Digitization! A Unique Way To Spring Clean!

According to the calendar, it is Spring!!!

This season always makes me feel like cleaning and organizing! If you feel the same way...watch the video to learn how digitizing can be the way to clean up & organize your family research & keepsakes! 

Document Your Heirlooms to Celebrate National Quilting Day

Family history includes family heirlooms. An important step of owning a family heirloom is to document any details you know about it.  By documenting what you know, it helps preserve the heirloom's story and the story of the individual(s) who made it.  Stories make the heirloom more meaningful to future generations.  

Since National Quilting Day is March 20, the focus of this blog post will be on documenting quilts. In spite of that, the suggestions below apply to most heirlooms.

Three Steps for Documenting

The three basic steps of documenting an heirloom include writing, labeling, and photographing.

1. Write about your quilt.

Record what you know about the quilt in writing. You’ll want to both document its history and its current whereabouts. The more you write, the better documented the quilt will be for future generations. At a minimum, try to answer the 5 W (+ 1 H) questions, including:

About the Quilt's History:

• Who made it?
• How was it made? Note if it is hand or machine sewn/quilted or uses techniques like applique or embroidery.
• What does it look like? Describe it’s dimensions, condition, fabrics, color scheme, and pattern.
• Where was it made?
• When was it made?
• Why was it made?

About the Quilt's Whereabouts:

• Who owns it?
• Where (at what address) is the quilt at now?
• When did the current owner inherit or purchase it?

For convenience, you can download, print, and complete this Heirloom Documentation Form.  (It can be used to document quilts or any other family heirlooms!) 

This "Double Wedding Ring" quilt may have
been created as a gift for newlyweds.

If you aren’t sure of the answers for your quilt, you’ll need to do a bit of information gathering.

• If they’re still living, talk to the quilt’s maker or a previous owner.
• For an heirloom that’s been passed down in your family, ask relatives for help.
• Research the quilt’s pattern.

Researching the pattern will improve your description and might help you answer the questions of “where,” “when,” and “why” a quilt was made.

• 

  "Anvil" Quilt Pattern
  (also called "Jacob's Ladder") 

  Where: Some patterns, including the “Ohio Star,” the “Arkansas Traveler,” the “Nebraska Pinwheel,” have geographic connections.
• When: Other patterns might suggest a time period for when they were created; for example, the “Lincoln Platform” pattern could only have been made after 1862.
• Why: Patterns may also give you clues about your family’s occupations, interests, and life events. For example, various patterns are called the “Anvil” (blacksmithing), the “Saw-Tooth” (carpentry), the “Corn and Beans” (farming), or the “Compass” (sailing). Blue and white quilts -- especially in the pattern the “Drunkard’s Path” -- may indicate an individual’s participation in the temperance movement. Meanwhile a “Wedding Ring” pattern may have been made as a wedding gift.

Important Note: A pattern may not have a deeper significance -- the quilt’s maker may have simply selected a pattern because they liked it!

Some resources for quilt identification are noted below.

2. Make a label for your quilt.

Using the information you’ve researched, collected, and written down, create a label for your quilt. The golden rule of labeling an heirloom is to never do something that can’t be undone (without damaging the item). For a quilt, you’ll make your label from a natural fiber fabric and an archival, permanent pen. You’ll attach the label by hand sewing it in place with cotton thread. For detailed directions on how to label quilts, see the Quilt Alliance’s “Label It Already!” post at https://quiltalliance.org/labeling/label-it-already.

3. Take (several) photographs of your quilt.

• Make sure to get a snapshot of both the front and back.
• On the front, take an image of the overall design, but also detailed views of a block, border, or any unique features.
• On the back, make sure you photograph the label you’ve added.
• If the maker is living, photograph them with the quilt. If the maker is deceased, take a selfie with it to document yourself as the owner! If you use the quilt, photograph it in the context of your home.

Make sure to take a phot of the full quilt top, 
plus some detail snapshots.  In this photo of a 
"Drunkard's Path," it documents the two blocks,
plus the double border, and binding.  

FAQ

• Want to make your own quilt, but don’t have a sewing machine? You can make an appointment to use the sewing machine in MCDL Makerspace. Just contact us at 330-725-0588 x5017 or makerspace@mcdl.info.
• Trying to identify a quilt pattern, but not making much progress? Email a photo of your quilt to the MCDL Genealogy Team at me-team.genealogy@mcdl.info and we’ll see if we can determine which pattern block was used.
• Need information on preserving quilts or other family heirlooms? Sign up to attend the Genealogy Slam! The live virtual event will be held on Saturday, April 24. The first session will focus on preserving your family’s treasures. Register to attend at https://mcdl.info/slam.

Resources

• For more ideas for celebrating National Quilting Day, see https://quiltalliance.org/nationalquiltingday.
• Learn about “reading” a quilt at https://www.ncmuseumofhistory.org/reading-history-quilts-and-museum-detectives-use-solid-evidence.
• See examples of traditional patterns at https://www.nps.gov/home/planyourvisit/quilt-discovery-experience.htm.
• To research quilt patterns, use your library card to place holds on “5,500 Quilt Block Designs,” “Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns,” or “The Collector's Dictionary of Quilt Names & Patterns.” “The Collector’s Dictionary…” can also be borrowed as a digital copy briefly from the Internet Archive at https://archive.org/details/collectorsdictio00khin.
• For more patterns, search 50,000+ images on The Quilt Index at https://quiltindex.org.  
• Learn about Ohio History Connection’s “Ohio Quilt Research Project” at https://www.ohiohistory.org/learn/collections/history/history-blog/2017/march-2017/oqrp.
• Download your free  Heirloom Documentation Form.  

