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25 May 2020 By Margaret Eves Leave a Comment

Can family history bring comfort in a scary global pandemic?

Over one hundred years ago people around the world were suffering through a global pandemic of Spanish Influenza.

Millions were infected and sickened. Millions died.

People wore masks out in public. Schools and businesses closed.

Sound familiar?

We are going through a global pandemic presenting us with challenges most of us have never experienced before.

But, we have connections to those who faced similar challenges. The fact that we are here indicates our family tree consists of survivors.

Did the Spanish Flu affect our families? Most certainly.

Did they talk about it? Probably not.

How can we learn from those who went before us, who faced similar hardships, even if they are not here to advise us?

My grandmother, Betty, was 18 years old in 1918 during World War I when the Spanish Flu killed many young soldiers and people throughout the world. October 1918 is the deadliest month in United States history with 195,000 deaths due to the Spanish Flu. In her home state of Virginia, over 11,000 soldiers contracted Spanish influenza at Fort Lee in October 1918 alone!

Betty lived through that crisis and carried on to raise a family during the Great Depression, another challenging time in our country’s history. Yet, my grandmother never mentioned the Spanish Flu epidemic to me.

I’ve been searching online newspaper archives from the year 1918 to discover what was going on in my ancestors’ world. You can try searching online newspaper archives from the states or towns where your grandparents or great-grandparents lived in October 1918. I’ll recommend some websites for online newspapers at the end of this article.

You probably don’t even need to use the keyword “influenza” to find stories about the devastating impact of the Spanish flu epidemic.

But, don’t just look at the flu-related stories. Browse the newspapers for stories and advertisements to get a taste of how people lived. You might learn something new about your ancestors.

My grandmother’s father, John Henry Davis, was a Presbyterian minister who moved frequently to different churches during his career, making it hard to pin down where he and his family lived throughout his life.

One newspaper search result made me feel like my great-grandfather was waving and shouting “Hey, here I am!”



Credit: Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Library of Congress.

In this short mention in the Southern Presbyterian newspaper published October 1918, he writes “I am delighted with my new home in Florida” and his new role as a high school principal. I’m guessing he sent in his report well before the publication date. By the time October rolls around the picture is not so rosy, with Florida newspapers reporting schools, churches, and theaters closing due to the influenza epidemic. So as a school principal and church minister my great-grandfather was dealt a double whammy of challenges.

A 1919 article from a Florida newspaper mentions Betty’s older sister, Margaret, giving a talk about her experiences in Cuba to a Women’s Missionary Society meeting during a visit home to Eustis, Florida.

That article led me to look for her passport application. If she’d been in Cuba, she had to have a passport. I discovered her 1917 passport, with her destination: Cuba. In 1917, Margaret left her home in Virginia to become a Presbyterian missionary in Cuba. Quite an adventure for a 26-year-old single woman!

Citation: 1917. “United States Passport Applications, 1795–1925,” database with images, FamilySearch.org

Another newspaper article I found from 1919 announced Margaret, her mother, and brother would be spending the summer in North Carolina.

Because the family moved so often, their mountain cottage, called Davista, became their true home, a place where the family would gather every summer for generations. I would visit Davista as a child fifty years later. My Aunt Margaret would be there to welcome me then.

The photo below, possibly from 1919, shows my grandmother with her father, siblings, and cousins, most likely resting on a mountain in North Carolina. I imagine it was respite from the season of pandemic they endured in 1918.

All the tidbits from these articles helped me paint a picture of my ancestors’ lives during the time of a global pandemic.

Living through our time of uncertainty is stressful. As a family historian, finding evidence of how my family carried on and persevered through similar hardships gives me perspective and a bit of comfort. As I searched through archival newspapers I read sad stories, but also stories of tenacious efforts to maintain hope and purpose.

I encourage you to search for stories and images from your ancestors’ world during the 1918 pandemic. It’s not all bad news.

If you enjoyed this story about seeking out and sharing your family history, I invite you to read a story I wrote on Medium.com. Just click the image.

I found the newspaper articles mentioned in this post at these online archives:

Chronicling America. https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/newspapers 
I recommend using the Advanced Search option. (FREE)

Digital Public Library of America. http://dp.la (FREE)
One of my favorite places for finding family history. A portal to thousands of archival and library connections in the United States.

GenealogyBank. 
https://www.genealogybank.com/newspapers/sourcelist ($$)
Be sure to check through their holdings to see if they have newspapers in the states where your family lived. 

Take a trip back into your family history! I invite you to learn how with my free eBook: “No Pictures? No Problem! 7 Great Sites for Finding Photos From Your Ancestors’ World.” Click here or on the image below.

Free E-book

Image credits:

(ca. 1918) Precautions taken in Seattle, Wash., during the Spanish Influenza Epidemic would not permit anyone to ride on the street cars without wearing a mask. 260,000 of these were made by the Seattle Chapter of the Red Cross which consisted of 120 workers, in three days. Seattle. United States Washington State seattle washington, ca. 1918. [or 1919] [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2017668638/.

