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Clayton Town CrierJuly 2014Your source for all the news from Clayton Library Volume 7 Issue 4 Clayton Library Center for Genealogical Research 5300 Caroline, Houston, TX 77004 832-393-2600
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b You never know when things are gonna go. I have a favorite tree on the Clayton Library property. This tree (see below) is a beautiful palm tree or pineapple tree as I call it. This tree is a landmark in the Museum District (where the library is located). People ALWAYS take pictures with it. It is such an unusual tree. This tree gave off sprouts that were growing into new strong trees. The palm tree sprouts were becoming huge, not unusual here in Texas, since everything is bigger. I had been very protective of the tree and the sprouts. You probably know where this is going. Today, I drove into the parking lot. The big tree is still there, thank goodness, I did not audibly gasp. However, the Parks Department has pulled out what they were calling itinerant tree sprouts! The new palm trees are gone! Although I am not a gardener, I do understand pruning and weeding, but for goodness sake the sprouts are gone. Now, I have nothing to judge the parking of my car by! Or conversely, the big palm tree has no descendants to leave behind. The point of this story is that you never know when things or people are going to disappear. With life’s finite time, it is even more important to get the stories of our families from our family members. You don’t want to find out one day that the sprout or grown tree that you love is gone, and you didn’t get the memories or stories from it that you wanted. The recent celebration of D-Day and other World War II events are poignant reminders of how when a memory is lost, so is history. The last of the original 29 Navajo Code Talkers passed away. That eye-witness to our military history is gone forever. Now any new story about the first class of code talkers must be considered at best a secondary source, as it will need to be compiled from the primary and secondary sources left behind. There is no one left who can give a firsthand, or primary, account of what it was like to be among the Navajo Code Talkers who created and implemented the code during WWII. Any story left untold by these men will be untold forever. If we don’t talk to our families and get their stories recorded, written down, and passed on, sprouts won’t grow and families will be lost. As you do your research, listen to stories, go to repositories, and visit places, keep a history, research log, or journal of that research activity. What did you do? What did you look at? Where did you visit? What did you discover? Who did you talk to? What were your research goals? Keeping track of your research, getting stories, and making memories is all part of family history. It is not just about chasing names and dates. It is about listening to, sharing with, and leaving, a part of you and your family for those who come behind us, so they know who came before them. Sue Kaufman Clayton Library Manager
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Digital Newspaper DatabasesNewspapers are wonderful sources of genealogical information. In addition to the familiar “vital record” data that might be found in obituaries and birth/marriage announcements, newspapers will often contain stories or blurbs about our ancestors’ dealings in their local communities - perhaps listing them as members of a particular community group, or simply as a bystander or witness to a newsworthy event. These little-known stories are easier to discover with the help of online digital newspapers, especially those that use text-conversion software like optical character recognition ( OCR) to covert an image of a newspaper into a searchable text document, enabling researchers to search for a surname with the click of a button. But how many of these newspapers are actually available online, and how does one begin to search through all of the various online newspapers that are out there on the internet? This article seeks to answer some of these questions. Digital Newspapers Available Through Houston Public LibraryStart at the HPL home page ( www.houstonlibrary.org) and click on the “Research” tab at the top of the page. Under “Databases by Category”, the two most important categories for our purposes are: - Newspapers
- Genealogy
The Newspapers page lists many individual newspaper titles from major cities to which HPL subscribes or owns the “historical archive”, which in most cases dates back to the 1800s. Examples include the New York Times Historical Archive (1851-2006) and the Dallas Morning News Historical Archive (1885-1977), as well as some of the early African American newspapers such as the Atlanta Daily World Historical Archive (1931-2003). Other individual titles are somewhat “hidden” within large, comprehensive newspaper collections. The most important of these collections (both on the Newspapers page and on the Genealogy page) are discussed below. Note that the “in library use only” notation next to a database’s name indicates that it is accessible only while using computers in-house at Clayton Library (or any other HPL location). All of the other newspaper databases can be accessed remotely (such as from your home computer) if you have a valid Houston Public Library card and internet access. Here are some additional notes about each of these collections: - 19th Century U.S. Newspapers
- Digital newspapers from 1800-1899, covering all states.
- Access Newspaper Archive (in library use only)
- The largest and most comprehensive online historical newspaper collection, spanning all states from the late 1700s to present. Always check this one!
- Ancestry Library Edition (in library use only)
- Ancestry Library Edition has a few full-text newspapers in its holdings, but most of the newspaper records that come up in its search results are from its massive “United States Obituary Collection” component.
- Chronicling America
- Chronicling America is the official digital newspaper preservation project of the Library of Congress and its state partners. This database includes full-text digitized newspapers covering 1836-1922, as well as a U.S. Newspaper Directory covering 1690-present to help you locate libraries or institutions that have physical holdings of the newspaper. Always check this one!
