Saturday, August 15, 2020

Saturday Serendipity (August 15, 2020)


After a two week hiatus during our annual trip to the Adirondacks, Saturday Serendipity returns this week with the following recommendations for your weekend reading .  .  .

1.   Because we just returned from Saranac Lake in the Adirondack Mountains of New York, an article highlighted in The Weekly Genealogist newsletter of American Ancestors/NEHGS caught my eye.  During this COVID pandemic, outdoor activities have become ever more popular based on the lower risk of transmission when active in the open air–and the number of people flocking to the Adirondacks certainly bears that out this summer.  Saranac Lake, of course, was a world famous center for a "cure" in an earlier health scourge (tuberculosis) using the cold fresh air of the Adirondacks.  The so-called "cure cottages" that developed and the people and businesses that supported them became a major industry in Saranac Lake.  Now we are faced with the dilemma of how to safely open our schools in the coming weeks while trying to keep our children safe.  Once again, the use of the outdoors is becoming a possible major factor in parental choices for children.  And this–use of the open-air in schools–is not a new tool in the battle against a dangerous disease.  Read here about the "Open-Air School Movement" that arose internationally in the early 1900s as a means of protecting children against TB; otherwise known at the time as "consumption," the "white plague," or "white death."  In the early part of the 20th century TB was the leading cause of death in the U.S. and an estimated 450 Americans a day were dying of the lung disease (most between the ages of 15 and 44).   

2.   Periodically I like to remind readers of the great resources provided by Randy Seaver's "Genealogy News Bytes," posted twice weekly on Randy's blog Genea-Musings.  If you have not seen this feature, you can sample this week's Friday posting of important genealogy and family history news as well as education items relating to genealogy/family history by going here.  

3.   Judy Russell, of The Legal Genealogist blog, often has a way of making points in a stark and concise manner; this week provided a fine example when she posted "Sobering statistics."  With our schools set to open in the coming weeks (see item #1 above) we should all take to heart Judy's concise presentation of where we are.  COVID19 did not go away in the heat of summer and will not go away when the cooler fall weather turns to winter cold and the annual influenza season arrives to stress our health services even more.  WE are all on the front line in this battle and our only weapons right now are .  .  . wearing a mask; washing our hands; withholding proximity to others; and withstanding the rising tide of unthinking stupidity.  

4.   Three days from today (August 18th) marks the 100th anniversary of the ratification of Amendment XIX to the United Sates Constitution.  The Amendment is so short that it can be easily presented here in its entirety .  .  . "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.  Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation."  The huge impact of those forty words is about to be felt in 80 days when more women than men vote for president on November 3, 2020 – just as they have done in every presidential election since 1964!  When each of my grandmothers was born (one in 1897 and the other in 1898) they were ineligible to vote for no reason other than being born female. They were able to legally consume liquor before they could vote!  My mother is of the first generation of American women who were born with the same inchoate right that their father's and brother's had possessed from birth.  It is instructive and eye-opening to read about the long road to women's suffrage in the U.S. and you can do so by going here.   

5.   Janine Adams, of Organize Your Family History blog, posted a very useful tip for preserving easily and quickly the URL of a website where you have located information for your genealogy research.  Read "Grab a URL when you download a document" here

6.   James Tanner, of Genealogy's Star blog, helpfully posted this week about the great FREE offer from MyHeritage; they are granting access to the use of their Photo Enhancer and MyHeritage In Color™ for one month beginning August 11th.  One can ehance and colorize as many photos as one desires during that month without charge.  Read the post here and see some examples provided by James.

7.   And finally--back on the subject of women's suffrage--read "100 Years Ago: Poems and Prose of Women's Suffrage" at the blog Cow Hampshire by Janice Brown. 

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Copyright 2020, John D. Tew

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