Photographer unknown. Betty Davis, age 17. 1917. Collection of Margaret Eves.

“United States Passport Applications, 1795–1925,” database with images, FamilySearch citing NARA microfilm publications M1490 and M1372 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.)

The Presbyterian of the South : [combining the] Southwestern Presbyterian, Central Presbyterian, Southern Presbyterian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.), 09 Oct. 1918. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/10021978/1918-10-09/ed-1/seq-9/>

Photographer unknown. Davis and McNutt cousins circa 1918. Collection of Margaret Eves.

Eves, Margaret. Box of old photos. 2019.


Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: ancestry, comfort, family history, Genealogy, newspaper archives, pandemic

12 May 2019 By Margaret Eves Leave a Comment

Tips for Getting Mom to Share the Stories

Mothers Day is one day in May in the United States, but you can make any day special for your mom or for a mother figure in your life by helping her share memories. Kat Sturtz of RockingYourPath.com invited me on her Fast Action Fridays show to talk about ways to get the memories and stories flowing with moms or with mom figures (think aunts, older cousins, friends-of-mom or grandma).

Kat Sturtz’ Fast Action Fridays show with special guest Margaret Eves

Click the image above to see the show or click here to get to Kat’s blog and the show. In the shownotes, you’ll see links for some goodies from me and VideoGenealogy.

Enjoy!

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: family history, Genealogy, interviewing, memories, Mothers Day, preserving stories

25 January 2019 By Margaret Eves 8 Comments

3 Family History Video Hacks From Peter Jackson’s “They Shall Not Grow Old”

I sat in a darkened theater recently, seeing images and hearing sounds my grandfather may have experienced over one hundred years ago. I was watching Peter Jackson’s “They Shall Not Grow Old,” a documentary that brings to life the experience of World War I soldiers.

This is not the scratchy, jerky documentary footage you’ve probably seen before. Using digital technology and historical artifacts, Mr. Jackson painstakingly recreated the colors, voices, and sounds of a soldiers’ world, which, as Jackson says, they did not see in black and white. The movie brings to life the men and, sadly, many boys, who before seemed frozen in black and white celluloid.

The main movie was a moving, often intense, experience. I especially enjoyed Jackson’s behind-the-scenes tour, which played after the closing credits. Although Jackson used high-end computers and an army of digital filmmaking specialists, he also used some simple techniques which family historians can use to make our own videos, bringing our own ancestors to life.

Technique No. 1

Use illustrated magazines from the time period of your ancestor to add more images to your video.

Jackson used lithograph illustrations from his personal collection of The War Illustrated magazine to show battle images not available from the archival film footage.

You can use digitized versions of publications in the public domain available from online archival collections.

 

 

Example:

For my video, “The Civil War Journey of William Hunter Davis,” I used a drawing of Sherman’s march into Savannah from the Harper’s Weekly collection available in the Library of Congress’ digital collection at loc.gov.

You can get my free eBooklet on how to discover and use images from online archives like the Library of Congress by going to https://vidgen.me/tsngob.

 

Technique #2

Zoom in or crop a wide shot within video footage or a still photograph to focus on the action or specific people. Jackson took a wide shot showing a trench in an expansive battlefield and narrowed down the shot to men in the trench and did camera moves to help viewers focus on a specific action.

You can use effects in free or low-cost video editing software to move within the frame of a video or still photo to emphasize an action or create movement.

Free iMovie software calls this feature the Ken Burns effect. Many other editing platforms offer a similar effect, which is fairly easy to create. 

For digitized still photos, you can use the Snipping Tool in Windows or the screen capture feature (Shift-Command-4) on the Mac to select a specific portion of the image to show.

Example:

In my video “Davis Bookstore”, I used cropped shots of a photo I had showing my grandpa standing in his bookstore in the 1930s. I used the shots to highlight products and décor in his office supply business, including a desktop photograph of his two daughters.

Technique #3

Use excerpts from interviews to tell the story.

The only voices you hear in Jackson’s documentary are those of WWI soldiers interviewed in the 1960s for a BBC television program. For music to accompany the ending credits, New Zealander Peter Jackson recruited staff from the nearby British consulate to sing a rousing rendition of “Mademoiselle from Armentieres” in authentic English accents.

You can enlist family members, friends or neighbors to reenact voices or songs from your ancestor’s era. Record someone reading excerpts from a letter or diary, playing music, or singing a song and incorporate it into your video. Be sure the music is in the public domain.

