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Genealogy

New Digital Resources for Underground Railroad History Research

September 10, 2023 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

voices on the underground railroadRecently retired Cornell University Professor Gerard Aching will present on his research and coordination of the Underground Railroad Research Project, which highlights the extensive roots of the network in Central New York, Western New York, and the Finger Lakes Region. [Read more…] about New Digital Resources for Underground Railroad History Research

Filed Under: Events, History, Western NY Tagged With: Abolition, Auburn, Auburn Museum, Black History, Cornell University, Equal Rights Heritage Center, Finger Lakes, Genealogy, Ithaca, Online Resources, Oral History, Seward House Museum, Slavery, Underground Railroad

The Many Mangiones of Rochester

August 24, 2023 by Rebecca Rector Leave a Comment

Gap and Chuck Mangione from the cover of Rivereside album Hey Baby! The Jazz BrothersMost people have heard of the musical Mangione brothers – Jazz artists Chuck and Gap of Rochester, New York. But there was also an interesting uncle – a writer, who was quite famous in his day. I first encountered Jerre Mangione while transcribing his handwritten letters to Jack Conroy, author of The Disinherited. [Read more…] about The Many Mangiones of Rochester

Filed Under: Arts, History, Western NY Tagged With: Genealogy, Immigration, Italian History, Jazz, Monroe County, Musical History, Performing Arts, Rochester, Writing

5 Million Connecticut Vital Records Made Available Online

August 17, 2023 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Reclaim The Records Connecticut Genealogy IndexReclaim The Records has announced the success of their latest effort to open public records to historical and genealogical study with the release of a new free searchable database of more than five million Connecticut vital records – including birth, marriage, domestic partnerships and death records spanning three centuries. [Read more…] about 5 Million Connecticut Vital Records Made Available Online

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Connecticut, Genealogy, Reclaim The Records

1850-1880s New York City: ‘Thirty Years in Gotham’ Columns Going Online

July 18, 2023 by Editorial Staff 1 Comment

Fanciful illustration of the inside of Harry Hill's saloonNew York Almanack friend Jerry Kuntz has been collecting and transcribing columns that appeared between 1880 and 1886 in the New York Sunday Mercury entitled “Thirty Years in Gotham.” The articles were published with the byline “by Harry Hill,” but were drafted by ghost writer Isaac George Reed.

Harry Hill, the proprietor of the most infamous dance hall in Manhattan from the 1850s through the 1880s, likely offered comments, notes, and suggestions on some of the articles. The columns covered topics dealing with the history of the city of New York: its institutions, characters, neighborhoods, social life, politics, disasters, sports, criminals, and more. [Read more…] about 1850-1880s New York City: ‘Thirty Years in Gotham’ Columns Going Online

Filed Under: Arts, History, New York City Tagged With: boxing, Crime and Justice, Gambling, Genealogy, Journalism, Manhattan, New York City, Online Resources, Performing Arts, Political History, Social History, Sports History, Theatre, Vice

World War II Home Front Memories

July 9, 2023 by Guest Contributor 1 Comment

Siblings Alphonse Lambert and Angie LaBelle, August 1943For the family of Italian immigrants Genaro and Jenny Lambert, a July, 1943 headline “ALLIED INVASION OF SICILY” had special meaning. Although the German occupation of Europe – Poland had been overtaken in thirty five days; Belgium, Netherlands, Luxemburg, and France had surrendered in six weeks- painted a grim picture, the newspapers’ headline created hope. No one thought defeating the Axis powers would be easy, but maybe the tide was turning. [Read more…] about World War II Home Front Memories

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History Tagged With: Genealogy, Italian History, new York State Military Museum, Oral History, Saratoga County, Saratoga County History Center, Saratoga County History Roundtable, Saratoga Springs, Social History, womens history, World War Two

Help Transcribe Revolutionary War Pension Files

June 28, 2023 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Certification that John Bacon was eligible to receive a pension for Revolutionary War service. (Records of the Veterans Administration, RG 15)In celebration of the upcoming 250th anniversary of American independence, the National Archives and the National Park Service are collaborating on a special project to transcribe Case Files of Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Applications Based on Revolutionary War Service, ca. 1800 – ca. 1912. These Revolutionary War Pension Files consist of applications and other records pertaining to claims for pensions and bounty land warrants. [Read more…] about Help Transcribe Revolutionary War Pension Files

Filed Under: History Tagged With: American Revolution, Archives, Genealogy, Military History, National Archives

Dutch-American History: The Phoenix Tragedy, 1847

May 17, 2023 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

memorial at the Oude Begraafplaats in Winterswijk by Joske MeerdinkI love to make evening walks in the town of Winterswijk, where I was born. The Dutch habit of keeping curtains open makes strolls resemble visits to a museum, with the windows framing paintings that offer ever-changing views. I like to discover routes to find new, unfamiliar places.

One evening, in December 2020, I passede the old graveyard of Winterswijk, a place that usually gives me the creeps. For some reason — I still don’t know why, — I decide to walk across the graveyard this time. I immediately spotted a brightly lit memorial: two bollards holding up a colorful plaque. The sign reads: “The Phoenix Tragedy, 1847.” [Read more…] about Dutch-American History: The Phoenix Tragedy, 1847

Filed Under: History, Western NY Tagged With: Buffalo, Dutch History, Erie County, Fires, Genealogy, Great Lakes, Immigration, Lake Erie, Maritime History, Netherlands, Shipwrecks, Steamboating

What Do We Tell Our Children about the Holocaust?

May 12, 2023 by Bob Cudmore Leave a Comment

This week on The Historians Podcast, Meryl Frank in her book Unearthed: A Lost Actress, a Forbidden Book, and a Search for Life in the Shadow of the Holocaust (Hachette Books, 2023) tells the story of her cousin Franya Winter, a celebrated Yiddish stage actress in Vilna in Eastern Europe who died in the Holocaust. [Read more…] about What Do We Tell Our Children about the Holocaust?

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Education, Film History, Genealogy, Holocaust, Jewish History, Performing Arts, Podcasts, Theatre, World War Two

The Saratoga County Family That Lost 2 Of 6 Sons During WWII

May 10, 2023 by Guest Contributor Leave a Comment

The Gagnon brothers of Saratoga from The Saratogian in the Summer of 1944On July 1, 1944, as the Second World War raged in Europe and the Pacific, a Western Union telegram arrived at the Saratoga Springs home of Aurora Asheych notifying her of the death in combat of her 21-year-old son, U.S. Marine Corps Pfc. Joseph Leonard Gagnon. Two months later, she received word that another son, Army Pvt. Victor Francis Gaynor, 19, was reported killed in action in France. Earlier that year, all six of Aurora’s sons were in the military. [Read more…] about The Saratoga County Family That Lost 2 Of 6 Sons During WWII

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History Tagged With: Genealogy, Marine Corps, Military History, Saratoga County, Saratoga County History Center, Saratoga County History Roundtable, Saratoga Springs

New York State Historic Newspapers Website Upgrade Underway

May 9, 2023 by Editorial Staff 1 Comment

New York State Historic Newspapers websiteSince its launch in 2014, New York State Historic Newspapers has provided free access to a wide range of newspapers chosen to reflect New York’s unique history. This now includes 920 titles from all 62 counties comprising over 11.7 million pages of historical content. In these years, the content has been hosted on servers located in Potsdam, St. Lawrence County, New York. [Read more…] about New York State Historic Newspapers Website Upgrade Underway

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, History, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Mohawk Valley, New York City, Western NY Tagged With: Academia, Genealogy, New York State Historic Newspaper Project, Newspapers, Online Resources

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