The Motley Fool provides stock market and other financial advice. It is not known for the accuracy of its predictions, however. In any case, Rick Aristotle Munarriz of The Motley Fool says that Ancestry.com is a candidate to be purchased by a bigger firm.

Munarriz writes: "Ancestry.com runs the Internet's leading genealogy service, with 1.3 million subscribers paying an average of $18 a month to flesh out their family trees. The site's subscriber count has climbed 32% over the past year. Given the true scalability of its model, earnings are growing faster than Ancestry.com's top-line spurts.

"Ancestry.com bumped its guidance higher after this summer's second-quarter report. The favorable trend means that the company won't sell itself cheap, but for the right price, even a genealogy pro like Ancestry.com couldn't say no to an opportune corporate marriage."You can read more at http://www.fool.com/investing/high-growth/2010/09/02/the-next-4-dot-com-buyouts.aspx

I have written before about Archives.com at http://tinyurl.com/yygwjvb. The company's web site should not be confused with the Internet Archive at www.archive.org. Now the parent company of archives.com, called Inflection, has raised $30 million in a first round of funding.
Archives.com charges users $39.95 a year to access historical records and build their own family trees on the site. Inflection says it is profitable and traffic is up nearly 50 percent year-over-year. The company also launched a second site this week, a people search engine called PeopleSmart, which mines public records as well as social networking profiles to build an online directory of people. PeopleSmart reportedly is an online phonebook that compiles information from across the Web, including cellphone numbers, e-mail addresses and social networking profiles

You can read more about the new financing in the New York Times at http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/01/a-phonebook-for-the-21st-century/

The following announcement was written by the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration:
Kansas City, (MO) - For the first time, more than 300,000 case files on alien residents of the United States who were born 1909 and prior are now open to the public at the National Archives at Kansas City.  These files, known as “Alien Files” (commonly referred to as “A-Files”) were transferred to the National Archives from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) and are only a small part of the millions of case files that will eventually be transferred and opened to the public.

“The A-files are a key to unlocking the fascinating stories of millions of people who traveled to the United States in search of opportunity, including my own grandfather,” said Archivist of the United States David S. Ferriero.   “They include information such as photographs, personal correspondence, birth certificates, health records, interview transcripts, visas, applications and other information on all non-naturalized alien residents, both legal and illegal. The snapshot of American life that develops from each file can, in some cases, serve as a one-stop-shopping for researchers.”
The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), the predecessor agency of USCIS, began issuing aliens Alien Registration numbers in 1940, and on April 1, 1944, began using this number to create the A-Files. A-Files document the famous, the infamous, the anonymous and the well-known, and are an historical and genealogical goldmine.  These files contain an abundance of relatively modern immigration documents in one file, making them a rich source of biographical information. 

A-Files are eligible for transfer to the National Archives when 100 years have passed since the birth date of the subject of a file.  These transfers to the National Archives ensure that these records will be saved and made available to the public.  The National Archives at Kansas City will maintain A-Files from all USCIS district offices except San Francisco, Honolulu, Reno, and Guam.  These files will be housed at the National Archives at San Francisco because of the significant research use of related immigration files there.  Files to be housed at the National Archives at San Francisco are currently being prepared for transfer. 

A-Files may be viewed in person by appointment at the National Archives at Kansas City or copies of files may be ordered for a fee.  For additional information on requesting A-Files, visit http://www.archives.gov/research/genealogy/aliens/a-files-kansas-city.html

The National Archives at Kansas City is one of 13 facilities nationwide where the public has access to Federal archival records.  It is home to more than 50,000 cubic feet of historical records dating from the 1820s to the 1990s created or received by nearly 100 Federal agencies.  Serving the Central Plains Region, the archives holds records from the states of Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota.  The facility is located at 400 West Pershing Road, Kansas City, MO 64108.  The National Archives at Kansas City is open Tuesday-Saturday 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. for exhibits viewing and Tuesday-Saturday from 8:00 a.m. –  4:00 p.m. for research.  

