Rockland Room

I recently saw an email that reminded me of a great site, New York Death Records, Indexes and Obituaries. It is listed as a Genealogy Records Guide for New York City and State. If you look at the web site, www.deathindexes.com/newyork, you will find New York counties with those records that are digitized. Records and indexes are submitted so the county listings may be spotty. For instance, Rockland County shows cemetery records and funeral homes from the collection of the Genealogy Society of Rockland County. Despite the disparity in listed records, it may be worth your while to check it out. You never know, you may find a lost relative!

There is a lot of fervor about the upcoming national and local elections. For those who love to voice their political and ideological views, we are featuring two special programs this fall. Both are conversations facilitated and sponsored by the New York Council for the Humanities. Here is a chance to speak out and share your thoughts with others.

"Clear and Present Danger:Free Speech and the Constitution" is the first featured on October 2 @ 1PM. James Coll, a professor at Nassau Comunity College and a detective with NYPD leads a discussion on landmark Supreme Court decisions and the delicate balance between this important civil liberty and public safety in America. There is short preparatory material available, call 634-4997 ext 139 to receive a copy.

The second is "Democracy" on November 8 @ 1PM. This conversation sets out to determine if our ideology has changed from 150 years ago. Former director of the African Burial Ground in NYC and currently adjunct instructor, Dr. Sherrill Wilson leads the audience to review American values in the past, present and also the future. 

In the local history collection, we have digitized the Rockland Messenger, a 19th century newspaper. This was done with a grant from the late Senator Morahan. Since that time, a more sophisiticated software has become available allowing for line segmentation and ease in searching. We are currently in the process of this upgrade through a company called Hudson Microimaging.

Newspapers are some of the last research tools that have been recognized for their valuable information and there has been a major effort o preserve the old editions. I came across an email from a librarian in Oshkosh WI and would like to condense her reporting. Apparently the Oshkosh Public Library began indexing newspapers through WPA in 1936-1938. The indexing was done by one person who covered a variety of information. Then in the nid-1950's, a researcher became so interested in family names that he indexed 1920-1948.

In reading New York Archives, a quarterly publication from the New York State Archives, I discovered a recent article about the collaboration of these two agencies. Recently it was agreed to post selected genealogical resources from the State Archives and Library along with some local government repositories. You can access the site via the State Archives' web page (www.archives.nysed.gov), create an account by using their email addresses and then search records from participating institutions.

Records include:

NY State Census, 1915 and 1925

NY Census of Inmates in Almhouses, 1830 and 1920

NY Marriages, 1600-1784

NY Civil War Muster Roll Abstracts, 1861- 1900

For a full list, read the Summer issue, Volume 12 #1, page 5-6.

The scheduled walk on Iona Island with Doc Bayne has been cancelled due to illness. As soon as Doc is up and about, we will reschedule.