Google Books (52 Weeks to Better Genealogy. No.26)

52 Weeks to Better Genealogy is a series of tasks devised by Amy Coffin. Challenge no.26 was 'Take a stroll through Google Books. Most of us have probably used Google Books in our genealogy research, but have you really taken the time to explore what's there?'

I had used Google Books before, but I had never looked at their section for Magazines, so I started by searching there for ancestry OR genealogy. 'Ancestry Magazine' dominated the search results. To make it easier to find more obscure titles, I changed my search terms to ancestry OR genealogy -"ancestry magazine".

My most interesting find was an article in 'Life' Magazine, 3 Apr 1950, p.89. It is about 81-year-old Gertrude HANSON (in the USA), who combined her hobbies (genealogy and hooking rugs) to produce a beautiful carpet for her stairs. It depicts family houses (with dates) and churches associated with the family. There is a photograph of Mrs. HANSON and the carpet.

I also found references to 'The Rotarian' (official magazine of Rotary International). The August 1980 edition says that the newsletter 'Rota-Gene' provided up-to-date information on genealogical resources and a query section in which members could exchange information.