I Am A Thinking Blog – Am I? – I Am?

Janice Brown of New Hampshire's Cow Hampshire Blog, one of my daily stops on the Blog Express, has just received two awards – the Editor's Choice for Best Historic Blog by New Hampshire Magazine and the Thinking Blog Award. Congratulations and well deserved! I love your blog and often wonder where you find the time (do you sleep?) to do such a professional job; it is truly a thing of beauty. So much food for thought! Please read her Celebrating our Heritage Through Tea, it was so interesting.

Janice also left a comment for the fM on my Jane Austen post. In it she said, “You've been tagged! I hereby award you the Thinking Blogger Award for all your fine posts that make me (and others too I am sure) THINK.”

I am honored Janice, coming from you I consider that to be high praise. Thank you, because if our blogs are food for thought you are a steak and I am a hamburger.



The rules of engagement for awarding the “Thinking Blogger” designation are simple:

1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think, tag blogs with real merits, i.e. relative content, and above all - blogs that really get you thinking!
2. The origin of the meme, is Too many blogs, not enough thoughts! at The Thinking Blogger,
3. Display the 'Thinking Blogger Award' with a link to the post that you wrote.

::

It has been said of me that I’ve never had an original thought, so I will name five genealogy-history blogs that never fail to set me thinking and are always original.

1. Jasia at Creative Gene who is the Ringmaster for the Carnival of Genealogy and forces us all to push the envelope of thought when we Blog the COG.

2. Miriam at AnceStories, my fellow Washingtonian, and Blogger par excellence, who directs our thoughts in chronicling our own lives.

3. David Bowles at Writing The Westward Sagas, and his best friend and companion Lulubelle, who really should meet my best friend and companion Zoë someday. David really made me think recently in one of his posts about the use of authentic language and when it’s appropriate.

4. Becky Wiseman at kinexxions. Always a thought provoking read and as a bonus, often a good laugh. I was a sand crab in San Diego at the Naval Air Station, Becky, maybe our paths have crossed.

5. Susan A. Kitchens at Family Oral History Using Digital Tools, who always makes me think I’m short changing myself by not learning to use those expensive toys I keep buying. She is the Digital Diva and if she doesn’t give you something to think about, no one will.

So there they are – five thought provoking bloggers. I could have listed so many more; I didn’t even get to my international favorites.

Thanks Janice!

Which Jane Austen Character Am I?

Randy and Jasia have been taking quizzes to determine their personality types and the results are very interesting and rather indicative of the image of themselves they display online in their blogs.

As the footnoteMaven is actually my alter ego and not a real person, I had her take a test to determine which fictional Jane Austen character she most closely resembles.

The results were spot on! The footnoteMaven scored as Elizabeth Bennet.



As one of Austen's most beloved characters, Elizabeth Bennet represents what most women would like to become: strong, independent, and loyal. Of course, she has her faults including a stubborn will of iron and a clinging to first impressions. Overall, Lizzie is bright and lovable...something to admire and aspire to.

Which Jane Austen Character are You? (For Females) Long Quiz!!!

Created with QuizFarm.com

Father's Day Tradition Founded in Washington State

Father's Day is acknowledged to have been the idea of Sonora Louise Smart Dodd. Her father, William Smart, was a farmer and Civil War veteran from eastern Washington State. His wife died giving birth to their sixth child, and Smart became a devoted single dad.

While listening to a Mother's Day sermon in 1909, Smart's daughter, Sonora, was struck by the idea that her selfless father, and others like him, also deserved a special day. She chose his birth month of June for the holiday. Sonora Louise Smart Dodd presided over the first Father's Day celebration in Spokane, Wash., on June 19, 1910.

In 1926 a National Father's Day Committee was formed in New York, and President Calvin Coolidge supported making Father's Day a national holiday.

From the Silver Anniversary Book on Father's day published in 1935.
"This year, 1935, the Silver Anniversary of Fathers' Day is being observed. Thirty-seven years ago, in the Big Bend hills of Washington, the day had its nativity in a lonely farm dwelling. There Sorrow ministered amid the moaning of the March winds.

A father sat with bowed head in his aloneness. About him clung his weeping children. The winds outside threw great scarfs of powdered snow against the window panes, when suddenly the last born tore himself from the group and rushed out into the storm calling for his mother. Yet even his baby voice could not penetrate the great silence that held this mother.

Hurriedly, the father gathered him back to his protection and for more than two decades, William Jackson Smart, alone, kept paternal vigilance over his motherless children.

