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Got this from one of my other mailing lists. Thought everyone might be
interested. Can't wait! Things willbe much easier! Enjoy! Tracy
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From: TerryinSR(a)aol.com
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Date: Thu, 4 Feb 1999 02:00:22 EST
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Subject: [LITHUANIA-L] Re: Ellis Island News Story !!!
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In a message dated 99-02-03 18:16:33 EST, you write:
Why not post the newspaper article for all to see and enjoy...
As they say in southern Lithuania,
Via con dios...
Ron Gillen
ARCHIVE PUTS HUDDLED MASSES ON-LINE - Volunteers scanning Ellis Island
Records. (SF Examiner 2/2/99)
Climbing the family tree will take a lot less clawing as soon as a nonprofit
foundation finishes a more than $15 million project to post Ellis Island
immigration records on the internet.
By helping people to access information instantly that previously was buried
in a bureaucratic quagmire, the project will revolutionize genealogicial
research for many of the more than 113 million Americans who already actively
pursue their family histories.
Officials at the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation in NY, the same
organization that gave Lady Liberty a face lift in 1986 without any public
funding, estimate that more than 40% of Americans can trace their European
ancestry back to Ellis Island.
"This is going to be a reference point", said Vern Deubler, Pres. of the
Calif. Genealogical Society, which was based in San Francisco for a century
before moving to Oakland this year. "It's going to provide people with very
important leads".
By the end of next year, the foundation hopes, people will be able to enter
any information they know about a progenitor and the program will search more
than 20 million records for a match. The software will even be able to
tolerate misspellings.
If a match is found, the researcher can choose to print out a photo of the
ship and a copy of the original manifesto that marked the immigrant's arrival.
At Fisherman's Wharf on Monday, Stephen Briganti, Chairman of the
foundation, said the new database would especially help Bay Area researchers.
He said the Bay Area remains one of the major hubs for Eliis Island
immigrants and their descendants. Tens of thousands of immigrants came here
after arriving through the port, first to fuel the Industrial revolution and
later to farm wine grapes. He said first generation travelers from the main
Ellis Island years - 1892 to 1924 - still live in the area.
Briganti added that Californians' interest in Ellis Island immigration
research, based on requests for the foundation's resources, is outstripped
only by New yorkers'.
The database - which organizers say could be ready by the end of 2000 -
will catalog records of almost 20 million immigrants who flooded the tiny NY
Harbor island. Until now, those documents have been stored at the National
Archives and Immigration and Naturalization Service in the clunky microfilm
format.
The first phase of the project was to collect and digitize records and
install computers at the museum.
Now, Briganti said, putting the information on the Internet has become a top
goal as well.
"We're pretty confident this is going to work," Briganti said.
"It's not
perfect, but it's light years ahead of going to the Archives."
A demonstration of the system showed that a reseacher can enter information
in any or all of 11 fields, which ask for personal information such as the
subject's name and country of birth, and immigration, like the subject's port
of entry.
Foundation spokeswoman Peg Zitko said the project got off the ground when a
nationwide network of Mormon volunteers agreed to digitize the microfilm
information for free. Thousands of volunteers have logged more than 2 million
hours; they've entered 3/5's of the data so far.
A spokesman for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake
City said the project was important to the church's mission. "We've always
been involved in genealogy," said Dan Rascon, "because linking to our family
helps us understand who we are and what we may become."
Information on the project may be found at
www.ellisisland.org on the
internet.
(And I just want you all to know that I typed this, not scanned, so I hope I
get some appreciation out there!!!!!!!! Best, and good night! Terry in
Calif.) PS, Please feel free to pass this along to other genealogy lists.
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