My Grandfather's Will - In My Grandfather's Voice?

An interesting story in today's online version of my local newspaper The Chicago Tribune discusses the restoration of Roger Ebert's voice using modern technology.  If you remember, Ebert of the famed Siskel & Ebert from the US television show At The Movies, has been battling cancer for several years and his latest series of operations has robbed him of the ability to speak.

Technology to the rescue in a most ingenious way:  technicians were able to take DVD commentaries that Ebert had made before his cancer progressed and have created "snippets" that can now be used as Ebert types to create an audio message.

As I read the story I thought of a genealogy angle: wouldn't it be neat if we could capture sound from a video or a tape recorded interview and do the same for our grandparents or aunts and uncles?  And then transcribe documents that they created such as letters, wills, etc.?  Granted, you may not be able to encode the inflection or the emotion involved with such a document, but it would definitely make a "3D" version of a simple document transcription.

© 2010, copyright Thomas MacEntee

Tour of Illinois State Archives and Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library

Here is a great opportunity for Illinois genealogists and family historians - a behind-the-scenes tour of the Illinois State Archives and the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library in Springfield, Illinois.

On Saturday, 10 April 2010, the Illinois State Genealogical Society will be holding its annual Spring Tour and Workshops event (click here for PDF brochure).  Attendees get to choose from several different options including:

• Archives Tour - An informational tour of the Archives will be offered .You will see what is available on weekdays. Civil War Muster Rolls, Revolutionary War pension applications, WWI draft cards, original land records, census records, and much more! 

• Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Tour - Find out what extensive resources are available for your genealogical research.

• Military Records Workshop - Tina Beaird will show us how to trace military records from the American Revolution to WWI with an emphasis on sources pertaining to the Civil War, available at the Illinois State Archives. Learn how to search microfilm reels and original documents including Adjutant General Records, Muster Rolls, and burial records.

• General Land Office Records and Federal Township Plats Workshop - Karl Moore, IRAD Supervisor, will cover the Public Lands Survey, the value of General Land Office records, how to locate and print the land tract an ancestor purchased. You will learn several ways to use records online with the Public Domain Land Sales Database and the Federal Township Plats of Illinois.

• Illinois Death Certificate Assistance - How to find and copy a death certificate from microfilm from the years 1916-1947.

This is a once-a-year opportunity and allows researchers access on a Saturday when these resources are normally inaccessible to the public.  Take advantage of this event and sign-up here.

Note: you can sign up online and pay via credit card or Paypal here - this link only works for Internet Explorer users.

© 2010, copyright Thomas MacEntee

Genealogy Gone Wild - The Simpsons

Just when you thought US television had reached its limits of genealogy and family history-oriented shows, Fox's The Simpsons jumped on the bandwagon this evening!

That's right, in an episode entitled The Color Yellow, Lisa Simpson's homework assignment to explore her family tree brings her face to face with a diary written by an ancestor in 1860.  It turns out that such ancestor - Eliza Simpson - and her mother were involved with the Underground Railroad and assisted with the escape of a slave named Virgil.

I won't spoil the entire story but even if you aren't a Simpsons fan, you may want to visit the Fox site to view the episode starting Monday, 22 February 2010 after it has aired. And perhaps this is just the start of seeing a genealogy angle on other broadcast television shows - who knows?

© 2010, copyright Thomas MacEntee

My Appointment to the ISGS Governing Board

This weekend I attended the quarterly meeting of the Governing Board of the Illinois State Genealogical Society in Springfield, Illinois where I was appointed to the board as Publicity Chair.  I will be handling various publicity-related duties including creating a social media plan for ISGS in order to publicize its activities as well as attract new members.

I was honored and excited when Carole McCarty, the ISGS President, contacted me back in January and asked if I would serve on the board.  I am looking forward to working with a great team of people!

In addition, ISGS is the host society for the Federation of Genealogical Societies annual conference in 2011 which will be held in Springfield 7 - 10 September 2011.

