The Genealogy Gems Podcast with Lisa Louise Cooke - Your Family History Show

This month all of us here at Genealogy Gems are celebrating reaching a milestone 1000 blog posts on our website. But we’re not just celebrating our own genealogy writing. We’re celebrating YOURS! Today I have a special segment that celebrates what YOU have shared with us about your adventures in family history blogging. I also have a short, fun family history writing challenge to share with everyo...

In this episode I’ll kick things off with two fabulous online resources I think are Gems. Two of you wrote in with your own advice, one on saving your genealogy from theft and another with another tip on digital preservation. I found a funny poem online that the author gave me permission to share. And then Sunny will join me to announce our next Genealogy Gems Book Club pick—and we may or may not...

In this episode, a special expert joins us to talk about digitizing and storing your old movies, videos, and pictures—even further updating those old movies you’ve already put on CD. You’ll hear a juicy clip from our exclusive Genealogy Gems Book Club interview with the editor of the new Laura Ingalls Wilder biography, Pioneer Girl. And Your DNA Guide is here with a story of DNA and the President....

You know me, I love looking outside the genealogy box to discover strategies and inspirational stories that can help us be better family historians. In today’s episode, we’re heading back to World War II, and event that in some way touched the lives of every genealogist’s family, and we’re going to hear an incredible tale deception while at the same time gather research strategies, interview techn...

Today, we’re turning back the clock to talk about two of my favorite eras, the 1950s and—well, the second one is a surprise. I’ll tell you later in the show when I introduce the NEW Genealogy Gems Book Club featured title! But first, we’ll talk a little news—from a new Google innovation to two new record collections online that fill in a hole in American documentary history. I’ll read some mail fr...

Genealogy Gems Podcast Episode 180 with Lisa Louise Cooke Welcome to episode 180 of the Genealogy Gems podcast! Today we’re talking about big names, like Ancestry and Google and FamilySearch. We’re talking about big numbers—the possible price tag for Ancestry at auction—and small numbers: a handheld computer for under $100. We’re also talking about road trip tips, an important online Civil War dat...

Have you ever felt like you got the short end of the genealogy stick when it comes to family heirlooms? Maybe you haven’t inherited much in the way of family photos or memorabilia, or maybe you feel like you’ve tapped out all the potential goodies that are out there to find. In this episode I’ll share an email I got from Helen, because she reminds us that you should never say never. I’ve also got...

Episode 178 Lisa Louise Cooke Niche record collections that might just be what you are looking for. Interview with genetic genealogist CeCe Moore about using DNA for genealogy research, adoption, and the Finding Your Roots TV show. Announcement of the Genealogy Gems Book Club book for the 2nd quarter of 2015. A listener shares an update on adoption records in Ohio. NEWS: RECORDS CANADIAN MENNONITE...

This episode features our interview with Christina Baker Kline, the author of our Genealogy Gems Book Club featured book Orphan Train. The book spent five weeks at the #1 spot on the New York Times Bestselling list as well as time at the top of The Bestsellers List in Canada, and by now after reading the book you know why. Christina will share how the book came in to being. And why she first hesit...

Download the show notes here In this episode we are going to check in with our Genealogy Gems Book Club Guru Sunny Morton on our featured book Orphan Train, and some additional books you’ll want to add to your reading list that also provide insight in to how you can approach writing your own family’s history. And Your DNA Guide here at Genealogy Gems, Diahan Southard, will be here to tell you how...

Download the show notes here I’m pretty excited about this episode because it’s just jammed back with all kinds of fun stuff! (image right: my Grandson Joey excited about his new wagon!) First, Genealogy Gems Contributing Editor Sunny Morton will be here to announce our new Book Club read for this first quarter of 2015. And it is fantastic! Even better, the nationally acclaimed author who wrote it...

In this episode I'm going to share a personal story from my own family history just recently uncovered, and pull from it 3 powerful strategies that you can start using right away to further your own genealogy research in newspapers. My husband's grandfather, Raymond Harry Cooke, was born March 6, 1894 in Tunbridge Wells, England. Ever since I first started researching his family I have been aware...