This poignant experience in the life of Mrs. John Bruce Dodd of Spokane, Washington, who was then Sonora Louise Smart, was the inspiration for Fathers' Day which materialized through the devotion of this father and the father of her own son, John Bruce Jr., born in 1909. Through the observance of the love and the sacrifice of fathers about her everywhere, her idea of Fathers' Day crystallized in 1910, through a formal Fathers' Day petition asking recognition of fatherhood."

There’ll Be No Hell For Dogs

He was the most handsome man I have ever seen. Movie star good looks handsome, and he was my father. From little girls to little old ladies he could turn them all into babbling idiots just by acknowledging them. He was a farm boy from Missouri who was totally unaware of the havoc his good looks created with women. Oh, women noticed him, but he did not notice women. From the day he set eyes on my mother there was no other woman in the world.

They met in the Army during World War II. My mother was a nurse, a WAC Lieutenant. My father was a corpsman in a hospital for soldiers facing the psychological traumas of war. They met there. I remember my mother telling how she had seen him the first time, sitting on the floor in one of the corridors leaning against the wall. She said he took her breath away, he was so handsome; she hoped he wasn’t one of her patients. They knew each other just two weeks before they were married and it lasted a lifetime – his lifetime.


Yes, women noticed him and often that made me just the least bit jealous. When I was in high school and played in sports he would come to watch me compete. Female classmates who were not close friends would wait for him and sit next to him feigning interest in my performance just to be near him. It was the same if he brought my mother. She laughed, she didn’t mind, he made her feel that secure, and he even made those rotten girls feel comfortable.

To go with those good looks was a large dose of southern charm. That off-handed sense of humor that is natural and not the least bit contrived. My sister inherited his sense of humor and the way with words that were his. I hear him in her speech and when I do, I miss him. I have already told you of his tipping outhouses escapades, but there was so much more to the humor in his life, at least a book of stories more.

He was known for his little homilies. One of my favorites was “there’ll be no Hell for dogs.” What does it mean? I have absolutely no idea, but when he touched his belt buckle and uttered those words his children always ran for it. I still use it today at just the appropriate moment, when I want to daze and confuse. It’s always good for a smile.

He was my knight, my rock. He protected us all. His wife, his children, his mother, his sisters, his friends; we have all been rescued by him at least once. In my case he rescued me more times than I can count. He rescued us from broken down cars, the driving exam, tornadoes, abusive relationships, dementia, heartbreak, disappointment, fractions, and the reality of death at an early age. He did it with surprising good humor, under what were often the worst of circumstances. He always knew what to say and do. We could depend on him.

My very favorite memory of my father is of the two of us sitting on my uncle’s porch on a summers evening while he brushed and braided my hair. He loved my hair. One summer when I was nine my mother got it in her head to give me a pixie cut, without telling him. When he arrived home from work he cried and was completely inconsolable. I attribute my reticence to cutting my hair to that childhood memory.

His proudest moment of me was when, instead of taking Home Economics, I took an automotive class. He taught me to change a tire, the oil, to know all the parts of the car’s engine and to weld. I was the only girl in the class and I got the top marks. Little did I know at the time, he had a bet with the father of one of the boys in the class that his “little girl” would get the best grade and beat his son out for the top mark. He was so proud when I did just that. I think the prize was that infamous 3.2 beer again.

His life had not been an easy one. He was the seventh of eight children. His father died when he was eleven of pernicious anemia, something easily cured today. His mother took in washing to try to make ends meet, but it soon became apparent she couldn’t afford the clothes to send him to school, so he stopped going and got a job supporting his family at the age of twelve. He had no carefree youth. He often talked about how as a child he had wanted a wagon for Christmas, but his mother could not afford to buy him one. For their first Christmas together my mother gave him a shiny red Radio Flyer. He never forgot that gift.

He was plagued by poor health. My first memory of his illness was when he collapsed at thirty-five of a heart attack and my mother and I had to carry him to the car and drive him to the hospital. I have never been so frightened in my life.

When I was a junior in high school he was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. The pain was excruciating, but he never complained. He would get out of bed and balancing on crutches would fix our meals. We were at school and mother took on the burden of supporting the family. He didn't complain and he didn't give up.

I think it was his absolute joy and love of life and his endless curiosity as to what would happen next that kept him going through the pain; that and the plot for his next practical joke.

I could not have had a better Father, in that I won the lottery. Happy Father’s Day Dad - thank you for the laughter, the curiosity, the extra large dose of common sense and the good hair.

