Catherine Taub

History of the best kind requires passion.  Catherine Taub had that passion for Varian Fry and the example he set for all of us.  Fry went to Marseilles in 1941 with a few visas for artists stranded in Vichy, France and in danger of losing their lives.  In the end he rescued some 2,000 people.  Catherine, age 64, passed away this week after a brave fight with esophageal  cancer.  She lived her life to the last with passion, concern for others, and joy.  Her legacy includes that she told Fry's story and shared his lesson that ordinary people can do extraordinary things.   

More information about Fry
Catherine's obituary

More information about Catherine

 

Catherine Taub at the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of Varian Fry's birth.

 

Thank you, Catherine.  Rest In Peace.

One thing leads to another....

I have a brand new grand-nephew to add to the family tree!  So, I was working on his quilt ...

AND ....

1.  I made some mistakes and had to rip out stitches (lots of stitches), so...
2.  I went to some genealogy sites that had free military records for Memorial Day weekend, so...
3.  I don't have many veterans in my regular research quarries, but I remembered that David Wilborn was in the Spanish American War, so....
4.  I searched for him and didn't find anything, so...
5.  I looked back at my notes and he was a veteran and he was in company A, so...
6.  I decided to google him instead, and...
7.  One thing led to another and I found a record of his service as Q. M. Sgt. and a history of his unit...
8.  I also found  a photo of a picnic group that included him, his wife, and children!

Lessons:

• Never let an opportunity for procrastination go unused. 
• Check what you already have.  It's so easy to go from memory, but memory can be vague, if not downright wrong.  "Company A" was very helpful.
• Go beyond the databases. Sometimes google will dig out the sources that don't exist in the genealogy databases.  One of the sources was in google books, one a website (the unit history), and one a post on a message board!

What am I willing to give up for convenience?

This has been on my mind for some time.  What am I willing to give up (in the long run) for saving money (in the short run)?  I'm as cheap as they come.  I grew up that way and haven't changed much.  But lately I've been thinking--if I buy a screwdriver or a garbage can at Home Depot or Lowes, how does that impact my local hardware store.  I actually don't live near one anymore.  But, what is better than a real hardware store with real help?  If I only seek them out when I need a special kind of screw or help figuring out what indeed I do need, will they still be there next time? 

More to the point of being a genealogist,  if I buy my books online what happens to my neighborhood bookstore?  Or even, what happens to my "neighborhood" Barnes and Noble? 

But sometimes, I need to buy my books online--I can't find them otherwise.  If I buy my my new and used genealogy books online at amazon.com, what happens to the online genealogy bookstore?  As genealogists, we should consider patronizing online genealogy book-sellers, such as genealogical.com (Genealogical Publishing Company and Clearfield Company), Colonial Roots, and Heritage Books.  They seek out and publish and categorize the books we need.

And, by the way, let's also patronize libraries.  They need our business, too, to remain competitive in this fast-changing world.  (Yes, libraries are competitive; they have to vie for tax money and donations, both of which are in short supply.)

Enjoy books, and support the organizations and businesses that give you value added to your purchase.

Sources:

Find independent bookstores near you with indiebound. It's green to shop locally and supports the local economy as well as encouraging your bookseller to stay in business.

There are socially-conscious online booksellers, some with very good prices.  I've used Better World Books for purchases and find their prices good and their shipping fast.  They donate some of their profits to literacy projects around the world.  See this blog at Socialbrite for more ideas for socially conscious online bookstores.

To see all the online booksellers for a used book go to addall.com, click on the "used" tab, and search.  Click on "No print-on-demand results".  (Even at that some of the "booksellers" reprinting from googlebooks and other free online sources will appear in your search results.)  If I can download it for free, I generally don't want to pay someone for a reprint. 

After the Bergen County Maps Celebration

Saturday's events at the Bergen County Maps Celebration were really exciting.  I especially liked seeing folks with the magnifying glasses focused on the maps, following a site through more than a century of development.  It was also a great cooperative venture with volunteers to help with the maps and atlases during the viewing times and to run the workshop and give the lecture. Thank you to all who participated!

Some people asked about digital versions of the maps.  The Ridgewood Library doesn't have any, but some are available and I've started a Bergen County Maps page on the Library Website.  Enjoy!

Visitors peruse the Maps at Ridgewood Public Library

Maps on display at Ridgewood Public Library

Bergen County Maps Celebration

I'm really excited.  I guess there's nothing for it, but that I'm a Map-Nerd.  We have 7 Bergen County wall maps hanging outside the Heritage Center at the Ridgewood Public Library, with one more to come.  I can't stop looking--what happened to those wetlands so clearly delineated in 1867.  How many country clubs can you fit in Alpine?  What did this county look like without Rts 17, 80 and the Parkway?  How did the county get fractured from a few townships to 70 municipalities?

 On Saturday, May 11 the Library is celebrating Bergen County Maps with the display and programs.

9:00 AM  Sanborn Maps Workshop.  Learn how to use Sanborn Insurance maps for local history research.  Auditorium.  Registration suggested.  (email pwnorris@ridgewoodlibrary.org)   

10:15 AM  Writing a House History.  How to make the walls of your house tell stories.  Several Ridgewood buildings will be used as examples.  Auditorium.   

11:15 AM Children's Event: Map Story, & Craft.  Open to Ridgewood Cardholders.  Contact the Children's Room (201-670-5600, x 110) or register online.   

11:00  AM Bergen County Map Displays.  8 Bergen County wall maps and 2 Bergen County atlases will be on display.  The maps will be on display through May 19.

1:30 PM  Bergen County, 1860.  Guest lecturer, Kevin Wright, looks at Bergen County on the eve of the Civil War through the lenses of the 1860 census and the 1861 G. Hopkins map (also on display).  He will discuss the growing political and cultural divide between the County's agrarian northern townships and the suburbanizing southern townships.  Kevin is Past-President of the Bergen County Historical Society and one of Bergen County's premiere historians.

All events at the Ridgewood Public Library, 125 North Maple Avenue, Ridgewood, NJ 07450.  Free.  If you're a map nerd you won't be able to resist.