Hittin' the Bricks with Kathleen

Hittin' the Bricks Mailbag: Ready to Jump the Pond?

• Kathleen Brandt • Episode 26

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In this episode, we answer inquiries from the HTB Mailbag.  
Are you relying on online resources and phone communication to conduct remote research? Kathleen offers some tips to effectively communicate with repositories when conducting remote research. 

Are there strategies or resources to explore in order to successfully access newspaper publications that have not yet been digitized without traveling? 

Are you prepared to hand off your genealogical quest to an overseas researcher? Kathleen offers a framework of what's needed to uncover your immigrant ancestor's story using a professional overseas researcher.

Be sure to bookmark linktr.ee/hittinthebricks for your one stop access to Kathleen Brandt, the host of Hittin' the Bricks with Kathleen. And, visit us on YouTube: Off the Wall with Kathleen John and Chewey video recorded specials.

Hittin' the Bricks is produced through the not-for-profit, 501c3 TracingAncestors.org.
Thanks to MyHeritage for their generous support to Hittin' the Bricks with Kathleen! Follow us on social media and subscribe to HTB with Kathleen in order to enter your name in our monthly MyHeritage Complete Package giveaway starting Jan 2024!

John:

Ladies and gentlemen from the depths of flyover country in the heartland of America, the Kansas City on the other side of the Mighty Mo, welcome to Hittin' the Bricks with Kathleen, the do-it-yourself genealogy podcast that features your questions and her answers. I am John, your humble hubby host and, on this episode, a deep dive into the digital mailbag with some great questions from our listeners. So let's start Hittin' the Bricks.

Kathleen:

Why are you laughing, john?

John:

And the first thing I do let me take a big swig of water, oh boy. So hi, hi, john. So today we're into the mailbag, john stop the Hittin' the Bricks mailbag what?

Kathleen:

Are you really? Have we really started?

John:

Yes, we're recording. You interrupted my bit, john, be serious.

Kathleen:

Be serious Sorry.

John:

I'll be serious, ladies and gentlemen, Stop, John Today we'll be looking at our digital mailbag, which is John, maybe you missed a bulletin.

Kathleen:

That I am hungry, oh, and you had questions for me.

John:

No, not that one.

Kathleen:

You printed off the mail. I'll try that one.

John:

So our letter finds, before she screams Our first letter somebody who wrote in and they had this particular question. First off, they aren't really able to travel, so they're getting ready to dive in to do some genealogy work. They're not really mobile, so they're stuck at home, and so they are looking for some recommendations on how they can identify good and accurate digital archives, online libraries and other resources that specialize in, right now, american genealogy. So they're staying domestic and they're looking also for and I thought this was interesting phone communication, the best way to have conversations in order to get what you need from relevant institutions.

Kathleen:

That's a good question, because a lot of people do make a lot of people make some basic errors.

Kathleen:

They're not getting what they're asking for, but it's because they've overwhelmed the repository. So the best way to do it is first always look at their website. The repositories all have a way of searching or asking a question. Do that. This past week I did an extreme amount for the National Archives in England because I needed some answers and I needed them within what they say 10 days. But I was getting them every two or three days. But I only ask one genealogical question per request.

John:

So how would I know if it's a good idea to ask one question at a time or if they'll get annoyed because I could have asked three questions that had relevant research in them? How am I going to know that?

Kathleen:

You're going to do your due diligence, You're going to create your genealogical question with name, date, location, any association that's needed. I would say, John, what is it that you're looking for and do you have supplemental information that's leading you to this? So you have to know where you've been and where you're going and how they can help you presently.

John:

What is an example of a question like you've just described?

Kathleen:

For me. This past week I did, like I said, a lot of chatting for UK the archives and what I would put in there is the name I would put in the timeframe. I put in either an attorney or accomplice or someone else who is associated with this court record. Because I've done my due diligence. I've looked at the newspapers articles that have all this information already in it.

John:

So when you say you're chatting or you're putting in, is this a search feature? Is this a chat interface with the repository staff?

Kathleen:

This is a chat interface with the repository staff, so I already have my information. My first question in there Let them chat with you because a lot of times. They're looking online right now at their catalog because, for example, that National Archive, that catalog is so comprehensive and so overwhelming that let me turn to the experts, and then they can give me suggestions where to go, and I then might ask a second question. Now there are times, though, that I've written people, or I went to their websites, and I wrote this past week also.

John:

When you say you've written somebody, you mean you've sent an email.

Kathleen:

Yeah, they normally can get an email from their website. Send the email if you need assistance. They will tell you where to go, where their holdings are, where their catalog is.

John:

I'm a much bigger fan of the chat and definitely not email. I would far prefer the chat. So are there plenty of repositories that offer that? It seems like it might be limited.