We all need a little inspiration now and then, and in this episode I hope to bring you some through good books, inspiring comments from other listeners, and some new ideas to try. Once I got past the organization of my new office, what I’ve really enjoyed doing is devoting time to display family photos and artifacts, and just decorating the room. It may seem frivolous, but I don’t this it is. We s...

In this episode I've got some exciting news, a cool free online tool, advice on translation, stories of inspirational finds, DNA for genealogy, and a Star Trek take on the innovations of yesteryear! NEWS: FamilySearch’s free interactive mapClick here to see the FamilySearch England & Wales 1851 Parish map. WWI-Era Orphaned Heirloom Looking for Its Family What Has Replaced Random Acts of Genealogic...

Do you have enough time to work on your family history the way you would like to? How about taking on someone else's family history? In this episode I've invited someone who has jumped over his own family history to diligently working on a perfect strangers…or did he jump over it? It's a very interesting story! We'll also be talking later about coping and in fact excelling even in the face of tech...

Lisa shares her recent research successes: Getting in touch with a distant German cousin through MyHeritage Organizing and "Visualizing" the German photos from her Great Grandmother's Scrapbook (below is the inscription by Louise's siblings in the front cover of the scrapbook) Using Google Earth to plot out each photographer studio listed on the back of the photos in the scrapbook Finally identify...

Genealogy Gems Premium Podcast Episode #113 Who Do You Think You Are? has become a worldwide television phenomenon, starting in the UK and making its way around the world, telling the stories of well-known celebrities in search of their family history. July 23, 2014 marks the debut of season 5 of the series here in the U.S. and the show’s Executive Producer Dan Bucatinsky is here to tell us more a...

Catch a glimpse of the silent movie era and how it was an integral part of your ancestors' lives. In this episode, I find out more about the silent movies my grandmother catalogued in her diary, and how they molded a generation. The cultural influences of the "Picture Shows" Below is a page from my grandmother's journal documenting the silent films she saw that year, including the actors who starr...

Get up to speed on the world of DNA and Genealogy in this episode. We'll explore in depth the ramifications of Ancestry closing down some of their DNA tests along with other businesses in their portfolio. Then you'll meet Your DNA Guide, Diahan Southard. She's a genealogy gem who will be joining us here on Genealogy Gems on a regular basis to help guide us through the murky waters of DNA research...

Get ready to lay a foundation in your knowledge of Colonial American genealogy research. Beth Foulk is here to walk us through early immigration to America, Indentured Servitude and Bondage, and the records and resources that can help you locate your ancestors from this time period. But first... NEWS: Lisa's youngest daughter Hannah got married last weekend! NGS 2014 Conference in Richmond VA In a...

I've been enjoying time at home getting the new house decorated. I have a wonderful sort of wall niche area in the living room that is perfect for a family history display, so the wheels are turning on what I want to do there. I've been pinning lots of ideas on Pinterest for that. And of course I'm getting in my time with my grandsons Davy and Joey. Now that Joey is a year and a half and running a...

The Genealogy Gems Podcast Episode 13 Originally Published 2007 Remastered March 2014 By Lisa Louise Cooke From the MAILBOX Hello Lisa: I have just finished listening to your podcast on tracing family members through school records. You mentioned some sources to research. Alan's Website Many years ago I came across a list or resources to be found in the home. I still have the photocopy I made, but...

In this episode you'll hear what you've been missing and how to get it from the Ancestry Wiki. Also how to do a very specialized type of Google search you may have never tried, a French-Canadian genealogy resource, and more. Top 10 Reasons I Moved to Texas: 10. They have something here, it's called weather 9. I live on an acre now so my neighbors don't complain that they hear me over here talking...

Genealogy Gems Podcast Episode 163: Get ready to flip out with me over Flipboard. It's a free app and web tool that you have to see to fully appreciate. In this episode I'll take you behind the scenes at Flipboard in the Silicon Valley and talk to the folks who create the product that helps you enjoy the online content you love. I'll also share a little discovery I made about family history when I...

Wondering how to get your kids and grandkids engaged in family history? Looking for worthwhile activities for the kids over the Christmas break? In this episode author Janet Hovorka provides answers. Our children are the future of our families, and there's no better time to help them engage, explore and enjoy their family history! App Users: Be sure to check out the audio Bonus Content in the Gene...