The Irish Army Census of 1922 –the year the Irish National Army was formed- just celebrated its 90th anniversary.  The Anglo-Irish Agreement stipulated that with regard to strength,that the force could not exceed the size of the military establishments maintained in Great Britain as that which the population of Ireland bears to the population of Great Britain. Without accurate information, headquarters staff could not adequately estimate pay bills, feed, clothe or procure weapons or even determine how many troops they had at their disposal. By October 1922 the Army Council had decided that a Census of the National Forces would be taken as at midnight 12/13^th November.

The census hasn’t been transcribed, so you’ll need to have some idea of where your relative might have been based in 1922

The census has been placed on the Irish Military Archives Website:

click on: http://tinyurl.com/cb7fu8a

original url:

http://www.militaryarchives.ie/collections/online-collections/military-archives-irish-army-census-records

Jan Meisels Allen
IAJGS Vice President
Chairperson, IAJGS Public Records Access Monitoring Committee

The US Library of Congress released over 1,600 color photographs from the USA’s  World War II era, past. Usually photographs from that time period were in black and white not  in color.  The images were made between 1939 and 1944.  The  pictures depict life in the United States, including Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, with a focus on rural areas and farm labor, as well as aspects of World War II mobilization, including factories, railroads, aviation training, and women working.

To learn more about the exhibit read: http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/fsac/

To read an article on the exhibit go to:  http://tinyurl.com/bp64ko3

http://tinyurl.com/yvao7a

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/bounty-photos-fete-america-world-war-ii-era-article-1.1212000

The actual photographs are located at:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/sets/72157603671370361/

Thank you to Dick Eastman for alerting us to this article in Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter about this article.

Jan Meisels Allen
IAJGS Vice President
Chairperson, IAJGS Public Records Access Monitoring Committee

JewishGen, (www.jewishgen.org), the most visited non-profit Jewish genealogical website, and an affiliate of the Museum of Jewish Heritage – a Living Memorial to the Holocaust, is proud to announce our new Yizkor-Books-in-Print Project. The purpose of this project is to publish memorial books in English to make them available to a wider audience. Our intent is for this unique series to be a major source for genealogical research and teaching about the now extinct Jewish communities of Europe.

The books offer an opportunity to learn more about your ancestral village by providing information seldom found in genealogical data. Through personal accounts, they detail the history, the rich cultural life, the institutions, personalities, and organizations that existed in your town as well as giving an account of the destruction of the particular Jewish community by the Nazis during World War II.

We believe these books will be a fine addition to anyone’s personal library and that of family members. All of the books in the series will be in hard cover, in a similar format, approximately 7” x 10” in size. Following are details of several of the books and a list of others now available and those in the process of publication. There are currently nine books in print, six more in production, and many more to come.

The Destruction of Czestochova (Częstochowa, Poland) was first published in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1949 in Yiddish by survivors and former residents of the town. For the assistance of researchers, the town has also been known as: Częstochowa [Polish], Chenstochov [Yiddish], Tschenstochau [German], Čenstochová [Cz], Chenstokhova [Russian], Chenstokhov, Chestokhova, Tshenstokhov.

A second book in the series is Brzezin: a Memorial Book (Poland) first published in 1961by survivors and former residents, translated from the Yiddish by Renee Miller and coordinated and edited by Fay Vogel Bussgang. The town is also known by these names: Brzeziny [Polish], Bezhezhin [Yiddish], Bzheziny [Russian], Berzin, Brezhin, Breziny, Bzhezini, Bzshezshin, Löwenstadt [German, 1941-45]

 

Other titles now available are:

Orheyev Alive and Destroyed; Memorial Book of the Jewish Community of       Orhei, Moldova

Rozana: a Memorial to the Ruzhinoy Jewish Community (Belarus)

The Book of Zgierz- An Eternal Memorial for a Jewish Community in Poland

Preserving Our Litvak Heritage – Volume I (A History of 31 Jewish         Communities in Lithuania)

Preserving Our Litvak Heritage – Volume II (A History of 21 Jewish        Communities in Lithuania)

Flight to Survival [A companion to The Destruction of Czestochowa.]