There’ll be no Hell for dogs - or for my father.

Fact For Today

On this day in 1922, Canadian physiologist Frederick Bantining patented insulin. Bantining shared the Nobel prize a year later for his work on this life-saving discovery.

Genealogy: Databases and the Internet at the Seattle Central Library

Learn how to use the electronic databases and Internet resources found on the Seattle Public Library's Web site to search for your ancestors from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Thursday, June 7.

Two online subscription databases, HeritageQuest and AncestryPlus, are the focus of this workshop.

Everyone is welcome. Registration is required. Please call (206) 386-4636 to register. This tour will meet at the Reference Desk on Level 9. Parking for one to two hours in the Central Library parking garage will be available for $6.

No Place To Run To Baby, No Place To Hide!

Just when you thought the one place you would be safe from temptation of the edible sort was the public library, the Seattle Central Library changes all that.

Starting this month, Seattle-based Chocolati will operate a coffee cart in The Norcliffe Foundation Living Room on Level 3 of the Central Library. The cart will offer a variety of coffee drinks, hot chocolate, baked goods and sandwiches. The company also will provide its own high-quality, hand-made chocolate goods.


I really really need to go to this event on June 13, but I'm not sure I can avoid the chocolate cart when it calls my name.

:: Event - Author Readings/Lectures

:: Where - *Central Library

:: Level, RoomLevel 1, Microsoft Auditorium

:: Full Description - KUOW Public Radio's Marcie Sillman talks with award-winning Northwest writers about the influence of the West in their work.

-- Kathleen Alcalá's latest is "The Desert Remembers My Name: On Family and Writing.

-- A Sudden Country," Karen Fisher's debut novel, tells a love story set on the Oregon Trail of 1847.

-- Linked poems in the voices of pioneer women and children form Jana Harris's "We Never Speak of It: Idaho-Wyoming Poems, 1889-1900.

-- In Kirby Larson's Newbery Honor book, "Hattie Big Sky," a strong young woman homesteader tries to prove up on her uncle's Montana claim,

Presented with The Elliott Bay Book Co. Books will be available for purchase and signing.Library events and programs are free and everyone is welcome. Tickets or reservations are not required. Parking in the Central Library garage will be available for a $5 special event rate. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m.

:: Contact - Central Library 206-386-4636 or Ask a Librarian

Creativity - I Know It When I See It!

The footnoteMaven has been under the weather for the last few weeks and the blog has suffered. I apologize.

I love the Carnival and although I was unable to write for it, I wanted to share the most creative thing I have found in site seeing on the web.

I hope my blogging friends will forgive me and enjoy this beautifully made video. I think it would be terrific if something similar was done using our own family photos.

Susan, what do you think, could it be done? I'd love to see my great grandmother morph into my grandmother, then into my mother, then me, and then my daughter.

Video - 500 Years of Female Portraits in Western Art by the EggMan.

I Once Was Egg
I Once Was Man
As Two Became One
The EggMan Began

Be sure to check out EggMan's A Collection of Historical Nineteenth Century Photographs from the American Civil War. The Ken Burns effect done exceptionally well. It shows just what could be done with that old box of photos.

Bring Your Family Together - At A June Genealogy Event Near You

Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, FSA/OWI Collection, [reproduction number, LC-USF34-005010-D (b&w film nitrate neg.)]

Saturday 2 June
"Dating and Identifying Old Photographs" - Karen Wallace Steely of The Past Matters
Shoreline Public Library at 345 NE 175th, Shoreline
Lecture begins at 10.00am. Admission is free.
Visit Puget Sound Chapter of the Association of Professional Genealogists for more information.

Saturday 2 June SOLD OUT
MOHAI Puget Sound Gardens - From Wilderness to Landscape - Kathy Mendelson
Historic Garden Tour: Volunteer Park: Beauty by Historic Design
Volunteer Park (South Entrance) at 14th Avenue East and East Prospect Street, Seattle
Program runs from 10.00am – 12.00noon
Visit Volunteer Park, the crown jewel of Seattle’s famed Olmsted parks, and uncover many of the park’s historic features, including a collection of heritage trees, the conservatory, remnants of Seattle parks’ first nursery, heirloom plants, and more.
MOHAI members $12 - General public $15. Advance tickets available at www.brownpapertickets.com, or call 1-800-838-3006.
Visit MOHAI for more information.

