Saturday Serendipity (February 8, 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.  It is a short list this week due to an early appointment this morning.

1.  I have occasionally mentioned here on The Prism a book that I think is worth reading for those interested in history and genealogy. Nancy at My Ancestors and Me blog posted a recommendation on her blog this week.  Nancy glowingly recommends "Book of Ages: The Life and Opinions of Jane Franklin" by Jill Lepore. Jane was the sister of Benjamin Franklin.  Since I am within 20 pages of finally finishing "The Bully Pulpit" by Doris Kearns Goodwin (an excellent read by the way), I think this recommendation from Nancy just earned a place in my "To Read" pile.  As Nancy says in her review, we tend to know very little about the lives of women in the 1700s because of the role most women were assigned in life at the time and because reading and writing were not part of the child bearing, cleaning, cooking, sewing world they were most often supposed to occupy. Beyond a biography of Jane Franklin, Nancy assures us the book is also "the history of society, a chronicle of events during the 1700s in New England, an annotated genealogy of a family, and a social history of the life of women at that time."  How could anyone with deep roots in early New England not want to read this book?  Thank you Nancy for bringing this one to our attention!

     

2.  "Assignment: Compare and contrast function vs. beauty in three examples of organizational charts depicting genealogy, business structure and modern war (in 500 words or fewer)." 

Most of us have had to deal with organizational charts that attempt to convey complex ideas graphically; some are more successful than others and can transcend into things of beauty even if their accuracy and functionality prove to be wanting -- others simply fail on all accounts.  Here is a real life 2009 chart that attempts to graphically depict for the Joint Chiefs of Staff something about the war in Afghanistan (what is anyone's guess).

The Vault provides two examples for our compare and contrast assignment.  

First, have a look here at what is apparently considered the first formal business organization chart.  It is an 1855 chart to depict the organizational structure of the New York and Erie Railroad. Its tree-like structure radiating out from a central subject brings to mind some genealogy charts -- and that is a nice segue to the second chart for comparison and contrast. Here, The Vault provides a beautifully illustrated 1873 pedigree chart for George Washington.  The only problem is that its visual appeal is undermined by the fact that its substantive content is wrong.

3.  Judy Russell at The Legal Genealogist has a nice review of copyright law arising from a reported instance of large scale flatbed scanners being made publicly available in a major research library.  "Copyright and the book scanner" is a should read. 

4.  Here is a new resource to me, but many of you might already be aware of it.  Thanks to Janine Adams at Organize Your Family blog for pointing the way to this web site of U.S. maps old and new.

5.  Quiz time . . . Here are two lists of girls names: (1) Charlotte, Seraphina, Olivia, Violet, Elizabeth, Isla, Sophia, Laura, Caroline, Ava; and (2)  Mary, Helen, Dorothy, Margaret, Ruth, Anna, Mildred, Elizabeth, Frances, Marie. Which is a list of the most popular girls names in the U.S. 100 years ago, and which is a list of the most popular girls names in 2010? Click on the links of the list numbers to find the answer. [No cheating . . . write down your answer and have it notarized before checking to see if you are correct!]  

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Copyright 2014, John D. Tew

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Friday Fotos (February 7, 2014) -- Story Land in Glen, New Hampshire

Molly (in shorts) at age 6 exiting the Pumpkin Carriage ride at Story Land in New Hampshire

In 1954 Disneyland opened in California. California, however, is a long way from New England and so not many New England children made the pilgrimage to Disneyland that year or in the years immediately following the opening.  

New England children did have a magical place to go in 1954 even if it was not Disneyland. The place was called Story Land and it was located in Glen, New Hampshire.

Story Land was the idea of Bob and Ruth Morrell.  While living in Germany in the early 1950s when Bob was serving in the Army, they befriended a woman named Edith Von Arps.  Frau Von Arps made dolls based on characters in classic fairy tales and she sold them door-to-door. The Morrells eventually bought about 25 of Edith Von Arps's dolls and when it came time for the Morrells to return home to the United States, Frau Von Arps suggested that they build a tiny village around the dolls when they got home.  This suggestion was the kernel of an idea that grew into an amusement park that is still in business today.

The Morrells began their business with the dolls as a theme and an idea to add rides for children and their parents.  The first and only ride when the park opened in 1954 was a tractor ride -- 15 cents for children and 25 cents for adults. In short order other rides were added more geared to fairy tales and the characters portrayed by Frau Von Morrell. By the time the park was approaching 50 years old, the park had expanded to encompass 35 acres and it had more than 20 theme rides for children and their families.  

