Military Service Leaves A Trail

We received the following certificate in a group of donated documents and photographs. 

This is a great record that most genealogists would be very pleased to find. 

But, as Paul Harvey used to say, "What about the rest of the story?"

We thought this was an unusual service certificate, 

since the 1924-27 time period contained no particular active military actions. 

Why did he enlist? The key piece of information was "Air Corps."  

We knew Indiana Air National Guard traces its roots to this period, 

and we thought this soldier may be connected to that service. 

Just for fun we visited the Indiana State Archives and talked to Vicki Casteel,

 who did a little more digging. (See below)

Vicki turned up this card for the same individual. 

Notice the dates follow the first Discharge and show he served in the 113th Observation Squadron.

The 113th was part of the 181at Fighter Wing, until 2002 based at Terre Haute.

Is there more to Paul Martin's story?

If this is your family, we recommend you keep looking!!

 

Military Posts Throughout American Settlement

Many of us have ancestors and relatives who were stationed at

or were forced to take protection in one of the hundreds of military posts in the country. 

This new book in our library covers about all of these places 

and might shed some light on your families and their migrations.

Ask for it during your next visit.

 

More Greenlawn Graves?

Those of us in the local history and genealogy scene 

will need to keep a sharp eye on this huge new downtown project, set to start this Spring. 

This area is exactly on top of the former Greenlawn Cemetery 

site at Kentucky Ave. and White River.

 Any Diamond Chain digging over the past 50 years has nearly always turned up some remains. 

Here's looking at you, guys!

 

Photo Challenge And A Fix

We received an interesting photo in the mail, rolled up and in four pieces. 

We talked to Elizabeth Hague, the conservator in the State Archives. 

She suggested adding some humidity before we handled it further.

We made a humidifier box and let the pieces absorb some moisture for a while.

We removed the pieces and put them flat under some weighty volumes.

Now we had a serviceable photo that we could scan and try to use for some additional research. 

Whew!

 

WW2 Black Female Soldiers Overseas

I would be willing to bet that most Americans have no idea that a battalion 

of  African American female soldiers served in Europe during and after World War 2. 

A battalion is a lot of women and all genealogists should keep aware of sources 

that are not specifically genealogy.

The current March issue of Smithsonian magazine, 

available in many public libraries, 

has a long and well illustrated article on the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion. 

The article also mentions that around 6,500 African Americans 

served during WW2 in the Women's Army Corps.

Do not overlook great resources like this one.

 

GSMC Research Files Are Exclusive

We have collected and loaded on our website 
many hundreds of Marion County genealogy research files. 
You will not find these files on the big national sites like Ancestry or FamilySearch. 
If you look there and don't find your folks, take a look at our collection. 
You'll be glad you did!

PS   Our library contains many other unique Marion County resources. 
Visit Us!

 

More Of Our Member Partners

 As always we are indebted to all of our member partners, Thank You!

Can We Scan Your Union Papers?

We found this great union document in Franklin Township 

and it reminded us that we could use a lot more stuff like this. 

Union folks are underrepresented online, so you can help change that. 

Our scanners are standing by!

 

Investigate Collegiate Papers

Every year many thousands of theses and dissertations are produced all over the country. Many of these are focused on local areas. Below are just a sampling of those materials about Indianapolis and Marion County.

 

Franklin Township Schools Items Added

With the cooperation of the Franklin Township Historical Society, 

GSMC has scanned a large group of township school records 

and they are now online in the FREE section of our website. 

Check out these southeast county records!

 

Kokomo-Howard Co. Library Webinar

The Kokomo Library is hosting an African American workshop in person and virtual

on Saturday, Feb. 25th. Go to the library's website to register. 

 

Zoom Land Workshop Feb 13

Finding your ancestors' property can often be a hassle, 

so this workshop might be just the thing to put you on the right track. Check it out.

 

New Photo Gallery On Website

We just activated a new feature on our GSMC website. 

On the home page, click on the Welcome tab in the top left corner, 

then open the "GSMC Photo Gallery" link. 

This will display a series of dated windows as shown below.

These windows contain images from the history of GSMC, 

focusing on events and people who have been part of our operations from 1995 to the present.

 We are seeking additional photos of officers, members, and guests 

who have participated in GSMC's many meetings, conferences, and projects. 

If you have anything like that, email us a copy or bring in photo collections for us to scan. 

This website section is the "genealogy" of GSMC. Thanks!

GSMC Program Feb 11, 1-3 pm

 

Another Angel Donation

Marion County Genealogy Angel Sharon Kennedy is still looking out for local researchers. 

She just donated this great school resource to our GSMC library. 

Any folks out there who have St. John alums in their family? 

Many thanks again, Sharon.