In the News 1940's: Computers

While the War took up much of the news of the 1940's a very important piece of equipment was being developed, the Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer.   This early computer was designed to calculate

ballistic firing tables during World War II.  It was so huge it filled a room.  

Isn't it amazing, now we have handheld computers!!  

Cpl. Irwin Goldstein (foreground) sets the switches on one of the ENIAC's function tables at the Moore School of Electrical Engineering. (U.S. Army photo)

Just think in your hand you can hold a computer and help to Index the 1940 US Census.  Without an Index, it would be like looking for the proverbial "needle in a haystack" to find names of family members.  Whose name will you find in the 1940 US Census?  Who will you be helping to find a name by making sure it is indexed?  I hope you consider joining me in the 1940 Census Community Project.  This is something that will  certainly be making the News!! Records will be released in 26 days!!

The Yankee Clipper

"Joltin' Joe " DiMaggio was definitely someone to look up too. He was a famous baseball player who set the incredible record of a 56 game hitting streak from May 15th to July 16th in 1941. Here is what Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig, said after the death of Joe DiMaggio in March 8 1999.

“All of baseball is deeply saddened by the passing of the Yankee Clipper—Joe DiMaggio. For several generations of baseball fans, Joe was the personification of grace, class and dignity on the baseball diamond…As an immigrant’s son, he represented the hopes and ideals of our great country. Joe DiMaggio was a hero in the truest sense of the word.”

Photograph shows Joe DiMaggio, of the New York Yankees, wearing suit, sitting in a chair, facing slightly right, about to kiss his signature baseball bat. Sporting News.  15 December 1941. Original copyright 1941 by The Sporting News Pub. Co. No known restrictions on publication. No renewal in Copyright office (checked 3/17/88).  Library of Congress

Rumors fly in my family that Joe DiMaggio was a distant cousin of my mom's.   What is it that makes us want to be related to the famous??  Do we hope to have the fame and fortune for ourselves?  Or do we need others to look up to, or to have their example to emulate in our life?  

Seven of the American League's 1937 All-Star players, from left to right Lou Gehrig, Joe Cronin, Bill Dickey, Joe DiMaggio, Charlie Gehringer, Jimmie Foxx, and Hank Greenberg. All seven would eventually be elected to the Hall of Fame.  From Wikipedia

As far as I can tell there if there is a NOT relation between Joe's DiMaggio's line and mine, if there is it very very very distant!!  My DiMaggio line is from Terracina, Italy a town about an hour south of Rome.  And Joe's family is from Sicily.  Still I get excited whenever I see the surname DiMaggio. People can travel and well...you just never know!!

The 1940 U.S. Census will have the famous and not so famous listed among it's pages.  Who are you interested to find? Everyone's in it!! Is the person you are looking for  famous or not so famous?   

Would you consider helping with the 1940 US Census Community Project?   It's fun, fascinating and you never know what famous person you will discover.  I hope you join me in this great project!!   Click here for more info. Let's hit it over the ballpark!!

Are You In It??

I am NOT in it! But, I am going to be looking for people who hopefully are in it!! The people I am most excited to find would be my husband's grandfather and his family. You see, they have totally disappeared in the 1930 census! We can't find them anywhere! And apparently there is a mystery sister. Now wouldn't she be great to find!!

If you are interested in the 1940 U.S. census please consider helping FamilySearch to Index the information. It's fun and it's super easy!! It doesn't have to take up a lot of your time!  Just a little bit everyday helps!  The information you help index will be made available for free to anyone to view. How awesome is that!! The more people who help Index the faster the information will get out. I hope you join me in this great activity. It is always wonderful to work on something bigger than ourselves. And this is huge!! Go to http://the1940census.com for more information.

Being Part of Something Bigger Than Ourselves

There is a saying or I guess a philosophy that one should be a part of something bigger than themselves.  I have found that something and it is so exciting.   It's simple and almost anyone can do it right from there very own home.  Want to know what it is??  Drum roll please. It is:

FamilySearch Indexing

What is FamilySearch Indexing you might ask.   Well, it is a process of extracting names and other data from old valuable records. Then those records become available for others to view for FREE!!  You can find millions of records here at Record Search!  Indexing is easy to do, and you all you need is your computer.  You can spend  hours a day, or 15 minutes a week. Whatever time you have available.  Every little bit helps.   Not only are you providing names for others to find there ancestors, but you learn things about life along the way. 

The last few weeks I have been working on the Canadian Ontario Death records from 1933-1937.  I know it may sound morbid, but I find it fascinating.  Besides, the records are fairly easy to read and easy to index.  The exciting thing is that these people still live and need to be bound to families for eternity.  Every name I index could be someones brick wall, just getting ready to be knocked down.  Indexing also has helped give me an added perspective on living in this day and age where we have wonderful medical advances.  I noticed that a lot of people died of pneumonia in those days. Now we have vaccines to help prevent that from happening.  I recently indexed two different records of a little babies who died from spina bifida.  That touched my heart, and makes me grateful for forever families. But, also made me very grateful that my own Evan was born in a day and age where people with spina bifida can thrive.

Yesterday, I was working on some of my own family history.  Just trying to get some dates straightened out.  My great grandmother has a brother named Felix Constantineau who has a cousin with the exact same name.  They were even born just a few months apart in 1877.  Sometimes it can get confusing.  Recently a lot of new records from Massachusetts and other places were added to Record Search, thanks to lots of people indexing.  So, I went there, looking for information to make sure I had the right Felix Constantineau married to the right woman. Then I was surprised to find a record that my grand uncle had a little baby boy that only lived a short while. I also found another little girl who died at age 6 that belonged to another one of my families, and I never knew that before.  Now they can be sealed to their families for all eternity, and there will be much rejoicing.

Indexing has records available from around the world.  There are records that are easy to index and others that are harder, you get to choose which records you want to index!  Anyone can do it, and you never know who you might be helping out!!  So, go out and be a part of something bigger than yourself.  You will be glad you did!!