Saturday Serendipity (February 1, 2014) --

Saturdays often allow a more leisurely approach to life than work days. I can more easily post links to some blog posts or other materials I have discovered during the week, or even to those discovered during a Saturday morning coffee and extended surfing of the blogosphere/internet.

Here are a few recommendations for inclusion on your reading list.

1.  Did you or anyone you know ever study "Gehography?" Have you ever seen a "porcineograph?" Well The Vault has an interesting post that will introduce you to both these terms in a colorful way (map lovers take note!). William Emerson Baker of Massachusetts was an interesting character and you can find out a little bit about why here.         

     

2.  The Weekly Genealogist by NEHGS announces this week that they have a full-time genealogist position open in case any of you have dreamed of living in the Boston area and pursuing genealogy as your career. More information about this opportunity is available here.  FYI -- a minimum of five years experience doing genealogical research and a Bachelor's degree are required.

3.  Barbara Poole at Life From The Roots explores her connection to the Goodsells of Connecticut and receives a serendipitous clue to a connection through the Goodsell line to a very famous family.

4.  Judy Russell, The Legal Genealogist, posted an interesting and useful piece on the word clouds we have all seen and that many of us have used on our blogs. As we might expect, there are terms of use for these little gems too and Judy explains it all. If you use Wordle, Tagxedo, or Tagul -- or are considering doing so -- you should read Judy's post!     

5.  Necessity is the mother of invention as they say, and Denise Levenick at The Family Curator, explains and illustrates her creative technique for using a camera, her iPhone and a Joby Gorillapod to get a digitized copy from a microfilm reader image.        

6.  Here is an interesting story of how a daughter unraveled the story of her parents' 1975 arranged marriage and how her mother traveled from Hong Kong to Canada to marry a man she had never met.   

7.  And lastly, February is "African-American History Month," which is also known as "Black History Month."  Since 1926 when the predecessor "Negro History Week" * was created by historian Carter G. Woodson and the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, February has been a special  time to recognize and celebrate the diversity and contributions African Americans have brought to America. As a reminder that America is and long has been a "melting pot,"  The Council Against Intolerance in America published a map of the United States titled "America -- A Nation Of One People From Many Countries." The description on the 1940 map itself states, "With the exception of the Indian all Americans or their forefathers came here from other countries. This map shows where they live, what they do, and what their religion is." The map is illustrated by Langston Hughes, whose two paternal great grandmothers were African-American and whose two paternal great grandfathers were white slave owners in Kentucky. Hughes -- born on this day in 1902 --  was an American poet, playwright, novelist and social activist. He is considered the leader of the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s.  See this diversity map from 1940 here.          

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* "Negro History Week" was the second week in February because it marked the birthdays of both Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglas.  For more on the history of African-American History/Black History Month see, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_History_Month

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Copyright 2014, John D. Tew

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