Purple Heart

Today, General Petraeus spoke to Purple Heart recipients. For those of you who are interested in the history of the organization which honors them, or to verify that a person who received a Purple Heart is listed, or to list yourself or your family member, please visit the website:

http://www.thepurpleheart.com/history/

Blue Star Museums

Blue Star Museums is a program that offers free admission to museums for all active duty military personnel and their families from Memorial Day, May 31, through Labor Day, September 6, 2010. 

What museums are participating?

More than 750 museums in all 50 states and the District of Columbia are participating in Blue Star Museums.  These include children's museums, fine art museums, history and science museums.  Some examples are the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, Texas; the California Surf Museum Oceanside, California; the Mission San Luis, a living history site and historic landmark in Tallahassee, Florida; the International Quilt Study Center & Museum at the University of Lincoln – Nebraska; the Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois; and the Seacoast Science Center in Rye, New Hampshire.

Where can I find a full list of all participating museums?

For a full list of participating museums, visit www.arts.gov/bluestarmuseums.

For more info, go to the main web page:
http://www.arts.gov/national/bluestarmuseums/faq.html

Non-conformist records

One of the difficulties people have in searching for their families in the records of the British Isles is that we forget that as Americans, many of us left because we did not belong to the official religion(s).
Non-conformist records do exist, and should be searched together with any civil or religious records pertaining to the geography of the family's known or suspected origin.

As an example, let us choose Devonshire England, which provides an excellent explanation of various nonconformist groups, including Quaker (Society of Friends), Baptists, Methodists, Huguenots, Roman Catholic, et cetera.
See http://www.devon.gov.uk/index/councildemocracy/people/family_history/family_history_3/nonconformist.htm , and follow the links to repositories in England.

See also http://www.bmdregisters.co.uk/ for The Official Non-Parochial BMDs Service [For records of birth, baptism, marriage, death and burial taken from non parish sources]

NY immigration records

Thanks to Steve, my Greek buddy, for an interesting story...his family arrived in NY in 1905. This reminded me that not everyone knows about Castle Garden and Ellis Island. From 1855-1890, Castle Garden was the point of immigration. From 1892-1924, Ellis Island was.

I'm providing the links here: http://www.castlegarden.org/ and http://www.ellisisland.org/. These are free services (no subscription).

I particularly like the timeline provided on the Ellis Island site:
http://www.ellisisland.org/genealogy/ellis_island_timeline.asp

If you know the ship, you can search the databases above, or also http://immigrantships.net/nycarrivals1_6.html

See also US Citizenship and Immigration Services for record copies: http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.eb1d4c2a3e5b9ac89243c6a7543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=d21f3711ca5ca110VgnVCM1000004718190aRCRD&vgnextchannel=d21f3711ca5ca110VgnVCM1000004718190aRCRD