This column has previously focused on African-American genealogy blogs, in the articles Shout-outs to African-American Genealogy Blogs and More shout-outs to African-American genealogy blogs. A third edition soon forthcoming will spotlight several new genealogy blogs. The responsible genealogist, however, would be advised to learn more about United States history, including how it affected African-Americans. History blogs are a vital source for keeping up with current perspectives as well as newly available historical resources, many of which may provide genealogically useful information.
Do you have a favorite few genealogy blogs that you read regularly? Maybe the blogger offers excellent genealogy advice, insightful analysis or a unique point of view. Or the writing especially creative or humorous.\n\nIf so, we want to know about it. In the May 2010 issue, we'll be naming the Family Tree Magazine 40 Best Genealogy Blogs ("Family Tree 40" for short).\n\nFirst, we're asking the genealogy community to nominate the genealogy blogs they read most. Later, family historians will vote on their favorite blogs in several categories.
On 20 October 2009, this column addressed the topic of Y-DNA testing for genealogical purposes. This relatively new development in science holds revolutionary potential for genealogy, especially African-American research. The most recent issue of the National Genealogical Society Quarterly (Sep 2009) contains the case study of an African-American family where Y-DNA testing revealed direct male line European ancestry.[1]
For years I've wanted to have my DNA results available to use alongside my genealogy research. Here is Part One of a review of the YDNA kit from familybuilder.com where I describe the components, the process, the pluses and the minuses.
As we near the end of the year 2009, the African American Genealogy Examiner would like to look back and remember the accomplishments of the past year.
From CSI to The Maury Povich Show, DNA and DNA testing has become a part of American popular culture. But what is DNA?
In simple terms, DNA is a string of proteins that contain coded blueprints for our bodies. It tells our bodies how to grow. We inherit our DNA from our parents, which is where its genealogical value comes in.
Over the last six months, this column has discussed the "Anatomy" of the federal census for the years from 1870-1930, not including the mostly-destroyed 1890 census. In this series of articles, each column of the census questionnaire was examined, and clues that will aid your research were discussed. If you have missed any of these articles, you can read them again using the links below:
Anatomy of the 1930 federal census
Anatomy of the 1920 federal census
Anatomy of the 1910 federal census
Anatomy of the 1900 federal census
Anatomy of the 1880 federal census
Anatomy of the 1870 federal census
In a discussion concerning the federal census as evidence for genealogical research, however, one must also consider the question: are census records reliable sources?
Robyn Smith, of the "Reclaiming Kin" blog, has awarded the African-American Genealogy Examiner with the "Kreativ Blogger" award. This award was created by Hulda Husfrue, a Norwegian arts & crafts blogger on 5 May 2008. [Please note that her site is in Norwegian but you can translate the page using Google Translate.] From these humble beginnings the award has spread like wildfire, and the Geneablogger community regularly recognizes their favorite peers with this award.
In an earlier entry, this column reported on several resources available for online African-American research in Virginia. Many more resources are now available, some becoming so just in the past three months since that report, necessitating another visit to the subject.
In honor of the many U. S. veterans that have served in our armed forces throughout the history of this great nation, the African American Genealogy Examiner column today will provide instructions on accessing several free records databases available online at the website of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).
This will be a recurring announcement. If your organization has any upcoming events that you would like to add to this calendar, please leave a comment here with all of the details, including a link to your website or email the details to me at michael.hait@hotmail.com.
"According to Ancestry magazine one of the latest tools in genealogy is Geotagging - 'GPS enables gamily historians to record a very precise location of any physical location, like a grave, old homestead, etc...add the info to your existing research.' "
Previous posts in this column demonstrated the use of family clusters and neighborhood clusters to identify families in the U. S. federal census. In this post, we will use these same techniques to identify the last owners of a family freed after the abolition of slavery.
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