Betting you have ancestral ties back into the above show “heartland” states. Am I right? And would you like to know more……. and up-to-date research “more” about these states? The Eastern Washington Genealogical Society is giving you the chance to learn more about researching in the heartland of America. Meetings are the first Saturday of the month, both in person and via ZOOM. Interest piqued and want to know more? Click to www.EWGSI.org for all the news.
Did you light a candle or shed a tear today, August 16th, ……. the 45th anniversary of Elvis Presley’s death?
We “all” loved or hated Elvis. In 1958 I recall hurrying home from Sunday evening youth group to see Elvis on the Ed Sullivan show! Only from the waist up, of course.
What did you really know about Elvis the man??
1. He had a twin brother, Jesse, who died at birth.
2. His full name was Elvis Aaron (his father was Vernon Elvis).
3. His favorite sandwich was peanut butter, bacon and banana.
4. His home/mansion, Graceland, was originally a church when he bought it.
5. His first hit? Heartbreak Hotel in 1956.
6. He earned a Black Belt in karate in 1960.
7. He married Priscilla in 1967 in Las Vegas; Lisa Marie was their only child.
8. His first movie was “Love Me Tender.”
9. He made 24 albums.
10. He was reading The Scientific Search for the Face of Jesus at the time of his death.
One last Elvis story: My father was in Sacred Heart hospital in about the year 2000 and when I went to pay for parking, the attendant said it would be free if I could tell him the date of Elvis’s death. “Easy! I said. Everybody knows he’s NOT dead!” The fellow laughed and let me pass.
Big thanks to the July/August 2022 issue of Family Tree Magazine for this information.
Why do we want to learn about social history? What has it to do with genealogy? It has everything to do with our family history! Genealogy is the facts. Social history gives the why-when-how of those facts.
When I learned that my great-grandmother took her 8-year-old daughter (my grandmother, Clara) upstream on the Mississippi River to visit family in St. Louis, I wanted to know more about the circumstances of that story. THAT’S social history.
We’ve probably all used Google to find images of what life was like for our ancestors in any past time period or place. That’s well and good, but there are other website you might consider:
** Encyclopedia Britannica – yes! No more a groaning load of huge volumes on our living room shelves, but all online AND up to date! (www.britannica.com)
** Food Timeline (www.foodtimeline.org). What your ancestors ate, and how they fixed their food, tells you much about their daily lives.
**History Net (www.historynet.com). Search for U.S. history topics at this website from the California Gold Rush to D-Day.
**Immigration to the United States, 1789-1930… really long website address:library.harvard.edu/collections/immigration-united-states-1789-1930This Harvard Library resource allows you to search among thousands of digitized books, pamphlets, periodicals, manuscripts and photos to learn more about voluntary immigration to America.
**Library of Congress Digital Collections (www.loc/gov/collections). This site includes Chronicling America (the only US newspaper resource) and more.
At the bottom of the article was this banner bit: “Read Shelley K. Bishop’s list of free social history website, categorized by subject at www.familytreemagazine.com/history/top-social-history-websitesThere is ALWAYS more to learn about the lives and times of our ancestors.
One of my favorite TV stars was Mr. Spock of Star Trek. On a whim, I decided to learn more about Leonard Nimoy the man. Perhaps you’ve wondered too?
Leonard Simon Nimoy was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on 26 March 1931, to Dora (Spinner) and Max Nimoy, who owned a barbershop. His parents were Ukrainian Jewish immigrants. (“My folks came to the US as immigrants, aliens, and became citizens. I was born in Boston, a citizen, went to Hollywood and became an alien.”) He had one brother, Melvin. Raised in a tenement and acting in community theaters since age eight, Nimoy did not make his Hollywood debut until he was 20. After two years in the U.S. Army, he was still getting small, often uncredited, parts.
In February 1965, he made his first appearance as Spock in the Star Trek TV pilots “The Cage” and “Where No Man Has Gone Before,” and went on to play the character until the end of the production run in early 1969…… soon followed by eight feature films and guest appearances in later spin-offs in the franchise.
Got his famous role of Spock on Star Trek (1966) in part because discussions among writers and producers of the series about the character of Spock led them to put out the word that they were looking for a tall, thin guy to play the role of an alien crew member. Gene Roddenberry and casting director Joseph D’Agosta remembered Nimoy from his work in Roddenberry’s first TV series, the WWII drama The Lieutenant (1963). After being invited to come look at the sets and props, Nimoy was offered the role…and so was born his most famous role and start as a popular culture icon.
