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USAHEC Visit – Day 2
We came back to photograph more of the contents of the folders. That went quickly. There was some extra time, so one of my research assistants decided to research his Civil War veterans. There were no images of his ancestors, but he did find ones from the same regiment and the same home town. We even had time for some made-to-order lunch at the Café Cumberland. There was time to visit the exhibits in the Soldier Experience Gallery. Exhibit in the Soldier Experience Gallery, USAHEC Exhibit...
read moreUSAHEC Visit – Day 1
We entered USAHEC, and asked the Information Desk to direct us to the Archives. We reported to the Reference Desk. We were issued a key for a locker, and our Research Cards were created. The Specialist had to take my list and translate it into the locations of the material. Then we took the list to the Circulation Desk. The materials were brought out to us after a very short wait. This box held SGT Mansfield’s diary. I scanned it for the events and dates that were included, and to see if Joseph McMahon was mentioned by...
read moreUSAHEC Visit – Homework
The U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center (USAHEC) holds a tremendous amount of information that may assist you in your research about U.S. Army ancestors. They may not have an image of your ancestor, or papers with you ancestor’s name, but there may be material from contemporaries that will shed light on your ancestor’s experience. The Staff is extremely knowledgeable and is available to help you. There are books about military history, and Army publications. There are extensive collection of unit histories and photo archives. There are...
read moreNARA II, College Park Visit – Day 3
We returned to NARA several days later to view the boxes in RG120 that held records from the 51st Pioneer Infantry. In this part of the record set, the documents were arranged by company. There were twelve boxes in all. (Company B was on the desk.) One of the interesting things was the correspondence books. Before computer indexing, people had to know how to locate items in their records. I have used index books for land and probate records. (See the tutorials.) There was my Grandfather’s name as...
read moreNARA II, College Park Visit – Day 2
Day 2 I went directly to the Research Consultation room, and got help to order the RG120 boxes to find the ones for the 51st Pioneer Infantry. Since there are limits on the number of boxes, from a number of areas, I went back to the RG120 boxes to copy the interesting documents. This required a stop at the copying desk for them to approve the copies. Those documents required declassification markings when copying and photographing. The records will be held for three days, unless you sign to return them. I returned those five...
read moreNARA II, College Park Visit – Day 1
You have to have a clear idea what you are researching. I went in with the topic of the 51st Pioneer Infantry, and brought my homework with me. An important number to know before you go is the Record Group. You need to know that the topic numbers do not correspond with the identifying information for the boxes. A Specialist at the Consultation Room will help you locate the correct binder containing the finding aid for the Record Group. When you discuss your research interest with the specialist, you may receive suggestions about other record...
read moreNARA II, College Park Visit – Homework
In this coming series of posts, I will be discussing my latest visits to NARA to view WWI military records. If you live close enough to the National Archives at College Park, and they are holding records about your ancestors, get out your GPS and go! The steps of you visit are outlined in my Informal Guide to visiting NARA II at College Park (coming soon). Homework I did my homework before the visit by searching the NARA website for documents relating to the 51st Pioneer Infantry. My search terms were “51st...
read more3 Reasons to use WorldCat (and a Tutorial)
Have you been using WorldCat? If not, you need to be. WorldCat is the world’s largest library catalog. It spans many libraries, including those at the Family History Library, the Allen County Public Library, and the New England Historic Genealogical Society. WorldCat lets you search for publications of interest. It lets you save lists of the publications. You can also save your searches to run them again at a future time. Last, but not least, WorldCat helps you find where the materials are located. You can enter your zip code and find...
read more3 Things to Do at Graduation Time
Graduations are a great time to celebrate! They are a time for families to gather, and when families gather they share memories. Thinking about graduations made me recall that Mrs. Lindsey, wife of New York City’s Major John Lindsey, attended my graduation from preschool. My Brother recalled that author Frank McChort spoke at my PhD graduation. Capture the memories. Have the graduate write, or record, about his or her favorite memories about the school experience. Capture others’ memories. While you are remembering, list the graduations...
read more3 Things to do on Find A Grave Today
If you are not using Find A Grave, you should! If you have not used it in a while, you should use it again. 1) Search for an Ancestor You can search all the listings by selecting the link “Search 145 million grave records” from the Find A Grave Home Page. (Since Find A Grave is growing all the time, the number may vary depending on when you search.) Alternately, you can search within a cemetery by choosing the “Search for a cemetery”, then entering the name of the cemetery or the country and state to find a specific cemetery. When you...
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