In August 1958, my wife Molly was just barely six years old when she, her parents, and her older sister and brother visited Story Land during its fourth season of operation.  Molly is shown above walking out of the Pumpkin Carriage ride.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Photograph digitized from a color slide taken by Daniel J. O'Kane and in the family collection.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Copyright 2014, John D. Tew

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _    

Those Places Thursday (February 6, 2014) -- NOACs

The Participant Patch for the 2000 NOAC

To medical professionals and the pharmaceutical industry, NOACs are "New Oral Anticoagulants" used in treating certain kinds of heart disease or anomalies. For members of the Boy Scouts of America, however, NOACs are the National Order of the Arrow Conferences that occur about every two years.

The Order of the Arrow or "OA" has been described as the "national honor society" of the Boy Scouts of America. It was founded in 1915 by Dr. E. Urner Goodman and Carroll A. Edson at the Treasure Island Camp of the Philadelphia Council.  The camp was located on two islands in the Delaware River between Point Pleasant, PA and Frenchtown, NJ.

The Order is built around themes and traditions of the American Indian and members of the Order are known as Brothers or Arrowmen. Somewhat unusually, membership in the Order is based on selection by other Scouts who are most often not themselves members of the Order of the Arrow.  Selection is based on an election where members of a Troop annually select those Scouts in their troop that they believe best exemplify the ideals and goals of Scouting. Eligible youth must have attained the rank of at least First Class and have a certain level of camping experience.

Once Scouts are nominated for membership via an election, they then attend an Ordeal weekend following their call-out at a ceremony during summer camp or at a district-wide camporee. The Ordeal is set up to safely test a candidate's commitment to service and self-sacrifice.  Candidates participate in a welcoming campfire ceremony conducted by youth members in Indian garb.  The ceremony emphasizes the meaning and goals of the Order and "service to others." Candidates who wish to become members then take a vow of silence and agree to spend a day of "arduous labor" doing camp improvements and other service projects. They also agree to receive little food during the day of the Ordeal.  Once they agree, they are led into the woods to spend the night alone with no shelter before rising early the next day to begin silent service to others through their labors.

There are more than 180,000 youth and adult members of the Order of the Arrow today and they represent about one-seventh of the total membership of the Boy Scouts. Since 1953 there have been no honorary memberships bestowed in the Order. [Franklin Roosevelt and Dwight Eisenhower were two honorary members before such memberships were ceased.] There are no "ranks" within the Order, but there are three levels of "honor": Ordeal; Brotherhood; and Vigil. Our sons and I are members of the Order of the Arrow. Both sons were youth members of the ceremonies teams and our younger son was a member of a ceremony competition team that competed at the National Order of the Arrow Conferences in 2000 and 2002.

A National Order of the Arrow Conference or NOAC is a multi-day event that almost always takes place on the campus of a large university during the school's summer recess.  Thousands of Arrowmen from OA lodges around the country participate in these events to attend leadership courses, engage in sports competitions, ceremonial competitions, Indian dances, Indian culture courses, patch trading, and fellowship.  The first actual NOAC was held in 1948 at Indiana University.  Since then there have been thirty-one NOACs at universities such as Michigan State, Iowa State, Colorado State, Rutgers, Purdue, U. of Texas (Austin), U. of California (Santa Barbara), the Universities of Wyoming, Kansas, Illinois, and Nebraska among others.  The next NOAC will be held in 2015 at Michigan State University. Indiana University has hosted ten NOACs thus far, the most of any university.

Each NOAC has a theme that is based on concepts and quotes from the Order of the Arrow ceremonies.  Participant patches, neckerchiefs and other items display the theme for the NOAC as shown in the items depicted in this post.

Official neckerchief for the 2000 NOAC

In 2000, our younger son and I attended the NOAC held at the University of Tennessee (Knoxville) as delegate members of a contingent from Amangamek Wipit Lodge 470, of the National Capital Area Council.  It was the third time a NOAC had been held at UT Knoxville. The others were in 1977 and 1992.

The special combined pocket patch and 'hanger" for
Amangamek Wipit Lodge 470 delegates to the 2000 NOAC

In 2002 our younger son also attended the NOAC held at Indiana University.

The Participant Patch for the 2002 NOAC 

  

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Photographs by the author of items in the author's personal collection. 

For more information about the Order of the Arrow see, http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/BoyScouts/OrderoftheArrow.aspx and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_the_Arrow

For more information about NOACs, see, http://history.oa-bsa.org/node/3202

For a list of all the NOACs and other Order of the Arrow national events, see, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Order_of_the_Arrow_national_events
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Copyright 2014, John D. Tew
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 

Wordless Wednesday (February 5, 2014) -- Suggested Captions Solicited Via Comments . . .

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Original photograph in the collection of the author.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Copyright 2014, John D. Tew

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Monday Musings (February 3, 2014) -- Maybe Our Descendants Will Thank The NSA!