Leonard Nimoy first saw what would become the famous Vulcan salute, “Live Long and Prosper,” as a child. The placement of the hands comes from a childhood memory, or an Orthodox Jewish synagogue service in Boston. “This is the shape of the letter shin,” Nimoy said in the 2013 interview, making the famous “V” gesture. The Hebrew letter shin, he noted, is the first letter in several Hebrew words, including Shaddai (a name for God), Shalom (the word for hello, goodbye and peace).
The “Vulcan nerve pinch” concept on Star Trek (1966) was invented by Nimoy when he and the series’ writers were trying to figure out how an unarmed Spock could overpower an adversary without resorting to violence.
Leonard Nimoy was twice married and left a son and daughter. He was 6’1” tall, was an avid writer of poetry and wrote many books and he was best friends with William Shatner (only a few days older). He spoke Hebrew and Yiddish and was an advocate for keeping that language alive.
Mr. Spock passed away on 27 February 2015, one month away from what would have been his 84th birthday. Cause of death was COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease). His final Tweet, posted four days before his death, was “A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory. LLAP” (Live Long and Prosper) He rests in Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City, California.
A search with Google will give way more information than I included here.
Donna
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We recognize them anywhere: Carnegie Libraries. Seemingly, every city has one….or more. Some 43 were built in Washington State; 32 are still standing and 14 are still used as libraries.
We think of Andrew Carnegie as a self-made millionaire and philanthropist, and he certainly was. But did you know he obtained most of his education from libraries? Andrew Carnegie was born in 1835 in Dunfermline, Scotland, and came with his family to America in 1848. He became the protegee of one Col. James Anderson who opened his personal library to “working boys” so that they might better themselves. Carnegie was grateful for this opportunity that he promised if he ever had the means he would provide for other boys what he had received.
Carnegie funded the building of 2,509 “Carnegie Libraries” worldwide between 1883 and 1929. Of those, 1,795 were in the United States: 1,687 public libraries and 108 academic. Others were built throughout Europe, South Africa, Barbados, Australia, and New Zealand. Andrew Carnegie spent over $56 million of his fortune building these libraries and the buildings standing proud today are a living, lasting legacy.
Do you know where the Carnegie library is in YOUR town? (Google has a list.)
Born in 1924 and approaching his 100th birthday, I’d bet that many of us have had the privilege of sitting at his feet and learning from the best historian/genealogist there is (my opinion!). Author of dozens of books, many on specific state-genealogy, I’d also bet that we’ve had and learned from those text books.
My favorite lecture was one he presented in 1992 at a National Genealogical Society conference. Coming to the lectern in the costume of a Civil War-era town clerk, he proceeded to teach us how to research in counties with burned courthouses in his unique fashion.
As “Carter,” the clerk, he welcomed us and thanked us for coming to the town meeting. “Many of you are tired, having been out late on the bucket brigade last night,” be began, “but we must keep on with county business as best we can.” He thanked all for helping carry boxes of records out of the burning courthouse but “so much stuff was lost.” He continued, “Our meeting today is to try to re-construct our records so to keep our county going!”
“Carter” urged us to bring in our documents and re-register them. Our deeds, marriage certificates (“if your marriage is worth it, he quipped) and any other similar county-important papers. “We’ll get our county going again; a burned courthouse won’t slow us down.”
“Carter” then switched to Dr. Schweitzer and began to explain to us what records existed OUTSIDE of the courthouse that we might turn to for our research.
Dr. Schweitzer, once again as “Carter,” town clerk, finished his talk with this: “We’re gonna save what wasn’t burned but where are these records today? We’re gonna re-construct the records and you’ll discover there ain’t hardly nothing in the burned courthouse that’s plum GONE.”
Continued from last week’s post………………
The Union Pacific Railroad had a must easier time of it due to the flat midwestern terrain. A large 20-car work train crawled along the newly-laid tracks to bring supplies and support the army of workers. This train was a combination of factory, hotel, restaurant, hospital and administrative center. It required two locomotives to pull it along. Some cars were divided into offices, storerooms, blacksmith shop, carpenter shop, saddler shop. The rail hands boarded in huge sleeping cars packed with 144 bunks and fed in massive 75-foot long dining cars. Food was good and plentiful: bread, meat and coffee being the staples.
