This and That, from Juliana

Apart from the posting of the July 24 newsletter over the weekend, this will be my last blog post for the next week. I’m taking a little time off to catch up on things at home and spend some time with my daughter before the summer escapes. I hope you’re all enjoying the summer (or winter down under) and having some luck with your family history searches!

Last night I had a few minutes to browse through some of the news feeds I get and found a few items you might be interested in.

  • Jewish Genealogy Conference in New York. The 26th IAJGS International Conference on Jewish Genealogy will be held, 13-18 August 2006 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City. For more information, see the conference website at: www.jgsny2006.org/
  • The Pascagoula Library in Mississippi is preparing to reopen after losing everything on the bottom floor to Hurricane Katrina. An artible online at KLOX-TV mentions that they have a Family History Department, but it’s unclear how much damage that part of the library sustained. The complete article can be found online at the KLOX website.
  • Two books on the history of Fall River, Massachusetts are back after being out of print for a century and can be purchased from the Fall River Historical Society Museum Shop. The two books are A History of Fall River, by Henry M. Fenner (1906) and Fall River and its Industries, published by Federeick M. Peck and Henry H. Earl (1877). Both appear to contain significant biographical information and background information, and the latter includes genealogies of four prominent families in the mill industry, including that of the infamous Lizzie Borden. More information and contact information for the Museum Shop can be found in a Herald News article online. (Note: I was unable to locate anything about the books on the historical society site, so you’ll have to contact the museum through the information in the article.)
  • I ran across an interesting article in the travel section of the Chicago Sun Times about black colonials in the Continental Army, which the article says was “the most integrated American military until President Harry Truman desegregated the troops anew for the Korean War, nearly 200 years later.” Re-enactors at Valley Forge Historical Park (Valley Forge, Pennsylvania) will portray black colonials like Hannah Till, a slave who cooked for George Washington and his troops that fateful winter. The article can be found online at the Chicago Sun-Times website.

I’ll be back in the office on the last day of July. I hope you all have an enjoyable week!

Juliana

4 thoughts on “This and That, from Juliana

  1. Thanks, Juliana, for mentioning the re-opening of the Pascagoula, Mississippi library. I did some valuable family history research there before Katrina. The article says that the first floor of the library was ruined, but the family history section was on the second floor. I hope that means the damage there was minimal. In addition to a lot of nice primary and secondary materials, this library had a very knowledgable local-history librarian. How I hope they have been able to keep her, in their reduced condition! The downstairs books on local history must have been lost, but I hope they can be replaced. This library deserves our support! Hope some readers can help – and think about a contribution to your own lib as well.

  2. If you go to the Society’s Gift Shop link you will find info on these two books and many others.

  3. If you go to the Society’s Gift Shop link you will find info on these two books plus many others.

  4. In regards to Lizzie Borden, I read a book on her by a Harold Brown about 10 yrs ago. According to Mr Brown he has the transcript from the trial and other information from eye witness’s that say Lizzie did not kill her parents. She knows who did. I believe that if you read his book you may find the name of the person , who did. He may be on the cencus back then. Worth following up on.

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