Ritchie Hansen sent along a great list of resources for anyone researching Danish ancestry:

The Danish State Archives: http://www.sa.dk/content/us/
The Danish State Archives: http://www.sa.dk/content/us/genealogy/online_services
The Danish Demographic Database: http://www.ddd.dda.dk/ddd_en.htm
The Danish Demographic Database: http://www.ddd.dda.dk/kiplink_en.htm
The Danish State Archives Filming Centre parish registers and population censuses: http://www.sa.dk/ao/English/default.aspx
The Danish Emigration Archives: http://www.emiarch.dk/home.php3
Volunteers interested in helping can contact:
Phone: +45 66 11 30 10
Fax: +45 66 11 30 60
E-mail: mailbox@dda.sa.dk

or

Dansk Data Arkiv / Danish Data Archive
Islandsgade 10
DK-5000 Odense C
Danmark / Denmark
Tlf.: (+45) 66 11 30 10
Fax: (+45) 66 11 30 60
E-mail: jgh@dda.dk

Footnote.com has expanded the capabilities of one of its popular features. Quoting from the Footnote blog:
We like to focus on discovery at Footnote.com. If you are like us, when you find something important you can’t wait to share it.

We created Spotlights to be a way you could quickly highlight and share your discoveries.

Spotlights don’t have to be of famous people or well-known events. They just have to be something that’s important to you – a document about an ancestor, historical newspaper article, or just something that made you laugh.

Recently, we started thinking about how to improve Spotlight pages.
We focused on making the page simpler, easier to share and providing more source information.

Some more improvements:

Larger and simpler layout

People love bigger pictures so we increased the size of the Spotlight by 150% on the page. Gives greater emphasis to you your discovery. The right column shows who made the spotlight, the number of views and comments. You can also see the small thumbnails of the last 5 Spotlights by that Footnote member.

Spotlighting sets it Free

When you create a Spotlight from a Premium document it becomes free for everyone that visits the document through that Spotlight. So you don’t have worry about your family or friends not having an All-Access membership to Footnote. Just share it.

By the way, sharing that Spotlight is easier now, too. Send your Spotlight via Facebook, Twitter, email and other social bookmarking websites. In addition, you can easily embed Spotlights on any website or blog using the code supplied in the column.

The Source, of course

Sourcing a document is important. Spotlights automatically show, if known, where the document came from and how it has been categorized on the site.

Move your mouse over the source and you will see a search box that lets you find more images from a specific collection and links to browse more.

More to come

Over the next few months we’ll be trying out some additional tweaks to the new design. There are a few items missing that we’d like to add, and a few more we’d like to enhance. We hope you enjoy the updated Spotlights. Here’s the some of the most popular Spotlights on Footnote this week.

The following announcement was written by Preserve Pro, Inc.:
Archivist Nooma Rhue educates public on how to preserve digital artifacts
 
CHARLOTTE N.C. (September 1, 2010) Preserve Pro, Inc will host Digital Preservation For Your Family seminar, a half-day experience teaching families, community organizations, and religious organizations the latest techniques in preserving digital artifacts. Participants will learn about the latest practices for preserving digital photos, computer files and audiovisuals, and how to use modern technology to protect invaluable memories.
Nooma Monika Rhue, trained Archivist and Library Director will host the workshop and share the latest research and tips for preserving digital memories. Nooma is known for taking her knowledge of archival services to the general community and helping inform the public about how to preserve important family heirlooms.  She has hosted several preservation workshops for religious organizations, managed and implemented several digitization projects, including transferring instantaneous discs into digital audio and she has most notably built archives from the ground-up.

Digital Preservation For Your Family will help families, organizations and religious institutions receive practical tips for preserving digital media. The seminar will be held at the Levin Museum of the New South, September 11, 2010, Harris Room from 12:00Noon-3:00PM. Registration is $70, which includes resources, and refreshments.

