May 2011

Profile of the Day Profile of the Day: Vincent Price Profile of the Day: Bram Stoker Profile of the Day: Oprah Winfrey Profile of the Day: Queen Victoria Profile of the Day: Douglas Fairbanks Interesting Geni Blog Posts Geni Podcast: The Problem with GEDCOM Featured Project: U.S. Civil War Notables Your Family Bible Family Tree Tuesday – Christopher Reeve Come See The Geni Team at Jamboree June 10-12 Free Webinar this Friday: How to use… Read the full story

American poet Emily Dickinson lived in Amherst, Massachusetts for most of her life. While much of the public was unaware of her writings during her lifetime, Dickinson gained significant prominence after her death. Today, she is one of the most celebrated writers of the 19th century. Her writing style and unconventional use of capitalization and punctuation were unique for the era in which she wrote. Because she lived much of her life in seclusion, Dickinson… Read the full story

Profile of the Day: Audie Murphy http://www.geni.com/people/Audie-Murphy/6000000002062280945

[Download This Episode] [Subscribe in iTunes] [Subscribe in Your Favorite Podcatcher] Show Notes: Transferring Your Genealogy Database Data Many of us use genealogy database programs such as Legacy Family Tree, RootsMagic or Family Tree Maker to track our genealogy research and data. These programs often require and installation on your computer and a proprietary data file format is used. However, there are methods you can use to transfer data between these programs.  Why would you… Read the full story

On Monday, May 30, the U.S. will celebrate Memorial Day, which honors the men and women who have lost their lives while in military service to the United States. Originally conceived to remember the fallen Union and Confederate soldiers of the U.S. Civil War, after World War I, the observance was extended to include all American soldiers who have died in the service of the country. Today, we highlight the U.S. Civil War Notables and… Read the full story

Profile of the Day: Vincent Price http://www.geni.com/people/Vincent-Price/6000000004138493752

While census records and other official documents are excellent resources for your ancestor’s vital information, none compare to having your family Bible in your possession. Family Bibles provide not only great genealogical information, but also offer an intimate connection with your ancestors. Contained in these Bibles are family records written in the hands of your own relatives and passed on from generation to generation. What can I find in my family Bible? You will find… Read the full story

Profile of the Day: Bram Stoker http://www.geni.com/people/Abraham-Bram-Stoker/6000000010663773201

Profile of the Day: Oprah Winfrey http://www.geni.com/people/Oprah-Winfrey/6000000009948468501

Christopher Reeve Christopher Reeve was an American actor, director, screenwriter and author. Although he played many diverse roles throughout his career, he is perhaps best remembered for his portrayal of Superman in four feature films. After a horse riding accident resulted in him becoming a quadriplegic, Reeve spent much of the later part of his life as an advocate of stem cell research. He founded the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, which is dedicated to… Read the full story

June 10th through the 12, the Southern California Genealogical Society will be holding this year’s Jamboree in Burbank, CA. Geni will be there in full force. We’re based out of LA, so we’ll be making sure everyone has a good time. If you want to get some face time with the Geni staff, this is your best opportunity of the year. If you’re not already registered, please make sure you take care of that as… Read the full story

Profile of the Day: Queen Victoria http://www.geni.com/people/Queen-Victoria-of-the-United-Kingdom/6000000008852088113

No more need for messy GEDCOM import/export where data gets mangled and lost. Let AncestorSync and Geni be your seamless interface for moving your family tree data anywhere you would like without losing any of your important data. Sources, photos, and documents are all kept in tact. Best of all, AncetorSync will keep your desktop software in sync with Geni.com automatically. GEDCOM is so yesterday. At 8:00 PM ET on May 27th, Geni.com will be… Read the full story

Profile of the Day: Douglas Fairbanks http://www.geni.com/people/Douglas-Fairbanks-Sr/6000000006839568160

Profile of the Day Profile of the Day: Levi Strauss Profile of the Day: Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Profile of the Day: Napoleon Bonaparte Profile of the Day: Johnny Depp Profile of the Day: Joan of Arc Interesting Geni Blog Posts Featured Project: Age of Discovery (1200-1600) What is a Gazetteer? Winners of the Family Tree Magazine and Geni Giveaway Family Tree Tuesday – Katharine Hepburn Free Webinar: Collaborative Genealogy on Geni.com Create Charts with Geni… Read the full story

