Lucy Stone was an orator, abolitionist and a vocal advocate and organizer promoting rights for women. She helped initiate the first National Women’s Rights Convention, she assisted in establishing the Woman’s National Loyal League to help pass the Thirteenth Amendment, and she then helped form the American Woman Suffrage Association. Stone influenced Susan B. Anthony to take up the cause of women’s suffrage and Elizabeth Cady Stanton wrote that “Lucy Stone was the first person… Read the full story

Here are some great articles from the past week that you may have missed: The Genealogy Sphere WWI tourism: Looking for your family hero (BBC News) – As the 100th anniversary of WWI approaches, brothers visit the battlefield where their great grandfather fought World War One from the OTHER side (Daily Mail) – Photos of the German Army during WWI Tips to Researching WWI War Brides (a3Genealogy blog) – Tips on tracing your WWI veteran’s… Read the full story

August 9 is the United Nations’ International Day of the World’s Indigenous People! First pronounced by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1994, the day is observed to promote and protect the rights of the world’s indigenous population. Each year this day is celebrated in recognition of the achievements and contributions that indigenous people make to improve world issues. In honor of the day, here are some of genealogy projects on Geni from all… Read the full story

Jacob Perkins was an American inventor, mechanical engineer and physicist. He is known to have been the father of the refrigerator. He is credited with the first patent for the vapor-compression refrigeration cycle titled “Apparatus and means for producing ice, and in cooling fluids” assigned on August 14, 1835.  He had 21 American patents and 19 English patents. Perkins had created machines for cutting and heading nails at the age of 24 in 1790 and… Read the full story

Start the week of with some interesting genealogy articles! The Genealogy Sphere Rare Bible rescued from trash provides missing family history (Desertnews.com) – A rare 1815 Bible rescued from the garbage 40 years ago reveals provides missing family history Okinawa Battle Flag Returned to Owner’s Family (ABC News) – A tattered Japanese flag found by an American soldier during WWII is returned to its owners family A matter of consideration (The Legal Genealogist blog) –… Read the full story

How do you usually spend quality time with your family? If you were the Steinlauf family, you would probably all go out for a nice bike ride…on the same bike. In 1939, Charles Steinlauf invented the “Goofybike,” a two-story bicycle contraption to carry the entire family. Here’s a photo of Charles pedaling up top to help guide the bike, while his son pedals down below. His wife sits below him with the fully operational sewing… Read the full story

Six Geni Curators from around the world – Adam Brown, Randy Schoenberg, Pam Karp, Kevin Hanit, Malka Mysels and Hatte Blejer – will fly to Boston this weekend to represent Geni at the 33rd IAJGS International Conference on Jewish Genealogy. Located at Boston’s Park Plaza Hotel, the conference will run from Sunday, August 4th through Friday, August 9th. The Curators will staff the official Geni exhibit all week as well as a table sponsored by… Read the full story

Have a great weekend? Start the new week off right with some interesting genealogy articles! The Genealogy Sphere Social Media Help Track Property Lost in Holocaust (New York Times) – MyHeritage helps connect heirs with properties lost during World War II Thousands Buried Beneath Philly Playground (NBC Philadelphia) – Archaeologists discover evidence of a 19th century burial site beneath a local playground Mistakes Researchers Make Looking for Death Records (The In-Depth Genealogist) – Good advice… Read the full story

Great news – we’ve just made Record Matches and Smart Matches™ smarter with new Value Indicators. This enhancement is designed to make your matches more useful and save you time. You’ll recall that Record Matching automatically finds matching historical records for your family tree from MyHeritage’s growing collection of billions of newspapers, birth, death, census and other records. Smart Matching™ automatically finds matches for your family tree in MyHeritage family trees so you can discover new… Read the full story

It is with a heavy heart to report that we have lost an important member of the Geni community. On Wednesday, July 17, 2013, Geni Curator Marvin Caulk passed away after a long battle with cancer. In January 2011, Marvin joined the ranks of Geni’s dedicated group of volunteers to help Curate the World Family Tree, a daunting task and one that Marvin embraced wholeheartedly as one of Geni’s ever-watchful eyes, guardians and mentors. He… Read the full story