Happy Thanksgiving

Altho our northern neighbors like to claim Thanksgiving as their own, there were a number of other places that celebrated a Thanksgiving before Plymouth, Mass in 1621.  Florida is taking the claim currently by saying September 8, 1565 the Spaniards had a Thanksgiving at St. Augustine.   However Texas comes in saying the Spaniards celebrated in Canyon, Texas on May 1541.  The English celebrated thanksgiving in the  Berkeley hundreds Jamestown Virginia in 1619.  I am sure there are others. 

http://www.history.com/news/did-florida-host-the-first-thanksgiving

http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/news/2015/nov/24/letter-thanksgiving-virginia/

Regardless who came first, the Delmar Historical and Arts Society wish you and your family a very Happy Thanksgiving.  We are grateful for the support the community has given us.

Church Cemetery Sign

This Wednesday Afternoon

The Lower Delmarva Genealogical Society and The Laurel Public Library is proud to present

 Nancy E. Lynch

Preserving War Letters: Touchstones of Time

Letters from any war constitute primary source material, first-hand accounts from the battlefield, and provide a unique window on that conflict. Preserving this priceless correspondence as social history for future generations is critical. Learn how—and how not—to safeguard letters from our Delaware troops at war in this lively, interactive program by award-winning journalist Nancy E. Lynch who received nearly 1,000 letters from the frontlines of the Vietnam War for her popular newspaper column.

This event is open to the public and is free.

 

Wednesday afternoon at 2 PM November 18th at the Laurel Public Library In the Mary Wootten Carpenter Room

Sussex County Cousins

I went to a session of Sussex County Cousins at the Laurel Library yesterday.  These are usually good events and this was also good.  The idea is you bring your genealogical information and ask other people attending if they have any of the people you are looking for and you trade information.  About 20 people were there.  The drawback, I have, is my hearing is growing worst each year and with any kind of background noise it makes it impossible for me to hear.  With 20 people talking it did create problems for me.  Some information was added to the data on family members so I got something out of it.  Plan to attend it when it is given again next year.

Adult Services Librarian, Gregg McCullough, gave an overview of the library's Delaware Collection.  Members of the Major Nathaniel Mitchell Chapter, NSDAR  http://delawaredar.org/chapters.htm  ,  gave a brief presentation on DAR, and Gregg gave a brief presentation on C.A.R.  http://www.nscar.org/    and SAR   http://www.sar.org/

The Major Nathaniel Mitchell Chapter of the Delaware DAR provided snacks and information and kept things moving.

Butch Baker, Patty Conklin and The Mason Dixon Auction House 2004

Vietnam Mailbag

Nancy E. Lynch and Rick Lovekin spoke Friday at the Delmar Public library.  Their talk was called "Vietnam Mailbag."   Nancy had a column in the Wilmington News Journal during the Vietnam war in which Delaware military people stationed in Vietnam could write the newspaper and express their opinion. From these hundreds of letter she produced a book called Vietnam mailbag.  Her discussion is based on those letters.

Rick Lovekin was a Huey Helicopter gunner in Vietnam and he shared his outlook on being in Vietnam.  Various show and tell material was displayed. 

Anyone will find her presentation interesting, it is even more so if you are of the age to have lived thru that time period.  The civil unrest in the United States at that time made a number of military people say they preferred to be in Vietnam instead of the United States. 

Nancy will speak again on the 18th of November at the Laurel Public Library.  this time her presentation will be on preserving war time letters.  Both programs are thru a grant from the Delaware Humanities Forum.

Journalist Nancy E. Lynch, author of the award-winning social history, Vietnam Mailbag, Voices From the War: 1968-1972, will speak on “Preserving War Letters, Touchstones of Time” at 2 p.m. Nov. 18 at the Laurel Public Library.

         Sponsored by the Lower Delmarva Genealogical Society and the Laurel Public library and underwritten by a grant from the Delaware Humanities Forum, Lynch’s talk will be at the library at 101 E. 4^th St., Laurel, Del.

         Lynch will discuss the relevance today of selected correspondence from her book, based on nearly 1,000 letters she received from Delaware troops in Vietnam as a columnist with The News Journal in Wilmington, Del..

         War letters, first-hand accounts from the front lines, provide a unique window on that conflict and constitute primary source material. Preserving these priceless letters as social history for future generations is critical she believes.

          After Lynch’s book was published in 2008, she faced the dilemma of how to preserve her letters from Vietnam, believed to be the largest collection of war correspondence ever addressed to one reporter.

         Learn how—and how not—to safeguard letters from any war as well as old family missives, even farm journals, in Lynch’s informative and interactive program. She will provide a handout of resources for the proper disposition of these valuable social records.

         Lynch has written seven books and remains a freelance writer.  A University of Delaware graduate, she lives in Bethel, Del.

Dorchester County Historical Society talk

Terry Neild and Lynne Mills Of The Dorchester County Historical Society

spoke last Wednesday to the Lower Delmarva Genealogical Society.  Between the two, they had a wealth of information they shared with the society regarding the resources the public could use at their headquarters and their own personal genealogical searches.  After listening to them everyone agreed it was worth a trip to Cambridge to make use of their facility.