Kathleen:

It's not limited. It's much more open than what you think. But the issue is your chats and your phone calls normally go to what I call first level customer service, meaning they might not know the deeper part of the archives but they can guide you. One of the persons this past week said I need you to copy this chat, which would be in your email, and send it into this particular email because you need to go to a second layer.

John:

That second layer was still within the institution. He was just kicking it up the ladder.

Kathleen:

That is correct.

John:

Oh, that's interesting.

Kathleen:

So the first thing you should always do is look at the website.

John:

Look at the website, see how they want to be contacted.

Kathleen:

And telephone calls are fine, but normally I'm asking do you have this holding? Do you have this record group? Do you have these dates? Do you have this record group? Do you have these dates? And they can tell me that right off People who pick up the phone that phone is ringing and ringing, and ringing. So they are not going to spend more than a few minutes with me. They will tell you what to send them, or the email that you should be directing your request to.

John:

So you could call them and actually assume that maybe that front line is not who you should be talking to and pose the question. I have a question about this particular thing who should I address an email to?

Kathleen:

But sometimes they have an index right there right, or it might be a library. Sometimes they can put me right into the genealogy room or the reference desk. So the biggest issue is most people begin calling repositories and archives without having a solid genealogical question.

John:

Okay, so that's your main one is get your formulation of your first question, at least of what you're asking, prior to contacting a repository.

Kathleen:

Right yeah. That's an excellent question.

John:

And now I'm back into the mailbag, so we're into our second letter.

Kathleen:

Okay.

John:

And our second letter is from we'll call her Alyssa. She is in search of a newspaper article.

Kathleen:

Right.

John:

In the time frame 1915 to 18.

Kathleen:

Okay.

John:

However, I'm concerned this article may not have been digitized yet and so not sure how to proceed. And she is asking are there specific archives or repositories that I should explore, particularly those that have preserved physical copies of newspaper from that time period, or are there any strategies or resources for accessing non-digitized materials?

Kathleen:

So I will start with the Library of Congress on this question, and Alyssa is asking a question. We get a lot and that is where can I find a newspaper that's not on newspaperscom or on the ones that we could purchase, right? But you also have small town newspapers and Google News, and we have lots of little small ones, and Chronicling America is the one I'm going to tell her to go to first.

John:

Chronicling America. Yes, tell me about that.

Kathleen:

That one is the Library of Congress and it has a wonderful comprehensive collection of the names and titles and timeframes that a newspaper was actually published. So you can use that as your index of, in this state, what papers were done during my timeframe and you will find out if they're digitized or not. If they're not digitized, my next step is to call the library. Now this is one of my phone calls that we were just talking about Call the library to see if they have a copy of it. They might be able to copy a page for you. But in one of my cases a couple of weeks ago, I was looking for a particular newspaper that had an English and Samoan translation and I needed two specific years and for those two specific years I needed to make sure, before I sent a researcher there to do the research, that they had the holdings. So again, I'm doing my due diligence before I go or someone else goes for me.

John:

Okay, so you're doing you've got a lot of research going in to create a question or to back up a question.

Kathleen:

Finally, I was able to identify four repositories that might have had this newspaper One in Princeton, one in Hawaii, one in New York and I don't remember the other one. Now, the only way I got to that point was Google. I Googled them to see if they had it. Once I identified those four, I was able to send messages mostly through chat, by the way, asking them if they had the complete set. Two of them had it Hawaii and New York. Princeton would have sent it to wherever you wanted to have it because they had the microfilm, but they would send it to any library interlibrary loan. But Hawaii was a university and New York was the public library. Hawaii said if you want to go to your local university and request us, we'll digitize it for you and send it. I did not choose that because I wanted to see if any one library would actually scan the entire newspaper, digitize their microfilm or their hard copy and send me the digitized copy.

John:

And did you get that.

Kathleen:

I did from New York Public Library, new York.

John:

Public Library scanned every issue that I needed for two years.

Kathleen:

The library, scanned every issue that I needed for two years. Seriously, and they sent it to me, digitized for me to actually look and go page by page by page, and none of the issues were missing. He was pretty sure they weren't. Anyway, he had already done a form of audit and when he sent it that is what was verified.

John:

Can you mention the guy's name?

Kathleen:

His name was Peter at the New York Public Library in the Stephen Schwartzman building, and he just said to me back after my request, I was able to scan the microfilm reel in question. I'm going to share the link to that file with you via Google Drive. You should receive an email notification. I hope this is helpful. Cordially, peter.

John:

Well, boy, that's some highly professional and very cool stuff that Peter took care of there From our public library system.

Kathleen:

Absolutely. You know how I feel about them.

John:

What a gem, what a gem the public library system actually is, and why the communities really should be supporting their public libraries.