The Central Pacific had less mileage to cover but the Rocky Mountains were extremely difficult to conquer. Remember, all the work was done by blasting with TNT and then with the workers’ hands. At first, labor was scarce and expensive and unemployed immigrants were quickly snapped up by railroad recruiters. “The solution to this labor shortage lay not across the Atlantic but the Pacific,” wrote David Norris in his publication, History of Railroads. China provided thousands of men willing to travel over the ocean to work on the railroad; Chinese recruiting began in 1865 and soon grew to over 10,000 men…… who, being Chinese, were paid $31.00 per month instead of $45.00 for whites.
The worst part of the route for the Central Pacific was the Summit Tunnel over Donner Pass. This project took two full years and in the winter the workers had to dig through tunnels of deep snow just to reach the work site.
The sunny May day in 1869 when the two rail lines finally converged at Promontory Summit in Utah was indeed a milestone and reason to celebrate but the photos of the day omit the details of the full story. In those historic photos, you’ll see no Black or Chinese faces….. these ethnic workers were given no credit for their sacrifices on that auspicious day.
Jumping ahead, the Pullman sleeper car was the brain child of George Pullman who, after being “tormented during a jolting and uncomfortable ride in an overnight passenger car,” turned his mind to a solution and came up with a way to improve overnight rail travel. By 1869, his Pullman sleeper cars were running coast to coast on the new combined Union & Central Pacific Railroads.
Railroads were lifelines across America to our ancestors. Anything we can learn about railroads and railroading will benefit the social history we seek to fill out our ancestors’ lives. Do keep in mind that it was our ancestors who did this railroad building not “hired workers from elsewhere.”
David Norris authored a special issue from Internet Genealogy Magazines titled The History of Railroads. This issue was 50 pages all about the topic of railroads and you might want to order a copy for yourself. I do quote from that publication.
In the beginning, there were two railroads: the Central Pacific in the west and the Union Pacific in the east. Soon after the Civil War, it was apparent that the need to connect both side of the county was sorely needed. So the government gave financial incentives to these two railroad companies, with greater benefits going to the Central Pacific for they had the far rougher terrain to conquer. Railroad companies were granted up to 6400 acres of public land and $48,000 in government bonds for every mile of track; this was to the Central Pacific with lesser amounts to the Union Pacific.
First, surveyors had to map the path. Then crews wee assigned to build bridges, culverts or tunnels. Next came the graders to shape the track bed. Most work was done by hand with pick, shovel and wheel barrows. Other crews cut timber along the way for lumber to build these structures, for the ties and for fuel.
Working at top speed, crews could lay over 100 feet of track per minute… or less than one hour to lay a mile of track. Each mile of track required 380 rails, 2600 ties and 10,000 spikes which were transported to the work site along the newly-laid tracks.
This last paragraph applies to the work across the midwestern plains. Work crawled along with much greater difficulty through the Rocky Mountains.
To be continued………………..
Tsagiglalal, She Who Watches, is an example of Native American art located high on the basalt rocks on the northern side of the Columbia River near Horsethief Canyon and lake. A longer translation of this name is “She who watches and sees all who are coming and going up and down the river.”
The book, Weird Washington, explains that “there is no doubt that Tsagiglalal was meant as a magical protection for the people who lived in her village for centuries.” The legend is that:
Long ago, in the before time, the Great Spirit wandered the world. He traveled along the Great River (the Columbia) and stopped at a village. He asked the people if they lived well or in poverty. They said that they were happy because of the guidance of their chief. He asked where their chief was, and they pointed to the hills above their village. He went up to the hills and found a woman sitting in front of a hut, looking down at the village. She told him she was the chief, and she looked after her people, teaching them ow to build and live well. He told her, ‘the world is changing and women will no longer be chiefs. What will you do now?’ The woman asked the Great Spirit to turn her into stone, so that she could continue watching over her people. As a sign of mercy, he did just that, and her image was painted into the rockface overlooking her village. She is still there today, looking out over a world that has changed very much since her time…and not always for the better.
Hikers can climb to view Tsagiglalal on tours with Park Rangers by appointment only. I’m glad that she is protected from vandalism and so can continue to watch over her people.