New version of the Naturalization Records, 1915-1951 database

Announcement from Library & Archives Canada:

Part of page from Naturalization Records online

Library and Archives Canada (LAC) is pleased to announce the release of a new version of the online database Naturalization Records, 1915-1951. The nominal index has been extended with the addition of more than 93,000 names and now covers the years from 1915 to 1939, inclusively. Work is ongoing to extend the nominal index to 1951, and   volunteers are welcome to help. Those interested should write to Cdn-Nat-Coord@jgs-montreal.org.

 

This database is one of the few Canadian genealogical resources specifically designed to benefit researchers having roots other than British. The reference numbers indicated in the database can be used to request copies of the original naturalization records, which are held by Citizenship and Immigration Canada.

 

Library and Archives Canada would like to thank the Jewish Genealogical Society of Montreal and its volunteers, without whom this project would not have happened.

You Can Help With the 1940 US Census (37 days and counting)

Are you ready? 37 more days until the 1940 US census comes online!

I was invited to be a 1940 US Census Ambassador and have signed up. If you would like to participate, you can submit a request to be an Ambassador or you can volunteer to help index the census.

Volunteer to be part of the 1940 US Census Community Project

Volunteer to be part of the 1940 US Census Community Project to help index the 1940 US Census

You can also follow the Twitter account for the 1940 US Census Community Project at @the1940Census

Register to become a 1940 Blog Ambassador 

As a 1940 Blog Ambassador, you will have access to exclusive content including badges for your site, blog post and contest ideas, blogger events, project updates and more. 1940 Blog Ambassadors will also have opportunities to be featured on the 1940 U.S. Census Community Project Official Blog.





Sponsors

The following websites and societies are sponsoring the 1940 US Census. Please pay them a visit.

Archives.com
FamilySearch
findmypast.com
Association of Professional Genealogists
Federation of Genealogical Societies
National Genealogical Society

You Can Transcribe it! NARA's Transcription Project

NARA Transcription Pilot Project

Great news. You can now join the National Archives Transcription Pilot Project  and help transcribe documents. It's very easy, in fact I just went in and typed out one page of a document in less than 15 minutes.

The document I transcribed was the 1851 Petition of Edward Gorsuch found in a Fugitive Slave Petition Book. Edward lived in Baltimore County Maryland and the first page (which I transcribed) mentions the full names (first and last) of several of his slaves as well as their ages 


There are 3 categories of documents - beginner, intermediate and advanced. I've transcribed hundreds or possibly thousands of documents over the years so I jumped into advanced.  You can enlarge the page you are reading and the scans are crystal clear so it truly isn't difficult.

If you're just starting out or the document you chose is difficult, you can leave and pick another one. This is a great way to contribute a few minutes or more of your time and help make these historic documents more accessible to all.

November's Genealogy Challenge

It's time for November's Genealogy Challenge. Even though I was underwhelmed by the response to my October Genealogy Challenge I'm repeating the challenge this month.

October's Challenge was the "Give 15 Minutes" Challenge - to give 15 minutes of time to photograph tombstones in a local cemetery.  In 15 minutes most genealogists can photograph between 30 and 60 burial stones! 

Many genealogists told me they were going to do it. Many were enthusiastic about participating in a project that would bring more cemeteries online for all to view. So why was I underwhelmed?

Because only one person followed through. Bobby R. sent me almost 300 photos a cemetery in Missouri. You can see the first video on Olive Tree Genealogy YouTube Channel

Yes that certainly took longer than my suggested 15 minutes challenge, but even if Bobby had only done 15 minutes of photographing burial stones that would have been a great start.

Perhaps October was a busy month for genealogists. I refuse to believe that folks just aren't interested. I know genealogists are among the most giving and generous people there are! And sometimes life just gets in the way of good intentions.  Maybe that is what happened in October.

So I'm challenging all my readers once again - please try to find 15 minutes of time to go out and photograph tombstones in a nearby cemetery. Don't worry if you only get 20 photos, or you get half the cemetery but not all. ANYTHING is good!

Just think of how many cemeteries we can bring online if we all make that effort to find 15 minutes once a month.  So won't you accept this Genealogy Challenge and help bring more cemeteries online?

If you upload your photos to a photo sharing site such as Picasa Web Album or Flickr, you can easily get them to me for the Cemetery Walk video creation. You can also email them to me at olivetreegenealogy @ gmail.com (no spaces of course in the email address)