A WWI MOOC

Have you been looking for an online course about WWI? “World War 1: A History in 100 Stories” at FutureLearn may be of interest to you. The course is a Massively Open Online Course (MOOC). It is different from a regular course because of its size, and also because you will interact more with the other people in the course than with any faculty.

 

 

This is a five-week class is presented by Monash University in Australia. It is based on the One Hundred Stories Project at that University. You can learn more about the project here.

Even though the class is focused on Australian participation in WWI, there will be common threads about the war and the home front that might be of interest to you. Like Americans, Australians were fighting a war very far from home. Unlike Americans, they participated in the war from its beginning. Viewing this course gives a larger picture about this global, war that was the first war of modern combat.

You can participate in this MOOC for free, but if you want a Statement of Participation there is a fee. You will need to sign up for a free account to access the course and its materials.

The link for the course is: https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/ww1-stories

You can see all the courses listed at: https://www.futurelearn.com/courses. Keep in mind that the courses are predominantly from U.K. schools.

Be sure to check out the https://www.futurelearn.com/learning-guideCrowdsourced Guide to Learning.

Note: Unless you pay for the upgrade, the materials in the course are only available during the timeframe of the course.

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3 Great WWI Research Resources

Since the beginning of the centennial of U.S. involvement in World War I, I have been on the lookout for more material about the Great War. Not only is it a part of the world’s history, it is part of our family’s history. Learning about the conflict deepens our understanding of the ancestors who lived through these events.

1. The New England Historic Genealogical Society has a great webpage that combines resources for both World War I & World War II U.S. Veteran Research.

 

 

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2. The Delaware Public Archives has A Guide to World War I Records. This is great resource because of the depth of the material it offers. The tabs on the page lead you to resources for topics such as: Service Records and Pension Records; Genealogical Sources; and Social History and Context. You can start at World War I: Service Records and Pension Records.

 

 

Click the other tabs to check out more material.

 

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3. The third resource is Chronicling America. Rather than search by newspaper or location, this time you will search Topics by Subject. Start on the Topics by Subject page to see the topics that have an associated webpage.

 

 

Scroll down to find the War Topics. In that section, you will find WWI topics:

 

 

On each topic page there is basic information about the topic, links to sample articles and suggested research strategies.The topic page for Planes in WWI (1908-1917) is shown below.

 

 

Enjoy using these resources to learn more about the life and times of your WWI ancestors!

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NARA Records for the U.S. National Homes for Disabled Soldiers (RG15)

Have you been watching the recordings of the NARA Virtual Conferences on YouTube?

The Best National Archives Records Genealogists Aren’t Using presentation discussed Record Group (RG) 15, which is the records of the U.S. National Homes for Disabled Soldiers.

From the presentation, I learned that the files for the permanent residents have been retained, and are available from one specific branch of NARA. Some sample folders for temporary residents had also been retained.

Albert H. Tingue had been a temporary resident at the U.S. National Homes for Disabled Soldiers Home in Bath, NY, but he was not a permanent resident. I decided to contact NARA and check what records about him might be available in RG 15.

Here is the timeline of the request and the interactions for those considering contacting NARA about these records.

 

Preliminary

The first step was to go to the webpage for the Conference Session Schedule with Videos and Handouts.

Veterans Home Case Files were discussed on Day 1 in Session 2. The contact information for the NARA branch that holds the case files for your ancestor’s Veterans Home can be found in Handout 3 of 3.

From the handout, I learned that the National Archives at New York City holds the records for the Bath Home.

 

2/11/2017

I sent the first message with my request.

Dear Archivist,

The 2016 Virtual Genealogy Fair had a presentation about the records in RG 15 for the U.S. National Homes for Disabled Soldiers.

Do you have a case file from the Bath branch of the U.S.National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers for:
Albert H Tingue

Please see the attached for his Bath registry entry from Ancestry.com.

Is there an online finding aid with an index for these files? I looked for access to a searchable index, but did not find one at:

Sample Case Files of Members, 1878–1933
Veterans Administration. National Homes Service. Bath Branch (Bath,New York). https://catalog.archives.gov/id/5821998

Sample Case Files of Veterans Temporarily at the Branch,1880–1912
Veterans Administration. National Homes Service. Bath Branch (Bath,New York). https://catalog.archives.gov/id/5822001

Thank you,
M. M. McMahon

The Bath registry entry from Ancestry.com was attached to the e-mail request.

