupation. He would return in July of 1919.

I had one question left. From the information I could find about the contractor, Thomas was probably working at Brest. (The NHHC excerpt did not indicate any one/thing leaving the ship at St. Nazaire.) If Thomas were working at the port of Brest when Joseph arrived in August 1918, did they see each other? In the activity of that port, it would be remarkable if they might have
seen each other, but the 51st PIR spent time at the port unloading the Kroonland
after they arrived (joys of being a Pioneer Infantryman!), so maybe, just maybe.

Fortunately I was able to locate “A Century of Construction (1844–1944)” James Stewart & Co.” through an interlibrary loan. While work done in the United States and around the world was documented, little was recorded about WWI in the narrative. WWII was much better documented. There was a table listing War Construction projects in the United States during WWI. There was also a table of projects done for the American Expeditionary Forces in France. Brest was not listed among them, but St. Nazaire was. It may be that the list was incomplete, or that he worked in another place. Either way, there is more to learn.