Today we highlight the Age of Discovery project. The years between 1200-1600 were known as Europe’s Age of Discovery. During this time, Europeans engaged in heavy exploration of the world, established contact with other continents and people and proceeded to map the world. This overseas expansion lead to the rise of colonial empires and the establishment of new trade routes. These routes allowed for the exchange of exotic goods, culture and peoples (slaves). Check out the early… Read the full story

Profile of the Day: Levi Strauss http://www.geni.com/people/Loeb-Levi-Strauss/6000000007400348419

Using historic maps as a resource in genealogy can be very valuable, however, sometimes you may discover that the town or village you are searching for is not on the map. Did you know you can also use gazetteers to help you locate places where your ancestors may have lived? If you’re unfamiliar with gazetteers, here’s a brief look at what they are and how they are useful to genealogists. What is a gazetteer? A… Read the full story

Profile of the Day: Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis http://www.geni.com/people/Jacqueline-Bouvier/6000000003098416206

We are proud to announce the winners of the Family Tree Magazine and Geni Facebook giveaway. Grand prize: Sadie Morgan Second prize: Kim Cotton Lori Pilla Laura Ramsay We will attempt to contact all of the winners as soon as possible. Thanks so much for taking the time to enter.

Profile of the Day: Napoleon Bonaparte http://www.geni.com/people/Napol%C3%A9on-I-Emperor-of-the-French/6000000000350860821

Academy award winning actress Katharine Hepburn is hailed as one of the greatest actresses in film history. Hepburn holds the record for the most Oscar wins, with a total of 4 wins out of 12 nominations. Hepburn was born on May 12, 1907 in Hartford, Connecticut to a wealthy family. Her father, Thomas Hepburn, was a prominent surgeon and Connecticut’s first urologists. He co-founded the American Social Hygiene Association, which was dedicated to educating the public about… Read the full story

We’re very excited to announce that our first Webinar will be held today at 7:30 PM ET at GeniWebinars.com. Go there to register, and you’ll be walked through how to connect to the Webinar quickly and easily. In this webinar, you’ll be shown how collaborative genealogy works, and why it’s so important. Don’t hesitate to join in. It’s free!

Profile of the Day: Johnny Depp http://www.geni.com/people/Johnny-Depp/6000000005384950154

We’re very proud to announce that TreeSeek is now completely integrated with Geni. You can now log in with your Geni account, and make some really great charts of your family tree for free. It’s simple and fast, so here’s how you do it: Step 1: Log in with your Geni.com credentials. Step 2: Create your tree by picking a profile to center on. For example, you’re the central person by default. Step 3: Pick… Read the full story

We spent the last week in Charleston, South Carolina at NGS 2011. Hundreds of free Geni tees, onesies, thumb drives, and brochures later, we’re all back safely in good ol’ Los Angeles. Also, we were very pleased to be demoing AncestorSync with the SharingTime folks. You’ll be learning much more about that project in the coming weeks. Very exciting stuff coming out. If you’re interested in seeing Geni’s booth in person, come see us at… Read the full story

Profile of the Day Profile of the Day: James K. Polk Profile of the Day: Florence Nightingale Profile of the Day: Constantine the Great Profile of the Day: Louis XVI Profile of the Day: Nelson Mandela Interesting Geni Blog Posts Geni Podcast: Memory Keeping Geni At NGS 2011 NGS 2011 with Dear Myrtle and Gordon Clarke From the Genealogy Community Genealogical/Historical Societies Using Social Media War of 1812 Privateers update #NGS2011: AncestorSync and Geni South… Read the full story

Profile of the Day: Joan of Arc http://www.geni.com/people/Joan-of-Arc-d-Arc/6000000000429623932

We’re in full force here at NGS. Take a look at some of the great people we’ve been working with this week. Here is Grant giving the thumbs-up with Gordon Clarke of FamilySearch: Here is Grant high-fiving Dear Myrtle:

Profile of the Day: James K. Polk http://www.geni.com/people/James-K-Polk-11th-President-of-the-USA/6000000002926000992

Hey, everyone! I just wanted to take a second to remind you that we’re out in full force at NGS 2011. If you’re here in Charleston, don’t hesitate to come by, say hi, and get some really nice swag. If you’re not in South Carolina this week, play the home game by checking out our Twitter and Facebook accounts.

