Probably due to the mistaken notion that they are of a more recent origin, yearbooks are often the neglected wallflower of the genealogy world. Nothing could be further from the truth. According to yearbook publisher, Lifetouch Publishing, yearbooks have been around since the 1600s when students acquired books filled with school memorabilia and hand written notes. The first use of the term “yearbook” was in the 1700s. By 1880, yearbooks, often called “senior books” or “annuals” were books produced by a senior class that sometimes included pictures or blank pages for you to paste in the pictures of your friends. Yearbooks have changed through the years and have reflected what was going on in the world at the time of their publication.


Yearbooks hold a treasure of genealogical information, for example they provide the maiden name of women; they allow you to verify that an ancestor was in a particular place in time; and they can confirm the names of other family members (cousins, siblings that attended the same school), friends, or acquaintances. It’s important to look for yearbooks not just for your student ancestor but also the ancestor who worked as a teacher, coach, or administrator at a school. Depending on what the owner wrote in their yearbook, other genealogical information may be found. One writer of yearbook history notes that a yearbook in her collection, a 1930 Everett, Washington High Yearbook, included where the previous owner had written information next to photos that included the married names of women and names of spouses.

When looking for yearbooks, remember that yearbooks did not always look the way they did when you graduated from high school. Yearbooks might be available for junior high or middle schools, high schools, college and universities, military groups, fraternities and sororities. Alumni directories, more common during the 1800′s through the 1910′s, include lists of students and biographical information. Art and literary magazines, popular during the early 1900′s, were magazines filled with articles written by students. These works may have been published on a monthly, quarterly, or yearly basis. Picture yearbooks became popular when the ability to reproduce pictures inexpensively made these types of books feasible. These include individual student and class pictures, writings and remembrances, and have been popular since about 1940.

Where can you look for yearbooks with pictures of your family member? First, try the school’s library, see if they have kept their yearbooks over the years. A nearby public library might have yearbooks as part of their local history collection. Try looking for yearbooks owned by historical societies, genealogy societies, or as part of a genealogy website. The website San Francisco Genealogy has a list of volunteers who will look up information in San Francisco yearbooks for you. I Dream of Genealogy also has indexes of yearbooks. You can select a state and then a school and see a transcribed list of names found in that yearbook. Old-Yearbooks.com is a free site that has digitized yearbooks and other school ephemera.

Subscription genealogy websites such as Ancestry and WorldVitalRecords both have yearbook collections. Recently WorldVitalRecords, in partnership with E-Yearbook added 8,000 yearbooks to their collection.  This collection includes school yearbooks as well as military yearbooks. E-Yearbook is a subscription site that allows you access to millions of pictures from middle school, high school, college and military yearbooks. Genealogy Today’s Family Tree Connection subscription database includes yearbooks and other school records. You can search the database by last name or by resource. Over 3.5 million names are a part of this database and new resources are constantly being added.

The Family History Library has a limited collection of school yearbooks, approximately 75. A keyword search of the term “yearbook” brings over 800 hits in the Family History Library catalog. These yearbooks include a wide range of sources including membership organization records and church directories.
Although yearbooks are limited in how much they can tell about an ancestor, a persistent genealogist who looks for yearbooks will be rewarded with information about their ancestor’s student days and a picture to add to their collection.

Family History Expos is pleased to have Thomas Jay Kemp give the Keynote Address at the upcoming Salt Lake Family History Expo! You may know him best as the familiar face behind NewsBank, inc., which includes GenealogyBank. Kemp has also been working as a genealogy and local history librarian for over 45 years.

Recently, he received the prestigious RUSA/GPC lifetime achievement award from the American Library Association. He was recognized for his decades of genealogy librarianship and numerous publications throughout the field.

During his career, Kemp has served as the Library Director of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, New England Historic Genealogical Society, Special Collections Library at the University of South Florida, Tampa and the Godfrey Memorial Library. He is currently the Director of Genealogy Products at NewsBank, inc.

