Butte-Silver Bow Public Archives serves researchers!

The Great Falls Tribune [Montana] has a wonderful article about the Butte-Silver Bow Public Archives, the holdings, and the mission of the repository. This is the way I wish all localities felt about historical researchers. That's what a genealogist does. We are searching for the history of our ancestors, collateral family, and the place in which they lived.

The article does have a few errors, but overall it is really great! I still have no connections to the area, but wish I did!

http://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/life/my-montana/2014/10/12/butte-archives-solves-mysteries-past/17061571/

p.s. The Butte-Silver Bow archives website is https://buttearchives.org/

Minnesota Genealogy: Finding Divorce Records

Learning that a family member may have been divorced 50, 75, or 150 years ago might yield a temporary shock to your system. It might also yield a plethora of family history details.

Divorce in the past is different from divorce today in some ways. Societal and family pressures may have caused a family or individual to hide the fact that a divorce took place. An abandoned woman may have listed herself as still married or as a widow and never filed for a legal divorce. Some couples just lived apart without benefit of a legal divorce. In Native American communities, tribal culture often considered divorce as simple as the couple separating and being involved in a new relationship. This practice veered toward official court proceedings in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. 

The impetus for consulting divorce or marriage dissolution files varies. For most family historians, the reason is not salacious, but to gain additional family details and to help understand family relationships. I once had a

University of Minnesota Archives and Special Collections

The opening two sentences of a 17 July article in the Minnesota Daily, the newspaper of the University of Minnesota's main campus, tells the story of why we still need to visit such places in our family history research.


"In the last five years, the University of Minnesota Archives has digitized about 1 million pages of records."

"But that’s only 1 percent of its total content."

I have seen the underground storage of many of these materials and just that part alone was impressive. The article further stated, "The University Libraries’ Archives and Special Collections Department houses 16

State archives newsletters hold value for genealogists

Have you checked the newsletters produced by the state archives in your ancestral states? The content varies, but may include:

• list of recent acquisitions
• bios of staff members (may tell you which person is familiar with specific collections)
• descriptions of collections
• notes on state history
• indexing projects
• digitization projects

Both the current and past issue are valuable. Many are in paper format but some have older issues online. Some archives deliver their newsletters electronically today. 

These are some you might want to check:

• Pennsylvania State Archives
• Missouri State Archives
• Maryland State Archives
• California State Archives
• Oregon State Records Center and Archives Older issues only
  

"Five years later, Iowa still in need of state archivist"

My news feed had that headline to an article this morning. The article states "Recent data compiled by the Council of State Archivists, a national organization of state records executives, indicates that Iowa ranks near the bottom of the nation’s 50 states in its commitment to state records preservation. In fact, Iowa is the only state in the nation without a state archivist and no pending action to fill the nearly five year vacancy."

Guide to using Archives

The Society of American Archivists has a helpful online guide Using Archives: A Guide to Effective Research. It has many great tips for potential users. I have read most of it and felt like I was reading my own advice when I teach about the gems found in archives and special collections departments. It's worth reading.

Several entries from the Table of Contents

• What Are Archives and How Do They Differ from Libraries?
• Types of Archives
• Finding and Evaluating Archives
• Planning to Visit an Archives
• Typical Usage Guidelines in Archival Repositories
• Visiting an Archives

Sacramento Archives Crawl

What a great idea. Tomorrow, Saturday October 1, 2011, the archival community in Sacramento, California is sponsoring the free Sacramento Archives Crawl. This is a neat opportunity that appeared in my news feed from the Sacramento Bee newspaper. "Four historical organizations are partnering in the crawl and include the California State Archives, California State Library, The Central Library, and the Center for Sacramento History." The public gets to see a lot of behind the scenes activity. Free parking is provided, too.

Read more: http://blogs.sacbee.com/ticket/archives/2011/09/archive-crawl-w.html#ixzz1ZU1Hl1U8

For more details check out this blog: http://www.sacarchivescrawl.blogspot.com/

I have heard of art crawls and similar things for a group of bars and restaurants. Love that it's occurring in the area of history. Wish I was going to be in Sacramento tomorrow. I have researched at three of these places but would love to see more behind the scenes.

Pennsylvania State Archives closing for 4 months

According to a press release, the Pennsylvania State Archives will close from Oct. 18 through Feb. 3, 2011, for needed renovations. October 16th is the last day researchers can visit the facility in person, but the staff will continue to respond to telephone, e-mail, and postal inquiries during the renovations.

