Blog
NARA Record Retrieval: Interview with Deidre Erin Denton of Twisted Twigs on Gnarled Branches
Twisted Twigs On Gnarled Branches Genealogy has been changing the way researchers receive documents held by the National Archives. It is a NARA Record Retrieval Service. They perform access to records held at Archive 1 (Washington D.C.), Archive 2 (College Park, Maryland), the National Archives in St. Louis, Missouri, and the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC). Since NARA and the NPRC have been working to restore many of the Army or Air Force service record veteran’s military records that were “lost” in the 1973 Fire,...
read moreReview of “They Shall Not Grow Old”
This week I went to see the limited showing of Peter Jackson’s “They Shall Not Grow Old”. By now, you probably know that the film has been colorized, and dubbed, all with great technical care. But the movie is so much more than that. It is an experience. Mr. Jackson is an engaging story teller who has done phenomenal work in bringing this Great War footage to us differently than has ever been attempted. For him, it was a labor of love, dedicated especially to his Grandfather. The story followed British soldiers from home to...
read moreResearching Texas WWI Ancestors
Learning the military organization for your ancestor who served in WWI is important. With that information, you can find out what your ancestor did including duties, travels and battles. For An important fact to know about your ancestor who served in WWI is the military organization. With that information, you can find out what your ancestor did including duties, travels and battles. For Texas WWI ancestors, you can access Texas, World War I Records, 1917-1920 here. This collection includes service cards and other military records For...
read moreCamp Doughboy 2018: After Action Report
The 3rd annual Camp Doughboy WWI History Weekend at Governors Island National Monument was held on 15-16 September 2018. This was the biggest free public WWI exhibition in the U.S. this year, and was attended by 10.000 visitors. The weather was sunny and warm both days. My mission was to man a table where people could ask how they could learn about their WWI ancestors. On that table I displayed an informative poster, the WWI scrapbook of my Grandfather that I created (rather than inherited) and WWI Victory medals. I was also assigned to give...
read more7 Ways to Research WWI Veterans in Your Community
Seventy First Regiment Leaves for Camp of N.Y. Division.(NARA RG165-WW-288C-067) Congratulations on taking the first step of wanting to learn more! Ryan Hegg of the WWI Centennial Commission for New York City asked me if I believed that the WWI Generation was really the Greatest Generation. What a thought provoking question! Ryan makes a great case. WWI was a defining point in our Country’s history as a participant on the world stage. Theirs was a generation who decided to go overseas to fight the Great War for Civilization. They...
read moreResearching North Carolina WWI Ancestors
Learning the military organization for your ancestor who served in WWI is important. With that information, you can find out what your ancestor did including duties, travels and battles. For North Carolina WWI ancestors, you can access North Carolina, World War I Service Cards, 1917-1919 https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/2568864 You will need to sign up for a free account with FamilySearch.org to be able to search and view results. FamilySearch is a resource that will be useful for you, as it contains many records online and...
read moreNARA’s History Hub
Have you used the History Hub at the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)? Who better to ask about NARA Records than NARA itself! The History Hub is a place on the web where you can visit and ask questions in different communities at NARA. Do you have a question about finding military records or want to learn more about a topic? Then one of the related communities might be a place to look for information that has been posted, or post a question of your own. To view content and ask questions, you will need to register for a...
read moreInterview with Historian and Author Alexander F. Barnes
Recently, I had a chance to ask WWI Historian Alexander F. Barnes about his latest book, “Forgotten Soldiers of World War I: America’s Immigrant Doughboys” written with Peter Belmonte. In it, he discusses the impact our immigrant ancestors made by fighting in WWI. 1) What inspired you to write this book? In 2014 I wrote a book called “To Hell with the Kaiser: America Prepares for War 1916-1918” in which I described how the American Army was organized, trained, and deployed to fight in France. I spent a lot of time...
read moreHave you checked out TimeMapper?
Recently, one of the people I follow on Twitter mentioned using TimeMapper to create timelines with maps. If you have attended one of my lectures, or read my books, you will know how important it is to build timelines. Maps are also vital to understanding our ancestors. So imagine how exciting it would be to combine timelines and maps together. TimeMapper is a is free, open-source tool that is a product of the Open Knowledge Foundation Labs. TimeMapper. can be found here. On the main TimeMapper page there is a 1 minute tutorial to show you...
read more3 Ways to Find WWI Officer Experience Reports on Fold3
This week I have been working with an interesting record set, the WWI Officer Experience Reports-AEF on Fold3. These records are reports from officers about engineering activities in the AEF. Although there are names in these records, their usefulness goes beyond individual names because they hold information about the military organizations. The names are those of the officers filing the reports to the Chief Engineer of their Army, but the activities are those of the whole military organization to which they were attached. If you had a WWI...
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