Genealogy pursuits often give way to historical excursions as researchers try to understand the times in which their ancestors lived. If, as the saying goes, “a picture is worth a thousand words,” then the website Old Pictures (old-picture.com), is worth a million or more.

The description “an educational site with a wide variety of old photographs,” simply doesn’t do this site justice, and seeing truly is believing. Categories like “Defining Moments” and “Themed Collections,” feature truly beautifully clear historical photographs. There’s everything from Native American chiefs to European American inventors, and lots more in between. Read more »

Genealogy and family history programs are finally moving out of the shadows of public television and becoming trendy enough to make the leap to mainstream broadcasting networks.

In fact, NBC is hoping Americans will be interested in the family trees of celebrities. The network is teaming up with U. S. production company “Is or Isn’t Entertainment” and the U. K.’s “Wall to Wall” productions for an American version of the popular BBC television program “Who Do You Think You Are?”

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Alex Haley would be proud. More than 30 years after his successful book “Roots” soared genealogy research to new heights, Harvard professor and genealogist Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. is carrying the torch and getting set to light the fire of the popular hobby again.

If you missed Dr. Gates’ PBS programs “African American Lives” in 2006, and the follow-up “Oprah’s Roots” in 2007, you won’t want to miss “African American Lives 2″, coming in February. In his previous programs, Gates revealed amazing details about the lives of ancestors who persevered through the bonds of slavery to produce descendants whose names are among the world’s most famous in their fields. Read more »

The Thanksgiving holiday weekend has given many genealogy buffs some well deserved web surfing time. It’s the perfect opportunity to check on those long-lost queries posted to various forums years ago, especially since email addresses are likely different, and any follow-up messages have not found their way to you.

If you posted queries to message boards like Ancestry, RootsWeb, GenForum, Cousin Connect, or the many others available online, you can utilize their search features to locate your posts, and find out if you missed any responses. You might even try “googling” your ancestor’s names, which many Read more »

The patience of the genealogist is something to admire. They undertake years of careful research, type it all up, add in the many preserved precious family photos collected from aunts and uncles near and far, and print it all out to share with others. So how do you reward this kind of dedication from which the entire family reaps the rewards?

Christmas is here, so why not consider gifts of a genealogical persuasion. But what do you get a genealogist, you ask? What about a subscription to an online database for more researching, or perhaps some updated software for keeping the research organized? The list can go on and on. Read more »

The holidays are harvest time for family genealogists. By necessity, they must take advantage of relatives gathered for good food and gift swapping, and get them talking about family history. So, if you missed the chance to mingle with relatives on Thanksgiving, you’ll get another chance very soon when Christmas rolls around.

While many people enjoy talking about their ancestors lives, others simply refuse to reveal family information. Whether they fear skeletons in the closet, or feel its disrespectful to speak of Read more »

Call us old fashioned, but many genealogists enjoy sitting down with a magazine devoted to our lifelong hobby. Sure we love the internet for research, and use it more and more everyday, but there’s something about sitting in your favorite chair with a cup of coffee and devouring every page, that makes a genealogy magazine so attractive.

Lucky for all of us, there are several to choose from that come out frequently, and are available on the newsstand or by subscription. All of these publications have been around Read more »

Thanks to the internet, genealogy research gets easier everyday. Of course, it’s still no substitute for good old-fashioned library work, but online research can reveal many clues never before accessible.

It’s great to find important ancestral information, generation by generation, but it’s even more important to document what you’re finding. If you’re just starting out, you’ll need to start filling out a Read more »

Genealogists who do research online now have a new tool to help them search census mortality schedules. The website MortalitySchedules.com is an offering that GenealogyBuff.com announced this week.

The new tool helps researchers find census mortality schedules which Read more »

Finding genealogy information on the internet may not replace good old-fashioned courthouse and library research, but it can certainly give your family tree climb a great jump start. Read more »