Browse Special Collections
It was a frustrating day looking for information on my parents’ marriage, which took place on Long Island, New York, in the 1930s. Anyway I decided to take a break and randomly cruise the various websites. I decided to browse through the Hempstead (New York) Library Special Collections.

The Special Collections department is home to numerous older photos of Hempstead. I thought it would be fun to see the places that my parents probably frequented. One of the photos was from 1932 and showed several policemen standing in front of a movie theater.

One of the policemen images jumped right out at me. It was my father! My father had served on the force during this period and this was the first photo I had ever seen with him and fellow officers. It was an exciting find–especially since I wasn’t even looking for him in any of the photos.

A couple of points: One is that browsing can lead to finds. Second, don’t forget those special collections in libraries all across the country.
 
Dr. R. S. “Bart” Bartanowicz
Venice, Florida

What Did You Do When You Were My Age, Grandma?
I like the tip about writing a paragraph about your departed love ones, but let’s not stop there. If you have grandchildren, write them a little blurb about what you did when you were their age. Try to write one each year for their birthdays. I would have been thrilled if my parents had done this for me. Each generation has so many changes. I’m only fifty-five, but I still like to tell my nieces and granddaughter about when I went to school and had to wear dresses every day. What about party phone lines? There’s so much that just gets lost.

Ruth Anne Goos Halligan
Vallejo, California

Saving Quarters
Like most researchers, I have a budget for my research costs. The increases in certified copies of vital statistics can make a big dent in that budget. I decided to adopt a plan from something I had always done anyway.
 
Whenever I get change from a purchase, I never spend that change. When I get home, I put the change into a piggy bank. Several times a year my husband empties the bank and rolls the money. That money has been used in the past for printer cartridges. However, I have a new bank and I drop my quarters only into it. The rest of the change goes to the cartridge bank. The quarter bank is for purchasing certified copies of documents. It might take me a while to get $20 or so, but quarters add up quickly and you don’t even miss them.
 
Lindy Brammer

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