One of the basic requirements for genealogy research is that the data needs to be out there to be searched or re-searched and analyzed or re-analyzed; so preservation of records and data is a critical necessity for the ability of descendants to research their ancestors.  Just recall the frustration most of us have felt at one time or another when we learn that vital records were destroyed by fire, flood or other disaster (1890 Census records anyone??).

Most of us would be willing to pay a dear price indeed if we were able to access records today that would tell us the daily activities of our ancestors at the time of the Revolutionary War or the Civil War or even, in this year of the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of World War I, what our relatives and ancestors were doing in the early years of the last century.  How many of us pore over existing census data, vital records, diaries, photographs, land records, tax records, city directories, etc., trying to piece together as complete a picture as possible about the lives of our ancestors?

Last Friday, January 31, 2014, the TED Radio Hour hosted by Guy Raz on National Public Radio, interviewed Mikko Hypponen, a cyber security expert who has assisted law enforcement agencies in the U.S., Europe and Asia with cyber crime cases.

Mr. Hypponen described in his interview a government facility in Bluffdale, Utah (south of Salt Lake City) that is the largest data center in the world. The building alone is about 140,000 square meters in size making it the equivalent of about five Super-Walmarts put together. However, it is not the size of the building that truly boggles the mind; it is the size of what it houses. According to Mr. Hypponen, the Bluffdale facility is the first storage space designed and built to house and preserve a "Yottabyte" of data. A yottabyte is so huge that it is hard to even conceive of the amount of data it would hold.  The explanation in the interview was that if a personal computer can hold say 60 gigabytes of data, it would take about 16 trillion such personal computers to hold a yottabyte of data! And, the cost of keeping such a huge amount of data is actually fairly cheap when it is estimated the electricity bill would run to mere tens of millions of dollars per year!

All this got me thinking about what this yottabyte of data could be used for. 

Mr. Hypponen explained two facets of this brave new world of data collection and storage that really provides food for thought for genealogists. First, at present U.S. intelligence agencies only have the legal right to monitor foreigners, but some 96% of the world are foreigners with respect to the U.S. and inconceivbly large amounts of data from and to them pass through or terminate in the U.S. -- so lots of data involving U.S. citizens gets caught up in the sweep. Second, Mr. Hypponen observes that we have now arrived at the point where storing data is inexpensive -- so inexpensive that it is cheaper to keep the data than it is to delete it!

So what does all this mean to our genealogist descendants? Well, if viewed with a glass-half-full perspective, it might mean that NSA is in the process of creating and preserving what would in future years be the greatest repository of genealogical information the world has ever seen. Imagine your great great grandchildren being able to access data banks that contain all your telephone calls, emails, travels, credit card transactions, bank records, tax records, internet searches and surfing, library uses, TV and movie views, subscriptions, etc. [That is so long as Bluffdale and its progeny do not catch fire, flood or fall subject to an earthquake, tornado, hurricane or other natural catastrophe.]  

It is exciting to contemplate the breadth and depth of future genealogical research in the U.S. in a world where data is accumulated and preserved in yottabytes! But perhaps it should also give us pause because that means every day in every way our great great grandchildren are now watching us!  

 

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

The seal of the National Security Agency ("NSA") is the seal of an agency of the United States Government and as such it is believed to be in the public domain and not classified in any way. The seal appears on the public website of the NSA at http://www.nsa.gov 

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Copyright 2014, John D. Tew

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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.          

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 

* "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

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Copyright 2014, John D. Tew

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Funeral Card Friday (January 31, 2014) -- Dr. Robert Douglas Jeffs

Robert Douglas "Bob" Jeffs was my wife's uncle (younger brother of Molly's mother) and the grand uncle to our sons. Bob was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on July 14, 1924 and he died in Owings Mills, Maryland on August 28, 2006.

Bob Jeffs was the son, nephew, and grandson of physicians, so it was probably no surprise when he decided to go into medicine himself. When World War II broke out, Bob put his pre-med studies on hold and joined the Canadian Air Force in 1941.  He resumed his studies following the end of the war and graduated with his medical degree from the University of Toronto (his father's alma mater).

During a Fellowship at London's Great Ormond Street Hospital Bob became very interested in pediatric urology and when he returned home to Canada he began working at both Toronto Western Hospital and Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children. He became a very skilled and sought after pediatric surgeon and performed several surgical firsts including the reimplantation of a child's kidney. He and colleagues in Toronto later performed an early and large series of pediatric kidney transplants.

Beginning in the late 1950s, Bob began investigating in Toronto the possibilities for surgically correcting a birth defect known as "bladder exstrophy." This congenital condition results in a part of the urinary bladder being present outside the body.  It is caused by the failure of the abdominal wall to close during fetal development and a part of the bladder protrudes as a result.  It is a rare condition that occurs only once in every 10,000 to 50,000 live births, but it can be a devastating condition for a child and his/her family. The condition is twice as common in males as in females.