 

2/11/2017

I received an automated response from the National Archives in New York City acknowledging my request.

2/17/2017

The Archivist sent an e-mail acknowledging my request.

NARA does have an index for the Sample Case Files of Members, but there was no entry for Tingue.

They do not have an index for the Sample Case Files of Veterans Temporarily at the Branch. The files are a single box, stored offsite, so the Archivist requested that the box be delivered to the New York office. She informed me that when the box arrived, she would search it for a file about Albert Tingue.

2/17/2017

I sent the Archivist an e-mail thanking her.

3 / 8 / 2017

The Archivist sent an e-mail with the results of her search of the box of Sample Case Files of Veterans Temporarily at the Branch. Unfortunately, it is a very small sample that contains a few files with names beginning with “A” or “B”. There was no file for Albert Tingue.

3 / 8 / 2017

I sent an e-mail thanking The Archivist for her efforts.

 

Less than a month after my initial request, an Archivist had searched an index for this ancestor, then had ordered and examined a box held offsite. If she had located a file, she would have informed me of the copying fees. Although NARA did not have retain any records for Albert H. Tingue in RG 15, it proved an interesting effort to learn more about this Record Group.

You can read more about the homes in the NARA Prolog article “Genealogy Notes: The National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers.”

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4 Ways To Find A Genealogical Society

There are many reasons to join a local genealogical society. Societies have knowledgeable members and sponsor educational events. Even if you do not have ancestors who lived in your current location, you may find members researching those locations. Finding people who share your interest in genealogy can be very energizing!

But, have you considered contacting or joining a society in a location where your ancestors lived? The society may have useful resources or participate in projects that could benefit your research. There may be experts in the society to help you with local research.

 

1. The Federation of Genealogical Societies 

The FGS maintains a list of member societies. You can search by name or use the dropdown box to select your state.

 

 

2. Search the listing at D’addezio.com

D’addezio.com hosts a Directory of Historical Societies in the United States, Canada and Australia. These listings include genealogical societies.

Click on the link for your state of interest to see a list of genealogical and historical societies. Many of the listings just show mailing addresses, so you may have to Google the name to look for an online presence.

 

 

3. Use Google to find a society.

Use search terms that include your state or city and genealogical society
Example:  maryland genealogical society
If the state has two words, use quotes around the state’s name:
“new york” genealogical society

 

4. Search Facebook For A Society
You use search terms on Facebook, just as you do in Google, to learn about societies.
Alternately, you can download the free list compiled by Katherine R. Willson from her Social Media Genealogy website. As of February 2017 this PDF has 308 pages with more than 10,600 links. Note, you will only find nonprofit organizations in this list.

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RootsTech 2017 Videos and Syllabi

Rootstech 2017 has come and gone, but we can all still enjoy it!

Have you wanted to watch the videos and download the syllabi from RootsTech 2017? Whether or not you attended this year’s RootsTech, watching the videos is educational and the syllabi can be a great resource.

To watch the videos for each day of RootsTech, go to:

https://www.rootstech.org/videos-wed

https://www.rootstech.org/videos-thu

https://www.rootstech.org/videos-fri

https://www.rootstech.org/videos-sat

You can also switch between the days by using the menu in the upper right corner of the webpage.

(2016 videos can be found at: https://www.rootstech.org/videos.)

The syllabi are not posted on the RootsTech website; you will need to use an app to access them. The good news is that will stay available indefinitely on that app. The better news is that you can view the app on a webpage: http://app.core-apps.com/rootstech2017/

 

 

Click on Conference Schedule. From there, you can browse by Day or by Track.

 

 

After you select the way you want to view the sessions, you will see the lists of sessions.

Look at the star next to the title of the class. If there is a PDF icon to the right of the star, then the speaker did provide a syllabus for the class.

 

 

Click on the arrow to the right to view the information for the session and scroll to the bottom. At the bottom is a Resources section, you will see the “Handouts”. Click on the arrow next to Handouts to view the titles of the handouts.

 

 

Click on the title and the PDF opens up. You can read, print or save the handout (syllabus).

 

 

If there is more than one handout, use the browser’s back arrow to repeat the process, clicking on the second handout.

 

 

When I wrote to the folks at RootTech tech support, they responded that the handouts (syllabi) will be posted online soon. But you do not have to wait until they are!

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