Those who have heard Thomas Jay Kemp speak in person know of his talent and vast knowledge of information services and historical resources. Expo attendees are in for a treat as we have such a legend in genealogy kick off our great event.

The theme for the Salt Lake Family History Expo is Let Your Light Shine! With our fantastic Keynote Speaker, dozens of genealogy sessions and exciting exhibits, we plan to help you do just that. Won’t you join us? See you at the Expo!

*

The 2010 Midwest Family History Expo was a rousing success! We’d like to thank our attendees, speakers and exhibitors for being a part of it. If you weren’t able to get to Kansas City this time, don’t worry. Several bloggers captured their experiences and memories to share with others.

*

Blogger of Honor Susan Petersen of Long Lost Relatives.net offers up reflections on attending her first major genealogy conference. We’re glad that Family History Expos could be a part of that experience:

Midwest Family History Expo – We’re Here!

Midwest Family History Expo – Day 1

Midwest Family History Expo – Beacon of Bloggers

Midwest Family History Expo – Focus on the National Archives in Kansas City

Midwest Family History Expo – Blogger Paparazzi!

Midwest Family History Expo – Session Highlights – Day 1

Midwest Family History Expo – Day 2

*

Blogger of Honor Bill Smith of Dr. Bill Tells Ancestor Stories gives readers great descriptions and photos of the sessions and exhibit hall.

Midwest Family History Expo Underway

Early classes and exhibits visited on Friday

More Exhibitors at the Midwest Family History Expo in KC

Good Classes at the Midwest Family History Expo in KC

A Few More Exhibitor Photos at Midwest Family History Expo in KC

More Exhibitors at the Midwest Family History Expo in KC

Midwest Genealogy Center – new website on Monday, 8/2

*

Diana Ritchie of the great Random Relatives blog shares her memories and photos with readers as well. It’s clear that she had a great time at the Expo!

Family History Expo – I’m in Kansas City!

Fun at the Family History Expo

More fun at the Family History Expo

*

Blogger of Honor Jenna Mills of the Desperately Seeking Surnames blog

Midwest Family History Expo – Day 1

Reflections on the Midwest Family History Expo

Midwest Expo Take 2 Research in the South

Midwest Expo Take 2 Combining Historical Research with Genealogical Research

*

Leland Meitzler of the appropriately named Genealogy Blog

The Midwest Family History Expo is Now Underway

*

Biff Barnes of Stories to Tell was one of our great Expo speakers. In his Stories to Tell blog, he describes the three main questions asked by Expo attendees:

Three Questions About Books at the Family History Expo

*

Speaker, exhibitor, and Blogger of Honor Arlene Eakle of Arlene Eakle’s Genealogy Blog provides reflection on the experience of being a teacher at the Expo:

The Easy Button is in Kansas City, Live!

*

Blogger Teri Chaffin of the White and Chaffin Family History blog chronicles her Expo experiences here:

Kansas City Expos

*

Blogger Cheri Hopkins of the You Go Genealogy Girls brought her son along and had great fun:

*

Kansas City Family History Expo – A Blast!

*

Thank you to all the bloggers for your great recaps.

*

If you’re on Facebook, be sure to “Like” the Family History Expos Facebook page so you can see the 2010 Midwest Family History Expo photo album.

*

Our next event is the Salt Lake Family History Expo in Sandy, Utah, August 27-28, 2010. Join us!

Family History Expos is proud to have Millennia Corporation’s Legacy Family Tree as a major sponsor of the Midwest Family History Expo. Legacy software is the popular choice for many genealogists.

If you’re going to the Midwest Family History Expo, consider attending these Legacy classes taught by professional genealogist Char Mitts:

Friday, July 30

1:30 p.m. – Organize, Plan, Share, Map and Chart Your Family Tree with Legacy Family Tree. Choosing the right genealogy computer program is an important decision for any genealogist. For professionals, this decision is even more critical. Learn how Legacy Family Tree can help.