For more information or to register visit Preserve Pro at www.preserveproinc.net, or call 704-995-0731 for more details.

Millennia, the producer of Legacy Family Tree software for Windows, is offering the company's first live webinar on Wednesday, September 15, 2010 at 2:00PM EDT. The webinar, Mapping Software for Genealogists will cover essential software tools: AniMap (U.S. & Canada), Centennia (Europe & Middle East), and Map My Family Tree (entire world), and maybe even a Legacy Family Tree tip or two.

In this 30 minute webinar Geoff Rasmussen will cover the following topics:

1. AniMap software (U.S. & Canada): learn how to find the correct county for the time period, and perform radius searches (list all cemeteries/churches within 10 miles of a place). For 30 years a researcher looked in the records of Woodstock, Windham County, Connecticut for their ancestor who was born there in 1720. AniMap easily shows that in 1720, Woodstock would have been in Suffolk County, Massachusetts. Now we know the correct location to find the records for that time period. Brick wall problem solved.
2. Centennia software (Europe and Middle East): Have you ever wondered about the changing country borders in Europe? Have ancestors in Germany, Poland, or Prussia? Which is it? The Centennia Historical Atlas software shows the changing country borders from the 11th century to the present in Europe and the Middle East.
3. Map My Family Tree software (entire world): plot your ancestors on a map of the world, track family migrations, plot to Google Earth, use the time scroll bar to dynamically select which time period you want displayed on your map and more.

Having online webinars is a great idea and I hope we see many more of them.

Registration is free but space is limited. If you are interested in attending this live seminar (or webinar), you should register NOW. After you register you will be sent instructions, including your private link to view the webinar online. You will need to be connected to the Internet (high speed connection recommended) and turn on your speakers. That's it!

More information about the webinar and a link to sign up may be found at http://legacynews.typepad.com/legacy_news/2010/09/join-us-for-a-webinar-on-september-15-mapping-software-for-genealogists.html

I've been watching and writing about the many e-reader products available these days. I believe these devices are revolutionizing publishing, including that of newspapers, magazines, books and many other kinds of published materials. Genealogy books are just one of the areas being affected. As these products become smaller, lighter, cheaper, and still easier than ever to read, the financial realities soon set in: publishing for e-readers is much cheaper than publishing on paper and the savings are often passed on to consumers.

The picture above shows Sony's new Reader Daily Edition, Touch Edition and Pocket Edition.
Prices of e-readers seem to be dropping almost weekly. This week's news concerns Sony's very popular Sony Readers. The new devices -- the Reader Pocket Edition, Reader Touch Edition and Reader Daily Edition -- have been redesigned to be smaller and lighter than the e-readers they are replacing. All three now share the same user interface and general physical style, although only the Daily Edition adds Wi-Fi.

The Sony Readers are also equipped with touch screens that use the new E-Ink Pearl displays -- the same ones used by the recently introduced Kindle DX and Kindle 3 e-readers. E-Ink claims a 50% greater contrast ratio, and thus better readability, for the Pearl than earlier e-reader displays. If you haven't yet seen the various e-readers, I'd suggest you visit a nearby bookstore or computer store to see the units on display. Today's technology provides easy-to-read display screens that produce no glare. The new Sony Readers claim to be even easier to read than last week's products.

The Pocket Edition ($179) is the smallest at 5.7 x 4.1 x 0.3 in. It is also the lightest of the three new models. The Pocket has the same five slim buttons on the bottom that the Touch and Daily editions use. It's available in two colors, silver and pink.

The Touch Edition ($229), comes with a 6-in. display and is slightly larger than the Pocket, at 6.6 x 4.7 x 0.4 in. The Sony Touch adds the ability to play MP3 and AAC audio files; it also expands its capacity with Memory Stick PRO Duo and SD media slots. It is available in black and red.