Belzec – Stepping Stone to Genocide – A description of the Holocaust.

 

Yizkor Books for the following towns are in the process of publication.

Ostrów Mazowiecka, Poland ,  Ciechanów, Poland, Działoszyce, Poland,  Horodenka, Ukraine

Navahrudak, Belarus, Băcau, Iaşi and Podu Iloaiei, Romania

 

Visit http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/YBIP.html for complete information and to order any or all of the above Yizkor Books

One of the success stories for records access last year was Pennsylvania–Pennsylvania Vital Records Bill SB-361 was signed into law as Act 110 of 2011 on December 15th, 2011 and went into effect on Feb 13th, 2012.  It makes death certificates over 50 years old and birth certificates over 105 years old open records. Another provision was to transfer the certificates to the Pennsylvania State Archives once they become open records–all deaths certificates from 1906 to 1961 and birth certificates from 1906. As each year goes by another year’s worth of birth and death certificates would become open records.

To achieve the goal of the records available online, the State Archives recently signed a contract with Ancestry.com to have the records scanned and made available online. The process started on August 27 with the earliest records -1906 records starting to be transported to the Ancestry.com site in Maryland. After each year is complete it is expected the records will be placed online and data extracted. The whole process is expected to take 18 months and as each batch of records is scanned that particular patch will not be available to patrons.  The contract gives exclusive online access to Ancestry for three years after which the database will be moved to the Pennsylvania State Archives website where it will be free to all. However,  the contract does require that Pennsylvania residents have free access to this particular database on Ancestry. Many libraries and research centers everywhere provide free access to Ancestry.

The data to be extracted includes: dates of birth and death, parents’ names including the mother’s maiden name and hopefully the place of birth.

At this time I do not know when the records will be available on Ancestry.  The information is from PaHR the People for Pennsylvania Historical Records Access, the group that was behind the legislation and led the “fight” for access to records for several years.

For more information go to: http://home.ptd.net/~timarg/PaHR-Access-FAQ.htm and scroll down to ” When Will the Records Be Available Online”.

Thank you to Jan Meisels Allen, IAJGS Vice President for sharing this

A new genetic study of Jews from North Africa led by  Dr. Harry Ostrer,
Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, in New York City,
provided evidence that Middle Eastern Jews settled in the region during
Classical Antiquity, married local populations and formed distinct
populations that remained largely intact for more than 2,000 years.

Dr. Ostrer, has a video where he talks about the study which may  be viewed
at: http://www.einstein.yu.edu/. Dr. Ostrer noted that obtaining a
comprehensive genetic fingerprint of various Jewish subpopulations can help
reveal genetic links to heart disease, cancer, diabetes and other common
diseases. The study found, North African Jews exhibited marriage within
their own religious and cultural group in accordance with custom (endogamy).
Two major subgroups within this overall population were identified:
Moroccan/Algerian Jews and Djerban (Tunisian)/Libyan Jews. The two subgroups
varied in their degree of European mixture, with Moroccan/Algerian Jews
tending to be more related to Europeans-most likely stemming from the
expulsion of Sephardic Jews from Spain during the Inquisition, starting in
1492.  To read the press release go to: http://tinyurl.com/9gzp7q4

original url:
http://www.einstein.yu.edu/news/releases/824/new-study-defines-the-genetic-map-of-the-jewish-diasporas/

The study was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of
Science and may be obtained for a fee at: http://tinyurl.com/93talwy

original URL:
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2012/07/31/1204840109.full.pdf+html?sid=df1abe4e-cac7-4e53-9c06-cbdd88c82200

