Recently a reader asked me to provide some tips about how people new to genealogy can learn more about how to uncover their own amazing true stories of their family’s history.
One way is to subscribe to several genealogy-focused electronic newsletters. One of my favorites is the New England Historic Genealogical Society‘s The Weekly Genealogist.
I always look forward to opening the latest issue of The Weekly Genealogist when it arrives in my inbox. It lists upcoming webinars, genealogy and local history events, intriguing answers to reader surveys, information about new databases now available and more.
Note: If you have any ancestors who lived in the New England area as I do (my Powers line came from the New England area before migrating to southwest Virginia), then you should take a moment to check out their website.
Even if you don’t have ancestors from the New England area, there are still resources available which may help you in your quest for information.
Choose to register for a free membership, which provides limited access to some of their online databases or spend a few bucks (less than $90/year) for an individual membership to access all that the Society has to offer.
My favorite section of the Weekly is the Stories of Interest section, which features unusual stories with a genealogy focus. The most recent issue told a story about a retired Japanese American Air Force officer’s search for the Japanese biological woman who had given him up for adoption by an American military family who were stationed in Japan in 1960. His biological mom had never given up hope of reconnecting with her son. Read more about their story here. Learn about his search for his American father here.
The Weekly Genealogist newsletter is included in the free membership. To select the membership that is right for your needs, visit https://www.americanancestors.org/join to learn more.
Another great free resource is to register for Dick Eastman’s well-known genealogy newsletter, Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter. It’s a great resource for learning all kinds of things, including:
- What you can learn from autos appearing in family photos
- Interesting historical trivia, i.e., did you know that Woolworth’s issued the most misused Social Security number of all time?
- How to protect rare books, manuscripts, family photos from damage caused by climate change
- Genealogy calendar of events
- Genealogy industry news
- New historical records available
- How the Vatican is using artificial intelligence to make its secret archives available online to researchers around the world
- New technology that can make genealogical research easier
- The importance and use of a health family tree
- The sentencing of a thief who stole World War II artifacts from the U.S. National Archives
- Information about upcoming educational opportunities, including calls for speakers and papers
You never know what you’ll find in this newsletter – and that’s part of the attraction in it for me. If you’re interested, visit to register for the free version or for the paid version ($19.95/year).
Happy ancestor hunting!