Kathleen:

I mean, I just did a post a couple days ago on the public library saying they're perfect date nights even you can stream films and go to events, and they mostly have coffee bar or tea bar with snacks. There's so much to do. That's for free within the public library systems across America.

John:

And yeah, and the idea of being able to go to a place with uncensored information that is there, available for every person, is part of living, I think, in an equal society. They're a great equalizer and extremely important and should be supported. Okay, so now letter three.

Kathleen:

Okay.

John:

Letter three. Now, this is what we teased in the previous show. They're asking, before they hire a professional, an overseas professional, to do research for them.

Kathleen:

Right.

John:

They want to make sure that they're fully prepared for the undertaking. They want to make sure that they're fully prepared for the undertaking. What are some key indicators or milestones that I should achieve before engaging the services of a professional, in other words, before jumping the pond?

Kathleen:

If.

John:

I'm going to Ireland or Scotland, the first place I'm going will be the pub. I hear they have pubs there.

Kathleen:

I'm excited about pubs, as if you have not been to Scotland.

John:

I've been to a pub in Scotland and I've very much enjoyed it.

Kathleen:

You've been to pubs in England. But you have to do your work here in the States first. You have to give the researcher overseas a pinpointed place to go, because everything is by a parish or a province. So you have to be able to do your work. I did have a case, well recently actually, that that person thought they were ready to go overseas. They were not ready for it. I say you have to do some of the top five research things. You must have things like prove your county and region. We're in England and Ireland and that information is on documents here in America.

John:

So know where you're going.

Kathleen:

Know where you need to go, because every Irish expert, for example, is not an expert in every county. Naturalization passports, ship manifests, those give a lot of birth records or records where they can contact the next of kin. In Europe we often look at immigration records, but we also need to look at the immigration records with the E. They'll tell us where they came from. Local histories and newspapers might name their home county, parish town or a visitor.

John:

So, okay, I should be looking for the names of those counties where I'm working and newspapers in those counties. That might be helpful to the person who's going to be researching.

Kathleen:

That's correct. You need to pinpoint it bigger than Germany. So you know you need to not only have the region, maybe the church record, you need to know their religion. You can get that often here in America. In Canada I was looking for a particular ancestor. We were told in the folklore that this family member moved to Canada from Oklahoma and my great uncle remembered this man going and they saying goodbye to him and the family. They moved to Canada. But how do I know which Monroe Martin am I looking for? I did find him, and I found him because the church name that he put on the census record in Canada is the same church I was baptized in and my family was baptized in Canada.

Kathleen:

No, in Oklahoma, oh, all right. So ask yourself, where else were my father and my mother's birthplace be recorded In siblings records? So you have to expand your search In children's records. Their death certificates might have their immigrant parents' hometowns listed.

John:

So you would definitely want to provide the person a through line. Basically that would have your parents and then one line of grandparents and then another. You want to branch those out. You need brothers and sisters to tie them.

Kathleen:

You really do. You really do, you really do? Because we're talking about everyone had a John, a Mary, a William, so you need to make sure you're following the correct family line also Asking for a Hans Brandt is not going to be helpful for somebody beginning German research in Germany. No, not at all.

John:

So you want at least Hans with a brother.

Kathleen:

You want Hans with a brother, siblings, since he was born there, military records. Now I know military records seems like far-fetched, but often it might have a copy of that passport as well as naturalization or immigration, or it might name the next of kin is their father in another country. So these kind of records will do everything you need to actually acquire a researcher in the right location with the right names.

John:

So when I do get to that point and I say, okay, there's a specific town that I believe my family was from, and I say, okay, there's a specific town that I believe my family was from and I have these additional resources, when I start looking for that person overseas who can research that town, am I going to have to find a different researcher for every town, or is that maybe something they would handle more regionally?

Kathleen:

Remember, you're starting with a genealogical question and I'm just going to keep honing in on that. You're starting with that. So that first question for that first person you're going to ask that genealogist that you've contacted because there you know, they at least do one of the towns and they actually might take on your job. You can ask them for referrals or if they expand maybe into other areas in the county.

John:

So just you kind of understand who the players are within, let's say, the local area of Kansas City and well wider than that, of course. Domestically, if you have people you call on, it would be the same thing. There is that you might get one person who knows a network of people who can provide additional research or resources.

Kathleen:

I recently contacted a girl in Ireland, but you also can use the Association of Professional Genealogists. They often have a list Most people. There's a list so that we can find them. Now, fiona, I knew because she was on the Association of Professional Genealogists board with me and I contacted her. I was all excited. I loved her process. She first interviews, just like I do, to see is this something I can take on, because is this really my expertise or not?

John:

Got it Okay. So I know that when you finish up a client, you put everything into a final report. That's correct and they get this very detailed. Is that the sort of thing that they could ask you and say okay, could I take this now and push this over to another country and let somebody start handling it there?

