iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Association of Professional Genealogists (APG) @apgenealogists.bsky.social · 26/03/2025

Indiana's HB 1148 could expand birth record restrictions from 75 to 99 years, making it one of the most restrictive states. It’s passed the House and heads to the Senate. Our work relies on record access—let’s fight to keep it! Learn more & take action: www.apgen.org/news_manager.php?page=39804

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Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine @wdytyamagazine.bsky.social · 21/03/2025

BREAKING: The BBC has announced the celebrity line-up for this year's #WhoDoYouThinkYouAre. Will you be watching? Whose episode are you most looking forward to? #wdytya www.whodoyouthinkyouaremaga...

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Reclaim The Records @reclaimtherecords.org · 12/03/2025

RTR board member Alec Ferretti (@alecferretti.bsky.social) gave two lectures at RootsTech about US citizenship records, one of them specifically about Alien Files. And if you jump to 51:57 in the video, you'll see slides about "Pending Litigation", hint hint... 😌 www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_hl...

youtube.com

Alien Files Boot Camp

YouTube video by FamilySearch

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Jennifer Mendelsohn @jmendelsohn.bsky.social · 25/02/2025

Curious about the work we do tracking down family for Holocaust survivors? Join us Thursday at 2 pm ET. www.youtube.com/live/Rp4jS8a...

youtube.com

Jennifer Mendelsohn and Adina Newman of the Holocaust Reunion Project

YouTube video by International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies (IAJGS)

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Jennifer Mendelsohn @jmendelsohn.bsky.social · 19/02/2025

Are you a journalist, genealogist or historian who has ever used records from the National Archives? It's time to step up and take some simple steps to preserve federal records. And save our nation's history. Please visit this website. And share widely. fundnara.com

fundnara.com

fundNARA.com - Congress must fund the National Archives at the current level!

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) provides core government functions necessary to preserve, protect, and make accessible records from all three branches of the federal government...

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Reclaim The Records @reclaimtherecords.org · 05/02/2025

URGENT: New York Wants to Lock Up Vital Records — Again! 😫 A backdoor proposal to essentially ban public access to birth, marriage, and death records got snuck into their annual budget bill?! And we have FIVE DAYS to do something about it?! Here's how we can stop it: mailchi.mp/reclaimthere...

mailchi.mp

Reclaim The Records

We’re Reclaim The Records, a new not-for-profit activist group of genealogists, historians, researchers, and open government advocates. We identify important genealogical records sets that ought to be...

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Family Sleuther @familysleuther.com · 26/01/2025

And just 12 days later, the VA wrote they could find no records. I'm not convinced. Following up to encourage them to conduct a more thorough search.

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#genchat 🦋 @genchat.bsky.social · 20/01/2025

I’m ready for this Friday’s #genchat ; are you? See you then!

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Family Sleuther @familysleuther.com · 15/01/2025

Ancestry’s CEO Deb Liu bids adieu to her post touting her work building culture, driving innovation, and growth. #Genealogy #FamilyHistory debliu.substack.com/p/looking-ba...

debliu.substack.com

Looking Back and Looking Ahead

An end of one chapter and the start of the next

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Family Sleuther @familysleuther.com · 11/01/2025

Written confirmation came today from the VA that they received my FOIA request for my great-grandfather’s claim file. A good sign. The wait continues. #Genealogy #FamilyHistory

Photo of an envelope’s return address for the VA.

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Family Sleuther @familysleuther.com · 28/12/2024

I submitted two of those thousands of FOIA requests using the lovely new system. Thank you @reclaimtherecords.org for the nifty tool!

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Family Sleuther @familysleuther.com · 25/12/2024

I’m looking forward to digging into this! 🔍

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Janna Helshtein @jannahelshtein.bsky.social · 23/12/2024

Did all the brave people move to @bsky.app 🙃? I talk about Genealogy for our descendants. Here's a question with a smile. What do you have hidden away that you won't show your kids today, but wish you could see their faces when they find it after you're gone? If too private just say yes #genealogy

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Family Sleuther @familysleuther.com · 21/12/2024

139 years ago today, my second great-grandmother, Eva (Lamb) Stevens Fagan, was born in Vermont. After researching the recurring tragedies she navigated in life, I now marvel at her fortitude. www.familysleuther.com/2020/04/the-... #Genealogy #FamilyHistory

familysleuther.com

The Tumult and Trauma of Eva's Life

Eva's life was marked by a series of tumultuous hardships. Growing up in a broken household, outliving husbands and children, she endured with a fierce spirit of survival.