In a previous study by in 2010, Dr. Ostrer, found that Jews from the major
Diaspora groups formed a distinct population cluster, albeit one that is
closely related to European and Middle Eastern non-Jewish populations. The
genetic analysis showed that the two major groups, Middle Eastern Jews and
European Jews, diverged from each other approximately 2,500 years ago.
Information on that study may be found at: http://tinyurl.com/93fth7p

original url:
http://www.einstein.yu.edu/news/releases/509/study-finds-genetic-links-among-jewish-people/

Jan Meisels Allen IAJGS Vice President Chairperson, IAJGS Public Records 
Access Monitoring Committee brings us the following ingformation:

The (USA) National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) will open a 
new exhibit on June 15 on immigration entitled, "Attachments: Faces and 
Stories from America's Gates". It will run through September 4, 2012.  The 
information is not yet posted on their website (they only have information 
through May as of this posting) http://www.archives.gov/calendar/.

"Attachments" tells the stories of 31 men, women, and children who found 
themselves at the gateways to America between 1880 and the end of World War 
II.  Their stories are told through original documents and photographs that 
were "attached" to government forms, and draw from a few of the millions of 
immigration case files at the National Archives.

The exhibit is divided into three sections;  Entering, Leaving and Staying. 
Examples of the 31 people one would "meet" in the exhibit include:

 1.  A young Polish child - whose parents are murdered by the Nazis - hides 
for two years in the Polish forests with an uncle and cousin.  The boy 
survives the war but then spends six years in four refugee camps.  Finally, 
in 1951, he is able to leave Germany and comes with his cousin to the U.S. 
He ends up in Cleveland, Ohio, where he is placed in a foster family, and 
becomes a U.S. citizen..

2.  A woman from Michigan, married to a Chinese man, who learns upon trying 
to leave the country that under U.S. law at the time, when she married her 
husband, she lost her U.S. citizenship and "became Chinese" for immigration 
purposes.

3. A Hawaiian boy taken by his parents to Japan who returns years later 
wanting to work in California.  However, U.S. immigration officers doubt his 
story and detain him at Angel Island, despite his Hawaiian birth 
certificate.

4. A Chinese woman who sails for the U.S. in 1927 with her new husband. The 
couple devises strategies that allow them to successfully negotiate 
prejudices about Chinese women trying to enter the country for immoral 
purposes. Seventy years later, their granddaughter discovers their wedding 
photograph in her grandmother's immigration file.

If you are planning a trip to the Washington D.C. area this summer--this is 
an exhibit that is worth a trip to the National Archives.

The latest news from Jan Meisels Allen IAJGS Vice President Chairperson, IAJGS Public Records Access Monitoring Committee:

"House Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Charles Boustany, Jr., 
MD (R-LA) and Social Security Subcommittee Chairman Sam Johnson (R-TX) 
announced that the Subcommittees on Oversight and Social Security will hold 
a hearing on tax fraud involving identity theft. The hearing will take place 
on Tuesday, May 8, 2012, in 1100 Longworth House Office Building, beginning 
at 10:00 A.M EDT.  Oral testimony at this hearing will be from invited 
witnesses only. However, any individual or organization not scheduled for an 
oral appearance may submit a written statement for consideration by the 
Committee and for inclusion in the printed record of the hearing. We have 
been advised that the only invited presenters will be from government 
agencies.  See: http://tinyurl.com/7qnot8h
Original
url:http://waysandmeans.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=293590

Anyone may watch the hearing by going to the committee website listed above
and following the instructions for watching the video at the time of the
hearing or clicking on committee videos on the lower left side..

For Processing Year 2011, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) reported
detecting approximately 940,000 tax returns potentially filed by identity
thieves and prevented issuing $6.5 billion in fraudulent tax refunds.
Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA)  found that
fraudulent refunds acquired through identity theft are significantly greater
than the amounts detected. The use of the Death Master File (DMF) also known 
as the Social Security Death Index (SSDI) has been purchased by other
government agencies, financial institutions, life insurance companies,
credit reporting organizations, data aggregators, medical researchers,
genealogists and others; and purchasers are free to re-disclose the data
they obtain. This hearing will explore a major source of the problem -
identity thieves who steal Social Security numbers to engage in tax fraud.