Neither the Pocket nor the Touch comes with any type of wireless communications. They must be connected to a computer in order to download new books, magazines, and newspapers. However, the new Daily Edition ($299) adds Wi-Fi and basic Web browsing to its AT&T 3G connection. With a 7-in. display, the Daily will be available in silver.

These are not the cheapest prices in the marketplace. Sony claims it is more interested in capabilities than in bottom line prices. Indeed, the Sony devices do have several capabilities not found in cheaper, competitive units.

All three devices include 2GB of onboard memory which is enough to hold about 1,200 books. Each comes with a stylus that lets you take freehand notes, or you can use the on-screen keyboard. Your notes can be exported to your computer via the same included USB 2.0 cable that lets you import and export books.

Unlike the Kindle, the e-readers in the Sony Reader line are compatible with a variety of e-book formats, including ePub (which is as close to a standard as is possible in today's e-reader market), Microsoft Word and PDF. That strikes me as a big advantage for anyone who wishes to copy downloaded (free) books to an e-reader.

Both the Sony Pocket Edition and Touch Edition are available now. The Daily Edition will be available in November.

The next time you take a vacation, which would you prefer to take with you? 2,000 books or a Sony e-reader that weighs about a half pound? Both contain the same amount of reading material.

The following announcement was written by Ann S Eldredge:
In January 2010, a small band of genealogy seekers embarked on a project to make anyone who has roots in the Pittsburgh area jump for joy.  43 volunteers have been indexing marriages, deaths, and divorces from early Allegheny County newspapers and putting it all online at no cost.  Over 52,000 death entries and over 11,000 marriages have been indexed and put online through August.  The dates of the newspapers range from 1806-1987.
Project co-ordinator Ann S Eldredge says the idea of an index came to her as she regularly keeps in touch with other Pittsburgh researchers on the popular mailing list of Allegheny County sponsored by RootsWeb.com.  An avid genealogy researcher, Eldredge remarked, "I saw on the list that Google had put images of several old newspapers online and Pittsburgh was on it. After spending many hours of looking for my family and investing in Visine for the eye strain, I realized I couldn't be the only one who had uncovered a few golden nuggets of information. It seemed so simple.  If anyone was looking at any of the dates, they could write down all the names of that day.  After all, how many of your ancestors do you not know when they married or died?"

With that simple question posed to the group, an index was born.  Eldredge volunteered to capture the names the volunteers put on the list. List member Norm Minert quickly set up a page for the newspapers submitted so there would be no duplication of efforts.  USGenWeb Allegheny County Archives File Manager Ellis Michaels volunteered to get the the submitted indices online.

The daily newspaper lists began to pour in.  "It didn't take long for the sheer volume of names being submitted to become overwhelming," said Eldredge.  "I quickly realized I needed help.  I put a call out for volunteers to assist on my end, and they came. The enthusiasm and dedication of the volunteers are inspiring.  The work they are doing for family researchers and genealogy buffs is just fantastic.  What a gift to give."

"It's been an amazing journey over the last eight months as the volunteers have graciously given their time to read the old newspapers.  We have so many death and marriage entries from 1889 and 1890.  Since the census was lost for 1890, this almost serves as a substitute. I've found my relatives through this project.  Some of the death entries have even led to connections with living cousins.  It's been worth it."

"Stop on by and see what our volunteers have done," Eldredge said as a smile came across her face. "After all, the good folks of Pittsburgh are just dying to get in."

To view the death, marriage and divorce indices, go to http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/allegheny/death-index.htm

Background information:

The family of Ann S Eldredge can be placed in Allegheny County from 1774. Her Dormont raised father was the last of her direct line to live in PIttsburgh, but there are many family members still in the area. Eldredge was featured in local Pittsburgh newspapers and on the televised news in an August 2005 dedication of new headstones for two of her 4g-grandfathers, John Henry and James Glenn, at the Old St Clair Cemetery in Mt Lebanon, and has been instrumental in assisting the Historical Society of Mt Lebanon in this ongoing project. She is a member of the Western PA Genealogical Society and an active member of the James Waldrop Chapter DAR in Fayetteville, GA. Her genealogy blog, GeniTales, (http://genitalesga.blogspot.com/) focuses on her family history as she traces her family through history from Sweden and Ireland to Wall Street, the White House and across the nation. She resides in Peachtree City, GA, with her husband and two daughters.

