October is Family History Month

Happy Family History Month!  It's near the end of October, but there is still time to do something about passing on the history of your family.  I thought I'd share some ideas of quick and easy things to do by yourself or with others since the key is to SHARE your history. 

1. Label your photographs.
There is nothing more frustrating as a family historian, genealogist, museum curator or archivist than to have photographs with no names, dates or places.  I suggest using a light hand with a pencil or a fine point marker that is photo safe, non-toxic, permanent ink, fade resistant, dries quickly, will not smear once dry, and won't bleed through.

2. Tell your children or grandchildren a story about when you were young and record it on video.  Send them the video and save it in the cloud.

3. Make a visit to the cemetery to say "Hello".  Take your family and tell them who they people were to you.

4. Make a family history related craft.  Here is a link to 13 ideas.   https://www.familytreemagazine.com/premium/family-history-diy-projects/

5. Visit your local museum or archives to see if they have documents or books about your family.  Backus-Page House Museum currently requires an appointment to visit since we are on the off season.  519-762-3072

World War Wednesdays: Profile of a Hero: Emmanuel Ringelblum

     I've probably mentioned this on the blog a thousand times, but at the center of my history obsession is a deep passion for studying the Holocaust, which I've had since I was about eight years old. At that young age, I was introduced to Anne Frank's diary and a wide range of other books being published at the time to try and connect children with this difficult topic through the stories of real children. I've continued the reading and studying until now, and have just begun one of the most well-known history courses at uOttawa, The Holocaust with Dr. Jan Grabowski. I should warn you now that things may seem a bit darker now that I'll be dealing with this period more regularly, but they are stories that I think everyone can connect with in some way.

     On the very first day, Dr. Grabowski introduced us with the story of a man which has been in the back of my mind ever since, and I thought I would share it with readers today. It is of Emmanuel Ringelblum, a true hero both of history and for history.

Emanuel Ringelblum with his wife Yehudit and their son Uri

     Ringelblum was born into a Jewish family in Buczacz, Poland (present-day Ukraine) in 1900. In 1927, he earned a doctorate degree in history from the University of Warsaw, and was also active in public affairs. He belonged to the Po'alei Zion (a Marxist-Zionist Jewish workers' movement), taught high school for a brief period, and then worked for the Joint Distribution Committee in Poland.

     In November of 1938 the Committee sent him to the border town of Zbaszyn, where he was put in charge of 6,000 Jewish refugees who were forced out of Germany and not allowed into Poland. After five weeks in this role, his experiences had a great impact on him.

     Following Germany's invasion of Poland in September 1939, Ringelblum continued working for the JDC, running soup kitchens and welfare programs for the Jews of the Warsaw ghetto. He and his friend Menahem Linder also founded a society for the advancement of Yiddish culture in the ghetto.

     In 1923, several Jewish historians in Poland formed a historical society, of which Ringelblum was also a leader and prominent contributing scholar. He edited the society's publications, and by 1939 had himself published 126 scholarly articles.

     Seeing the ways in which Jewish culture was slowly being destroyed in the ghetto and across Poland prompted him to begin his greatest achievement only a few months into the war: the secret Oneg Shabbat Archive. The name means "Sabbath Pleasure," and reflected how its members met in secret on Saturday afternoons. In the beginning, the archive would collect reports and stories from Jews who had come to the ghetto seeking help from the self aid organizations.

Emanuel Ringelblum with the members of board of the International History Congress 1933

     Ringelblum spent his days collecting information, and wrote his notes at night. He knew that what was happening to the Jews was unprecedented, and was determined to make a complete record of time and place for historians in the future. As an historian himself, he knew exactly how to go about doing this. He and his colleagues would collect information and write about towns, villages, the ghetto, the resistance movement, and the deportation and extermination of the Jews in Poland. Towards the end of the Warsaw ghetto, the archivists were sending out every bit of information they had about the murders to the Polish underground, who in turn smuggled it out of the country. Ringelblum's archive thus helped to expose Nazi atrocities to the rest of the world.

     All of the Oneg Shabbat materials were preserved in three milk cans and buried beneath the Warsaw ghetto. In March 1943, Ringelblum and his family escaped from the ghetto and went into hiding in a non-Jewish part of Warsaw. He returned to the ghetto in the midst of its infamous uprising and was deported to the Trawniki labor camp, but escaped with the help of a Polish man and Jewish woman. He and his family went back into hiding, but their hideout was discovered in March 1944. Soon after, Ringelblum, his family, and the other Jews he had been hiding were taken to the ruins of the ghetto and murdered.

