Rob (MaineRoots)

“If I could start this story fairly with an account of my infancy, going no farther back than my parents, I would certainly do so, for genealogies and family histories are tedious.” —Tiberius Claudius in “I, Claudius” by Robert Graves

Professor who teaches African American studies here. If your school eliminates or bans it, I will personally host free zoom sessions, provide resources, or answer questions for students, parents/guardians, or teachers who are interested in learning or discussing African American studies.

Harvard, American Ancestors expand efforts to reconstruct family histories — Harvard Gazette Partnership laying groundwork for University to engage with direct descendants of those who were enslaved.

Here's an interesting long-read interview with Ryan Woods and Lindsay Fulton at American Ancestors in Boston about Harvard partnering with them to advance descendant research in the "Harvard & the Legacy of Slavery Initiative". news.harvard.edu/gazette/stor... #genealogy

Harvard University Expands Partnership with American Ancestors in Support of Slavery Remembrance Program Harvard University has expanded its existing partnership with American Ancestors, a national center for family history, heritage, and culture, and the oldest genealogical nonprofit in America. As part...

"Harvard University Expands Partnership with American Ancestors in Support of Slavery Remembrance Program" www.harvard.edu/vice-provost... #genealogy

Watch to the end to meet my favorite office assistant 🤣
More info on our symposium and registration here: genealogyheadquarters.com/education/

#genealogy #germany #history

The Archivist of the United States has been fired in the purge.

5 Minutes That Will Make You Love Blue Note Records (Gift Article) This label’s 86-year run has been one of the most storied in jazz — and it’s still going. Hear tracks by Wayne Shorter, Sonny Rollins, Robert Glasper and more from the Blue Note catalog.

If you need some peace of mind in the evening, try listening to the gorgeous Blue Note jazz tracks mentioned in this excellent NYTimes article (includes links to Spotify & Apple Music). [Gift article link--free without subscription.] www.nytimes.com/2025/02/05/a...

Woohoo! I got the newly published “Forensic Genealogy: Theory and Practice.” Congratulations to authors Michael S. Ramage and Catherine B. W. Desmarais! www.ngsgenealogy.org/forensic-gen... #genealogy

It is clear that data critical to genealogy (and other disciplines) is being systematically stripped from federal websites. Census Bureau data IS being removed, and census data geeks at IPUMS verify and are taking whatever steps they can to preserve the data for the future. Scary times we live in.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announces Canada's response to U.S. tariffs – February 1, 2025 YouTube video by cpac

honestly that was an extraordinary speech which I kinda recommend watching in full (starts 1:14)

I was majorly into the blue bird for years & made many important memorable connections, but never used it as part of a business plan, so it was easy (but sad) to leave it when it was spoiled. I miss the early years of it. Not sure how active I’ll be here.

I got rid of Twitter when it was taken over.

Super moon high in night sky with fall leaves in foreground.

Super moon tonight.

In vain we look, in vain uplift
Our eyes to heaven, if we are blind,
We see but what we have the gift
Of seeing; what we bring we find.

—"Moonlight," by our beloved Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Illusion! Underneath there lies
The common life of every day;
Only the spirit glorifies
With its own tints the sober gray.

The very ground beneath my feet
Is clothed with a diviner air;
White marble paves the silent street
And glimmers in the empty square.

One mass of shade,
The elm-trees drop their curtains down;
By palace, park, and colonnade
I walk as in a foreign town.

All things are changed.

Until at last, serene and proud
In all the splendor of her light,
She walks the terraces of cloud,
Supreme as Empress of the Night.

I look, but recognize no more
Objects familiar to my view;
The very pathway to my door
Is an enchanted avenue.

As a pale phantom with a lamp
Ascends some ruin's haunted stair,
So glides the moon along the damp
Mysterious chambers of the air.

Now hidden in cloud, and now revealed,
As if this phantom, full of pain,
Were by the crumbling walls concealed,
And at the windows seen again.

This name-change myth was also depicted on the big screen as early as 1963 in Elia Kazan's film "America, America" about Greek immigration. In a romanticized scene at the end, the lead character is given the anglicized name "Joe Arness" as he passes through Ellis Island.

This song of mine
Is a Song of the Vine,
To be sung by the glowing embers
Of wayside inns,
When the rain begins
To darken the drear Novembers.