Saturday Serendipity (February 5, 2022)

Here are a few recommended reads for your weekend.

1.   With the release of the 1950 Federal Census this coming April, now is a good time to revisit the history of the Census and to re-familiarize with (or perhaps learn for the first time) about the evolution of the Census and particularly how the methods and content have changed over the decades.  Luckily, the second part of a two-part Census history is just out in the January-March 2022 issue of NGS Magazine. The first installment was in the October-December 2021 issue and both are by Shelly Bishop.  The articles put the evolving nature and content of the Census in perspective and gives insights into the instructions that guided the enumerators.  The articles are rich with links to delve deeply into each of the existing censuses and will provide the genealogist readers with new or renewed insight into the richness and limitations in the Federal Census over time.  Learn more about the magazine here.

2.   Nancy, of My Ancestors and Me blog, had an interesting and thought provoking post about "Presentism" and how it affects our genealogies. She supplies several links for additional reading on the subject.  You can read her excellent post here.

3.   Periodically I like to remind readers about the regular "Genealogy News and Education Bytes"feature on Randy Seaver's blog, Genealogy-Musings.  If you have never visited Randy's blog or read that weekly feature you should do so.  He does the service of compiling items from news, record collections, education  modalities, videos, and other sources all relating to genealogy.  You can view his latest installment here.

4.  Returning to the subject of the coming 1950 Federal Census, Marian Burk Wood, of Climbing My Family Tree blog, has posted a series of 1950 Census vocabulary "pop quizzes."  All three parts were posted last week and they can be viewed starting here with Part 3.  Read in concert with Shelly Bishop's articles on the evolution of the federal census, Marian's quizzes will help all of us prepare to milk the 1950 census for all the genealogical info it contains.

5.   Another blog that I like to mention periodically is Heirlooms Reunited by Pam Beveridge.  It is especially interesting and useful if you have ancestors and relatives from Maine, but it is not limited to Maine.  It is well worth a look and you can visit it here.

6.   Have I mentioned that the 1950 Census is coming in April?  It is, and the anticipation, hype, and preparations are well underway.  Another source for prepping was brought to our attention this week by Janine Adams, of Organize Your Family History blog. Janine highlights a FREE webinar being offered by Cousin Russ and Myrt of Dear Myrtle.  Read about the webinar and get a link it here.  It is available until February 9th. 

7.   Do you know what a Gunnister Purse is?  Neither did I until I read Heather Rojo's post this week at Nutfield Genealogy blog.  I have seen such purses, but had no idea what they were called or where they came from.  You can learn more about them and perhaps solve a mystery about such items in your family artifacts by going here.

8.   How and why did peanut butter become so popular and a staple in most of our households?  The Weekly Genealogist of NEHGS highlighted an article that answers the question and you can read it here. 

9.   And finally, with a return to NGS Magazine as a source of interesting and useful articles . . . we have all had a need to figure out dates in our genealogy research and most of us are familiar with the Julian and Gregorian calendar change in 1752 in the British empire (including colonial America).  Carla Cegielski has an article in the most recent issue of the magazine titled "Calendar Tools and Calculators for Genealogy."  The article explains the use of various calendars for getting accurate dates and for converting dates from one calendar to another.  The article is full of links to very useful calculators and should find a place among your at-hand resources.  [If you are an NGS member you can read the article in the hard copy you get or access it on the Members Only section of the website.]

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Copyright 2022, John D. Tew

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