You know the dance. You know you've done it. The one every researcher does after finding something new. The one where you want to jump up and down and shout to everyone that you found the document, contacted a cousin with the family
Bible, made a DNA connection, or found a new branch to your tree. The one that is met with glazed stares and eye rolls.
Celebration Sunday is a place to share your discoveries.
This weekly series enables everyone to tell about their Genealogy Happy Dance moment.
Share by scrolling
down and add your story to the comments section, or you may also link to a blog post about what had you dancing this week.
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| 1940 Columbia, Richland County Census |
My happy dance moment for the week:
Genealogy education is something that I really love. There's always something new to learn and ways to look at records differently to find information about your family.
The last couple of months, I have been taking Michael Strauss' SLIG course
Navigating Federal Records Collections: A Researcher's Guide to Historical Discovery. This past week Micheal taught his session, The New Deal: Putting Your Ancestors to Work.
This section taught us about the ways the government put people back to work after the Great Depression. One of the programs we talked about was the Works Progress Administration, or WPA, as it became widely known. I knew from my paternal great-grandmother's Social Security Application that she worked for the WPA, but I had never done much about looking into what that meant for her.
Michael suggested that we take a look at the 1940 census to see what occupations were listed for our people and what type of work they were doing. If GW was listed, then they were doing government work. In other words, they were participating in one of the New Deal programs.
Remembering my great-grandmother and her SS application, I wondered what the 1940s census recorded about her occupation. Sure enough, she was listed as a Cutter, working for the WPA. GW for government work is in the box.
Looking above her to her husband, my paternal grandfather, Jubal, is also listed as doing government work. That was brand new information to me. See, it says that he was a Timber Estimator for Santee Cooper. But I had never noticed that GW next to it, Jubal had worked in the logging business for years, so I didn't pay close enough attention when I first read this record. I did not know that the Santee Cooper, one of the largest electric companies in the State of SC, was participating in a government program to help put people back to work.
Thanks to Michael and his course, I now have a new direction for finding records for my great-grandparents. And I got a reminder to go back over your documents. You never know what you have learned that helps you to discover new things!
What were you celebrating?
Share your Happy Dance Moment for the week, and let's celebrate together!
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