I'm a fan of talk show host Oprah Winfrey, but I hope the diet that's keeping her slender has crow on the menu. This month during "African-American Lives," the PBS show profiling the roots of several well-known African-Americans, host Henry Louis Gates
told Oprah Winfrey her DNA reveals she's not Zulu—contradicting Winfrey's controversial assertion last year that a DNA test had determined she was related to the South African tribe. (See the story in the June 2005 Family Tree Magazine.)
"There are no African-Americans who come from the Zulu people," Gates flatly stated during a January press tour, adding that Winfrey's DNA signature is common in West Africa. "African-American Lives" cameras caught her surprise and disappointment, but
Gates made up for it with the deed her ancestor Constantine Winfrey, a freed slave, received from a white Mississippi landowner. Gates used land records, wills and property taxes to trace five generations of Winfrey's family—which probably made that
crow go down pretty easy. Read more about the show at http://www.pbs.org/wnet/aalives.
Enjoy this week's E-mail Update newsletter!
—Diane Haddad, Newsletter Editor
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Smoother Sailing on Cyndi's List
Cyndi Howells, the woman behind the popular genealogy portal site Cyndi's List (http://www.cyndislist.com), has made some user-friendly updates to her site's index pages:
- The main index page loads a lot faster than it used to because Cyndi cut the file size by nearly half.
- It's easier to find the category you want in the streamlined indexes. Topic headings arranged in two columns and a wider page format means less scrolling for you.
- A box on the home page lets you run a Google search of all Cyndi's List pages or of the Internet.
Web surfers, who hit Cyndi's List more than 70,000 times a day, will appreciate the easier access to its 250,000-plus cross-referenced links on more than 330 individual pages. See the June 2006 Family Tree Magazine (on newsstands April 25) for timesaving
tips on using Cyndi's List.
MyFamily.com Reorganizes
MyFamily.com (http://www.myfamily.com), owner of the subscription database sites Ancestry.com, Genealogy.com, Ancestry.co.uk and Ancestry.ca, will soon add more international-records sites, according to an article
in the Salt Lake Tribune. CEO Tim Sullivan is reorganizing the company into five business units and expanding the International unit to develop sites covering records from Italy, France and Germany.
The restructuring meant laying off 50 people this month—that's 10 percent of the company's workers—even though 60 jobs are open in other parts of the company. The laid-of workers have been invited to apply for those positions.
What's New in Scrapbooking
Attendees of this winter's Craft Hobby Association show, where scrapbooking manufacturers traditionally roll out new products, saw more of the same. "As for 'the next big thing,' there wasn't any news to report," writes scrapbooking author Angie Pederson
on her blog (http://angiepedersen.typepad.com/sb_industry_news). "Yes, there were plenty of new products, but nothing stood out as the next big trend." Among the notable products and news:
- Time savers remain popular, including Autumn Leaves' (http://www.autumnleaves.com ) and Basic Grey's (http://www.basicgrey.com) page kits, and Chatterbox's (http://www.chatterboxinc.com)
embellishment kits.
- Computer scrapbooking is a growing trend. Sony (http://www.sony.com) introduced digital scrapbooking software for its PictureStation Digital Photofinishing kiosks, with new border designs and 35 ready-made layouts. Lasting
Impressions for Paper brought its MemoryMixer (http://www.memorymixer.com) software, which lets you combine digital photos with video, sound, graphics and journaling into a multimedia scrapbook.
- We couldn’t not mention Karen Foster Design’s (http://www.karenfosterdesign.com) My Legacy collection of 12 x 12-inch papers for recording information from family group sheets, pedigree charts and
life story narratives. Coordinating stickers are available, too.
- Craft queen Martha Stewart is getting into the scrapbooking act with Martha Stewart Crafts, set for a 2006 or 2007 launch. New Jersey-based EK Success, which brings you products including Jolee's Boutique stickers, Zig pens and Paper Shapers punches,
will produce the line.
- Scrapbooking is expanding into the Spanish market. The Quinceaner-Ah! collection from Arte Latin-Oh! http://www.artelatinoh.com was a finalist in Craftrends magazine's best collection award. The papers
and coordinating embellishments are designed for scrapbooking a girl's 15th birthday, an important celebration in the Hispanic world.
Your Thoughts on Private Cemeteries
I received so many notes in response to my last column on private cemeteries, I wanted to share a few. And that led me to another question about reburials.
Continue reading at http://www.familytreemagazine.com/
ancestornews/current.html.
AncestorNews columnist Nancy Hendrickson is the author of Finding Your Roots Online, on sale now at http://www.familytreemagazine.com/store/display.asp?id=70583.
Browse
past AncestorNews columns at http://www.familytreemagazine.com/ancestornews/previous.html.
Be first to check out these articles on our Web site:
A Question About Questions
Q. What research information can I reasonably expect genealogical or historical societies (or other organizations in my ancestor's locale) to provide for me via mail or email?
A. Find out the answer at http://www.familytreemagazine.com/nowwhatonline/current.html.
Read more Q&A with the experts at
http://www.familytreemagazine.com/nowwhatonline/previous.html.
Why the Long Face?
Someone, somewhere, sometime wrote Sam Long's Family on this photo. You'd think it'd be simple to name the people pictured—unless you're talking about Marianne West's family. She has several relatives named Sam Long. Who's the right guy
for this picture?
Find out at http://www.familytreemagazine.com/
photos/current.htm.
In this Web-exclusive column, expert photo historian Maureen A. Taylor helps readers analyze old family pictures. If you have a family photo mystery for Taylor to solve, check out our submission guidelines at http://www.familytreemagazine.com/photos/photohelp.htm.
Lake Jackson, Texas
Emily Anne Croom
Feb. 18
Brazosport Genealogical Society seminar
Topics:
- Territorial Papers of the United States
- Location, Location, Location: Using Maps in Genealogy
- Timely Tools for Genealogists
- Their Place in Time: Broadening the Perspective Beyond Dates and Places
For more information, contact Gary Gantt at ggantt@brazosport.edu.
Westford, Mass.
Maureen A. Taylor
Feb. 26
Westford Historical Society
- Topic: Identifying Photos—From Pictures to Pixels
For more information, see http://www.westford.com/museum.
Port Charlotte, Fla.
Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak
March 11
Charlotte County Genealogical Society at St. James Episcopal Church
Topics: - Real World DNA
- Reverse Genealogy
- Find That Obituary! Online Newspaper Research
- Remembering Our Ancestors
For more information, contact bfleshman46@comcast.net.
Looking for South Carolina Revolutionary War ancestors? You need Bobby Moss’ ROSTER Of SC PATRIOTS In The AMERICAN REVOLUTION, now back in print. http://www.genealogical.com/item_detail.asp?afid=&ID=3915
RootsMagic Genealogy Software - "An excellent choice for any genealogist" says Family Tree Magazine. Get a free trial copy at http://www.RootsMagic.com
GenSmarts Automated Genealogy Research - finds missed research opportunities. Free trial at http://www.GenSmarts.com/ftmagDeals.asp
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