Saturday 2 June
SKCGS Task Force Planning Meeting
Kent Library at 212 2nd Avenue N. Kent
Meeting runs from 10.30am to 1.00pm.
Visit South King County Genealogical Society for more information.

Saturday 2 June
MOHAI First Saturday Family Program “Native Vision” – Living Voices
McCurdy Park at 2700 24th Ave. E, Seattle
Program runs from 11.00am – 12.00noon
Kids free with adult admission.
Visit Living Voices and MOHAI for more information.

Tuesday 5 June
SKCGS Board Meeting
Greater Kent Historical Society (Bereiter House) at 855 E Smith Street, Kent
Meeting runs from 7.00pm – 9.00pm
Visit South King County Genealogical Society for more information.

Wednesday 6 June
Getting the Most out of Indexes - Betty Kay Anderson
Fiske Genealogical Foundation and Library (FGF) at 1644 43RD Ave E, Seattle
Class runs from 10am to 12noon. Admission is $5 or $30 per quarter.
An annual library card with educational privileges is $75.
Visit Fiske Library for more information.

Wednesday 6 June
STATE FOCUS GROUP: NEBRASKA - Millie Saunto. Experiences during the dust bowl years in NE. If you have any questions for Millie please submit them in advance to SGSPresident@gmail.com and join the group for a fascinating presentation.
SGS Library/Office at 6200 Sand Point Way N.E. #101, Seattle (Across from NARA)
Class runs from 1.00pm - 3.00pm. Admission is free.
Visit Seattle Genealogical Society Calendar of Events for more information.

Wednesday 6 June
Out to Lunch Bunch
Newport Bay Restaurant at 17920 So Ctr. Parkway, Tukwila.
Lunch at 1.00pm
Everyone is welcome to join this group.
For additional information please check the WA-SKGS-L mailing list.
Please e-mail or call Jean Fisher at 425-413-6953 if have any questions.
Please let Betty Jasbec know if you plan to come. We need to let the restaurant know how many to plan for. E-mail or call Betty at 253-631-0640.
Visit South King County Genealogical Society for more information.

Thursday 7 June
MOHAI First Thursday
McCurdy Park at 2700 24th Ave. E, Seattle
Hours 10:00am - 8:00pm
Enjoy free admission and extended hours on First Thursday!
Visit MOHAI for more information.

Thursday 7 June
SKCGS The Legacy Users Group
Church of Latter-Day Saints at 24419-94th Ave. So., Kent
Meeting runs 10.30am to 12noon.
Visit South King County Genealogical Society for more information.

Thursday 7 June
MAC Computer Interest Group - The Mac Group members meeting is open to all; bring your laptop and your questions.
dBug Resource Center, 9620 Stone Avenue North, Suite 202, Seattle
Meeting runs from 7.00pm - 9.00pm. Admission is free.
Visit Seattle Genealogical Society Calendar of Events for more information.
dBug Macintosh Downtown Business User Group.

Saturday 9 June
Taking care of your "HERITAGE" items - The curator of Ryan House in Sumner will give tips on how to preserve and care for those family treasures.
Heritage Quest Research Library (HQRL) at 909 Main St. Suite 5, Sumner
Class runs from 9.00am to 11.00am. Admission is $10.
Visit Heritage Quest Research Library for more information.

Saturday 9 June SOLD OUT
MOHAI Puget Sound Gardens From Wilderness to Landscape - Kathy Mendelson
Historic Garden Tour: Kubota Gardens: Reinventing the Art of Japanese Gardens
Meet at garden gate located next to the parking lot. For driving directions, visit: http://www.kubota.org/directions.htm
Program runs from 10.00am – 12.00noon
Fujitaro Kubota, a master landscaper, came to Seattle from Japan, and later established his Kubota Gardening Company in 1923. He pioneered a new garden style, one that applied Japanese traditions to Northwest landscapes. The best of his designs used sophisticated plant combinations, rocks, streams, ponds, and borrowed scenery to create elegant landscapes. This tour will explore the Kubota Garden and its historical origins. It will also reveal how Kubota’s vision influenced mid-century gardens from ordinary backyards to estate gardens, including the Bloedel Reserve and Dunn Gardens.
MOHAI members $12, General public $15. Advance tickets available at www.brownpapertickets.com, or call 1-800-838-3006.
Visit MOHAI for more information.

Saturday 9 June
Immigration and Naturalization
NARA-Pacific Alaska Region at 6125 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle
Learn the sources and methods for finding immigration and United States citizenship records. Covers online sources as well as the good old "paper trail" methods. Find out how to connect an immigrant with his homeland.
Class runs from 10.00am to 12.30pm. Admission is $10.
Visit NARA's Pacific Alaska Region for more information.