- Civil War Era Newspapers (ProQuest)
- Includes (9) full-text newspapers from the Civil War Era:
KY: Louisville Daily Journal, 1840-1865 LA: Daily Times Picayune 1840-1865 MA: Boston Herald, 1846-1865 NY: New York Morning Herald, 1840-1865 OH: Columbus Gazette, 1856-1865 OH: Ohio State Journal, 1840-1853 SC: Charleston Mercury, 1840-1865 TN: Memphis Daily Appeal, 1847-1865 VA: Richmond Daily Dispatch, 1852-1865 - Fold3 (in library use only)
- Includes (5) full-text historical newspaper archives from five major cities:
CA: San Francisco Chronicle, 1865-1923 DC: Washington Post, 1904-1921 GA: Atlanta Constitution, 1868-1923 IL: Chicago Tribune, 1849-1923 IN: Fort Wayne Newspaper Collection (7 titles), 1864-1923 - Newspaper Source (EBSCOHost)
- This collection is an excellent resource for recent newspapers (1997-present). Since most online death indexes (other than the Social Security Death Index) do not go anywhere close to the present year, this particular database can be very valuable for locating online obituaries from the past 15 to 20 years.
- Portal to Texas History
- As the name suggests, this collection focuses specifically on Texas newspapers and contains holdings in many small-town Texas newspapers as well as older titles that go back to the Republic of Texas era or earlier.
- ProQuest Obituaries
- Includes digital obituaries extracted from the following (7) newspapers:
CA: Los Angeles Times, 1881-1984 DC: Washington Post, 1877-1950 GA: Atlanta Constitution, 1868-1922 IL: Chicago Defender, 1921-1975 IL: Chicago Tribune, 1852-1984 MA: Boston Globe, 1872-1922 NY: New York Times, 1851-1994 Looking for the Houston newspaper historical archives? Unfortunately, Houston’s major newspapers of the 20th century (the Houston Post and the Houston Chronicle) are not yet digitized (although a few years of holdings may be found online): - Houston Post (1893-1903 is available in the Chronicling America collection)
- Houston Chronicle (2008-2011 is available on the HPL “Newspapers” page)
Additionally, the complete back issues of both the Houston Post and the Houston Chronicle are available on microfilm at HPL’s Central Library (500 McKinney St. in downtown Houston), which you can request and view in person. HPL also offers an online obituary search service for deaths that occurred in Houston and surrounding areas. The search is performed for a nominal fee, provided that the exact date of death is provided (search requests can be submitted at www.houstonlibrary.org/emailref). Digital Newspapers Available Elsewhere on the InternetThere are many more digital newspapers and digital newspaper collections out there on the internet. A good way to navigate them is to use one of the published guides listed below. The first link is to a list of known historical newspapers online, alphabetized first by state and then by title (list published by the University of Pennsylvania Libraries). The second link is to a list of historical newspaper database collections that are available either for free or through subscription (list published by Michigan State University): - Historical Newspapers Online:
- Historical Newspapers Database Guide:
Happy Hunting!
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Family SearchFamilySearch, operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), is the largest genealogy organization in the world. The primary distinguishing factor between FamilySearch and other organizations is that it offers digitized and indexed original source materials and user-submitted research through its website free of cost ( www.FamilySearch.org). The wide-ranging original source records are being digitized and indexed piecemeal from the roughly the 2.4 million rolls of film containing roughly 2 billion names held in the church’s Granite Mountain Records Vault outside of Salt Lake City. The original source materials digitized so far are divided into 1,776 databases, or “collections.” When searching from the search box on the default search page, visitors to the site are searching all of these databases simultaneously as well as user-submitted content. User-submitted content might include pedigree charts and family group sheets that have not been verified for accuracy or authenticity. Although searching across all of these sources is a powerful option, and great for getting started in your research, there are some important limitations when searching through this method. It is important to understand the nature of the content on the website to avoid missing out on records relevant to your search. Many of these collections are digitally incomplete, meaning that they are fully digitized, but only partially indexed. It is easy for site users to believe that they are searching the entire range of records represented by the collection, and to ascertain that their ancestor is not a part of those records; however, their ancestor might very well be included in those records, but in the portion of them that are still waiting to be indexed. Indexing records is the process of transcribing all or portions of the original content into text that can be searched by the user. It is important to search the specific collection you are interested in addition to searching from the default search box. For instance, the collection entitled “Kentucky Probate Records, 1727-1990” is fully digitized; however, the search screen from this specific collection (different from the default search screen) tell us that only wills from Caldwell, Henry, Hickman, Russell, and Trimble counties have been indexed. If the user did not make herself aware of the limitations of this resource, it would be easy to deduce that there was not a probate record for her ancestor between 1727-1990. So, if an individual was searching for an ancestor in Washington County, Kentucky, since the original records are digitized, just not indexed, through FamilySearch, they could search through the series of book indexes available at Clayton by Faye Sea Sanders (which cover 1792-1911 in three volumes), which would provide a name and corresponding page number in the original document. The user could then go and browse the digital images for Washington County, Kentucky, and find the original record that was indexed by Ms. Sanders, but has yet to be indexed by FamilySearch. This example shows not only why it is important to be aware of source limitations, but also how sources in different formats can be used in combination to get the most from your research. When searching on FamilySearch.org a researcher should read the information about the individual digital collection and take note of how much of the information in that collection how much has been digitized, how much has been uploaded and how much has been indexed. If the collection is not yet fully digitized and loaded, make a note of the collection name, and check back periodically to see if the area you need has been loaded. If the collection has no index or only a partial index, then try browsing the collection now. Also make a note of this collection, and check back periodically to see if the index has caught up to the section you need. Once the index is complete for a collection try searching the complete index again, even if you found your ancestor by searching the partial index. A search of the complete index may reveal your ancestor's name as part of a record you would not have found or thought of otherwise, as a witness to a marriage or a will perhaps.