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Family Sleuther @familysleuther.com · 13/12/2024

My maternal grandmother passed away a decade ago. Today would have been her 88th birthday. After she died, we cleaned out her home and found every postcard I’d sent her from my travels tucked away for safekeeping. #FamilyHistory

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Jennifer Mendelsohn @jmendelsohn.bsky.social · 12/12/2024

There aren’t enough hours in the day for me to show you how many of the people arguing against birthright citizenship would not be citizens if not for birthright citizenship. #ResistanceGenealogy

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Family Sleuther @familysleuther.com · 10/12/2024

Recommend! I attended a version of this session facilitated by American Ancestors at RootsTech that was helpful when I was writing and publishing my book on my Kirk ancestry.

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Family Sleuther @familysleuther.com · 09/12/2024

162 years ago today, Mary Jane (Andrus) Bair was born in Bradford County, PA. Her mother (identity unknown) died when she was 3 weeks old leaving her to "kindly relatives, Mr. and Mrs. Jared Beardsley, who adopted her as their own on January 3, 1863." I'm still searching for her bio mom's identity.

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Family Sleuther @familysleuther.com · 08/12/2024

For years, we knew Edmond & Iva lost two infants, but their names & resting places were a mystery—until a #FindAGrave volunteer provided the missing link. Read how their graves were rediscovered & their memory preserved: www.familysleuther.com/2024/12/the-... #Genealogy #FamilyHistory

familysleuther.com

The Search for Lula May and the Forgotten Hawks Infants

Rediscovering the forgotten graves of two Hawks infants, lost to time but found through cemetery records—preserving their memory in family history.

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Family Sleuther @familysleuther.com · 06/12/2024

70 years ago today, my 2nd great-grandmother, Bessie (Bair) Benedick, passed away. Raised on the Kansas prairie as one of 16 children, she had a 'very demure, very mindful' 3 kids of her own. Her funeral book is one of the few documents that names her biological maternal grandfather. #FamilyHistory

A photo of a young woman taken at the turn of the 20th century. She's wearing a dress with a hat filled with flowers.

A photo depicting an older woman in her 60s, smiling with a gold tooth, wire rimmed glasses, and wearing an overcoat and hat.

The first page of a funeral book sharing biographical information about the deceased - Bessie Bair.

The family record detailed in Bessie's funeral book, which lists her biological maternal grandfather as Jerome Andrews.

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Hank Green @hankgreen.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

I just found out that around 20% of the neanderthal genome still exists today in living people!! No individual person has more than 3 or 4% but we don't all have the same bits. If you add up all the bits we've found, about a fifth of the Neanderthal genome is still present on earth today.

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Family Sleuther @familysleuther.com · 06/12/2024

Welcome to Bluesky! The #genealogy community has been awaiting your arrival.

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J. Paul Hawthorne @jphawthorne.bsky.social · 02/12/2024

Back in 2016, I created a 5-gen color chart that went viral. I'm glad that people are taking it to the next level. www.geneaspy.com/search/label... #Genealogy #GeneaSpy #MyColorfulAncestry

geneaspy.com

GeneaSpy

Genealogical sightings from around the web and elsewhere.

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Family Sleuther @familysleuther.com · 29/11/2024

For years, I’ve charted and mapped my ancestry in every way imaginable. Data-driven #genealogy provides focus to research and meaning to our #FamilyHistory. www.familysleuther.com/2024/11/data...

familysleuther.com

Data-Driven Genealogy: Charting My Ancestors

Data can help family historians identify gaps in their research and provide fresh perspective on their ancestors' lives.

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Family Sleuther @familysleuther.com · 27/11/2024

A glimpse at the #FamilyHistory community that makes up my recent #Skircle.

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Family Sleuther @familysleuther.com · 26/11/2024

As a FamilyTreeDNA surname group project administrator, I recommend this for your holiday wish list to learn more about FTDNA’s many tools that can help you uncover your genetic ancestry. 🧬

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Family Sleuther @familysleuther.com · 24/11/2024

This 4 generation snapshot includes my maternal grandmother (Marilyn, b. 1936) as a toddler standing on the log with her mother (Nevella, b. 1917) behind her, and Nevella’s mother (Bessie, b. 1889) at left, and Bessie’s mother (Mary Jane, b. 1862) at right.

Three older women standing outside around the a toddler standing on a log.

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The Whimsical Muse @whimsicalmuse.bsky.social · 24/11/2024

After years of being curious about my lineage, I finally received my ancestry results. Apparently I'm 12% forest cottage, 16% used bookstore, 9% tea and crumpets, 13% raven rescue, 11% cobblestone side street, 7% fog-laden lighthouse, 17% pastry, and 15% Oxford comma.

