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Sunday, September 1, 2013

They're Not Just Records. . .

I fell in love with this poster when I first saw it.  The image and title speak to me in so many ways.  When I search records, I'm always thinking about the person--the individual--and his or her life, trying to put the person in the context of his environment and life situation.  I search for records of real people, not just names and dates.

This poster comes from the booklet, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Privacy Stewardship, published by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Department of Homeland Security, Office of Inspector General, p. 20.  It was created to encourage the protection of records for living people.

The USCIS genealogy website offers a link to a Genealogy Notebook and has a Family History Research page.  I did not spend much time at the website because as far as I know, my ancestors came to the U.S. before federal records were kept.  If you have ancestors who came to America more recently, you may find helpful information there.

--Nancy.
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5 comments:

  1. Jana Iverson LastSeptember 1, 2013 at 1:58 AM

    Oh! What a wonderful poster! Yes, records do represent real people.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dorene from OhioSeptember 1, 2013 at 10:56 AM

    So poignant!

    ReplyDelete
  3. WendySeptember 4, 2013 at 6:15 AM

    So true! I am currently indexing the record book of a grocery store in Greene County, Virginia, 1833 (for the historical society). Nothing adds flesh to the bone like a record of the day so-n-so purchased a new chamber mug or yards and yards of lace and tulle.

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  4. Jana Iverson LastSeptember 6, 2013 at 11:27 AM

    Nancy,

    I want to let you know that your blog post is listed in today's Fab Finds post at http://janasgenealogyandfamilyhistory.blogspot.com/2013/09/follow-friday-fab-finds-for-september-6.html

    Have a wonderful weekend!

    ReplyDelete

I appreciate your comments and look forward to reading what you have to say. Thanks for stopping by.