Sunday, January 31, 2010

Nebraska Memories


Nebraska Memories is a cooperative project to digitize Nebraska historical and culture heritage materials. They are then made available on Internet. It is administered by the Nebraska Library Commission.

Currently there are over 3,500 digitized items with growth each month. There are eleven Nebraska institutions participating in the project. The materials generally range in date from the 1890s to the 1970s. Here you will find photographs, artifacts, papers, manuscripts, maps, audio files and documents. There are no actual genealogical resources. However, there is a significant amount of valuable resources that genealogists can apply to their research.

A search can be performed by specific collections or by all collections with a variety of words or combinations. You can also browse by all images, topics (such as railroads, portraits, towns and more), an entire collection or by location.

Make some time in your schedule to explore this extremely interesting and helpful web site. I hope you will find something of interest. Be sure to check back for new additions.

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Nebraska Obituaries


Locating obituaries or indexes to obituaries can be helpful, particularly if they are online. Columbus and Norfolk, Nebraska Historical Obituaries are indexed.

The Columbus (Platte County) obituaries are indexed from 1930-2006 from the "Columbus Telegram" newspaper. This is provided by the Platte Valley Kin Seekers of Columbus. They will research requests for a fee. Their charges are $5 for a copy of the newspaper obituary, which includes postage.

Norfolk (Dodge County) obituaries are indexed for a variety of years which are 1888-1918, 1940, 1944-1945, 1954, partial 1955-1956, 1957-1969, partial 1993-1994, partial 1997-1998. By using the index you can request a copy of the obituary from the Norfolk Public Library, 308 Prospect Ave., Norfolk, NE 68701. Their fee is $10 per obituary, with SASE.

Obituaries in both of these communities often pertain to people who lived close by the counties or community and those who had relatives in Columbus or Norfolk.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Omaha Genealogy Classes


Genealogy classes will be held January through June 2010 at the Mormon Trail Center, 3215 State Street in Omaha, Nebraska. The classes will be held each third Saturday morning at 9:15 a.m. and are free. Here is the schedule:

January 16th - My History Through the Ages (discussion of getting started, records at home, how to record the data, importance of documentation)

February 20th - Vital Records for the Vital Events of our Lives and Substitutes for Vital Records (find those important birth, marriage and death dates and places)

March 20th - Making Sense of the Census (focus on the US census, others will be mentioned)

April 24th (note: 4th Saturday) - Searching the World's Records Without Leaving Omaha (resources of Family History Centers, FamilySearch labs and FamilySearch)
Part 2 - Googling Your Ancestors (finding ancestors on the web)

May 15h - What's Hiding at the Courthouse? (vital records, public records and more)
Part 2 - The Name Game (naming customs and patterns, nicknames)

June 19th - What's Black and White and Read All Over? (historic newspapers and where to find them)
Part 2 - Cemetery Research (discovering more than names and dates on tombstones)

If you wish to attend, you should get your name on the list by calling 402-706-1453 or emailing Genehelper@aol.com. Start 2010 off right by learning more about genealogical research!