Korean and Second World War Veterans Share their Stories with The Memory Project

This past week in Ottawa, local military veterans of the Second World War and Korean War participated in a national-wide digital and oral history initiative called The Memory Project. 

In a press release received last week, it said that “With more than 2,500 Second World War veteran testimonials recorded to date, The Memory Project Archive recently received new funding to collect and preserve the experiences of Canada’s Korean War veterans so that may never be forgotten.

An initiative of The Historica-Dominion Institute, The Memory Project Archive is creating an unprecedented record of Canada’s participation in the Second World War and Korean War as seen through the eyes of thousands of men and women who were there. It is providing every living veteran with the opportunity to preserve their memories through recorded interviews and digitized memorabilia".

Their stories are available, in both official languages, at www.thememoryproject.com

Free Ancestry.com

Ancestry.ca is offering free access to its complete collection of Historic US Censuses to Ancestry.ca members, including the new 1940 Census, from August 29th to September the 3rd. 

I  will be checking on my ancestors on both sides of my family. Will you?

Go to www.ancestry.ca/uscensus

War of 1812 Project

Niagara Peninsula Branch of the OGS would like to announce that the deadline for their War of 1812 Project has been extended until September 30, 2012.

In recognition of the 200th Anniversary of the War of 1812, the Niagara Peninsula Branch, the members of the Branch is compiling a commemorative book of family stories about Ancestors who fought in or were affected by the War of 1812 (i.e. house burned, claim for losses, provided supplies to the army).

If you have an Ancestor who falls into this category and you would like their story to be included in this book please go to the Branch website www.ogs.on.ca/niagara or contact niagaraogs1812@gmail.com for more instructions. Guidelines are included on www.ogs.on.ca/niagara

The book will be published in 2013.

All submissions must be received on or before midnight September 30, 2012

New Canadian Genealogy Websites

I came across these websites this week, and they are -

Treasured Legacies www.treasured-legacies.com/home.html This is a pay site, and it is based in Calgary, Alberta. Joan Fraser is the president of the company, and she offers research services, and write Storybooks which can tell about your family heritage.

Yvonne's Genealogy Blog: A blog about my French-Canadian ancestry and my husband's Russian roots www.yvonnesgenealogyblog.blogspot.com Yuvonne writes a  refreshing blog about the French roots and her Russian husband. She explores the history of "dit names" (with her name being Belair dit Janvry), and I am sure she will tackle her Russian names in the near future.

Some items that made the newspapers this past week in Canada were -

MacLean clan gathering a show of Gaelic heritage, famed Scottish weather www.edmontonjournal.com/travel/MacLean+clan+gathering+show+Gaelic+heritage+famed+Scottish+weather/7129124/story.html Edmonton Journal journalist, Mairi MacLean, was over to Scotland this summer to attend a reunion of people with the old Scottish surname Maclean, and then travelled around southern Scotland, and visited such places as Perthshire. (accessed 26 August 2012)

Celebrating heritage on Peter Robinson Day www.emcperth.ca/20120823/news/Celebrating+heritage+on+Peter+Robinson+Day Karen Prytula, a local freelance writer, tells us about Peter Robinson, and how in 1823, he brought over to Lanark County people from Ireland to help settle this wild land of wilderness Ontario. They settled in Peterborough, which recently celebrated Peter Robinson Day. (accessed 27 August 2012)

'Memory band' features incorrect name: City may need to make a correction to permanent feature at new Pier Park www.royalcityrecord.com/news/Memory+band+features+incorrect+name/7126762/story.html

Theresa McManus, of The Record, reports that the city of New Westminster, BC will have to make a correction to a name they have put in a Memory Band at Pier Park. The name that is mistaken is that of a former mayor Beth Wood. (accessed 27 August 2012)

Lucille Campey Will Be at The BIFHSGO Conference

Just got a note from Geoff Campey, the husband of Lucille Campey, a lecturer at the BIFHSGO conference in September, and a special speaker at Toronto, also in September.

She will be in Canada to talk about her latest book in her series "The English in Canada" with title Seeking a Better Future - The English Pioneers of Ontario and Québec published recently by the Dundurn Group, Toronto.

In Toronto, she will be giving a public lecture about English emigration to Ontario and Quebec on Thursday 20th September at 7.30 pm at the Blessed Sacrament Parish Hall, 24 Cheritan Avenue, Toronto. For more information,call 416.482.4909 or info@crht.ca

John D. Reid at www.bifhsgo.ca/cpage.php?pt=62 has just interviewed Lucille, and I listened to it this morning.

She talked about her three lectures at the BIFHSGO Conference next month www.bifhsgo.ca/cpage.php?pt=22, and one of the lectures will be about the 200th Anniversary of the Red River Settlement in Manitoba, and it sound interesting.

Another lecture that she will give will be on the Highlanders who settled in Glengarry County in Eastern Ontario, and in other parts of Ontario.

Her website has been updated www.englishtocanada.com

See Two Exhibits for the Price of One

If you purchase a special museum pass before Sept 3 at Smith’s Falls, Ontario, you will be entitled to see two exhibits for the price of one!

The tour called the Rails to Bales Tour will let you go to the Heritage House Museum and the Railway Museum of Eastern Ontario in Smiths Falls .

The Legend of Frost & Wood: Outstanding in Their Field at the Heritage House Museum and A Social History of the Railway in Smiths Falls at the Railway Museum documents the development of Smiths Falls over 150 years, the people and the lasting legacy of these industries.

Heritage House Museum is open daily from 10:30 am to 4:30 p.m. until December, at 11 Old Slys Rd., Smiths Falls. Call 613.283.6311 or visit www.smithsfalls.ca/heritagehouse for more information.

The Railway Museum of Eastern Ontario is open daily from 10 am to 4 p.m. until Labour Day, and weekends until December at 90 William St. W., Smiths Falls. Call 613.283.5696 or visit www.rmeo.org for more information

North American Indexing Volunteers Invited to Join New US Immigration & Naturalization Community Project

As many of you know, people who immigrated to North America often went to the United States first, and then proceeded to Canada, and many who went to Canada first, often crossed the border to go to the United States.

So even though this is a FamilySearch Community Project, it should be of interest to Canadians indexers.

FamilySearch says that “It will be an indexing effort to make passenger lists, naturalization records, and other immigration related records freely searchable online. Hundreds of thousands of North American volunteers are expected to contribute over the next 18-24 months, focusing initially on passenger lists from the major US ports”.

To find out more about the project, Individuals, societies and other groups that want to participate should visit From Sea to Shining Sea: Helping Everyone Find US Immigration Ancestors at https://familysearch.org/immigration