What’s New? Skill-Building: Breaking Down Brick Walls

The National Institute is proud to announce our newest course, Skill-Building: Breaking Down Brick Walls. Brick walls are a reality in genealogy research, but fortunately there is hope. In this course, we  look at a variety of strategies you can implement to help turn your research roadblocks into breakthroughs. We begin with a quick refresher of some key research concepts to help focus your research and prepare you for success. Next, we walk through some simple steps to get you prepared for the journey. Finally, we investigate four different approaches you can use to do some brick wall busting. By the end of this course, you should have some new ideas for researching brick walls and the inspiration to forge ahead. Written by genealogist Julie Cahill Tarr, this 8 week course will teach you the methodology you need to solve your toughest research problems. A comprehensive course full of practical examples, Julie says, “I wanted to give students a variety of ideas to help them reframe their research and forge ahead on those difficult ‘brick wall’ ancestors. Instead of telling students about the various techniques, I show them ways to actually implement these strategies and give real-life research examples for further illustration. My hope is that students will walk away from this course with new ideas they can try immediately, and with a renewed sense of hope.” Because this course was created for the professional or the serious minded researcher, it is advised that you complete the Analysis and Skills…

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My Favorite Course: Research: American World War II Ancestors

It’s difficult for me to choose just one course as my favorite. I have a unique position among those who will write about their favorite courses on this blog. I was a student of The National Institute for Genealogical Studies before I started my work here. Currently, I read through the courses as they are turned in by the instructors. This allows me to see the latest courses and resources before they are added to the website. Because I am so familiar with the 200+ courses The National Institute offers, how can I choose just one? So I decided to write this post about a course that students may not be as familiar with. Research: American World War II Ancestors- Part 1 and Part 2. These courses, authored by World War II researcher and author  Jennifer Holik, provide students with a look at all facets of researching World War II and its effect on Americans, on the battlefield and the home front. The description for these two courses are: There are many records that were created during World War I that are similar in World War II. Learn what led to the start of World War II, how the U.S. became involved and the military records available. They did not all burn in the 1973 fire! This course will move from military records for the Navy, Coast Guard and Marines to civilian jobs including the USO, Merchant Marines and others. You will learn how to research the service of your…

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Finishing Up US: Migration Patterns

By Shannon Combs-Bennett, Student Well, US: Migration Patterns was an amazing course. I have enjoyed each course I’ve written about, but this one really made an impression on me. Lots of great information, charts, maps, tables, plus history. You can’t forget the history part. If you think you can as a genealogist, well, you are going to miss a lot of things. Recently I was asked who should take a course like this. Frankly anyone with US ancestors, but particularly those who know they have roots that started in one area and then moved to another. Too vague? Let me explain a little bit. Migration is a natural process and at times needed. Your ancestor may only have moved a few miles.  Maybe they moved a few states. Understanding the why, when, how or where-to is key when you are researching. While researching your family, you also get to see a bit about historical events that influenced their lives, social history too.  It all works together, you just have to take the pieces and collate them. Those ideas were presented in easy to understand concepts and pieces throughout the modules. I know many of you will appreciate that. Sometimes courses can be so full of information that it is difficult to internalize and remember it all. Not in this case. In fact, I have started looking over a few of my brick wall cases that I think will benefit from me taking this course.  It helps that most of my…

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20th Century Migrations

By Shannon Combs-Bennett, Student Once again there was a lot of great information put forward in Module 5 and 6 of the US: Migration Patterns course. However, I found the information in Module  6 to be very enlightening. That module focused on migration patterns  for 1920 and forward. A subject that I have not really given my full attention to since most of my research is in the early 1800s and before. Bad on me! Of course I remember the unit from US History class about the migration that occurred during the Great Depression; how the “dust bowl” effected farmers and they packed up their lives and moved west. I also remember reading The Grapes of Wrath in English class. However, through this course I learned quickly that there was more to movement and migration in the US during the 20th century than what took place during the 1930s. Anyone who had taken extended road trips across the US knows that the federal highway system was slowly replaced by the interstates to get people where they were going quicker. What I didn’t internalize until now was how many of these highways followed the old migration routes. But it makes sense doesn’t it?  If the route is already there why not create a better road on top of it! It especially hit home that I was traveling the footsteps of my ancestors when I drove these roads (some of them I have driven frequently over the last few decades). Most importantly…

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Some Thoughts On Researching US Occupations

Each  individual  researcher’s  quest  to  understand  their  ancestor’s  “life’s work”  will  have  its  own  twists  and  turns. There  is not  one  record  or  one repository  that  will  give  you  all  the  answers. Before you begin your  research using a specific record, have a general idea what might be found in that record. For  example:  If  you  are  working  in  county  land  records  what  type  of information  would  you  expect  to  find  about  a  person’s  occupation? Here are just a few examples: their stated occupation (i.e: blacksmith, yeoman, trader, etc). location   of   where   they   practiced   this   occupation   (where  they purchased or rented their land). location  of  where  they  last  practiced  their  occupation  (statement  of  a location other than the current county of residence). any partnerships or corporations. where they learned their trade. where they might have acquired their tools. any business difficulties, bankruptcy, sheriff sales, etc. did  they  buy  and  sell  land  repeatedly,  possibly  as  a  means  of  an income (land speculator). A land record has more to tell than the description of the land, and names of   the  grantee/grantor. You  must  evaluate it  with  a critical eye. Repositories  are  numerous  and  the following  is  a  short list  of  repositories that you should  be using: Family History Library and the local Family History Center Genealogy Libraries (Allen County Public Library; Midwest Genealogy Center; Sutro Library; DAR Library;  Clayton Library) Local library and the interlibrary loan system National Archives and its regional branches Library of Congress State Libraries and Archives County…

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