More and more, I am using social media to enhance my family history research. Facebook has been at the pinnacle of this social media mountain. I can find groups about the antiques my family has left me, info about specific places they lived and outlets for my research.
I’ve done a lot of investigating and want to preserve this information. Sharing in social media groups with like-minded genealogists will break down brick walls or forge connections but does not do much in the way of preserving the stories that I have uncovered.
However, social media does give me leads...
Discovery of Museums Looking for Artifacts
My first discovery was via a tip. I found an initiative to establish a museum and an online history of a tuberculosis healing facility in New York known as Saranac Lake and was able to confirm that it was the facility where my grandfather Nicklas stayed by reading through their Facebook page. One of the curators later told me that first-hand information about the residents is scarce. I have letters in my possession to and from my grandfather who spent many years there living with tuberculosis. They would like to include my grandfather’s correspondence and photographs of the time he spent there.
I learned about the South Carolina Maritime Museum through the Civil War Faces group. I have a letter ordering my second great grandfather, Louis A. Cornthwaite, to report to the USS Harvest Moon; the Union flag ship. The letter is signed by Rear Adm. John A. Dahlgren. A visit to the museum is still on hold yet I am excited about showing them this letter.
Contributions to Collections
I had never heard of the Fire Museum of Maryland until I read a reference in the Old Baltimore Photos Facebook group. Eventually, I dropped by the museum with the photos, taken by my great uncle Frederick Rolker, of the aftermath of the fire of 1904 that destroyed a large part of downtown Baltimore. The museum curator helped me identify the exact location of two photos. Later, I scanned the collection and gave the museum permission to use the photos crediting them to Frederick.
The most recent ancestor ‘save’ is a contribution to historic research on Lexington Market in Baltimore, Maryland. I heard of this project in the Baltimore City Historical Society group. The city has hired a project manager to put together a formal history of the market. One of my third great grandmother’s leased three stalls there and we know what she sold and how much she made on a Saturday (from an article about a theft) and now the name of Sophia Mitchell will live on in connection to the downtown market scene that she helped thrive.
For more information on preserving your family’s memory, read the July 2020 post, Save Your Family.
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