Bob began his work on surgical repair of bladder exstrophy cases and eventually developed a staged approach to the repair that brought worldwide attention to his surgical skills and methods. At first his surgical repair methods were deemed experimental and "cutting edge" treatment, but now it is the standard of care for most children born with this particular bladder abnormality.

Bob Jeffs was the Director of the Division of Pediatric Urology at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto from 1960 - 1975. In 1960 he was also Chairman of Urology at the Academy of Medicine in Toronto. In 1962 he returned to his alma mater as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Surgery.  Beginning in 1973, he served as the President of the medical staff at the Hospital for Sick Children for two years.

In 1975 Bob was recruited by the Chairman of the Brady Urological Institute at Johns Hopkins University to join the faculty and he became the founding chief of the Institute's Division of Pediatric Urology. Bob was Professor and Director of the Division of Pediatric Urology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine for 20 years from 1975 until 1995. During his time as Director of the Division, he instituted an annual picnic to bring together patients and their families to learn about urological illnesses in an atmosphere where they could also share their experiences with one another and with their medical caregivers.  The picnic continues today as an annual tradition.

Photograph from the program of the 7th annual
National Kidney Foundation Ball in honor of Dr. Robert D. Jeffs (1987)

When Bob died at age 82 in 2006, a decades-long colleague of his said, "Bob Jeffs took a birth defect of great magnitude and made it his own.  He changed the lives of children and adolescents who used to live lives of reclusiveness, embarrassment, and chronic disease and gave them new hope and new lives." 

The painting of Dr. Robert D. Jeffs that now hangs in the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Photographs from original documents in the family collection.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Copyright 2014, John D. Tew

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Those Places Thursday (January 30, 2014) -- Philmont Scout Ranch, Cimarron, New Mexico

Philmont Base Camp and Tent City seen from Tooth of Time Ridge

At roughly 138,000 acres, Philmont Scout Ranch near Cimarron, New Mexico is the largest youth camp in the world as measured by land mass. It is also a jewel among the high adventure bases of the Boy Scouts of America. The ranch is approximately 30 miles in length from north to south and about 12 miles in width from west to east at its widest point. All of Philmont is more than a mile above sea level (ASL). The lowest point on the ranch is 6,500 ft. ASL and the highest point is Baldy Mountain at 12,441 ft. ASL. Much of the interior of the ranch is mountainous (as depicted below), while the eastern and southern sections have no mountains. There is a fairly small area in the eastern part that is prairie.

Baldy Mountain at 12, 441 ft. above sea level is the highest point on Philmont Scout Ranch.

On the very cool and windy summit of Baldy Mountain (July 2004)

Topography and geology of Philmont Scout Ranch

Each summer from early June through late August a total of about 23,000 Scouts and adult "Scouters" arrive at Philmont to go on ten-day backpacking treks of 50 miles or more in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains on the ranch.  A seasonal staff of some 1,250 run the base camp facilities as well as certain backcountry camps where a variety of adventures and skills such as fly fishing, rock climbing, black powder shooting, archery, panning for gold, etc., can be experienced.

Near the summit of Mt. Phillips at Philmont.

Like National Jamborees, Philmont Scout Ranch backpacking treks have played an important part in our family history.  I first went to a high adventure trek at Philmont in 1967 when I was 15 years old and a member of Troop 59 in Cinnaminson, New Jersey. In 1999, when our older son was 15 years old, he and I went to Philmont as part of a crew from our home troop (Troop 961 chartered in Hillsboro, Virginia). I have been to Philmont for two other high adventure treks.  One was as a Crew Advisor in 2002 and my last trek was as a male Advisor with a co-ed crew of Venture Scouts in 2004. I have hiked more than 200 miles of Philmont's trails and peaks since 1967.  

The Philmont crews from Burlington County, New Jersey (July 18, 1967).  I am in the top row, ninth from the left.

The Philmont crews from Fairfax and Loudoun Counties, Virginia (July 26, 1999).  I am in the top row second from the left.  Our older son is in the middle row fifth from the left.

The traditional Philmont Scout Ranch neckerchief.

The coveted Philmont "Arrowhead patch" awarded only to those who
complete their trek and perform conservation service hours on the trail.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Photographs taken by the author except group crew photos.  All are in the personal collection of the author.

Topography and geology graphic of Philmont from the author's personal copy of "The Philmont Field Guide" (1985).

For more on the history of Philmont Scout Ranch see, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philmont_Scout_Ranch

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 

Copyright 2014, John D. Tew

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _