Episode 132 - Bonnets and Hats, and The Genealogy Widower

Published: May 4, 2012, 3:15 a.m.

b'Published May 3, 2012 Decipher your ancestor\\u2019s head gear with Maureen Taylor (AKA The Photo Detective) with tips from her new book Bonnets and Hats. And then grab your spouse for a genealogical musical number. NEWS: Thanks for the Shout Outs: Going the Extra Yad by Emily Garber \\xa0at the blog \\xa0 FamilySearch Update The 1940 U.S. census indexing project was launched this April as part of a broad\\xa0. - Over 85,000 volunteers have already completed 20 percent of the census project. - A\\xa0record number of active indexers used the program in a single day\\u201434,947 volunteers.\\xa0 - In one day more than 3.2 million records were indexed and 1.5 million were arbitrated.\\xa0\\xa0 \\xa0The Genealogy Gems News Blog \\xa0 Pinterest My pinterest boards Pins from genealogygems Follow me on pinterest icon\\xa0 MAILBOX: Sterling is lucky to have old family photos but needs some help preserving them. He writes: \\xa0\\u201cI\'ve become a regular listener of your Genealogy Gems podcast and I find that I\'m enjoying it as much as any of the NPR radio shows that are my listening mainstays. I\'ve learned so much from listening to you over the past few months and I\'m deeply grateful. I have a question that perhaps you or one of your listeners know the answer to. I have a family photo album, circa 1915, in which all the photos have been glued to black construction-type paper\\u2026Can you or anyone listening suggest a safe method for removing these photos from their old pages in order to recover the information that\'s on the backs of them? An answer from The Practical Archivist Sally Jacobs Sally also writes: \\u201cMy advice was to use interleaving sheets to protect the image side of the photographs from the acidic paper, rather than deconstruct her ancestor\'s scrapbook. That advice still stands, but your listener has brought up one of the few exceptions to this rule: Information has been written on the back of the glued photographs.\\xa0That doesn\'t mean I\'m giving Sterling a green light to soak his ancestor photographs.\\xa0 NOTE:\\xa0 Water and photographs should not be mixed by anyone who isn\'t a trained conservator! The scrapbook format is difficult to process because of the different elements from which it is made. The adhesive may be water soluble and simple to soak off. Try to isolate a leaf of the book with some plastic sheeting (i.e. place a piece of plastic under the leaf to avoid damaging the leaf below). Place a damp piece of blotting paper over one of the newspaper clippings under a light weight. Leave it for about twenty minutes then very carefully, using a spatula, lift the newspaper from the leaf. Place the newspaper clipping between two pieces of dry blotting paper to dry." Thanks to Sally Jacobs the Practical Archivist.\\xa0 You can get lots more greats preservation advice from her at \\xa0 Swedish TV Series:\\xa0Line in Denmark wrote in again to give us an update on a popular Swedish TV show about family history: \\u201cI have some exiting news about the Swedish tv show that I mentioned in my last email. "Everything for Sweden."\\xa0 On this link they are \\u201cI have taken up your advice on contacting long lost family members. I still don\'t have the courage to phone them, but instead contacting them on e-mail. So far it has been a big success. I would never have done it if I hadn\'t listened to your show. So thanks! Love your podcasts - please keep on making them!\\u201d Beverly Loves the Podcast:\\xa0\\u201cI\'m a relatively new listener and premium member. I was bitten by the genealogy bug when I was about 12 years old and now I\'m a grandmother. I\'ve been calling myself a reformed genealogist because the "bug" has been dormant for a while\\u2026Thank you for all you share with your listeners. You have a real gift for communicating in a clear and personable way. I look forward to all your gems I have yet to uncover.\\u201d \\xa0 Get your free audio book and over 40,000 audio book titles to choose from at Audible: \\xa0 \\xa0 GEM: Interview with The Photo Detective Maureen Taylor, author of the book Bonnets and Hats \\xa0 \\xa0 GEM: The Genealogy WidowerThe other day I was doing my usual trolling of the web searching for new genealogy gems, and I found a very musical oe that I want to close out the show today with.\\xa0 If you have a wife or husband like mine who really isn\\u2019t in to genealogy, gather them around the computer or iPod because I\\u2019ve actually got something on the show they are going to totally identify with.\\xa0 This is a special song that comes to us from Michael Stewart also known as The Genealogy Widower\\u2026\\xa0 You can download a free copy of Michael Stewart\\u2019s song the Genealogy Widower .'