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.
The Birmingham Genealogical Society will take a Walking Tour of the Lister Hill Library of the Health Sciences and Alabama Museum of Health Sciences at the University of Alabama in Birmingham on Saturday, May 24th at 1:00 pm.
The Lister Hill Library of the Health Sciences, established in 1945, is the largest biomedical library in Alabama and one of the leading such libraries in the South. It serves as a Resource Library in the National Network of Libraries of Medicine for the Southeast/Atlantic region. Its collections span seven centuries of knowledge beginning with the 30 incunabula within the thirteen thousand old and rare books to approximately 1500 current print journal subscriptions and thousands of electronic subscriptions through both individual publisher arrangements, aggregated packages, and consortial agreements. The volumes of books, bound journals, microforms, and other media currently held total approximately 350,000 volumes. The Alabama Museum of the Health Sciences, at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, is dedicated to the preservation and display of equipment, instruments, and objects that represent the history and development of the health sciences in the areas of education, research, and practice in the United States with special emphasis on the state of Alabama and its contributors to the practice of medicine. The scope of the collection includes, but is not limited to the following fields: medicine, nursing, ophthalmology, dentistry, public health, and allied health.
Our walking tour will be led by Michael A. Flannery, Professor and Associate Director for Historical Collections at Lister Hill Library, University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Lister Hill Library is located at 1700 University Blvd on the UAB campus. If you are driving north, take I-65 to 8th Ave South exit (Exit #259). The library is on the left side of the road between the 4th and 5th lights. If you are driving south, take I-65 South to the 4th Ave South exit (Exit #259-B). Turn right on 14th Street. Turn left on University Blvd (8th Ave) at UAB’s Hill University Center. The Library is on the left side of the road before the next major traffic light (18th Street). For more detailed information about directions and parking, visit the website.
Please join us on Saturday, May 24th at 1:00 pm and don’t forget to wear your walking shoes!
The Alabama Genealogical Society (AGS) will host its Spring Seminar May 3rd at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. The speaker will be Hank Jones, Jr. For additional information and registration, click here. You must register prior to April 23rd to have your surnames included in the surname book. Registrations can be submitted after April 23rd, but your surnames will not be included in the book.
While visiting the AGS website, be sure to check out the Loose Records Project Index. They have added several new counties since we last posted about the index in December 2007.
The Birmingham Genealogical Society meets the fourth Saturday of each month (ex. Nov. & Dec.) in the Arrington Auditorium at the Downtown Birmingham Public Library. Guests are always welcome!
Next meeting: Saturday, April 26th at 2 p.m. Refreshments at 1:30 p.m.
Speaker: Marvin Clemons, Co-author of “Birmingham Rails “
Program Topic: History of Birmingham Railroads
Details: www.birminghamgenealogy.org or BPL-Southern History Dept. at (205) 226-3665
Marvin Clemons and Lyle Key have published a new book called “Birmingham Rails“. It consists of 280 pages of historical narrative, entertaining personal essays, detailed maps, and richly detailed color and black & white photos, many published for the first time.
Mr. Clemons is our guest speaker and will present a program about the history of Birmingham Railroads. He will have slides to show and he will give a wonderful presentation that will entertain everyone.
Note: Mr. Clemons was originally scheduled to speak at our January 2008 meeting, but had to cancel at the last minute due to unforeseen circumstances.
The Alabama Department of Archives & History has updated the Civil War Service database online:
Civil War Service Database
Surnames beginning with letters “U” and “V” have been added to the Civil War Service database. Now surnames starting with the letters A through V can be searched at the site.
The Ladies Preservation Guild (West Jefferson County Historical Society) will sponsor a one woman act, “Footprint on the Sky: Memories of a Chandler Mountain Spring“, performed by Dolores Hydock on May 4, 2008 at 2 p.m. at the Pleasant Hill United Methodist Church, 4809 Bell Hill Road, Bessemer AL 35022 (Across from McAdory School). Admission is Free and the performance is open to the public. Contact Louise Tommie @ 428-9652 for details.
Bonnets, bow-tie quilts, poke salad, tomato stakes, the recipe for Scripture Cake, and an old-timey cure for hiccups – they’re all part of this funny and touching portrait of an Alabama mountain community in the 1970’s. Story performer and writer Dolores Hydock brings the spirit and voices of special mountain friends to life in this story of strong women, Southern hospitality, and the generous spirit of a close-knit community.
About the speaker:
Dolores Hydock is an award-winning actress and storyteller, whose work has been featured at the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, Tennessee, and other concerts, festivals, and special events throughout the United States. Her six CDs of original stories have all received awards from Storytelling World Magazine for excellence in storytelling.
Dolores is originally from Reading (pronounced RED-ding), Pennsylvania, home of the Reading Railroad and Luden’s Cough Drops. She moved to Birmingham in 1974.
Note: The Birmingham Genealogical Society has no affiliation with the above group. We are posting as a service to our members and others who might be interesting in attending the event.
Your humble Historian is much behind on her blog duties for BGS. I am sure you have noticed that the posts are not as frequent as they were in the past. Let’s just the say the “real” job that pays the bills has been cutting into my “fun” job.
DearMyrtle honored our blog this past Sunday (04/06/2008) by mentioning it in her “Best of the Internet for Genealogists” awards for the week in the BLOG category, you can read her post here. I cannot thank her enough for her kind words about the blog. Please let DearMyrtle know that you appreciate her kindness.
The Birmingham News has an article online from Friday’s (4/11/2008) newspaper titled “Remnants of Bibb County mining towns uncovered in the woods.” The article gives some historical background on the mining towns of Piper and Coleanor, while mentioning Belle Ellen briefly. It gives much detail on how the cemeteries were discovered - (2) African-American cemeteries and (1) White Cemetery thus far. There is speculation about another there as well. A few names from the marked graves are mentioned… unfortunately it appears that many are unmarked.
I have mentioned GenealogyBank.com in the past on this blog. Newspapers are in my top (3) of favorite sources of family history information (the 1st two being vital records and census data).
I was ecstatic Sunday evening when quite by chance I discovered that they had added turn of the 20th century issues of the Birmingham Age-Herald to the site. Previously they had the Labor Advocate (Birmingham) and Montgomery Advertiser for this time frame. The Montgomery Advertiser is quite useful because they carry news from all over the State of Alabama.
You can view all of the newspapers they have available here. Check back often as they add new resources every month.
GenealogyBank.com is a subscription site, but one even I on my limited genealogy budget feel is well worth it - if just for the obituary database (1977-current). Currently they are offering a 30 day trial for $9.95.
It can be tough to illicit the same excitement we have for learning more about our ancestors in other adults, much less children with IPhone’s, X-Boxes and a plethora of other distractions these days.
Family Tree Magazine has launched a new website just for kids. You read more about in on the Genealogy Insider blog here.