Saturday, July 31

9:30 a.m. – Getting More from Legacy Family Tree. Come and learn tips and tricks to expand the power of Legacy Family Tree software.

Legacy Family Tree will also be offering product demonstrations at their booth #33, 34. If that wasn’t enough, Legacy is also giving away an Acer Netbook computer with Legacy Family Tree software! Entry forms will be available during Friday morning’s keynote speech, so don’t be left out!

You can also follow Legacy Family Tree on Twitter or join them this fall on a Legacy cruise.

This is a busy time for us at Family History Expos.  Last month was the Loveland, Colorado Expo and in a few days we will be heading to Kansas City for the Midwest Family History Expo.  Next month we will meet in Sandy, Utah for the Salt Lake Family History Expo.  Summer time is a great time to take part in an Expo (or even two).

Plan now for a summer of genealogy research.  To learn more about this summer’s Expos, please see our website .

See you at the Expo!

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Announcements

Join us for the Salt Lake Family History Expo!

August 27-28, 2010 marks the Salt Lake Family History Expo.  Come join us for educational presentations, the vendor hall and more.

For more information, check out our website .

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Feature Article

Walking in Your Early American Ancestor’s Footsteps:  Social History Websites

By Gena Philibert Ortega

It’s so easy to get caught up in the collecting of names and dates in genealogy that we forget that our ancestors were flesh and blood people who had similar triumphs, tragedies and trials as we do today.  An important aspect of the genealogical research process is learning more about our ancestor thus making them interesting to future generations.

So how do you bring someone “to life” that has been dead a few hundred years?  You add information about how their day to day life was.  This can be done by reviewing books and websites on social history.  Some of the following ideas can be used for an early American ancestor as well as an ancestor living in a completely different place and time.

Cooking

I’m always interested in what my ancestors ate.  Even looking back one generation in my family, what we eat as a family today is quite different than what my mother ate as a child or even what I ate as a child.  Food differs from place and time based on a number of factors including availability, cost, and whether it is something that is in “vogue” at the time.

Wondering what your Revolutionary War era ancestors ate?  The website Feeding America has a number of early American cookbooks.  While it does not have one from the 1770s it does have one from 1798, American Cookery, or the art of dressing viands, fish, poultry, and vegetables, and the best modes of making pastes, puffs, pies, tarts, puddings, custards, and preserves, and all kinds of cakes, from the imperial plum to plain cake: Adapted to this country, and all grades of life by Amelia Simmons.  Simmons takes care to teach her reader what meat is best for eating and how to choose the best meat.  Of the peacock she says, “tho’ beautifully plumaged, is tough, hard, stringy and untasted, and even indelicious.”(pg. 7)

Personal Experiences

Although your ancestor may not have written an account of their life or kept a journal, you can by reading about the lives of others, learn about what it was like to be alive during that historical time and even learn about what it must have been like to experience certain events.

Personal narrative exist in various books and websites but some examples of women’s experiences include Sarah Osborn Recollects her Experiences in the Revolutionary War, 1837 and Margaret Morris’ Revolutionary War Experience 1776-1777.

Weaponry

When my kids were visiting with members of a Sons of the American Revolution group, they were able to handle the men’s period replica weapons.  These replicas are used when they conduct reenactments.  It was amazing to see how the heavy the weapons were, how difficult they were to fire, and their size.  It gave my boys an appreciation of what it must have been like to be a Revolutionary War soldier.

Want to learn more about the weapons your Revolutionary War soldier may have used?  These websites have the information that might just help you.  Revolutionary War Antiques and Guilford Courthouse National Military Park.