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John Scalzi @scalzi.com · 23/11/2024

Others have noted it but I will too: The big reason Bluesky is so hot right now is that the people who add value to social media - the frequent posters in specific fields - are here now, talking to each other and creating the "spectator value" that draws users and attention.

theverge.com

Twitter’s heir apparent isn’t X or Threads — it’s Bluesky

The blue bird is dead. Long live the blue sky.

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Family Sleuther @familysleuther.com · 23/11/2024

My great-grandfather’s military record was destroyed in a 1973 archives fire. Recently digitized U.S. Army “Morning Reports” helped me sift his WWI service from the ashes and pinpoint his whereabouts. #Geneaology #FamilyHistory #WorldWarI www.familysleuther.com/2024/11/us-a...

familysleuther.com

U.S. Army "Morning Reports" Detail Samuel Kirk's Lost World War I Service

The digitization of U.S. Army Morning Reports reveals the lost World War I service of Samuel Kirk, whose personnel file was destroyed in a 1973 fire.

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Karen Cummings @drkarencummings.bsky.social · 23/11/2024

I sometimes am shocked to hear that not everyone knows about the GRO’s own birth and death indexes and cheaper digital certificate copies for England and Wales. Here’s some more detail. Don’t pay more than you need to! www.professionalfamilyhistory.co.uk/blog/gro-bmd...

professionalfamilyhistory.co.uk

GRO BMD indexes and cheaper PDF and digital certificate options

This post describes the new birth and death indexes launched by the GRO in 2016 and the cheaper copies of certificates available in pdf and digital form.

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Family Sleuther @familysleuther.com · 23/11/2024

I’ve tinkered with @myheritageofficial.bsky.social’s new #LiveMemory AI tool, animating four generations of my maternal line. #FamilyHistory

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Family Sleuther @familysleuther.com · 18/11/2024

Happy ascension of Queen Elizabeth I day, to those who celebrate. This tree, planted by Queen Elizabeth II at Hatfield House, marks the spot where the first Elizabeth - sitting under a tree - learned her sister Mary had died and she was now Queen.

A large leafy tree surrounded by open green space.

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Sharn White @sharnwhite.bsky.social · 17/11/2024

Don’t forgets to register for RootsTech. www.familysearch.org/en/rootstech...

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Family Sleuther @familysleuther.com · 17/11/2024

For U.S. #genealogy, one tool that I use regularly is The Newberry Library’s Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. Borders change! The Atlas helps pinpoint your ancestors’ locations over time. #FamilyHistory digital.newberry.org/ahcb/

digital.newberry.org

Home | Atlas of Historical County Boundaries Project

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Family Sleuther @familysleuther.com · 17/11/2024

An introduction to Family Sleuther for #geneaology Bluesky 👋 Years researching: 14 years Hobbyist or pro: Serious hobbyist Fun fact/Wildest discovery: Uncovered a secret that revealed an NPE and introduced me to my Kirk heritage My niche/s: Dogged determination with my family’s brick walls 🌬️ 🧱

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Family Sleuther @familysleuther.com · 16/11/2024

Just verified FamilySleuther on BlueSky!

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Marian Burk Wood @climbingfamilytree.bsky.social · 16/11/2024

#Genealogy Remember LOCKSS (lots of copies keep stuff safe) so consider posting bite-size ancestor bios on multiple sites. Bio of hubby's military ancestor is on Fold3, MyHeritage, #WikiTree, Find a Grave, FamSearch. #FamilyHistory My how-to tips: climbingmyfamilytree.blogspot.com/2024/11/shar...

climbingmyfamilytree.blogspot.com

Sharing Ancestor Bite-Sized Bios More Widely Because LOCKSS

Genealogy research and commentary by Marian Burk Wood, speaker and author of "Planning a Future for Your Family's Past," available from Amazon.com.

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Family Sleuther @familysleuther.com · 16/11/2024

My great-grandparents lived in their Kansas home for over four decades. I recently traced property ownership to the early 20th century and discovered deep family connections to the home. #genealogy #FamilyHistory #HouseHistory www.familysleuther.com/2024/11/the-...

familysleuther.com

The History of a Plainville, Kansas Home

A family history website about my family history research and ancestry with tips for your genealogy.

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Family Sleuther @familysleuther.com · 15/11/2024

Reflecting on the hardships of her early 20th century farm life, my great-grandmother used to say she was born a century too early - preferring the many modern conveniences that made her life easier, safer, and healthier.

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