Reminder!

We’re at the one-year anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic. We’d love for you to record your experiences for future historians. Share your story here.  

A Year in the Time of COVID

March 9th was the one year anniversary of Governor Mike DeWine's declaration of a State of Emergency in Ohio due to detection of the COVID-19 coronavirus in the state.

Today, we want to take a look at the impact that the COVID-19 virus has had on our lives this past year.

A brief timeline of events:

• After DeWine's declaration, most businesses started shutting down. This included public libraries.
• Cleveland Public, Cuyahoga County and Columbus Public libraries shut down almost immediately.
• Medina County Public District Library followed suit on Saturday March 14th 2020.  The doors remained shut for 3 months.
• While the incidence of the virus remained low for many months, Ohio's shutdown gave our hospitals and communities time to prepare. 
• Production of masks, sanitizers and medical equipment were ramped up. 
• Remote learning became the norm for everyone.
• Education of the public about how to combat the virus was implemented. Terms like "social distancing", "essential workers", "Zoom meetings" and "the rona" entered our vocabulary.

• In May, DeWine said that the state could start re-opening, but slowly. 
• Medina County District Library re-opened their doors on June 15th with limited hours and limited services. All programs had been cancelled, meeting rooms shuttered, curbside service implemented and masks were (and still are) required to enter the building. Staff had to take their temperatures each day before coming to work. 
• Other libraries from big metropolitan areas, like Cuyahoga county and Columbus opened later, as the spread of the virus was worse in large urban areas.
• The incidence remained high in November and December of 2020 and going into January of 2021. 
• Now we have started to see a glimmer of hope as numbers have started dropping and vaccination programs have kicked into gear.

No one can really say how the next months (or years?) will play out, but it is time to contemplate what we have been through.

Here in the Virginia Wheeler Martin Family History and Learning Center (the Center) we want to take a snapshot of this year and record people's personal experiences of this unprecedented historical era.  

We are asking everyone who is reading this to complete the form below. All questions are optional and your responses will be kept private. A summary of the responses may be shared on this Blog.

My Year in the Time of COVID-19

The Center will compile and archive the responses for historical purposes. 

Imagine! A hundred years from now, someone may be reading how YOU survived living during the time of COVID.

Thank you for participating!

 

Tips for Searching FindMyPast (+4 Record Sets You Should Explore)

Among the genealogy databases the MCDL offers, FindMyPast is often described as a collection of records for the United Kingdom and Ireland.  While FindMyPast’s collections are especially strong for this part of the world, there are many records for the United States, too.  

Tips for Searching FindMyPast

Tip #1 - Access FindMyPast from Medina Library only.  Any computer in the Medina branch should have access - or come visit the Family History & Learning Center for assistance.  Not all records are available with the library’s subscription, but it will get you access to a lot of their collections!  

Tip #2 - Skip the (first) Search.  It sounds counterintuitive, but FindMyPast's first search screen isn’t that helpful!  Leave the fields blank and just click the “Search” button.  This will take you to a search screen with more options.  It will also give you the option to view all of the record collections that FindMyPast has to offer (see below).  

Leave the fields blank, and just click search. 

Use the search form at the left, or click "All record sets" to see the collections in FindMyPast.  A few collections are listed below that everyone should explore!

Tip #3 - Use the "Advanced Options" help features.  FindMyPast tries to get you the records you want.  For the best results, enter a minimal amount of information into the search form, and then filter the search results.  Filters for geographic locale and record types are on the left.  

Also, take advantage of the help they give you: Use “name variants” when searching names and use the terminology they offer you with the “Browse Category” lists.  All of these techniques will make your searches more efficient in FindMyPast.  

Explore these Record Sets

If you're new to FindMyPast, then it's time to get searching.  Here are four record sets that you may want to explore.  (At least two of them can only be found on FindMyPast!) 

1) United States Marriages

This collection includes records for over 200,000,000 (yes, that many zeroes!) from the United States, between the 17th and 20th century.  Records may include licenses, certificates, registers, bonds, newspaper announcements and other records.  Some of the records will be images of the original document, while others may be only transcripts.  New records are periodically added to the collection.  If you’ve been having trouble documenting a marriage, search this collection -- it may have the record you need!  

2) Passenger Lists Leaving UK 1890-1960

While many of us can find passenger lists when ancestors arrived at Castle Garden, Ellis Island, and other ports, it’s rare to find an outgoing passenger list for them.  This collection, found exclusively on FindMyPast has 30,000,000+ records for individuals heading to the U.S. and Canada.  (And remember, this isn’t just for British and Irish ancestors -- Eastern European immigrants sometimes stopped through an English port before traveling on to New York!) It’s worth a search, to see if you might be able to document the start of your ancestor’s immigration journey!  Learn more about this collection here.  

3) Census Records

While you can find census records in many genealogy databases, FindMyPast’s collection has different indexing and search algorithms than Ancestry or FamilySearch.  If you haven’t had luck in finding your family on the census, search for them again on FindMyPast. 

4) Roman Catholic Records

FindMyPast includes over 500 collections of Roman Catholic church records for dioceses in the worldwide.  In the United States, if your ancestors attended services in Baltimore, Chicago, Cincinnati, New York, Toledo, or Philadelphia, then you will definitely want to search these collections.  Most of these records are available exclusively on FindMyPast.  

Because it relies heavily on filtering your search results, searching in FindMyPast feels a bit different than searching in other genealogy databases.  If you find yourself getting frustrated or need any assistance, please reach out to the MCDL Genealogy Team at me-team.genealogy@mcdl.info or 330-725-0588 x2070 and we'll be happy to assist you.