     One of the buried archival sites was discovered in 1946 and a second in 1950, and the other has yet to be found. The materials inside them and Ringelblum's own written chronicles constitute the most comprehensive and valuable source we have for information concerning the Jews in occupied Poland. It also speaks to a remarkable quality of human character that, when pushed to an extreme level of persecution and destruction of identity, showed resilience and resourcefulness in the face of the enemy and has endured long after the last blow has been struck.

     Ringelblum's archive is one of those stories that seems to speak directly from historian to historian, regardless of time and language. This penchant for collecting, writing, and publishing can have so much power and profound significance, and Emmanuel Ringelblum remains a true hero and inspiration for those who follow him in this field.

     Information courtesy of Yad Vashem and Dr. Jan Grabowski.

Thanks for reading,
     Delany

Family History Friday with the Elgin Branch of the O.G.S.

We believe in supporting and promoting other local organizations, one of which, is the Elgin County Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society.  Our Cultural Manager, Angela Bobier, is a member.  Why not attend the next meeting and see what they are all about?  Everyone welcome and the meeting is free.

Wednesday, November 25

7:00 pm – 9:00 pm

St. Thomas Public Library, Carnegie Room

Topic: Who is in your Family? Members can talk about their ancestors and their family trees.

Election of Officers for 2016 - All positions available. Help is needed to run the branch!

Silent Book Auction - Treasures from the Archives and other places.

World War Wednesdays: History People Problems

World War Wednesdays: History People Problems

    

A woman drinks tea on a pile of rubble in the aftermath of the London Blitz, 1940.





     I hope that a deviation from the theme will not be unwelcome this week! When I first began blogging with Tyrconnell Heritage Society, my posts served as almost an emotional outlet for some of the history-related events that I experienced. Last year, I attended the national D-Day ceremony here in Ottawa and I found it to be a very moving and thought-provoking time, which I later expressed in one of my first posts. I've always found that the only way I can properly deal with thoughts and feelings is to write them out, so it's great to be able to do so in this format. Throughout my time as a blogger my posts have shifted towards more informational content, but I thought I'd create this little feature to periodically discuss some of the problems that I encounter as a student of History which I hope you may find relatable or at least laughable in a sad and pathetic kind of way.

     As I've mentioned in some of the previous posts, I've recently undertaken a research project through my Second World War course which involves local history of Elgin County. This was something that I challenged myself to do because local history projects involve a great deal of ground work (traveling to archives to access documents, networking with other historians or people who can provide additional information), as well as the usual historiography research. In doing so, I have learned a couple of things that make my not-so inner history nerd want to curl up in a ball under my bed and never come out.

     When I first took on this project, I was required to meet with my professor, Dr. Serge Durflinger, to discuss the topic and the manner in which I was going to pursue it. It turned out that Dr. Durflinger had done a similar project himself regarding the Second World War and his own hometown of Verdun, Quebec, about which he wrote a book called "Fighting from Home". Being the terrific and helpful person that he is, he gave me a bit of advice. He said that while I was doing my research, it would be very difficult to stay focused on the topic because I would find things about my hometown that are so fascinating and full of personal connections that I would want to read every single article and document. So far, this has proven to be true. It turns out Elgin County was just as interesting in the 1940s as it is today, if not more, and I'm having a great time discovering the charming, heartwarming, and remarkable stories of its wartime residents.