© 2010, copyright Thomas MacEntee

How I Got To Speak With Lisa Kudrow

You may know Lisa Kudrow from the US television series Friends but as of late most genealogists and family historians know her as a producer of the upcoming US television series Who Do You Think You Are? set to premiere on NBC on Friday, March 5, 2010.

I was invited to participate in a conference call with Lisa and Dan Bucatinsky (Executive Producer) of WDYTYA and I actually had a chance to ask a question about the upcoming show.

Read more about what I discussed and what other topics were mentioned about Who Do You Think You Are? here at GeneaBloggers.

Photo: Lisa Kudrow at the 2009 Streamy Awards, photo by Lan Bui of The Bui Brothers.  Used under Creative Commons 3.0 License.

© 2010, copyright Thomas MacEntee

My First Genealogy Romance Novel

Oh a little bit of Valentine's Day silliness this morning.

You can create your own at Romance Novel Yourself!

© 2010, copyright Thomas MacEntee

A Review of Faces Of America - Episode 1

Last night, the first episode of Faces of America entitled Our American Stories debuted on the PBS network.  The series by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. traces the family history of 12 renowned Americans and attempts to answer the questions What made America? What makes us?

After viewing the episode here are my thoughts:

• I found that overall the episode was "scattered" and seemed to jump around quite a bit.   It isn't that I wanted something more linear or orderly, but I think that a focus on two or three of the subjects and in a more complete manner would have been more enjoyable to watch.

• I have to agree with others who participated in the online chat at GeneaBloggers after the show, I wanted the episode to show how the records and information was obtained.  This may be the genealogist in me but I don't think viewers got an understanding of the process.

• In many of the stories, especially that of Mike Nichols, it was obvious that information about the family history could have been obtained through an interview of a parent or grandparent.  I hope that many viewers picked up on this and decide to sit down with their older relatives to discuss their family's history.

• At the end of the show, viewers were directed to the Faces of America website and the Resources link for information on how to begin tracing their own family history.  Noticeably absent as a resource is ancestry.com which in the past has run advertising on PBS.  My thinking is that with ancestry.com's upcoming sponsorship of Who Do You Think You Are? on NBC, they may have been barred from having an association with Faces of America.

© 2010, copyright Thomas MacEntee

Failed Genealogy Television Shows

Inspired by Donna Pointowski's post If Genealogists Ruled The Television Networks over at What's Past Is Prologue, I've done some sleuthing over at the archives of the Museum of Television & Radio* and what did I find? I stumbled upon some amazing pilots for television series dealing with genealogy and family history that never aired:

• Survivor: Ellis Island

• Real World: County Clerk's Office

• Ancestral Jackass

• Video Diary: The Littlest Family Historian

• Genealogists at the Apollo

• America's Funniest Genealogists

• Genealogists Gone Wild!

• The Microfiche Reader Endurance Hour

• Last Researcher Standing

• When Cemetery Fanatics Attack!

• MTV's Rock The Census

• Who Wants to Cite Sources?

• Is Your Wife Away At A Genealogy Conference?

• America's Homliest Ancestors

• Who Wants To Marry A Genealogist?

• Tony Danza Is . . . THE GENEALOGIST

• Suddenly Census

• I Was A Genealogy Slut

• Escape From The Archives

• The Genealogist Who Became A Princess

• Danielle Steele's To Research Again

• Not Without My Ahnentafels!

• Crimes of Passion: Stay Away From My Probate Records!

• The Ugly Genealogist With a Heart of Gold Who Was Teased Unmercifully by Those Popular Girls Until She Snapped and Slaughtered Them All and Now Languishes on Death Row

• Valley of the Deeds

• Tony Danza Is . . . ELIZABETH SHOWN MILLS

• In My Ancestor's Shadow

• Soundex Is Your Friend

• Touched By An Ancestor

• I Unwittingly Married A Genealogist

• Moment of Truth: Hand's Off My Copy of Evidence Explained!