The volunteers on this death and marriage index project come from across the nation. It is estimated there could be over a million names on the newspapers.

For more information, please contact Ann Eldredge at 1anniesquest4me@bellsouth.net

Sir Peter Gwynn-Jones, former Garter Principal King of Arms in the United Kingdom, was well known in the genealogy world. He passed away on August 21 at age 70. He retired only a few months ago, previously serving as Garter Principal King of Arms, the senior English officer of arms, from 1995 to 2010. He was in charge of the College of Arms, which issues new coats of arms and verifies existing heraldry.

The office of Garter King of Arms, of which Gwynn-Jones was the 36th holder, was created by Henry V in 1417, initially concerned with the ceremonies of the Order of the Garter. While still performing these, Garter is also in charge of Royal heraldry and the arms of peers, as well as exercising a supervisory role over the English heralds.

Gwynn-Jones was a familiar face in the House of Lords, where he was responsible for introducing new peers to their seats.
In 1967, after writing to the College of Arms offering his skills in history and genealogy, he was employed as assistant to Colin Cole, then Windsor Herald. He became Bluemantle Pursuivant in 1973, and was promoted to Lancaster Herald in 1982. He was appointed by The Queen to the position of Garter in 1995 following the retirement of Sir Conrad Swan.

Gwynn-Jones was was Secretary of the Harleian Society from 1981 until 1994, Inspector of Regimental Colours from 2 October 1995, and Inspector of Royal Air Force Badges from 1996.  He was also appointed in 1995 Genealogist to the Order of the Bath, Genealogist of the Order of St Michael and St George, and Genealogist of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem. He was non-executive Vice-President of The Heraldry Society from 1996.

Gwynn-Jones was appointed Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order in 1994, promoted Commander of the Royal Victorian Order in 1998, and appointed Knight of Justice of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem in 1995. In anticipation of his retirement HM The Queen promoted Gwynn-Jones Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order in the 2010 New Year Honours.

You can read more in the Telegraph Obituaries at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/7975958/Sir-Peter-Gwynn-Jones.html

The following announcement was written by Ancestry.ca:
Free content includes millions of records from countries worldwide in nearly 300 collections
 
TORONTO, ON (September 2, 2010) Ancestry.ca, Canada’s leading family history website, will open its complete database of international immigration records for free from the 2nd to the 6th of September 2010.
 
Ancestry’s international immigration collection covers more than 193 million records in 273 collections from around the world.
 
Included are the Canadian Passenger Lists, 1865-1935, which covers a period of 70 years and contains more than 7.2 million names, including 5.6 million of those who travelled from around the world to start a new life in Canada.
 The Canadian Passenger Lists, 1865-1935, the originals of which are held by the Library and Archives Canada (LAC), are the official records of the arrival of the majority of people accepted as immigrants in Canada during this key immigration period.
 
An estimated 11.6 million Canadians or 37 per cent of the current population have ancestors included in this Canadian collection, which also includes records for many vacationers and travelers, business people, crew members and historical figures such as foreign leaders, scientists and celebrities.
 
The collection includes passenger lists from all the major ports of arrival including Halifax, Saint John, North Sydney, Quebec City, Montreal, Vancouver, Victoria and even east coast ports in the U.S. where many arrived before proceeding directly to Canada overland.
 
Ancestry.ca Managing Director Karen Peterson comments: “Immigration records provide key pieces of information for those looking into their family’s past. They literally show you where you came from - arguably the most important piece of information you can learn about your ancestors.
 
