Postcard of an unidentified family, purchased from an antiques shop in Cambridge, MD.
Saturday I met a wonderful group, the Delaware Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society (DEAAHGS). I was there for the Delaware Humanities forum to talk about “Exploring Family History through Genealogy,” and we had a great program. Long after the formal discussion wrapped up, we were still at it, exchanging ideas and talking about family history in a lively give and take as everyone jumped in.
What was most impressive for me, though, was to see the exceptional group that has come together to explore genealogy and local history, and although it is only two years old they have made great progress. In that span of time DEAAHGS has achieved a lot, serving as advocates for preserving the stories of family and community, gathering up historical and genealogical insights, all while helping members overcome roadblocks and get started. And they do it all in such an open and welcoming way.
We all learned a lot as we exchanged ideas about research strategies, talked about additional how-to techniques for finding elusive evidence, and suggested seldom used primary sources. Then when President Jim Jones took the floor, he became the perfect booster for the organization’s mission as he remarked in an especially effective, motivating way, “if we don’t do it, no one else will” and “get it done now before memories fade.”
This start-up Society has built up camaraderie by providing collegial support to members, guests, and public library patrons. Thank you President Jones, Vice-President of History Darleen Amobi, officers, and members for the invitation to speak, for the warm welcome, and for the chance to see your dedication. Also, thank you for sharing so much with your colleagues as they document family stories.
DEAAHGS has a large event scheduled in September and I will be keeping an eye on their monthly program schedule, as they are doing helpful work. You may want to do that too. You will find a friendly, open group just waiting to help the novice, as well as the experienced family history researcher.
American Republican and Baltimore Daily Clipper, July 4, 1845. Source: The Library of Congress, Chronicling America
The University of Maryland Library system has received a $290,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to continue digitizing historic Maryland Newspapers. The “Historic Maryland Newspapers Project” was first awarded a grant in 2013 to digitize 100,000 pages of newsprint between 1826 and 1922. About 86,000 pages are now available on the Library of Congress database, Chronicling America.
The newly renovated Wilmington Library retains its original character while meeting 21st-century patron expectations.
The Wilmington Library, a newly renovated center city landmark, has been collecting Delaware materials for centuries, and it has many useful resources in the “Delaware Room.” Genealogists, local history researchers, and the public will find gems that should not be overlooked in this reference department. City directories (beginning in 1814), newspapers on microfilm, bound print volumes of older publications, and maps are some of the materials.
One of the treasures I find particularly helpful is the “Delaware Index,” a unique pre-computer age catalog of 3 x 5 cards and vertical files with materials from 1922 to 1977. For the better part of the 20th century, the Wilmington librarians cut out and indexed articles about local subjects and people from many periodicals. Included were newspapers, such as the Delaware Republican, Morning News, Evening Journal, Journal Every Evening, and Sunday Morning Star.
These files, professionally arranged for easy, logical access by patrons, include newspapers, magazines, pamphlets, letters, speeches, maps, and ephemera. It is arranged by subject, so when researchers check on something, they can easily find materials published in the era before digital searches made access almost effortless. Although the staff doesn’t add to these files as databases have replaced this old method for accessing information, they continue to maintain the catalog and the vertical files. This is particularly important because few Delaware newspapers have been digitized.
This storehouse of information, a card catalog full of index cards and file folders packed with aging materials, is an excellent starting place for genealogists or anyone puzzling together narratives from the past in the First State. So be sure to check out these exceptional special collections if you are doing some digging into earlier times.
A modern index picks it up from there. Available online through the library catalog, the News Journal Newspaper Index (1989 – present) is another great tool. The librarians index the major stories on a continuing basis. To search for articles, do an “Advanced Search” in the library catalog. Locate the library field and change it from “any library” to “Newspaper Index (Wilmington Public Library Reference).” Search for whatever keyword or author you are trying to dig up. This is not a full-text database so to read the article you will need to visit a library to access that issue of the periodical.
Remember to use these resources for your local and family history projects all around the state, as the librarians indexed the Delaware newspapers, which thoroughly covered its beat, the First State. I often find nuggets of information that would require hours staring at microfilm readers or paging through newspapers, practically making the data inaccessible because of time constraints. Once I have this information as a foundation, I can build on my research and seek out additional sources, depending on the purpose of my study.
Of course, the Wilmington Public Library also has other local history resources. These include Delaware newspapers on microfilm, starting in 1871, such as the News Journal, Morning News, Sunday Morning Star, Every Evening and Evening Journal. City directories begin in 1814. The Delaware Census and a large collection of books are other items.
The key to accessing much of this information is the reference librarian. These information specialists are the best, even when a line of customers, ringing phones, and cranky photocopiers require some masterful juggling. They know their turf and go out of the way to help patrons find answers to the wide array of questions that get tossed at them. I am consistently amazed at some of the materials they dig up for me to use, the research strategies they suggest, and the useful things these professionals come up with as we patrons look for odd bits of information.
Last Saturday, I worked at the library with the Delaware Collection and while I was there a dazzling array of questions were presented to the helpful librarian staffing reference. She handled it all masterfully, including my questions that required some digging.
A screen grab of the 1904 map showing Newport. Notice the timeline at the bottom showing other available products.
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and Esri, a geographic information technology company, have partnered to make the enormous collection of the Survey’s map readily available to everyone. While these resources have been downloadable on the Internet since September 2011, this new, user-friendly website provides convenient access to the “Historical Topographic Map Collection.”
This new interface or explorer is a significant improvement over the original system, which was more complicated. The explorer brings to life more than 178,000 maps from 1884 to 2006, allowing users to easily access geo-referenced images, which can also be used in web mapping applications. The timeline allows visitors to easily explore the collection by place, time, and scale, and the sheets are easily downloaded.
Use of the landing page is simple. Visitors enter the desired location in a query box, and once you click on the map a convenient timeline comes up, showing the survey for that place. The user is able to visual see the products that were produced over time and move along the line to see the changes over time.
Check this out, as you will find lots to help with your local and family history research