Primary Documents

The list goes on and on regarding what you can learn about your early American ancestor’s life. Some websites that may be of use to you as you search for information about that era include:

Archiving Early America

History Central: Revolutionary War

Library of Congress, American Memory

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

GenTeacher for Kids

Tell Me About the Revolutionary War

By Gena Philibert Ortega

When we think of teaching kids about a topic, we often head straight to the library as a first step.  But  kids learn better by doing or by participating in an activity.  When teaching about a Revolutionary War ancestor, why not check out a local re-enactor group.  These groups provide audiences a feel for what it was like to live in a certain time period.  They do their historical research and often sport historically accurate costumes and weapons.  At the Mesa Family History Expo, my kids talked at length with a local Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) group and were able to ask questions about the military costumes they wore and even were able to handle the long rifles the men used for reenactments.

Some websites that have links to Revolutionary War re-enactor groups are

• Revwar Links
• Re-Enactor Links
• Reenactor.net

Don’t forget about local SAR or Daughters of the American Revolution groups. A local living history museum might also provide a glimpse into live in the past.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Expo Highlights

Bell Printing

Bell Printing is the printer who helps us print our Expo Syllabi and Schedules.  They have done a great job for us over the years.

Bell Printing and Design is owned and operated by Bell Photographers, Inc. a leader in school photography throughout the Rocky Mountain area for over 50 years.  Bell Printing produces yearbooks for the school photography company and is one of the leading commercial printers in the northern Utah area.

In 2007, Bell Printing acquired its most state of the art digital printing press, an  HP Indigo 5000, allowing them to print as few as a single book at reasonable prices.  They offer binding options including saddle stitching, coil, perfect, and hard case binding.  Contact Dan Thomson at 801-920-1762 or dan@bellprinting.com for information and pricing for your family history or any other publication.  Bell Printing has been the sole outside provider of printing for Family History Expos since their inception.  Let them become your print provider as well.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Tech Tip

Back Up Your Data!

Backing up the files we have on our computer is almost like going to the dentist.  It’s something you know you should do but you put it off until something happens.  There are so many way you can choose to back up your data, from portable flash drives and hard drives to online offerings like Mozy.

Two good rules to keep in mind with backing up data is to do it often and backup in more than one place.  For me, that means that I have my files on a portable hard drive as well as on a flash drive.  My photos and gedcom files I send to family members like my brother.  That way if something were to happen to my originals or me, someone else has access to it.

Portable Scanning

It seems that whenever I go to a library, especially when I’ve found lots of great information in books, that the copy machine is always broken.  Now, there are several ways you can prepare for this.  You can take your digital camera with you to take pictures of pages that you can at home download and view on your computer.  You can also purchase a portable scanner that will allow you to scan pages of a document.  One that I purchased recently was the VuPoint Magic Wand Scanner.  This hand held device can scan photos and text.  It saves the scan to a microSD card which you can then download to your computer.  This resolution is surprisingly good and it makes for a great backup whether you are at a library or a new found cousins house.  Whatever you choose to use, a camera or a portable scanning device, consider adding one to your research bag.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Upcoming Events

For more information, please see the Expos tab on our website.

July 30-31, 2010. Midwest Family History Expo

August 27-28, 2010. Salt Lake Family History Expo

October 8-9, 2010. California Family History Expo

October 25-30, 2010. Family History Library Research Retreat

November 12-13, 2010. Atlanta Family History Expo

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Family History Expos, Inc.

PO Box 187

Morgan, UT 84050

expos@fhexpos.com

http://www.fhexpos.com/

Main Office: 801-829-3295

© Family History Expos, Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

You are subscribed to the Family History Expos, Inc. newsletter. To unsubscribe just visit our website at http://www.fhexpos.com/ . From there you can manage your subscription through the Member Login link.

So much emphasis is placed on men of the Revolutionary period that it’s also important to remember the women of the Revolution as well.  Women during this time period committed acts of heroism and still kept  together their families and homes as best they could.

Want to learn more about women during this time period?  Check out these sources that will help you understand their experience more and add richness to your research into their lives.

