| By Tara Atterberry | With the increased availability of electronically accessible genealogy content, researching family history has become a commonplace hobby for millions of Americans. For persons of African descent, however, inequities are often found in the existence and accessibility of genealogy and historical documents. “The legacy of slavery, prejudice and institutional racism means … Read more
| By Tara Atterberry | In honor of National Native American Heritage Month, Gale’s Biography and Genealogy Master Index has expanded coverage of Native Americans from the late 1500s through the present day in an effort to highlight groups that have been underrepresented and often marginalized in traditional reference content. Biography and Genealogy Master Index’s … Read more
| By Tara Atterberry | For more than 50 years, there was a chest at the end of my grandparents’ bed that contained family documents my grandmother had gathered through the decades: birth, marriage, and death records; family photos from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries; baptismal certificates; handwritten family trees; newspaper clippings and … Read more
| By Tara Atterberry | When I was a high school junior, our first major writing assignment in language arts was to write a biography and literature review of a famous American author. We literally had to draw a name out of a hat. I closed my eyes and pulled out a slip of folded … Read more
October is National Family History Month. Do you have the genealogy and family history resources that genealogists and enthusiasts in your community need? And do they know how to get started? Help your family historians and researchers make deeper historic connections while exploring their roots. Gale Genealogy Connect – the ideal complement to fact/people-based genealogy sources – … Read more
By Rachal Mills Lennon Excerpted from the book, Tracing Ancestors Among the Five Civilized Tribes The history and culture of the American South are unique, owing chiefly to the intermingling of the races and the diverse ethnic backgrounds of countless families. Modern Southerners proudly boast traditions–real or not–of Native American ancestry. Odds are, these traditions … Read more
By Joe Garonzik Answer the following questions either True or False: No genealogical research is ever complete unless it has been authenticated by original source records. Salt Lake City is not the site of the greatest collection of accessible genealogical records in the U.S. The National Archives in Washington, D.C. is only one of many genealogy … Read more
By Joe Garonzik In 1663, England’s King Charles II ceded the Carolinas to Anthony Ashley Cooper and seven other proprietors who had supported the Stuarts in ending the Cromwellian Revolution and returning Charles II to the throne. Notwithstanding the 16th-century exploits of Sir Walter Raleigh and legendary Virginia Dare, it was a group of Virginians … Read more
By Michael Tepper Researchers often run into problems when they are on the trail of an immigrant ancestor. The most common misconception about passenger lists is the belief that people had their names changed when they got to Ellis Island. In fact, immigrants did not change their names unless they applied for a change of name by … Read more
In addition to a more modern look and feel for the interface, the Biography and Genealogy Master Index will include the following enhancements as of July 2: