How a Hole Punch Shaped Public Perception Of the Great Depression The notorious photo editor who introduced “America to Americans.” By Aida Amer, from Atlas Obscura May 8, 2018 From his office at the Farm Security Administration (FSA) in Washington, D.C , Roy Stryker saw, time and again, the reality of the Great Depression, and the poverty and desperation gripping America’s rural communities. As head of the Information Division and manager of the FSA’s photo-documentary project, his job was to hire and brief photographers, and then select images they captured for distribution and publication. His eye helped shape the way we view the Great Depression, even today. Professionally, Stryker was known for two things: preserving thousands of photographs from being destroyed for political reasons, and for “killing” lots of photos himself. Negatives he liked were selected to be printed. Those he didn’t—ones that didn’t fit the narrative and perspective of the FSA at the time, perhaps—were met with the business end of hole punch, which left gaping black voids in place of hog’s bellys, industrial landscapes, and the faces of farmworkers. In 1935, the Resettlement Administration (RA) was established as part of the New Deal to provide relief, recovery, and reform to rural areas. The FSA, created in 1937, was its spiritual successor. The FSA’s duties included, but were not limited to, operating camps for victims of the Dust Bowl, setting up homestead communities, and providing education to more than 400,000 migrant families. Communicating about its efforts was also part of its mandate. Amazing story, never knew they had ‘photoshop’ back then. https://tinyurl.com/ybzetu3q =================================================== FamilyHistoryResearcher.com Nick Thorne 7 Tips to find English or Welsh ancestors’ Wills before 1858 September 2, 2017 Finding your English or Welsh ancestors’ wills before 1858 in the Church courts Before 1858 there was an intricate system of probate courts in existence coming under the jurisdiction of the church. It befell to these ecclesiastical courts, ranging from Bishop’s courts to Archdeacon’s courts and some Peculiar courts, to grant probate on the last will and testament of our English and Welsh forebears. If someone was particularly wealthy, or they had goods in more than one diocese or jurisdiction, then probate would be granted by the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, for the southern province of the country, or the Prerogative Court of York for the Northern province. Where the testator had goods in both the north and southern province then the PCC granted probate. The copies of the wills for the Prerogative Court of Canterbury are held at The National Archives in Kew while the Prerogative Court of York are at the Borthwick Institute. This short video is intended to introduce you to the subject of pre-1858 English/Welsh wills, but to find out more there is a lesson on the subject within the Family History Researcher course on English and Welsh family history (links in the tabs at the top of the page). The best way to discover the records of your ancestors is to learn as much as you can about the hundreds of records, data research sites and various archives that there are by taking a genealogy course. Nick, The Nosey Genealogist has a really useful blog packed with family history tips and also various learning material. His extremely well received family history course – that can quickly put you back on track – is available from a link above. Please share this video: https://youtu.be/vjgi1NPxw7c =================================================== Archaeology News Network A European origin for leprosy? May 10, 2018 New research by an international team including scientists from the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, the University of Tübingen, EPFL Lausanne and the University of Zurich has revealed that there was much more diversity in the leprosy strains circulating in Medieval Europe than previously thought. This finding, based on the sequencing of 10 new ancient genomes from the leprosy-causing bacterium Mycobacterium leprae, complicates prior assumptions about the origin and spread of the disease, and also includes the oldest M. Leprae genome sequenced to date, from about 400 AD in the United Kingdom. Read more at https://preview.tinyurl.com/yaej3o4p Sally Rolls Pavia [email protected] List Owner: [email protected] "Soldiers do not die until they are forgotten." "Do not regret growing older. It is a privilege denied to many.”