"Barbara Franco, PHMC executive director, said the $250,000 project will expand and modernize the existing lobby and public research areas. A larger vestibule is required to facilitate access for people with disabilities and will include automatic doors. The work will provide more space for the increasing number of researchers, as well as new wiring and additional computers to improve access to the collections. Security systems will also be upgraded."

A good reason to double check with a research repository before any research trip. Visit the PA State Archives website to learn more.

NY State Archives INCREASES hours

Yes, you read that correctly. The New York State Archives in Albany is adding Saturday hours as of this Saturday, 16 October 2010. This is wonderful in contrast to the many archives, historical societies, libraries, and other research facilities that have seriously reduced hours. This archives is open full days so that researchers have time to order, study, and copy records.

The archives is located in the Cultural Education Center building. The NY State Archives website is at http://www.archives.nysed.gov/aindex.shtml.  "The New York State Archives is located in the Cultural Education Center (CEC) in Albany, New York. The CEC is at the south end of the Empire State Plaza, across Madison Avenue (Route 20) from the Plaza (at the opposite end from the Capitol). Public access to the Archives is gained via the Reference Room" which is located on the eleventh floor of the CEC and is open Monday through Friday 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

On Saturdays, free public parking will be available in the Madison Avenue parking lots adjacent to the CEC.  Directions and parking information is available on the New York State Museum website at http://www.nysm.nysed.gov/information/general/muswhere.html.

The archives as a great Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/#!/nysarchives.

I have a list of things to do at that facility if I ever have the chance to get there.

Researching Delaware family history?

According to DoverPost.com (October 1st) The Delaware Public Archives has produced a series of twelve videos that provide info about the holdings and research at the Archives. Each video is two minutes long. Click here to view the videos.The topics include Visiting the Archives, Manuscript Genealogies, Vital Statistics, Tombstone Records, Photographs, and Orphans Court Records.

Thomas M. Summers, Manage of Outreach Services for the Archives, is the man you see in the videos. Also check out their Facebook page and blog. All of these along with the Delaware Public Archives website provide extensive details about their holdings and research.

Makes me wish I had some Delaware ancestry.

These are my favorite things about research repositories

Wouldn't it be nice if we could take the most useful aspects of each of our favorite research places and combine them so that each place would have all that we love? (Yes, I know about reality, but I can dream, can't I?) My ideal library, archive, and historical society would have:

• Copy cards so I don't have to carry change
• Space and plugs for laptop computers -- even next to the microfilm readers
• Wireless internet accessibility
• Lockers big enough for our bags that we must lock up
• My favorite staff people
• Staff that isn't overworked
• Finding aids that tell more about individual collections (online and off)
• Comprehensive online catalog
• Place to sit and reorganize your work for the day (where you can use the materials you had to put in the locker)
• Onsite or close by place to eat
• Record or book retrieval service that is not too slow
• More materials on open shelves
• Self-copiers
• OK to bring in a flat bed scanner and a digital camera
• Clear guidelines posted to remind us of them
• Record retrieval forms that don't take so long to fill out
• Record retrieval request online (how many times do we need to fill our our name and address!)
• Parking onsite or nearby and well lit
• Public transportation at the door
• Self-retrieval microforms
• Clean and nearby restrooms (not on a different floor of the building)
• Reasonable security features

I know there must be more features I love and will post those in the future. Do you have any suggestions for the perfect place to research? 

Family in southwestern Kansas?

The April 17th issue of the Pittsburg, Kansas Morning Sun has an article that is one of my favorite types. It tells about an old record book being turned over to an institution for preservation. In this case, it's a 1923 jail register for Crawford County, Kansas that has been sent to the Special Collections Department of the Axe Library at Pittsburgh State University.

Alas, my own Kansas connections were not in that part of Kansas. The preservation of this volume is a reminder to continually check online catalogs and finding aids for repositories of historical materials. A book of records, a set of old letters, or some loose papers found in the back of a filing cabinet may get turned over to a library, historical society, or archive. A collection that was previously not catalogued or not fully described may now be. 

Even figure skaters have an archives

While I sit here watching the figure skating at the 2010 Olympics, I decided to check out the World Figure Skating Musuem and Hall of Fame. There is an Archives! I figured there would be as they exist for many sports.

