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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

12 August 2016 By Margaret Eves Leave a Comment

Search For Meteor Reveals Family History Treasure

It sounds like a sensational headline, but it pretty well describes what happened to me. A “shooting star” (more accurately, a meteor falling into our atmosphere) led me to a family history discovery. It all started when I was out early one morning in August and saw one (just one) meteor flash across the sky during the Perseid Meteor Shower.  I made a quick post on my Facebook page and decided to add an image to it that was a little different from the usual shots of meteor showers.

I tossed my “meteor” search term into one of my favorite public domain image resources — Flickr – The Commons. A rather silly cartoon from the 1888 Halcyon yearbook from Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania caught my eye.

The book viewer for displaying the yearbook on archive.org is fantastic, allowing easy browsing, searches, and downloads for multiple formats. Remembering I have Quaker ancestors from the Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware area (Swarthmore was founded by Quakers), I popped in one ancestor’s name and came up with that name and names of cousins sharing the same page.

Penna-Gaslight-halcyon1889unse_0006Establishing my ancestor at a specific college really opened up a window into her life. When looking at yearbooks you find more than just student names. The Swarthmore yearbook contains advertisements from nearby businesses (including Wannamakers in Philadelphia) touting the popular products of the day for students.

Yearbook contributors added poetry, commentary, essays and illustrations that give us a peek into the daily and cultural life of the students.

 

 

NPNP-book-cover

Find out about Flickr – The Commons and other sites that have a wealth of family history images in my free booklet: No Pictures? No Problem: 7 Sites For Finding Photos From Your Ancestor’s World. Click here to request your copy. Enjoy! Tell about a family history treasure you find from using the e-booklet in the comments or in the Video Genealogy Facebook group. You can “like” the VideoGenealogy Facebook page, too.

 

 

Image credits: Halcyon, 1889. Swarthmore College. Accessed 12 August 2016 at https://archive.org/details/halcyon1889unse.

Filed Under: Archives, Resource Tagged With: family history, family tree, Genealogy, social history

5 August 2016 By Margaret Eves Leave a Comment

Genealogy Roadshow Offers Learning Resources

Even if you’re not a teacher you can garner some great ancestor story video ideas from PBS Learning Media. Genealogy is a great way to get kids and teens connected to history because of its personal appeal. PBS Learning Media and Genealogy Roadshow teamed up to offer a learning resource page filled with engaging video clips that support research techniques, family history case studies and provide historical context.  Go to http://www.pbslearningmedia.org/collection/genealogy-roadshow/ to see more.

Apply some of the ideas you find in a video you create yourself or with another family member.  Learn how here.

Filed Under: Articles, News/Media, Resource Tagged With: family history, Genealogy, resources

25 June 2016 By Margaret Eves Leave a Comment

The 3 Biggest Myths About Making A Family History Video

If you want to capture your family’s attention and share an ancestor’s story in a video, but are afraid it’s just too hard, too expensive, or too overwhelming, then you need to read this immediately because the myths and the TRUTH about making family history videos are inside this article.

Myth #1: Technology is too difficult

This was once true.300x246-woman-mechanic-B25-bomber copy

But, it’s time to put this myth to bed.

Believing the technology behind making a video is too difficult hurts you because it holds you back from sharing your precious family history.

 

The Reality

The actual reality in this situation is the technology involved in creating video stories is simple. In fact it has evolved to the point where, if you can turn on a computer or you use a smart phone, you can make a video.


Myth #2: Video is too expensive

Another myth that was once true.

And another myth that needs to be put to bed.

We are all visual people who grew up watching TV – we are comfortable and familiar with watching stories told with video.

And telling your family story on video is a great way to create interest across all generations. But making a video no longer means you need a fancy camera or editing equipment.

The Reality

tablet-laptop-lady-on-screenThe really great news is that video, great quality video, is more affordable ever been before. You can use equipment you already own, such as a tablet, iPad, smart phone, laptop computer to create great family history videos.

Click the image to get FREE tools to help you get started telling your ancestor’s story with video.

Myth #3: I can figure all this out on my own

While it’s true the technology and equipment for creating and telling your family history has gotten so much easier and inexpensive, figuring out how to make a family history video on your own for the first time is still the slow hard way, with lots of side roads to get lost on and dead ends to run into along the way.

The Reality

The reality is you need an experienced guide who has walked this journey with many others just like you.

family-TV-boat-1957-cropAn experienced guide knows where the potholes are and how to avoid them, and how to make the process of telling an ancestor’s story on video efficient, enjoyable and rewarding! Following the proven steps with a guide makes it more likely you will end up with an engaging video you can share with your family and bring their ancestors alive to them.

Bonus myth: It will take a 12-part mini-series to tell my family history story

You may well have researched and discovered information about many people in your lineage.  No doubt, creating a video that covers multiple generations and experiences would be overwhelming.

The Reality

You don’t have to tell your whole family history in one video. One engaging story in a short video will do it. Once you have one video under your belt, you create another one. But you need to get started now!

Now that you know the myths, I’d like to invite you to further discover the truth about creating family history videos. I’d love to share some FREE brain tickling tools to help you quickly identify a story and images for an ancestor story video. Click here to get your free Ancestor Video Tools.

 

Picture Credits: 

Pond5.com

Palmer, Alfred T, photographer. [Part of the cowling for one of the motors for a B-25 bomber is assembled in the engine department of North American Aviation, Inc.’s Inglewood, Calif., plant]. Oct, 1942. Image. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/fsa1992001191/PP. (Accessed June 24, 2016.)

Stockunlimited.com and loc.gov

Family watching television aboard a houseboat at Bahia Mar – Fort Lauderdale, Florida. 1957. Black & white photoprint, 4 x 5 in. State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory. <https://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/74640>, accessed 25 June 2016.

©2007 James Steidl James Group Studios inc.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: family history, Genealogy, Video

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