     Another thing that Dr. Durflinger and I talked about was the documents that I would be accessing in order to gather my research. Something that is a very hot topic in the History department here and in classes is digital history, or how primary documents are being preserved and made accessible to the public. Last semester when I researched Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, I was able to access his entire life's collection of diary entries which have been meticulously scanned and digitized by Library and Archives Canada and can be found on their website. Had I not been able to do that, I would have had to travel to the LAC and request the documents in hard copy, and filter through the thousands and thousands of pages to find what I needed. When they created King's digital diaries, the LAC made it keyword searchable, which means that if you were looking for a specific theme you could just type in that word and only read entries that include it. It is thus an extremely valuable resource and makes life much easier as a researcher!
     Unfortunately, not all historical documents are like that, if they are even digitized at all. Dr. Durflinger told me that when he was conducting research at his local archives for his book, he scanned copies of original documents so that he could have them on hand. He said that one day he received a phone call asking if he had the scanned copies he needed, because the entire primary collection had just been disposed of. He thus was in possession of the only remaining copies. It is stories like these that are like nails on a chalkboard to historians. The thought of precious original materials being tossed out with the trash is absolutely horrifying. I suppose that in a fantasy historian world, there is room and means available to store every single document, photograph, painting, etc. that has ever existed, but that just does not seem to be possible today. It seems as though the number of times that these things are being accessed is making it not worthwhile to continue storing them in vast quantities which require carefully controlled conditions.

     When I travelled to the Elgin County Archives in St. Thomas the last time I was home, I was the only visitor there, and the archival assistant, Stephen, was beyond helpful in finding resources for me. He brought out the entire collection of original newspapers from the No. 4 Bombing and Gunnery School in Fingal, and just being able to look at them let alone read them was so exciting! Yesterday, I travelled to Library and Archives Canada in Ottawa to continue my search for documents. Their hours are extremely restricted, and even then there were not many people there. While I was unable to meet with an archival assistant because of the hours (they're only available from 10:00-3:00 and only on weekdays), I got to explore their catalog system and search for things that might be useful. They have a full service of genealogy resources, so I thought I would try that out. I searched some relatives' names under their 'Births, Marriages, and Deaths' records, but nothing came up. I then searched for my great-grandfather under the Military Medals Awarded category and he did not appear (though he did receive medals in WWII). Then, out of curiosity, I searched for the  Wallacetown WWI Victoria Cross recipient, Ellis Sifton, and nothing came up. I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed by this. While I think that the digitization system is one that will both revolutionize and improve research prospects for historians, the current state of the process leaves much to be desired.
     Digitizing historical materials involves countless hours of meticulous and repetitive work which can be especially difficult when dealing with rolls of microfiche slides. Thanks to a few impressive collections and dedicated individuals, small portions of these are being completed and made available for public use, and make up the resources that would be incredibly useful if they happen to match your research topic. For the time being, these collections are a minority, which is frustrating at times. We have the technology available to us, it has proven to be highly effective in the case of the King diaries and others, but it takes a great deal of time and effort to do so. It is my understanding and belief that professional historians are not necessarily the ones who undertake these digitization projects, due to the repetitive and time-consuming nature of the process. If I were a professional historian, I would not be too excited to dedicate my time and expertise to a scanner and endless pile of documents either. From what I have seen, these tasks are entrusted to students and other employees who may be better suited for the technical aspect of the process. While I think that this is not necessarily a bad thing, it seems as though at the moment the research of myself and others is dependant on this small number of individuals who have digitized limited collections of resources with varying degrees of organization and effectiveness. It is my hope that in the course of my career I will see a day when at least the most prominent of historical documents in a general sense are made available to the public online in a way that is easy to use and explore. I also hope that this does not make historians lazy and unappreciative of these resources, but that it opens new opportunities for types of research that have never been possible before.

     So what is my point of all this? Do I think that we should all be spending our free time gathered in archival rooms reading old newspapers before they crumble away in our hands or are thrown away? Definitely not. What I do think is that having those newspapers scanned online and in an interactive way would help the public to interact with them in ways that we have never yet experienced. Wouldn't it be so cool to be able to Google the newspaper that featured your grandma's birth announcement and read the other things that were happening at the time, or to zoom in on a high-quality image that used to be in a dusty old box where nobody ever looked at it? It is often said that historians are notorious for not being able to embrace the future, but when it comes to this topic I look to it with open arms.

Oh and one more thing: if you find yourself in possession of old documents (family photos, old letters, etc.) that you are unsure of the origin or don't know what to do with, find yourself a local historian or historical organization (like the Tyrconnell Heritage Society) and consult with them before you think about disposing of them. They may be able to help you get some answers, or they could be of greater use to the person's research or to the facility. Never underestimate the power of a crumpled old photo!

What do you think? Would doing this spell the end of the archives as we know it? Would we no longer have a need for archival professionals if we could access it all ourselves? Let's hear your opinions!

Thanks for reading,
       Delany