Kathleen:

Is that?

John:

the sort of thing that would be, your next steps Right.

Kathleen:

What I would have done was I would have sent it to Fiona and said here's the new client. Is this someone that you would want to take on? I send my report. I do the same thing for DAR. I have actually had people take my report to a Daughters of America Revolutionary application and actually got in in DC just by taking my report, seeing the sources, seeing the documentation.

Kathleen:

They basically just filled out the application and it was enough information in the final report to fill in all the gaps and do a proof to DAR, all they had to do is get their important certain certificates, like they had to get the certified marriage and death certificates. But most of them I already had because I knew her question. I knew that she wanted to become a DAR. She had the DAR package from A3 Genealogy.

John:

And that's an example, I'm assuming, of a genealogical goal or question of am I or can I be connected to the Daughters of the American Revolution?

Kathleen:

That's a big one. Or Mayflower or any other lineage society. Okay, yeah.

John:

Right? Or do you ever get anything from, let's say, African-American, requests that are? Can I trace my family to a particular ship, let's say a famous ship like the Amistad?

Kathleen:

Of course we do, yes, and we've done quite a few Interesting, like the amistad. Of course we do, yes, and we've. We've done quite a few interesting. The amistad came so late normally the descendants know that their ancestors came on it oh, interesting, of course, because it was so it was, it was well publicized yeah, yes, so so that's an easy one, but I okay, so that there's other ones.

Kathleen:

Yes, and it's also african americans for the mayflower there's african americans for the mayflower, there's african americans for the daughters of american revolution. So, john, the only one that I never had an african-american asked for was the colonial dames of america colonial dames of america.

John:

I don't know that.

Kathleen:

I've ever heard of that they lived in early america from 1607 to, I think, revolutionary War. Of course we also had the Confederate ones. I have actually had someone ask the Confederate lineage societies, the African. Americans, the two I have had. They just wanted to know if they were opening the doors. Can they join it Now? I don't know about the company.

John:

Wait a minute. If they were opening the doors to what?

Kathleen:

To accepting African-Americans.

John:

Now go ahead.

Kathleen:

So, john, after that beautiful rant and I'm sure you will delete that one also, there are Confederate lineage societies like the Sons of the Confederate, the Confederate Veterans. I actually had two or three African-American families who asked if they were eligible Now. They might be eligible on paper, but that does not mean that the organization will welcome them.

John:

Well, yeah, let's be shocked that the organization might have some bylaws that preclude the inclusion of certain members of the melanated population. Let's all be shot.

Kathleen:

You know how much editing you're going to have to do on this podcast.

John:

Oh, I just thought we'd reshoot the whole thing.

Kathleen:

I'm not reshooting. You're going to have to cut and play. So you also have things like the United Daughters of the Confederacy there's not just the Grand Army Republic, it's not just the Union side or the Mayflower. There are all of these little small lineage societies that also are asking about the same thing you just mentioned. If I do, after I do, a report, can they take it and show it for proof? And the answer is yes, and if you tell me up front, I'll make sure I'll embed those pictures in reports and then that way you can just even take it, but then you all have a file of all of your images. Any other questions, john, because we have talked almost an hour and you have ranted over half of that.

John:

It's only been 45 minutes. That is not true. I've only had very few and about six minutes total of ranting. That covers the mailbag and actually I didn't realize how related. As I rifled through the digital mailbag I didn't realize how related the questions actually were as far as being prepared and asking the right questions.

Kathleen:

It's being prepared, asking a succinct question, right One with the facts, don't overwhelm. Give them what they need to know to help you.

John:

What else? Do we have Anything else? Do we want to tease anything, or do we want to just?

Kathleen:

We will be announcing the May winner of the MyHeritage Complete Package.

John:

Oh, yay Good.

Kathleen:

So that will be announced later, and that's it, and that's it and that's it. And I'm still hungry.

John:

Yep, I guess it's a fair time to let you go eat. Thank you, you have done your job. You have performed admirably.

Kathleen:

Are you done?

John:

I release you.

Kathleen:

Wonderful.

John:

You may go.

Kathleen:

Bye John.

John:

Well, congratulations, you've made it to the end of another episode. Thanks so much for staying. Thanks to MyHeritage and Legacy Family Tree webinars. Thanks to Chewy Chewbacca Brand, our part-time lepidopterist and full-time cardimaniac, for his unwavering lack of interest in anything we're doing. The theme song for Hittin' the Bricks was written and performed by Tony Fistknuckle and the Prickles Watch for their next appearance at the Student Union at Lincoln University. You can find us wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. Do you have a genealogical question for Kathleen? Drop us a line at hittingthebricks at gmailcom and let us know.

People on this episode

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Kathleen Brandt

Host
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John Brandt

Co-host