Profile of the Day: Florence Nightingale http://www.geni.com/people/Florence-Nightingale-The-Lady-with-the-Lamp/6000000001611627567

Profile of the Day: Constantine the Great http://www.geni.com/people/Constantine-I-the-Great-Roman-Emperor/6000000002119283341

[Download This Episode] [Subscribe in iTunes] [Subscribe in Your Favorite Podcatcher] Show Notes: Memory Keeping As genealogists or family historians, we tend to be the “keeper” of the information and data, we do the research, we write up our finds.  Very often we want to share this information with family members and this is a natural extension of what we do as researchers. However there are some ways in which you can share family history… Read the full story

Profile of the Day: Louis XVI http://www.geni.com/people/Louis-XVI-Roi-de-France/6000000000843362199

Profile of the Day Profile of the Day: Orson Welles Profile of the Day: Alan Shepard, Jr. Profile of the Day: Audrey Hepburn Profile of the Day: Joe DiMaggio Profile of the Day: Leonardo da Vinci Interesting Geni Blog Posts Featured Project: Fast & Furious Come see the Geni Team at NGS 2011 Tracing Your Mexican Heritage Geni Podcast: How Do I Find and Use Records? Family Tree Tuesday – Humphrey Bogart You Could Win… Read the full story

Nelson Mandela http://www.geni.com/people/Nelson-Mandela/6000000008671183222

Today we highlight the Fast & Furious project, which is dedicated to those who have made significant contributions to the automotive industry. The project ranges from entrepreneurs, inventors, prominent race car drivers and many more. If your interested in the history of the auto industry or have a love for fast cars, perhaps you’ll want to join this project and help build the family trees of other significant automotive figures on Geni! Here’s a look at… Read the full story

The National Genealogical Society 2011 Family History Conference (NGS 2011 for short) is right around the corner. From May 11th to 14th, thousands of genealogy businesses, bloggers, and enthusiasts will all be in Charleston, South Carolina for the conference. Pretty exciting, eh? Well, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. There will be panels, booths, and giveaways galore, and Geni will be there in full force. The Geni Booth We’re coming loaded for bear. We’re… Read the full story

Today is Cinco de Mayo, a holiday primarily observed in the United States as a celebration of Mexican heritage and culture. We thought it would be interesting to take a look at some useful resources when tracing your Mexican ancestry. Talk to your relatives The best way to begin your search is by first asking your family questions. Find out as much as you can about the names and relationships of your ancestors, birth/death dates,… Read the full story

Profile of the Day: Alan Shepard, Jr. http://www.geni.com/people/Alan-Shepard/5661722986450058459

Profile of the Day: Audrey Hepburn http://www.geni.com/people/Audrey-Hepburn/6000000003615923316

[Download This Episode] [Subscribe in iTunes] [Subscribe in Your Favorite Podcatcher] Show Notes Genealogy Records Where can I go to find records for my genealogy research? First, start with online databases and repositories to see if you can get access to copies of vital records (birth, marriage and death certificates) or other records. This is the easiest and most economical way to access records. In most cases, these online sites allow you to not only… Read the full story

American actor Humphrey Bogart is considered one of the greatest screen legends in the history of film. During his 30 year career, Bogart appeared in 75 films. He may be best remembered for his role in the classic 1942 film, Casablanca. In 1960, Bogart was posthumously given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Humphrey Bogart was born in New York City to Dr. Belmont DeForest Bogart and Maud Humphrey. His father was a wealthy cardiopulmonary surgeon… Read the full story

Profile of the Day: Joe DiMaggio http://www.geni.com/people/Joseph-Joe-DiMaggio/6000000005395891848

Profile of the Day Profiles of the Day: Prince William and Kate Middleton Profile of the Day: James Monroe Profile of the Day: Samuel Morse Profile of the Day: John James Audubon Profile of the Day: William Shakespeare Interesting Geni Blog Posts Featured Project: The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Using Patents as a Genealogy Resource The Genealogy of the Royal Family Geni Podcast: Digitizing your Photos and Records Family Tree Tuesday – Jesse… Read the full story

This Contest is closed. Today we’re proud to announce that we are partnering with Family Tree Magazine to have a really great joint-giveaway. Here is all the info you need: How to Enter: On either the Geni Facebook wall or the Family Tree Magazine Facebook wall, write a post that describes how you first became interested in the world of genealogy. Prizes: One person who posts will be randomly chosen to win a one-year subscription… Read the full story

Profile of the Day: Leonardo da Vinci http://www.geni.com/people/Leonardo-da-Vinci/6000000010762979987