This joint subcommittee hearing has been expected since the February 2, 2012 
hearing before the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Social Security.  To 
read the IAJGS statements submitted following the February 2 hearing and the 
Senate Finance Committee hearing submitted following the March 20 hearing 
see www.iajgs.org and look at the latest Legislative Alert dated March 28, 
2012 under "legislation" on the green tab on the left."

You will need to register, but there is no charge to do so or to do a search.   http://www.genteam.at/ Felix Gundaker a genealogist who is part of GenTeam, Austria’s largest genealogical database, writes a description of their newest update:

New at GenTeam: about 2 Million new entries

1. Auto-complete function for enquiries of the databases.
2. New indices of Catholic matrices from Lower and Upper Austria, Burgenland, Styria and Bohemia
3. New Slovenian database

 

In Our Own Interest:

With today’s new online databases, the users now have more than 6,9 million entries at their disposal.  Since January 2010, more than 15,500 users have registered with GenTeam.  Aproximately 80% of all users turn regularly to the databases and use them several times a month for their research. Because of technical reasons an overal search can need a few seconds – we work on responding faster

I would like to express here my gratitude to all who have furnished data to GenTeam in the last 26 months or have worked on long-term projects, but I also would like to thank those who have invisibly supported the build-up and the successful functioning of GenTeam.

GenTeam is free of charge, a non-profit organization, and not bound on any membership fees.  GenTeam is a group of historians and genealogist, who work independently or as a team on databases and who furnish these databases free of charge to hobbyists and other researchers.

1. 1.   Auto-complete Function When Inquiring The Databases

We all know the problems of phonetically written variants of surnames (and are very familiar with typing mistakes in databases) which are often cumbersome and hard to overcome.

GenTeam has installed the Auto-Complete Function which works independently of search keywords like: “is the same”, “begins with” and the standard-function “contains”.  If a search contains 3 letters of a surname, a window opens with all names in which the three letters are contained.  If you add a fourth letter, the number of names are reduced to the names in which these four letters are contained, and so forth.  Therefore, one can recognize and chose easily phonetic-similar names.

This function was also installed for given names as well as for indices of places.

2.   New Indices extracted from Roman Catholic Matrices (Vital Statistics):

 Entries from Catholic Matrices from Lower and Upper Austria, Burgenland, Styria and Bohemia were added. Therefore, researchers now have more than 1.25 million entries at their disposal.

Indices were added from:

Lower Austria: Bockfließ, Drasenhofen, Emmersdorf, Gaweinsthal, Geras, Großharras, Hohenberg, Hohenreich, Hohenwarth, Karlstetten, Karlstift, Ladendorf, Niedersulz, Schweiggers, Traunfeld, Ulrichskirchen, Wieselburg, Wolfpassing

Upper Austria:  Maria Neustift, Münzbach, and Saxen

Bohemia: Graslitz

Burgenland: Krensdorf

Styria: Baptismal Index of the important parish Mariazell

I would like to express my cordial thanks to Ursula Baldemaier, Mag. Fritz Eichler, Sabine Grünberger, Maria Schmutzer, Martina Schulz, Judith Starke, Franz Spevacek, and Theodora Winkler for their superb collaboration.

I also would like to thank especially the “Heraldische Genealogische Gesellschaft Adler” (Heraldic Genealogic Association Adler), who furnished GenTeam the

Josef-Heider-Indices from Upper Austria.