Books

BERKIN, C. (2005). Revolutionary mothers: women in the struggle for America’s independence. New York, Knopf.

Collins, Gail. America’s Women: Four Hundred Years of Dolls, Drudges, Helpmates, and Heroines. New York: William Morrow, 2003. Print.

ELLET, E. F., DIAMANT, L. (1998). Revolutionary women in the War for American Independence: a one-volume revised edition of Elizabeth Ellet’s 1848 landmark series. Westport, Conn, Praeger.

EVANS, E. (1975). Weathering the storm; women of the American Revolution. New York, Scribner.

ROBERTS, C. (2004). Founding mothers: the women who raised our nation. New York, William Morrow.

WARREN, M. O., RICHARDS, J. H., & HARRIS, S. M. (2009). Mercy Otis Warren: selected letters. Athens, University of Georgia Press.

Websites

Women and the American Revolution
Women of the Revolution
Women in the U.S. Army

Family History Expos is proud to have Generation Maps as a sponsor of the Midwest Family History Expo. Need a wall chart, heirloom chart or working chart? Generation Maps can help. In fact, they even recently introduced Family Chartist which allows you to create your own custom charts. If you’ve done all the research, but still need a way to display your family tree, Generation Maps can help. From heirloom quality images suitable for framing to 40-feet color-coded charts, GenerationMaps does it all. They even offer free consultations.

If you’re going to the Midwest Family History Expo, be sure to enter the Expo prize drawing. You might win a $50 gift card good for anything at the Generation Maps web site!

Generation Maps creates beautiful products all designed to highlight your family’s genealogy. Their customer testimonials and pictures tell the full story. You can also follow GenerationMaps through their blog, Facebook and Twitter pages.

Family History Expos is proud to have RootsMagic as a major sponsor of the Midwest Family History Expo. “Family history made easy” is the slogan on their products including the popular RootsMagic 4 genealogy software.

If you are attending the Midwest Family History Expo in Kansas City, there are two RootsMagic classes that may be of interest to you:

Friday, July 30

3:00 p.m. Getting the Most Out of Roots Magic, part 1

Saturday, July 31

9:30 a.m. Getting the Most Out of Roots Magic, part 2

On top of the classroom sessions, the RootsMagic staff also offer product demonstrations at their booth. Stop by and say hi to the RootsMagic crew at booth #1.

You can also follow RootsMagic online through their blog, Twitter and Facebook pages.

Family History Expos is proud to have AGES-online as a local sponsor of the Midwest Family History Expo. AGES-online is an Internet-based family tree builder designed to “free the genealogy researcher from the burdens of cumbersome software so they can rediscover their passion for exploring their family history.”

The “AGES ” in AGES-online stands for Advanced Genealogical Exploration Services. Their web site features an extensive Learning Center as well as a video demo that covers all aspects of AGES-online including the first step of importing a GEDCOM file.

AGES-online staff will be available at the Midwest Family History Expo to answer questions and provide demonstrations of their products. Be sure to stop by booth #37/54 and say hello.

You can also follow AGES-online at Facebook.

Family History Expos is proud to have FamilySearch as a supporter of the Midwest Family History Expo. Genealogists worldwide have used FamilySearch records online and through one of their 4,500 Family History Centers.

To learn more about all FamilySearch has to offer, consider attending these sessions at the Midwest Family History Expo:

Friday, July 30

1: 30 p.m. – FamilySearch’s Research Wiki, Forums and Blogs:Useful Tools to Connect and Collaborate with Others

2:30 p.m. – Powerful Tips and Tricks for FamilySearch Record Search

Saturday, July 31

8:00 a.m. – FamilySearch Wiki and African American and American Indian Research

11:00 a.m. – FamilySearch 2010 and Beyond

FamilySearch representatives will also be on hand in booth #19/20/35/36 to answer any questions and share their services. Stop by and say hello.

You can also follow FamilySearch Indexing on Facebook.