Am I alone in thinking that the Dr. Henry Lewis Gates show "Finding Your Roots" far outshines, "Who Do You Think You Are?"
Sunday's episode with Barbara Walters and Geoff Canada were supreme examples of name changes. FYR's researcher at the NEHGS actually told how she was looking for a name change by searching with just a first name and using the Soundex.
The same principal was used in searching in the Lodz (sorry for the missing diacritic) Archives in Poland. How did they know what to look for? The tombstone in the Jewish cemetery in New Jersey where Ms. Walter's grandparents were buried included the first names of her great grandfather. In Lodz, the archivist searched for Zvi Geltzer father of Abraham Itzak (Isaac) and finally found them. Both, incidentally were first names. It was tedious work, and isn't that what most of us seasoned genealogists have done - gone page by page and line by line to find that elusive record?
Well done, Dr. Gates.
Copyright 2010-2012, ACK for Gene Notes
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