  3. Slovenia – database of baptisms and marriages

This database, consisting  throughout of Catholic entries of baptisms and marriages, was furnished by the Society Slovensko rodoslovno društvo in Laibach.  Since the database  contains ancestors of specific senders or sources, it contains also living descendants. Questions concerning further data or information of specific names or sources can be found under the following link: srd@guest.arnes.si.

Caution: there still exist some errors concerning conversions of family names which will be continually corrected.

At GenTeam, Austria´s largest genealogical database, you will find about  7  Million entries:

—  Marriage Index of Vienna and surroundings between 1542 and 1860

—  Civil Marriages of Vienna between 1870 and 1908

—  Indices of Protestant marriages of Vienna Augsburger Confession (Augsburger Bekenntnis) and Helvetian Confession (Helvetisches Bekenntnis) between 1783 – 1879

—  Indices from the Jewish Cultural Community (Israelische Kultus- Gemeinde) Vienna between 1826 – 1910

—  Withdrawals from Judaism in Vienna between 1868 -1914

—  Converts in Vienna between 1782 – 1914

—  Forced Baptisms in the Vienna Foundling Home 1816-1868

—  Obituaries from the Neuen Freien Presse 1864-1938

—  Obituaries from Pester Lloyd 1870-1910

—  Obituaries from the Prager Tagblatt  1877-1938

—  Obituaries from Tyrolean Daily Newspapers 1815-1919

—  Index Collection from Catholic Church Registries 1590 – 1921

—  Index Collection from Protestant Church Registries 1627-1784

—  Index Collection of Jewish Matrices 1784 – 1925

—  Index Collection of Manorial Records  in Lower Austria

—  Index Collection of Catholic Church Registries from Slovenia

—  Owners of parcels in Lower Austria 1817

—  Memorial Cards from both World Wars

—  Medical Practitioners from Vienna

—  Index of the Biographical Works of Wurzbach

—  Registry of all Mills in Cisleithania 1876

—  Index of the Civil Registry of Nuremberg 1810 -1979

—  Index of Converts from the Waldviertel 1652 -1654

—  Membership Index of various Lodges 1783 – 1936

—  Skinners of Central Europe

—  General Index of Siebmacher’s Heraldic Lists

—  Gazetteer of Czech Republic, Austria along with South Tyrol, and Slovenian Republic

From Jan Meisels Allen:

Canada has a 92 year privacy rule for release of its census. The census is 
in the possession of Statistics Canada. After the 92 years, the records are 
transferred to the Library and Archives of Canada which will release the 
census for public use. The June 1st 1921 census will be transferred June 1st 
2013, but it will take some to record, catalogue, and scan and put the 
images on line...therefore  public access will not occur until sometime 
later.

Some interesting findings in the census: the overall population of Canada 
was 8,788,483 individuals and there were 5 schedules with 565 questions.  To 
read more go to:http://tinyurl.com/73wccbt
original url:
 http://thediscoverblog.com/2012/03/27/1921-census-countdown/

Thank you to Dick Eastman and the Eastman Online Genealogy Newsletter for 
alerting us to this upcoming census release!

Jan Meisels Allen, the IAJGS VP  and Chairperson of Public Records Access Monitoring Committee alerts us to the following:

 

An updated IAJGS Legislative Alert has been posted to the IAJGS website: www.iajgs.org  and click on left hand green button "Legislation" then on latest alert.

The alert contains information on the IAJGS statement for the record for the US Senate Finance Committee Subcommittee on Fiscal Responsibility and 
Economic Growth regarding our position on maintaining public access to the Social Security Death Index (SSDI).  On page one go to the first topic under 
the "red box " entitled: Genealogical Community Under Attack: Potential Loss of Access to Social Security Death Index (SSDI). There is also information 
regarding the membership of the Subcommittee.