“We’re so excited to be able to allow free access to these records and we hope it inspires more people to become interested in learning about who they are and where they came from.”
 
To learn where your ancestors came from, visit www.ancestry.ca.

ABOUT ANCESTRY.CA
Officially Canada’s leading website for family history resources, Ancestry.ca has 128 million Canadian records in such collections as the complete Historical Canadian Censuses from 1851 to 1916, Ontario and British Columbia vital records from as early as 1813, Quebec vital Records (The Drouin Collection), Canadian Passenger Lists and U.S. / Canada Border Crossings.
 
Ancestry.ca was launched in January 2006 and belongs to the global network of Ancestry websites (wholly owned by Ancestry.com Operations Inc.), which contains five billion records. To date more than 18 million family trees have been created and 1.8 billion names and 40 million photographs and stories uploaded. (Figures current as of 30 June 2010)
 
The Ancestry global network of family history websites - www.ancestry.ca in Canada, www.ancestry.com in the US, www.ancestry.co.uk in the UK, www.ancestry.com.au in Australia, www.ancestry.de in Germany, www.ancestry.it in Italy, www.ancestry.fr in France,  www.ancestry.se in Sweden and www.jiapu.com in China.

The next edition of the Oxford English Dictionary, the world’s most definitive work on the language, will never be printed because of the impact of the Internet on book sales. Sales have fallen due to the increasing popularity of online alternatives, according to its publisher.
The dictionary’s owner, Oxford University Press (OUP), said the impact of the internet means OED3 will probably appear only in electronic form. However, OUP said it would continue to print the more familiar Oxford Dictionary of English, the single-volume version sold in bookshops.

You can read the full story at http://tinyurl.com/2akm2eg

The Mormon church has changed its genealogical database to better prevent the names of Jews killed in Nazi concentration camps from being submitted for posthumous baptism by proxy.

In a joint statement issued earlier today, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the American Gathering of Holocaust Survivors said a new computer system and policy changes related to the practice should resolve a years-long disagreement over the baptisms.
Under new church policies, church members will be required to certify names submitted to the database for baptism. Further safeguards include monitoring those names for submissions that don't meet policy standards and the removal of records found to be in violation of the new procedures.

You can read the full story at http://tinyurl.com/23jqetp

Join us for our first-ever live webinar on Wednesday, September 15, 2010 at 2:00PM EDT. The webinar, Mapping Software for Genealogists will cover essential software tools: AniMap (U.S. & Canada), Centennia (Europe & Middle East), and Map My Family Tree... Geoff Rasmussen

The following announcement was written by the National Genealogical Society:

The National Genealogical Society (NGS) announces the appointment of Patricia Walls Stamm, CG, CGL, of St. Louis, Missouri, as Education Manager. In her new position, Stamm will oversee the development of online education courses and will be responsible for keeping the current education courses updated as related to content and technology.

Stamm has an extensive background as an instructor at the St. Louis Community College, the St. Louis Genealogical Society, and the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research in Birmingham, Alabama. She has served as conference program coordinator and education director for the St. Louis Genealogical Society. Stamm is a life member of the State Historical Society of Missouri and the St. Louis Genealogical Society. She received the St. Louis Genealogical Society President’s Award in May 2009 for work that led to an expanded educational program for the society.

Stamm holds a tested concentration of genealogical instruction from the Board for Certification of Genealogists and has lectured both locally and nationally. She is a published author with articles appearing in the NGS NewsMagazine, APG Quarterly, and Genealogical Computing. A member of the Association of Professional Genealogists and NGS, she currently chairs the NGS’ Rubincam Youth Award Committee.

Founded in 1903, the National Genealogical Society is dedicated to genealogy education, high research standards, and the preservation of genealogical records. The Arlington, Virginia-based nonprofit is the premier national society for everyone, from the beginner to the most advanced family historian, seeking excellence in publications, educational offerings, research guidance, and opportunities to interact with other genealogists. Please visit the NGS Pressroom for further information.