• The ProGen Group That Couldn't

• Addicted To Genealogy Conferences

• The Insatiable Family Historian

• Forbidden Love: Genealogy and Monster Truck Shows

• Ancestry Peep Show: Grannies Give It Up

• Frontline: Passenger Lists . . . EXPOSED!

• Salt Lake City Limits

• The Secret, Mysterious Life of Genealogists

• Census Taker III: I Know You're Ignoring The Doorbell

• Dude, Where's My Pedigree?

• So I Married A Genealogist

• Ancestor From Another Enumeration District

• I Spit On Your Ahnentafels

* This "museum" exists only in the mind of the author and was used to find these fictitious television series.  No egos of television producers were hurt in the making of this blog post.

© 2010, copyright Thomas MacEntee

My Article in Speak!

I became a member of the Genealogical Speakers Guild in late 2009 and I not only enjoy the service they provide to the genealogy community, but also all the news and advice in their quarterly newsletter entitled Speak!

In the February 2010 issue which was distributed electronically earlier today, my article Practical Tips for Genealogy Presenters was published.  The article is based upon an earlier post written at one of my other blogs - GeneaBloggers - entitled Speak Up! Tips for Genealogy Speakers.

If you currently present at genealogical meetings and conferences or if doing is in your future plans, consider joining the Genealogical Speakers Guild - it is a great organization!

© 2010, copyright Thomas MacEntee

Dysfunctional Family Reunion

I love it when folks in the family history business have a sense of humor.  Look what I found out on the web while researching invites for a family reunion:

And then there's the inside of the card:

You can see this family reunion card and more here.

© 2010, copyright Thomas MacEntee

Back To School: Day 20

An update on my participation in the Boston University Certificate in Genealogical Research online program which began on 13 January 2010.  You can read about Day 1 here.

I forgot how much hard work is involved with education and going back to school after being away for so many years!  I'm really not complaining because I am thoroughly enjoying the BU program.  I wanted to give my readers an idea as to what is involved especially since this course uses an online format.

• I am dedicating about 20 hours a week to reviewing course content, reading from the required texts (see below) as well as completing assignments.

• The course is made up of "modules" that are "open" on specific dates and then "close" at which time you are no longer able to work on the related assignments.

• The first module, 13 January through 19 January, was dedicated to the Foundations of Genealogical Research and taught by Elissa Scalise Powell.  I really enjoyed this module and just when you think you have a good foundation in the field, the materials told me otherwise!

• I am currently working on the second module which runs from 20 January through 9 February, and is entitled Problems Solving Techniques and Technology.  It is taught by Allison Ryall and Joshua Taylor - both are people I've followed in the genealogy field and for whom I have much respect.  Their body of knowledge is phenomenal and they are always available in the Ask The Instructor discussion group or if you email them directly.

• The assignments in this second module have not been easy.  I think I was up until 3 am one morning trying to finish one!  Although there are several assignments which must be finished by the end of the module, we've been asked to stay on a schedule and to complete certain ones by a specific date.  The reason (and it makes sense): there are discussions involved for each assignment and this way you aren't holding up the rest of the class - you can stay in pace with everyone which is necessary especially in the discussions.

• What are the assignments like?  Well I am not going to give specifics but let's say that they range from a) transcribing very old documents; to b) tracing the deeds with all involved parties for a late 18th century property to the present day; to c) reconciling conflicting census information for an immigrant family.

• The required texts include Professional Genealogy, the BCG Genealogical Standards Manual, and a few others.

• I estimate about 22 students from all over the United States and even one from New Zealand!  I find that everyone is supportive in discussions and shares freely especially when it comes to making suggestions and sharing resources - not unlike the rest of the online genealogy community!

• Are you graded on assignments?  You betcha!  You submit the work and after a few days you receive great feedback from the instructor(s) and a number/letter grade.

I hope to have another update next week once I am done with this module and we move on to the Evidence Evaluation and Documentation module.

© 2010, copyright Thomas MacEntee