From the website: The photograph collection of nearly 20,000 images includes many early tintype and glass negatives. Nearly 1,500 books in more than a dozen languages form the backbone of the Museum's library, along with complete sets of North American and European magazines, newspapers, scrapbooks, private letters, programs, sheet music and historical greeting cards. 

Do you have a figure skating competitor anytime from the 1920s forward? This is the place to contact. Though I would wait a while as I am sure they have been, and continue to be, quite impacted by reporters, broadcasters, and others needing data during the Olympics. It has the "most extensive collection of figure skating materials in the world."

A grade school friend did compete in figure skating -- I wonder if she is represented in the materials that are housed in Colorado Springs, Colorado?

Diocese of St. Augustine archive hosts oldest American documents

The Catholic News Agency recently distributed a story with that title about the Diocese of St. Augustine in Florida. The opening paragraph stated "The oldest extant European documents written in U.S. continental territory are now hosted at the Archives of the Diocese of St. Augustine."

The story also said "One of the earliest documents, dated Jan. 24, 1594, is a handwritten record by Fr. Diego Escobar de Sambrana. It describes the marriage of soldier Gabriel Hernandez to Catalina de Valdes in St. Augustine." So why can't we find "modern" marriage records for some of our ancestors! The material in the archives was brought back to one place from a variety of other archives.

On September 22d, a new archives building was dedicated. "Curators intend to digitize the archives so that they can be easily and safely used by researchers." Unfortunately, the article does not give any time line for that process. Diocesan archives information can be found here and that includes their list of rules for researchers. "The diocese maintains Episcopal archives (1857-1967) and the parish registers of the Cathedral-Basilica (1594-1881). The archives also handles requests for genealogical research and the history of Catholicism in Florida."

The new Archivist of the United States is now on the job!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 13, 2009

DAVID FERRIERO SWORN IN AS 10TH ARCHIVIST OF THE UNITED STATES

Washington, DC. . . David Ferriero, the former Andrew W. Mellon Director of the New York Public Libraries and a leader in the field of research librarianship, was sworn in today as the tenth Archivist of the United States at a small ceremony at the National Archives at College
Park. Mr. Ferriero will move to Washington and assume his duties full-time in the very near future.

At his swearing-in ceremony, Mr. Ferriero said, "I'm very excited about being here. I am looking forward to jumping in with both feet to work with the staff at the National Archives on the important issues that we face in a world increasingly dependent upon information and
technology."

October is Archives Month, Family History Month, and a few other important designations

Among many other valuable and some strange designations, October is Archives Month, Family History Month, and Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Archives Month
Visit a local, state, national, religious, ethnic or other archive this month. Thank the archivists for taking care of historical records. Tell then you appreciate all that they do to preserve them. Acknowledge that they are generally working under stressful situations today as their budgets have been cut, hours slashed, and many other staff members are no longer employed there. Before you visit, check the archives' website to verify parking, hours, and check for an online catalog or other finding aids so you are better prepared for your visit.

Check out this interesting Blog centered on Wisconsin. I just saw this on another list I read. Lots to read about.

Family History Month
Does your genealogical or historical society have some special events or classes to celebrate family history month? Check the newsletters and websites for these organizations for notice of such activities.

This year to help celebrate October as Archives Month and Family History Month, plan some days where you drag yourself away from the computer and visit an archive and experience the joys of using original records. Nothing compares to holding an actual deed, will, or tax record in your hands or reading an old diary.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month
While you are thinking about all that, be sure that you do monthly self-exams and make sure you are up-to-date on mammograms or ask that question of the women in your life. I can still remember my mother sitting in my living room in the early 1970s and saying" by the way, I am going to the hospital for a mastectomy tomorrow." Early detection is important.

Finding manuscript and archival libraries

Is there a place in your family's ancestral county in Minnesota that has information that might be helpful in your family history search? Is there a university library special collections department back in Massachusetts that might hold some old family papers? How about a college archive that holds old student records? Is there a separate archive for a county government? Many websites link to such repositories of original records, rare books, and other research materials. These are a few that lead you to specific places. I want to visit all of the places and look in the original records for family history. I know that in my lifetime I won't be able to do that and also realize that all these places hold will not be digitized, indexed, and online. Have you ever held a dusty, faded leather bound volume of court records in your hands? Has your research uncovered an original diary that clears up some family stories?