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Monthly classes and other upcoming events...
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Gathering History- Oral Histories: Remembering the Stories
Saturday, July 5,
10:30 am-11:30 am
Clayton Guest House
Every family has a history, and it takes many forms. This class, part of a series at Clayton, addresses the oral histories that make up a family's story. You'll learn how to conduct interviews, how to properly preserve your works, and even how to create a legacy to share. Reservations required, please call 832-393-2600. Adults/Teens.
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Clayton Library Orientation
Saturday, July 19,
10:30 am-11:45 pm
Clayton Guest House
Learn about the vast resources and how to efficiently utilize genealogical research materials housed at the Clayton Library Center for Genealogical Research. No reservations needed, meet at the Information Desk in the library. Adults/Teens.
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Courthouse Records Day
Saturday, July 26,
times TBA
Clayton Carriage House
Please join speaker John Sellers for the following presentations; "Learning Where Your Ancestors Played, Prayed, Lived and Died," "Researching Your Ancestor's Plot of Dirt: The Adventures of Courthouse Land Research," "With or Without a Will, There is a Way!," and “What Do You Mean It Burned?.” Please pack a lunch; break time will be allotted during the day. Reservations required, please call 832-393-2600. Adults/Teens.
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Quick Start your Genealogy!
Saturday, August 2,
1:30 pm-3:30 pm
Clayton Guest House
Overview of genealogical research tools: • 1:30-2:00PM HPL Catalog • 2:10-2:50PM Ancestry Library Edition; FamilySearch • 3:00-3:30PM Ordering microprint from Salt Lake City Reservations required, please call 832-393-2600. Adults/Teens.
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Clayton Library Orientation
Saturday, August 16,
10:30 am-11:45 am
Clayton Guest House
Learn about the vast resources and how to efficiently utilize genealogical research materials housed at the Clayton Library Center for Genealogical Research. No reservations needed, meet at the Information Desk in the library. Adults/Teens.
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“FamGen: Make it a family affair”
Saturday, August 30,
10:30 am-11:30 am
Clayton Guest House
Topic discussed will include storytelling; interviewing video making, family group sheet scrapbook; and pedigree pictures. Reservations required, Please call 832-393-2600. Adults/kids accompanied by an adult.
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Genealogy Basics Boot Camp
Saturday, September 6,
1:00 pm-2:30 pm
Clayton Guest House
Interested in your family history, but not quite sure where to start? Found some information, but need to know what else is available? Join the boot camp for an exercise in genealogical research resources! This session focuses on starting genealogical research by examining basic tools, such as the pedigree chart, and basic research strategies. Learn about the different genealogical materials available to researchers and how they lead to other sources. Reservations required. Please call 832-393-2600. Adults/Teens.
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Clayton Library Orientation
Saturday, September 20,
10:30 am-11:45 am
Clayton Guest House
Learn about the vast resources and how to efficiently utilize genealogical research materials housed at the Clayton Library Center for Genealogical Research. No reservations needed, meet at the Information Desk in the library. Adults/Teens.
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Introduction to Writing Your Family History
Wednesday, September 24,
5:30 pm-7:30 pm
Clayton Main Building Meeting Room 2
Ever wanted to write your family history? Join others that want to do the same for fun, discussion, and creativity! Class limit of 15, reservations required. Please call 832-393-2600. Adults/Teens.
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Additional information about Clayton Library
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