The following announcement was written by Ancestry.com:

More than 1,700 first-hand audio recordings now available for free online

PROVO, Utah, Sept. 1 -- Ancestry.com announced today it has launched a collection of more than 1,700 recorded oral histories from immigrants who arrived in the United States through Ellis Island. This is the first time this collection of poignant recordings has been available online. To celebrate the new addition, Ancestry.com is making its entire U.S. Immigration Collection free through Labor Day.
"As immigrants created new lives in the U.S., the stories of their homelands and their remarkable journeys to America were often lost," said Christopher Tracy, senior vice president of global content for Ancestry.com.  "We are thrilled to offer people the opportunity to hear the voices of their ancestors sharing stories of their lives."

Ellis Island was the gateway for millions of immigrants between 1892 and 1954. The oral histories were captured by the National Park Service starting in the 1970s, and contain uniquely inspiring first-hand accounts recalling the lives these immigrants left behind, their reasons for leaving and their incredible and often-trying journeys to America.  These recordings are housed at the Ellis Island Immigration Museum and until now could be heard only by visitors to the Island itself. In addition to oral histories from immigrants, the collection also includes recordings from military personnel who were stationed on Ellis Island and former Ellis Island/Statue of Liberty workers.

"To our family it is important that we in the U.S. know the origin of the people who came to this country, settled here and made it what it is today. It makes us very proud to know that our mother was part of this," said Yvonne Rumac, daughter of oral history participant Estelle Belford, who immigrated to the United States from Romania via Ellis Island in 1905.

Other Records Added to the Ancestry.com U.S. Immigration Collection: The Ellis Island Oral Histories are the latest addition to Ancestry.com, which boasts the world's largest online collection of U.S. immigration records. Comprised of more than 170 million records, the Ancestry.com U.S. Immigration Collection includes lists of passengers who immigrated by ship to America between 1820 and 1960, including those who came through Ellis Island; more than 7 million citizenship and naturalization records; border crossings, passport applications and more to help reconstruct our ancestors' journeys and early lives in America.

Ancestry.com has also added nearly 2 million new U.S. naturalization record indexes, thanks to the many individuals who are part of the Ancestry.com World Archives Project –a community effort aimed at transcribing historical records. The indexes span 11 states (AK, CA, CT, HI, LA, ME, MT, NY, PA, TN, WA) and will provide Americans greater opportunity to learn more about their ancestors' citizenship experience.

In addition, Ancestry.com has added nearly 2 million records documenting crew members on ships who arrived in the port of Boston. The records were added to an existing collection of over 3.8 million records from Boston Passenger and Crew Lists, 1820-1943.

To honor our nation's immigrant heritage, Ancestry.com has opened up its entire U.S. Immigration Collection so that it can be searched free through Labor Day. The Ellis Island Oral History Collection will remain permanently free on Ancestry.com.

To begin exploring your family's journey to America, visit www.ancestry.com/immigration.

About Ancestry.com Inc.

Ancestry.com Inc. (Nasdaq: ACOM) is the world's largest online family history resource, with more than one million paying subscribers. More than 5 billion records have been added to the site in the past 13 years. Ancestry users have created more than 18 million family trees containing over 1.8 billion profiles. Ancestry.com has local Web sites directed at nine countries, including its flagship Web site at http://www.ancestry.com.

The Upcoming Events section of this newsletter is published as a newsletter article once per month, usually in the first week of the month. You can also view the latest list of events at any time by clicking on "Upcoming Events" in the Navigation menu near the upper right corner of the page at http://www.eogn.com.

Each event is listed with the name, location and dates. Click on the name to see the details, including a link to the event's web page or to an e-mail address of someone who will provide still more information. The EOGN list of Upcoming Events is also available as an RSS newsfeed at http://www.trumba.com/calendars/eogns_calendar.rss and as a normal web page at http://www.trumba.com/calendars/eogns_calendar

Items with an asterisk (*) next to the title are newly-added since the last update.