• Repositories of Primary Sources
• Directory of State and Territorial Archives and Records Programs
• Cyndi's List of Libraries, Archives, and Museums
• Directory of Historical Records Repositories Hawaii
• Directory of Archival and Manuscript Repositories in the Delaware Valley
• Directory of Corporate Archives in the U.S. and Canada
• Directory of State and Territorial Archives and Records Programs
• County and Municipal Archives in Tennessee
• Directory of Archives and Manuscript Repositories in the St. Louis Area
  

A sign of the times and a call for help

I love it when things grow by leaps and bounds. Unfortunately, this time it isn't something to love. Historical societies, archives, state libraries, public libraries, and other places where family historians do their research are floundering. The number of those floundering due to drastic budget and staffing cuts in today's economy is what is growing by leaps and bounds. It's impossible to miss each new cut if you read genealogy and history newsletters, websites, ezines, blogs, and even Facebook. Many of my colleagues post such things on Facebook.

My own Minnesota Historical Society has done some of that staff cutting in 2009 and needed the support of historians and genealogists. One of the latest concerns is that of the excellent Michigan Historical Library and Archives in Lansing, Michigan. As in so many states and at the federal level in the U.S. and other countries, history is being lost when there are not funds to house and preserve it.

My friends Shirley Hodges and Liz Kerstens who are both Michigan residents are among those quite concerned about the recent changes in preserving that state's history. They are among those who are keeping the topic alive on Facebook. On July 13th, Governor Jennifer Granholm issued an executive order closing the Michigan Department of History, Arts and Libraries. Its functions are to be distributed among seven other departments and some outside groups, including possibly Michigan State University. The archives would be under the Department of Natural Resources! For more of the details check out Leland Meitzler's GenealogyBlog.com

Shirley has written an article on the issue and help needed in the July 23d issue of Global Gazette. She has asked her colleagues to please share it "with anyone who might be interested in the situation that we are facing regarding the Library of Michigan. We need all of the help that we can get."

She further added: "If you don't already subscribe to the Gazette, you should do so. It is free and comes via e-mail. It is published by Global Genealogy and has lots of wonderful articles and genealogy tips. They are wonderful friends to the genealogical community." Click here for details.

An archive in Germany collapses -- literally

When I got home from work today, I read the news headlines that I receive each day via Google. A headline from Spiegel Online International chilled me: "History in Ruins: Archive Collapse Disaster for Historians."

The building housing the city archive of Cologne, Germany literally collapsed. This archive is the largest municipal archive in Germany and had shelves of manuscripts, photos, books, and artifacts that would run twenty miles long if laid end to end. Among the thousands of documents are items as early as 922 A.D, receipts from the 1300s and 1400s, 700 years of city council minutes, papers of well-known Germans, 104,000 maps, and 500,000 maps.

Archivists and staff made it out safely, but it is feared that two residents of an adjacent building may not have survived. The 14 pictures at the link above are devastating. Speculation is that work underground on a subway system may have caused the disaster.

Are you in the Los Angeles area this Saturday, October 25th?

I wish I could be in the Lost Angeles area this Saturday, October 25th. The 3rd annual L.A. As Subject archives bazaar, Archives Live!, will be held at the University of Southern California Davidson Conference Center.

It is a full day devoted to showing off Los Angeles history “whether they are working on a scholarly project or family genealogy.” [I always cringe at such a differentiation as do many other genealogists.]

Among the exhibitors are many of the city's archives and libraries. These include collections such as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Autry National Center, Los Angeles City Archives, Los Angeles Public Library, and UCLA Library Special Collections. Also represented will be the Boyle Heights Historical Society; Chinese Historical Society of Southern California; Filipino-American Library; Japanese American National Museum; LA84 Foundation--Sports Library; Mayme A. Clayton Library and Museum; ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives; Orange Empire Railway Museum; Society of California Archivists and the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center Library and Archive and many others.

The bazaar will also include screenings of films, presentations on genealogy, teaching sessions and book signings by several authors.

And to make this special day during Archives Month even better, the event is free, but parking is not. [I am guessing that there must be some big sponsors and that the cost to be an exhibitor is high.]

For more information:

http://www.usc.edu/libraries/archives/arc/lasubject/

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/thedailymirror/2008/10/coming-attracti.html

http://www.usc.edu/libraries/archives/arc/lasubject/documents/ARCHIVESLIVEFINALPROGRAM.pdf