From the Ancestry’s 24/7 Family History Circle Blog:
Extra! Extra! Read all about it! Ancestry has added 20 million images to its Historical Newspaper Collection—doubling the collection in size! And to celebrate, they’re offering free access to the entire collection through 19 June 2008. Click here to start searching now.
More information on this huge launch is also available on the Ancestry blog.
From the Press Release:
Free Public Access on Ancestry.com
To commemorate the NARA-Ancestry.com agreement on the eve of Memorial Day, Ancestry.com is making its entire U.S. Military Collection — the largest online collection of American military records — available for free to the public. From May 20 through May 31, people can log on to http://www.ancestry.com/military to view more than 100 million names and 700 titles and databases of military records, the majority of which come from NARA, from all 50 U.S. states.
I have posted about the data FamilySearch is placing online for free previously - the only requirement was registration with the site. Now you can access the free indexes and images without registering here.
I encourage everyone to check out this site. A screen shot of **some** of the data is below.
February is designated as “Black History Month”. In recognition of that some of our favorite subscription databases are opening certain databases to the public for free and other have contests open to all.
Back in October I posted about a deal NothingButSoftware.com was offering on Family Tree Maker version 16 that included a 1 year subscription to Ancestry.com - read the complete post here.
Back then this particular software was selling for $29.95. They have since increased the price to $59.95, but that is still a terrific deal on a 1 year Ancestry.com subscription. The cheapest you can find this subscription anywhere is $99.95. So if you have been wanting to subscribe, but want to pay less… now is your chance.
Just a note about “how” to get the subscription. There are instructions in the package on how to do it from the software once you install. I couldn’t get it to work that way. So I called Ancestry’s Billing Department (1-800- Ancestry, select option for billing) and told them my dilemma. The rep asked for the barcode from the box and forwarded my information over to the department that handles those requests and said I should hear back from them by the next day and if not she gave me her name and extension to call back. This was AFTER 6pm CDT. Within 1/2 hour of the call, my current ancestry subscription had been extended for one year and I had an email confirmation of it… I was VERY impressed with the fast response.
Newspaper Archive, a newspaper subscription site, has created a new website that appears to have extracted articles regarding tornado events from newspapers currently in the company’s subscription database. The website is free to search and you can view most of the articles in pdf form for free as well (some indicate premium content).
I searched for my home county of “Chilton County” and “Alabama” and turned up 39 articles… I then tried various localities in Chilton County and got even more hits.
I did note that some of the “hits” appeared to be linked to the incorrect article … there was a tornado article when the pdf opened just not from the date I expected from the “snippet” given.
All in all I did find some new articles about tornadoes and the after-effects. I have a great grandmother who died in the March 21, 1932 tornado to pass through Alabama so I am always on the lookout for more information about that day.
Click here to go to tornadoarchive.com
Happy searching!
Melissa
FamilySearch Labs (part of the LDS) is taking volunteers as a part of their Historical Records and Images project. Currently they have placed records at the test site, some indexed and some not indexed for those chosen to be a volunteer tester. Each tester is asked to use the records and report the ease of use and/or any technical problems. They are specifically wanting to know how easy it is the find un-indexed records.
I signed up as a volunteer last week and received my acceptance email over the weekend. If you are chosen as a volunteer, you will have access to images such as the 1900 U.S. Census, WWII Draft Registration Cards, Ohio Death Certificates 1908-1953 and Utah Death Certificates 1904-1956 - some of which are partially or fully indexed.
To volunteer, go the following page: Historic Records and Images Project
Good luck - I hope you get chosen!
Melissa
Ancestry is offering free access to military records through June 6th. From the website:
” To honor the memories and celebrate the courage of all that have served in the U.S. Armed Forces, Ancestry.com has released the largest online collection of U.S. military records available. Featuring more than 90 million names and spanning American history from the mid-1600s through Vietnam, this collection represents all of America’s major wars and conflicts. Records include draft registration cards, prisoner of war records, muster rolls (unit rosters), burial registers, enlistment records and rare historical media such as newsreels shown during WWII. These records help Americans discover insightful details about ancestors that served in the U.S. Armed Forces.”
See additional information on the Ancestry.com Blog or click the link below to search now:
PBS has announced that it will do a sequel to African American Lives which premiered in February 2006 and showcased 8 different celebrities and researched their family history, culminating in several interesting DNA tests.
Now they are looking for one very lucky non-celebrity to assist with researching his/her family history. From the website:
“To have your family history researched by the genealogists & geneticists featured on African American Lives - and to have me reveal your results to you ‘on camera’, all you have to do is read our guidelines, check out our FAQ’s, and then complete and submit our online application form - all before May 4, 2007.
Once we have received everyone’s submissions, a group of filmmakers, genealogists and historians will sift through the applications in search of the applicant who appears most eager to learn about their ancestry, whose family history holds the biggest questions or most intriguing mysteries, whose story can best help us illustrate the investigative process, and whose ancestors’ lives may help shed light on the African American experience itself.
So, good luck to everyone who applies, and whether or not you are selected to appear on the show, I look forward to seeing you when African American Lives II airs in February 2008.“
Main webpage: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/aalives/
From the website:
Discover your ancestors in the most comprehensive collection of passenger lists available online, with more than 100 million names from more than 100 U.S. ports. We’re celebrating the hundredth anniversary of 1907 - the largest year of immigration through Ellis Island - by giving you FREE ACCESS to the Immigration Collection through April 30.
