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This is a great time to be a genealogist. Nearly every day brings news of some additional material having been packaged and made available online.
Family Search, the online repository of the massive holdings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Family History Library, just recently announced the latest batch of materials it’s put out for the public.
The latest release contains millions of items ranging from Australian ship records through Paraguayan Catholic Church records to South African probate records. Other records are from Austria, England, Ireland, Italy and Peru, and there’s even an index to Find a Grave.
What’s just as amazing is that this trove announced only a few days ago was the second big batch of largely international records announced in September. The Family History Library no longer deals in microfilm. So, the procedure is now accessing material online rather than visiting the church’s family history centers, though they are still available.
Remember that the process of putting all the old microfilm data online is still in the early stages. It might take time for you to access material you are looking for. Go to www.familysearch.org.
Another interesting resource is the Gjenvick Archives, which contains a lot of ship passenger lists 1881-1961. You can access the lists by year or by steamship line.
The lists are far from exhaustive. In fact, the site says that it’s still a work in progress. Those lists, the site says, were often given to passengers as souvenirs.
Side issues on the site include historical information about the lines, the ships and the destinations, as well as photos and text about conditions on board the ships. You’ll also find links to other historical and genealogy-related sites of interest. Go to www.gjenvick.com.
While we’re celebrating the new, let’s not forget the research sources that have been around for a long time. The U.S. Genweb Project, an interlocking collection of local and regional genealogy information websites, many with message boards, is now 21 years old. The local entry is the Luzerne County Genweb, most easily accessed by searching for it by name.
Genealogy on TV: The new season of “Finding Your Roots,” the popular show in which the genealogies of famous people are traced, begins its fourth season tomorrow on Public Broadcasting. Among the celebrities scheduled this season are Ana Navarro, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, Larry David, Garrison Keillor, Mary Steenburgen, Scarlett Johansson, Aziz Ansari, Bryant Gumbel and William H. Macy. Locally, the show will run at 8 p.m. on WVIA-TV.
Open Records: A new Pennsylvania law to take effect Nov. 3 gives adoptees the right to access their birth certificates more easily. Previously, a judge could intervene and deny the adoptee the right to see the certificate. That provision has been removed. However, the birth parents may request that their names be removed from the certificate. Health information must still be provided on the birth certificate.
News Notes: Congratulations to the Luzerne County Historical Society on its new display detailing the Tropical Storm Agnes flood of Wyoming Valley in 1972. The photos are a mixture of the familiar and the new, all throwing light on the worst disaster the community ever suffered.
Congratulations also to the Hoyt Memorial Library of Kingston for setting up a display of the growing number of local history picture books published by Arcadia. The books offer fascinating visual insight into town histories, ethnicities, personalities, events and themes.