The genealogical community leadership as represented by the Records Preservation and Access Committee (RPAC) of which IAJGS is one of the voting 
members--along with FGS and NGS, decided that it was time to be pragmatic and start negotiating. We know from the House Subcommittee hearing on 
February 2nd that they and the Administration wanted no public access or as Social Security Administrator Astrue said in his House testimony 
genealogists could wait 75 years...while Senator Nelson's bill had a two year wait (the year of death and the following year when people submit their 
tax returns).  This is a much more reasonable approach even though we strongly believe there should be immediate public access-and genealogists 
are not the cause of identity theft.  It is obvious that the identity theft issue makes good politics in an election year, and we-the genealogical 
leadership--FGS, IAJGS and NGS decided after much consultation between ourselves and talking with others that we would support the 2 year 
compromise with the caveat that certain genealogists would be eligible for certification for immediate access- such as forensic genealogists, heir 
researchers etc.  The RPAC statement on this position is posted at www.fgs.org/rpac.

Other updates in this Legislative Alert dated March 28 include updates on legislation that have been signed into law for Maine (LD 1627) regarding 
marriage applications,  and Virginia (SB660) reducing the wait period for marriage, divorce and death records and more, and amended legislation still 
in committee, Kentucky SB 54 regarding access to records and establishing a waiting period of 70 years for marriage records.  For these updates scroll 
down to the state alphabetically in the report.

As we learn more about the SSDI issue, and as other legislative actions are taken on access to vital records the legislative alert will be updated and 
reported.

From Jan Meisels Allen:

 

Many of us who do newspaper research have used the Google archives for many 
years.  During the past year it has been more difficult --to find it on 
their website because in May 2011 Google announced it was stopping its 
archival project.  Recently, Google has had a change of heart and their 
archives may now be found at: http://news.google.com/newspapers . 
Previously, Google stated  they would not be providing any further features 
or functionality to the Google News Archives and were  no longer accepting 
new microfilm or digital files for processing. The change of heart to start 
more sites etc. is welcome.The site contains about 2,000 historic newspapers 
predominately from the United States and Canada.  Google has also announced 
a new digitiazation project with the Mons, Belgium (Mundaneum) Museum for 
their archives.

More about this can be read in Genealogy In Time Magazine. 
http://tinyurl.com/7sg253l  or original URL: 
http://www.genealogyintime.com/NewsStories/2012/Q1/a%20restarted%20google%20newspaper%20archive%20page1.html.

The Jewish Genealogy Society in partnership with the Jewish Historical Society of Greater Washington is raising funds to design, print, and distribute a new brochure about Jewish history in Arlington National Cemetery (ANC). It will includes information about prominent Jews, such as Admiral Hyman Rickover, Gladys Noon Spellman, and sculptor Sir Moses Ezekiel, buried in the Cemetery. It also discusses Jewish burial rites in relation to the Cemetery and touches on the history of Jews in the military. Special monuments like those for the Space Shuttle astronauts, Confederate soldiers, and the new Jewish Chaplains Memorial will be included.

As many of you are no doubt aware, in 2008 JGSGW embarked on a project to index the Jews at rest in Arlington National Cemetery. Our team of volunteers walked the grounds of the cemetery and photographed all markers bearing a Magen Dovid, We created a database with the information culled from the markers and from publicly available records at the cemetery. A searchable website at http://anc.jgsgw.org/index.htm was created and the data and photos were also donated to the JewishGen Online Worldwide Burial Registry (JOWBR). We currently have entries for 5,219 Jews buried in ANC.

Beginning several years earlier, the Jewish Historical Society began to host tours of the Jewish sites and history at ANC. To enhance this experience, JGSGW created a brochure about the highlights. Now, JGSGW and JHSGW have joined resources to create a new brochure that will be available to interested visitors at the cemetery. In March, 2012, the Board of Directors of the Jewish Genealogy Society of Greater Washington voted to donate $3,000 to this effort and we hope that our members and friends will help us reach the goal of $10,00. To honor the Jews interred in the cemetery, we are seeking donations of $50, $100, $250, or $500.

