(Book)Binding our Family History

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The cover of my family tree book

I took a bookbinding course this semester as part of my Library Science degree. At the end, we could create and bind our own book! Of course, I designed a book to showcase our family tree! I wanted to create a book that would include my family tree, and my husband’s family tree, joined in the middle by us. Continue reading “(Book)Binding our Family History”

Solar eclipses in my ancestors’ time

Today, August 21, 2017, a total solar eclipse will roll across North America. For many, this will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. In Illinois, some people remember the partial eclipse experienced here in 1970 and 1979, but the last time Illinois residents experienced a full total solar eclipse was in 1869. This eclipse was the only time in the history of the state (established in 1818) that a total eclipse had ever been observed! As this Daily Herald article discusses, Illinoisans were building the State Capital building at the time, and attempted to commemorate the occasion with a monument at the capital. Since solar eclipses are such relatively rare occurrences, I wondered, which of my ancestors experienced a solar eclipse during their lifetimes? Continue reading “Solar eclipses in my ancestors’ time”

Watermelon-eating Contest

Wordless Wednesday: Little Boy enjoying a Big Watermelon

Little boy eating a large watermelon
“Blondie” enjoying a watermelon at the Watermelon Eating Contest at the Hampton County Watermelon Festival, 1974. (Image Source: Family Photo)

Genealogy at the ALA conference

 

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This week I attended the annual conference of the American Library Association (ALA) in Chicago. It was such a great experience! It is the largest conference for libraries of all kinds in the United States. I learned a lot about today’s librarianship, including lots of cool tidbits about how libraries are helping genealogists! Continue reading “Genealogy at the ALA conference”

Calling all Medine cousins!

 

Medine family photo at the Pleasant Hill farm
The only known photograph of the Gustaf Medine family, taken about 1911 at Gustaf’s Pleasant Hill farm in Mayfield, IL. Photo Source: Drake family photos

I’m looking to reconnect with any relatives of the Medine family from DeKalb County, Illinois!

This semester, I took an online Genealogy course at University of Illinois with genealogist Nicole W. Miller. I feel like I learned so much about developing trends in genealogy, and I developed better practices for researching and sourcing my own family history. One of my accomplishments was writing a formal compiled genealogy for the Medine family. I realized that there are still some close Medine cousins that I know very little about! Continue reading “Calling all Medine cousins!”