Saturday 9 June
Computer Interest Group: GenSmarts Genealogical Research Tool" - Tim Dooley and Dave Ault
Lake City Branch of the Seattle Public Library, 12501 28th Ave. NE, Seattle
Class runs from 10.30am - 12.30pm. Admission is free.
Visit Seattle Genealogical Society Calendar of Events for more information.

Saturday 9 June
Methods for Finding and Using NARA Records
NARA-Pacific Alaska Region at 6125 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle
Learn the organization and retrieval methods for original documents, microfilmed records and digital documents (online) at NARA. Ways of using these valuable documents will be demonstrated as well. For genealogists, classroom teachers, home-schooler's, and writers... anyone needing to know more about our records.
Class runs from 1.30pm to 4.00pm. Admission is $10.
Visit NARA's Pacific Alaska Region for more information.

Sunday 10 June
Duwamish Tribe - 1st Annual Gala Dinner and Art Auction
MOHAI at McCurdy Park at 2700 24th Ave. E, Seattle
Event runs from 4.30pm – 8.30pm
Performances with Gene Tagaban, the Little Big Band, and T’ilishubdub, a silent auction of art, and full Duwamish dinner. Tickets at brownpapertickets.com or 800-838-3006 for reception only or full feast. Proceeds support the Duwamish tribe.
Visit MOHAI for more information.

Monday 11 June
"Opportunities for Genealogy Research in the JGSWS Library," - Rabbi Doug Slotnick
Stroum Jewish Community Center, Auditorium at 3801 East Mercer Way, Mercer Island
Class time 7.00pm. Admission is free for JGSWS members, $5 for nonmembers.
Visit Jewish Genealogical Society of Washington State (JGSWS) for more information.

Wednesday 13 June
Vital records at State Level on the Web - Charlotte Kennedy
Fiske Genealogical Foundation and Library (FGF) at 1644 43RD Ave E, Seattle
Class runs from 10.00am to 12noon. Admission is $5 or $30 per quarter.
An annual library card with educational privileges is $75.
Visit Fiske Library for more information.

Thursday 14 June
SKCGS TMG Users Group
Algona-Pacific Library at 255 Ellingson Rd, Pacific
Meeting runs 1.00pm to 3.00pm
Note location change for this meeting.
Visit South King County Genealogical Society for more information.

Thursday 14 June
“Using Interlibrary Loans for Genealogical Research” - John LaMont, Genealogy Librarian
Bellevue Regional Library at 1111 110th Avenue NE, Bellevue
Meeting at 7.00pm. Supply table opens at 6.30pm.
Visit Eastside Genealogical Society for more information.

Saturday 16 June
SKCGS Interlibrary Loan and PERSI – Seattle Public Library
First Baptist Church of Kent at 11420 SE 248th St, Kent
Meeting runs from 9:30 a.m. - 12:00 noon.
Visit South King County Genealogical Society for more information.

Saturday 16 June
SGS Annual Membership Meeting - SGS Library
SGS Library/Office at 6200 Sand Point Way N.E. #101, Seattle (Across from NARA)
Meeting begins at 1.00pm.
Recognition of SGS volunteers, installation of Officers and Directors for the coming year, and a thank you to those who are leaving the board. As a special treat a 30-minute video will be shown that documents the Great Seattle Fire in June of 1889, including interviews with two eyewitnesses to the fire which really bring history to life!
Visit Seattle Genealogical Society Calendar of Events for more information.

Tuesday 19 June
SKCGS Computer Interest Group
Auburn Library at 1102 Auburn Way S., Auburn
Meeting runs from 6.30pm to 8.30pm.
Visit South King County Genealogical Society for more information.

Monday 25 June
SKCGS Heritage Photo Interest Group
Auburn Fire Department at 1101 D St NE, Auburn
Meeting runs from 6.30pm - 8.30pm. Admission is free.
Visit South King County Genealogical Society for more information.

Saturday 30 June
Good Old Summertime
MOHAI at McCurdy Park at 2700 24th Ave. E, Seattle
Event runs from 11.00am – 3.00pm
Celebrate summertime with MOHAI! Bring the family and enjoy antique-fire truck rides, sack races, a pie eating contest, a Dixieland band, bubbles, folk toys and whistles and much more! ALL FREE! Including museum admission.
Visit MOHAI for more information.