Hint: the New York Public Library digital collection offers sheet music from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

 

When interviewed about the film, Peter Jackson mentions his grandfather, a British soldier, who was the inspiration for his passion for World War I history. I know you have ancestors who can inspire you, too. I loved that in the last words of his behind-the-scenes film, Jackson encourages viewers to talk to older family members before their memories pass on with them. I encourage you to do the same. The Great War impacted our ancestors’ world of the early 20th century in many ways. Each family has a story to tell from that time.

I invite you to get more tips and techniques for using video storytelling to bring your ancestors’ world to life. Get free tools to help you jumpstart your ancestor stories at https://vidgen.me/toolspjb.

I hope you’ll have the chance to view “They Shall Not Grow Old.” I created a Google alert after I missed the December 2018 limited release of the film and luckily got a chance to see it in January.

UPDATE: As of February 17, 2019, “They Shall Not Grow Old” was still showing in movie theaters in the U.S. Check your local theaters!

To see the videos in the examples mentioned above, visit my YouTube channel and view the videos in the Ancestor Story Videos playlist. Enjoy!

Image credits:

The War Illustrated, Vol.5, No.106, August 26th, 1916 – Lombardi Historical Collection, Public Domain, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9919257
Davis, Theodore R. “General Sherman’s Army Entering Savannah, Georgia. December 21, 1864.” Harper’s Weekly. 1865 Jan 14, p. 17. Library of Congress. 9 April 2015. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2002724035/
Photographer unknown. Davis Book & Office Supply Company. Circa 1930. Collection of Margaret Eves.
Music Division, The New York Public Library. “We’re on our way to France” The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1918. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e3-c2a1-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

Filed Under: Articles

26 December 2018 By Margaret Eves Leave a Comment

Want to get your family excited about family history?

Free Webinar: Why Video For Genealogy?
Wednesday, Dec 26, 2018, 8pm – 9pm EST
Register by clicking the link: 
https://vidgen.me/gwb

Why?
To get your family excited about their family history! 

The Georgia Genealogical Society is hosting the webinar. No membership or Georgia ancestors required! Just register, attend, and learn how you can easily make ancestor video stories your family will watch. 

Filed Under: Articles

18 September 2018 By Margaret Eves Leave a Comment

Free Ticket for Family Tree Time Travel

Even if you don’t have old home movies of your family history, there’s a way to discover a treasure trove of film footage showing your ancestor’s world. It’s the next best thing to a time machine.

Back in the early 1990s, when I was a film and video editor, I helped a local production company catalog and create a database of the video footage they’d shot over the years so they could offer stock footage as a product.

Being pre-Internet, we couldn’t just Google everything, so I was intrigued by the idea of researching stock film footage and archival film footage for producers. As I did my research, I discovered the Prelinger Archives – known for their collection of corny educational and sponsored films – think “Dating Dos and Don’ts,” good posture, and hygiene instruction from the 1950s.

The Prelinger Archives still exist. You can see and search the films at archive.org. (See direct link below.) Rick Prelinger, the founder, offers the footage on the site for all to use for free.

Prelinger Archives Home Movie Collection web page
Prelinger Archives Home Movie Collection

Home Movies, anyone?

Want more than mid-century dating tips? The Prelinger Archive also has a home movie collection. Rick is adding to the collection continually. I did some searches by location and discovered a 1955 film of a family vacation to Washington, D.C. and St. Augustine, Florida, complete with candid shots of kids and families.

 

I browsed more and found some amazing video of a hometown parade in Skagit County, Washington State shot in the 1930s.

Accordian Band in parade
Accordian Band in parade, Skagit County Washington State

 

Horses in parade
Horses in parade, Skagit County, Washinton State

 

So think about it. You may not find a video of your relative or ancestor specifically in the Prelinger Archives, but you may find footage showing where they lived, what people wore, and events and activities from their community – the next best thing to traveling back in a time machine, without all the uncomfortable side effects!

So, set aside a few minutes to explore the Prelinger Archives. I’d love to hear about (and see) what you find. Email me or better yet, share in our VideoGenealogy Facebook Group. If you haven’t joined yet, just click “Join” button on the group page. I’ll let you in and show you the secret handshake. Lots of friendly, genealogy enthused people hang out in the group and would love to see what you discover.

How cool would it be if you found some video of your ancestor’s hometown and you included it in your own video telling their story? Getting ideas?

Click here>> to get the Ancestor Story Video Starter Kit so you can bring your ancestor to life and get your family excited about their family history.

Click the link to go to the Prelinger Archive at archive.org and here to go directly to the Prelinger Archives Home Movies collection.

Enjoy your ride back in time!

Image Sources:

Home movie: 098905: 1955 road trip to Washington, DC, Florida, and Mexico. Prelinger Archives Home Movies collection. Accessed September 18, 2018 at https://archive.org/details/098905

Home Movie: 10041: Parade near Mt, Vernon, Washington State. 1930s. Prelinger Archives Home Movies. Accessed September 18, 2018 at https://archive.org/details/prelingerhomemovies.

Filed Under: Archives, Articles

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