More 1950 Stories

-

Another Value of Records

My Dad was listed at college in Eugene, Oregon. He had a part time job as a janitor for the Oregon State College of Education (U of Oregon now). It listed his address (College St) and his roommates and their part time jobs.

The fun continues--I took pictures of what I found; I was doing the Family Review so I could see all of the fields! I sent pictures to my parents and went to visit them yesterday.  

Art Sperber

Dad remembered many things about that time and his time on the basketball team, cut short by the Korean War, his roommates (even his sister remembered his roommates) and that led into stories he remembered about his summer jobs; one playing as a pitcher for a logging mill baseball team, coupled with a job at the mill. But when the regular pitcher came home from National Guard and Dad felt really homesick for home cooking, he quit and went home to "the farm" in Tillamook for the rest of the summer.  

My Dad is 93 and is sharp in some ways, but doesn't remember what day today is, asking many times a day; is not certain after a nap if it is morning or night, but the 1950 Census record brought the times all back for him! Wonderful family experience!

It is wonderful that as you review, you can review by surname! This is Art Sperber, my Dad and my mom Carol Wall Sperber; in May Dad will be 93.


Art and Carol Wall Sperber

Submitted by Mary Anderson


Success and Disappointment

I was very excited to find my family's 1950 census.  It would include my parents, my brother and of course ME!  Well, I found it, however, the three of them were on one page and I was at the top of the next page. To make it even worse, we were living in my grandparents' triplex. My grandparents lived in one unit and we in another. They weren't on the census either. They were "not at home". Talk about disappointment.    

Submitted by Bobbi Boyd



Help Yourself and Serve Other Genealogists

https://www.familysearch.org/getinvolved/1950

Our society can review the index for the 1950 US Census as a group, allowing us to track the work we do together. It also gives us access to a simple messaging system on FamilySearch.org. You need only a free account on FamilySearch.org to be part of the group and the indexing (really a review) effort nation-wide. 

If you are usually an Ancestry.com user, this will help you too! Ancestry did the first part, running the NARA 1950 images through their fancy AI-assisted machine indexing already. As they pass along the states to FamilySearch, we can opt to:

1. Review Names: "Verify the spelling of people’s names in the 1950 census." This is my favorite! 

2. Review Document Header: "Verify the details found at the top of the 1950 census form." I like this one, too.

3. What we've all been waiting for, Review Families: "We’ll show you names that need to be grouped by household. Next, you’ll verify the details listed for each person."

So click to join our group: South King County Genealogical Society.  And then head to https://www.familysearch.org/getinvolved/1950 and choose which task you prefer. You can back out to this page to quit or change places or tasks at any time. 

Submitted by Valorie Zimmerman

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What's the Question?

-
Image
We genealogists are often told by experienced researchers how important it is to begin with a research question. I resisted doing this for a long time, but now that I use a series of questions to guide my research, the search is more focused and actually finds more of the history of the family I'm investigating. I use a Google Doc as the  research proceeds, where I keep the question(s), the plan, timelines, checklist of resources to search, etc. all in one place. I've seen others use spreadsheets in the same way, perhaps splitting up things in tabs (Excel or Google Sheets). I prefer a document because I add source citations as I find them and I can begin writing up the case right there in the doc as the hypotheses are proven. Specific Questions in Previous Successes As beginners we often have no clue how much and what details we already know about a person, event or relationship, so it's hard to specify what we want to know. But when looking back at successful research, it
Read more

Looking for a Needle in a Haystack? GAME CHANGER at FamilySearch

-
Image
Generated with Bing ImageCreator (AI), March 13, 2024 Where is YOUR Needle, Your Missing Record? Genealogical Proof Standard When we use the GPS (Genealogical Proof Standard) as our guide, we all know that "exhaustive research" can be both tedious and exhausting. Is life long enough to search page by page through all the counties where all the members of a family might have lived, paid taxes, bought, leased or sold property, made a will or died intestate? It is possible that the new Full Text Search at FamilySearch will  eventually  allow us to do just that. It has been estimated that 75% or more of the records at FamilySearch were browsable but not searchable; the only indexes those found in the records themselves. Those records are certainly attainable by using those indexes and browsing to the record of interest, but the process is tedious, often frustrating, and slow. And once found, the record must be read and transcribed to be useful. This new Full Text Search tackles a
Read more

Shedding Your Genealogy "Stuff"

-
Image
AI: Bing Image Creator Generated Changing realities force many of us to consider the future of our genealogical collections. Whether a change in health, a new location or even just downsizing, it can be useful to evaluate what we have now, with an eye to the future. What we can pass along? Plan Ahead First: if you have online trees, create a plan to grant access to interested fellow researchers, even distant cousins. Depending on the website, you may need to add a codicil to your will, or just tell the site whom your successor will be.  Ancestry.com: there are two considerations: your DNA test and your tree(s). It is wise to share your DNA results with a cousin or other relative; no need to wait. Or you can  Assign a Manager .  For overall accounts and trees, there is  Ancestry® Family Plan Memberships .  FamilySearch help file:  How to Connect to a Family Member’s Tree .  B ecause it is a shared tree, a person cannot pass along their FamilySearch account. Ensure that your interested
Read more