Historical Records

What exactly are the 1850 and 1860 United States Slave Schedules and what is their value to researchers? A closer look at this enumeration of “slave inhabitants” will streamline interpretation of these records and will help define the do’s and don’ts of working with them.

Regular sailing schedules between Liverpool and North America began in 1818, and during the 19th century Liverpool became the primary port for emigrants from the British Isles, northern Europe and Russia to North America, Australia, and the rest of the British Empire. Learn how and why this came about, understand what the experience was like going to, in, and leaving from Liverpool. Learn how to identify, access, and use the records of the port and shipping that are available.

Researching, remembering and commemorating those in our families who served. Michelle will explore ways family historians can research, remember and commemorate those in our families who served. The presentation will include tips about where to find service records and the gems of information that can be found within. Lest We Forget.

Organized in August 1862, the First Kansas Colored Infantry was the first Black unit recruited in the North, the first to see and die in battle in the Civil War. Made up of both free and enslaved men, including those from the Five Tribes, its exploits were legendary. Yet, the lives of its rank and file outside of their service were prolific and unsung.

This presentation will suggest strategies to correlate large amounts of information often developed in urban research, with a significant emphasis on the use of cartographic resources. Generally, researchers of urban settings have an abundance of sources to consider. Many times, the challenge is to connect and analyze multiple, even overwhelming, amounts of information. A variety of resources will be discussed, especially, cadastral maps (land ownership), Sanborn fire insurance maps and city directories.

The Pullman Company was one of the leading employers of African Americans, primarily male Porters, who worked on the railroad in the late 19th and early 20th century. This presentation will look briefly at the general growth of the railroad as well as the Pullman Company which built rail cars and rented them to rail companies. Pullman hired primarily African American men and women to staff the dining and sleeping cars. What was the job like and what were lives like for the Porters and Maids? How do we find records of ancestors who were Pullman Porters or Maids?

Organized in Chicago, IL in 1917 by citizens who believed the United States Department of Justice was understaffed and not up to the task of fighting against espionage. They grew to a volunteer force of more than 250,000 members. The APL was given absolute power to stop ordinary citizens in the streets by checking whether men were legally registered for draft, or were sympathetic to the Germans, or those unregistered aliens living in the United States. Long believed to be a pseudo-patriotic organization. The APL documented both members and their activities in rich genealogical and historical details at the time the United States entered World War I.

There is little documentation about Chinese railroad workers who built the Transcontinental and many other railroads in the U.S. starting in the 1860s. This webinar will describe some of the materials that do exist and other sources to use to learn more.

Researching in old newspapers no longer means sitting at a microfilm reader for hours on end, winding through a seemingly endless string of news stories and advertisements. Today, the results we seek could be a matter of minutes away, thanks to the many digitization projects that have placed millions of newspaper pages on the Internet. But what are the pitfalls? This presentation takes you through the digitization process, from hard copy to your computer screen. It is designed to help you achieve the best results from your work. (Note: Dave Obee has worked in newspapers for 50 years, has researched with them for 50 years, and has been behind a major digitization project. This talk draws from real experience.)