If you would like to have your event added to this list, please go to http://eogn.com/support and click on "Open New Ticket." That creates a customer ticket in this web site's Subscriber Support Center. Those "tickets" never get blocked by spam filters. We will publish the name of the event, the city and state/province/country where it is to be held, a very brief description and a web page URL or e-mail address to be used to obtain full details.

NOTE: We compile the list once a month. If you wait until the last minute to send the notice of your event, it might not make it into this month's listings.

EOGN's List of Upcoming Events at http://www.trumba.com/calendars/eogns_calendar

The following announcement was written by the Ontario Genealogical Society:
The Board of the Ontario Genealogical Society is pleased to announce the appointment of Elizabeth Lapointe as editor of the Society’s journal Families.  A graduate of Acadia University, Elizabeth is an author, journalist, and blogger.  She has been editor of the OGS newsletter NewsLeaf since 2006 and is the founding editor of its electronic sister publication e-NewsLeaf.  She is a Past President of the Ottawa Chapter of the Professional Writers Association of Canada, and a Director of the International Society of Family History Writers and Editors.  She is the author of several books on genealogy and of hundreds of newspaper and online articles on genealogy and local history.  She is the guest editor for the August issue of Families and will assume full editorship with the November issue.

The following refers to an article published in this newsletter last week entitled, Hitler was Related to Jewish and Black Families. The article referred to a report by Brussels news magazine Knack that claimed DNA obtained from the Nazi leader’s relatives living in America led to the discovery. The report claimed that the Hitlers possessed Haplopgroup E1b1b (Y-DNA) which is rare in Germany and indeed western Europe. However, it is commonly found in the Berbers of Morocco, in Algeria, Libya and Tunisia as well as among Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews. The report offered conjecture that Adolf Hitler was related to these groups.

Family Tree DNA, experts in DNA applications for genealogy, says that the report is "highly questionable." The company also offers a clarification from the author of the original article. The following was written by Family Tree DNA: Houston, TX - September 1, 2010 - Family Tree DNA, the largest Y-chromosome testing organization for genealogy and ancestry purposes, announced today that the interpretation given by certain media outlets that Adolf Hitler's ancestry included possible Jewish relatives is highly questionable.  These reports were based on information released by Jean-Paul Mulders and historian Marc Vermeeren.  With a Y-chromosome database containing close to 200,000 samples from different populations, Family Tree DNA's Chief Y-DNA Scientist, Professor Michael Hammer said that "scientific studies as well as records from our own database make it clear that one cannot reach the kind of conclusion featured in the published articles.
 
Based on Family Tree DNA records, no more than 9% of the populations of Germany and Austria belong to the haplogroup E1b1b, and among those, the vast majority - about 80% -are not associated with Jewish ancestry.  "This data clearly show that just because one person belongs to the branch of the Y-chromosome referred to as haplogroup E1b1b, that does not mean the person is likely to be of Jewish ancestry," said Professor Hammer.
 
Mulders confirmed the misinterpretation of his account with the following statement to Family Tree DNA:  "I never wrote that Hitler was a Jew, or that he had a Jewish grandfather.  I only wrote that Hitler's haplogroup is E1b1b, being more common among Berbers, Somalian people and Jews than among overall Germans.  This, in order to convey that he was not exactly what during the Third Reich would have been called 'Aryan.'  All the rest are speculations of journalists who didn't even take the trouble to read my article, although I had it translated into English especially for this purpose."
 
Founded in April 2000, Family Tree DNA was the first company to develop the commercial application of DNA testing for genealogical purposes that had previously been available only for academic and scientific research. Today - with over 300,000 individual records in its Y-DNA and mtDNA databases - and a state-of-the-art Genomics Research Center in Houston, Texas, Family Tree is the prime source for anyone researching recent and distant family ties.

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