JGSGW is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. Donations may be tax-exempt. Consult with your tax advisor for details. If you work for a company that has matching funds, please request a corporate matching donation.

Donations may be sent to:    ANC Fund, c/o JGSGW, P.O. Box 1614, Rockville, MD 20849

Within the next two weeks, a representative from the Executive Council of Jewish Genealogy Society of New York will be at a meeting regarding the DORIS/DCAS merger to be held at City Hall with representatives from the Mayor’s office.

The New York City Council has proposed legislation that would eliminate the autonomy of New York City’s Department of Records and Information Services (DORIS), the agency that is responsible for the records and archival documents produced by past and present City governments. The proposed legislation would place the currently independent agency within the Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS), repealing Chapter 72 of the New York City Charter.

We, the undersigned, are opposed to this legislation (Int. 486-2011), which would significantly downgrade the authority of the Department of Records and Information Services (DORIS) within City government and potentially put at risk its ability to preserve, protect and make accessible the intellectual legacy of one of the world’s greatest cities.

If you agree with the stated purpose and have not already signed the petition, please do so now.

Here is the link with more details:

https://nycarchivists.wufoo.com/reports/-int-no-4862011-signon-letter-/

See the names of those who have already signed and the number of organizations they represent. The issues do not impact only people who live in New York.  Researchers from all over are banning together to “support the preservation of DORIS as an autonomous records agency with financial support and professional respect it deserves.”

Please take a minute to sign this very important petition.  It can help make a huge difference if you do.  Every signature counts.

From Jan Meisels Allen, the  IAJGS Vice President Chairperson, IAJGS Public Records Access Monitoring Committee

An updated IAJGS Legislative Alert has been posted for Maine, New York City and Virginia. To learn more, go to the IAJGS website for the latest alert: www.iajgs.org click on the left hand button “legislation” and hover your mouse and then click on Latest Alert.

New York City

For those interested in accessing New York City vital records from the New York City Municipal Archives, there is an attempt with legislation pending in the New York City Council that will eliminate the autonomy of New York City’s Department of Records and Information Services (DORIS). DORIS is the agency that is responsible for the records and archival documents produced by past and present City governments. The proposed legislation (Int. 486-2011) would place the currently independent agency within the Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS). To follow the bill’s progress and read the bill go to: http://tinyurl.com/4orgbfb. IAJGS has reported on this legislation previously, but now there appears to be action, therefore, please read the important information from The Archivist’s Roundtable of New York on what is being done.

Maine

Maine LD 1627 has hearing scheduled in Judiciary for February 29. This bill would add marriage applications to the requirements for accessing vital records and the genealogical community has requested that marriage applications be added to the existing law permitting genealogists obtaining a researcher card. Virginia SB 660 Senate Substitute latest information on recent House action and resulting tabling of SB 309 and SB 310 as their provisions are included in SB 660. SB 660 would reduce waiting time for marriage and death records to 25 years along with other requirements.

The National Archives (USA), with its partner Archives.com, launched its new 
website www.1940census.archives.gov in preparation for its first-ever online 
U.S. census release, which will take place on April 2, 2012, at 9 a.m. 
(EST). The public is encouraged to bookmark the website now in order to more 
quickly access the 1940 census data when it goes live. No other website will 
host the 1940 census data on its April 2 release date.

The National Archives has teamed up with the U.S. Census Bureau to celebrate 
"40 Days to the '40 Census."  which will be using social media outlets to 
get researchers ready. Also follow the National Archives blogs:NARAtions 
(http://blogs.archives.gov/online-public-access/) and Prologue: Pieces of 
History (http://blogs.archives.gov/prologue/).

To find out how to get ready for the 1940 census and learn about a short 
video on behind the scenes read:
http://www.archives.gov/press/press-releases/2012/nr12-70.html

Jan Meisels Allen
IAJGS Vice President
Chairperson, IAJGS Public Records Access Monitoring Committee