Thursday, May 29, 2014

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JFK!



Dherbier, Yann-Brice & Pierre-Henri Verlhac. John Fitzgerald Kennedy: a Life in Pictures. New York: Phaidon, 2003.

Today is JFK's birthday (born 29 May 1917). Had he survived his presidency and lived a long life (not likely, given his numerous health problems), he would be 97 years old today.

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THE OSAGE NATION



MISSOURI UNION CIVIL WAR MILITIA ORGANIZATIONS









Tuesday, May 20, 2014

SURVIVING THE SWORD: PRISONERS OF THE JAPANESE



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INTRODUCING SLPL'S WWII FILM SERIES



See it for free on a big screen! Screening includes discussion led by Kit Freudenberg, Acting Director of the National Churchill Museum in Fulton, Missouri.

Thursday, May 15, 2014

OLD SALTS



This class meets this Saturday. I hope to see you there!

Old Salts
17 May 2014
10:30 am--Noon
Central Library
1301 Olive Street
2nd Floor Training Room

More info

SHE ALSO SERVED!



If one of the women in your family served in the military, this reference book in the Stacks at Central Library may prove useful!

Link to SLPL Catalog

WWII RECORDS: A FAMILY HISTORIAN'S GUIDE



One of the many reference books available for consultation in the Genealogy Room at Central Library.

Link to SLPL Catalog

SEARCHES FOR SOLDIER ANCESTORS

SLPL provides access to Ancestry.com for our customers at Central Library and our branches. You may be surprised to find that Ancestry offers access to numerous collections of military records. This access can take the form of:

1. Index only
2. Abstract of a record
3. Digitized version of a register or other publication
4. Link to a third-party database (signified by [WEB])

You can attempt to find a military record by doing an overall search of Ancestry.com, but I suggest that you try a search of Ancestry’s Card Catalog. Keywords to use will vary depending on the nationality of the soldier and the war in question. Following are the results of searches done with the keywords noted:

Note: Case does not matter.

military [587 hits]
military world war I [233 hits]
military world war II [89 hits]
military vietnam [44 hits]
military colonial [7 hits]
military indian [7 hits]
military 1812 [61 hits]
military mexican [5 hits]
military civil war [134 hits]
military confederate [34 hits]
military spanish [11 hits]
military militia [20 hits]
military officers [38 hits]
military navy [37 hits]
military army [66 hits]
military marine [38 hits]

Do keywords used really matter? You betcha! Here are the results of a search for Revolutionary War soldiers:

military revolution [29 hits]
military revolutionary [56 hits]

Ancestry also has some collections that deal with soldiers who served in the armies of other countries.

military UK [58 hits]
military Canada [42 hits]
military Australia [51 hits]
military Germany [45 hits]

Good luck in your military ancestor searching!

Monday, May 12, 2014

BIG WEEK: SIX DAYS THAT CHANGED THE COURSE OF WWII

Available for checkout from Central Library's History & Geography Room:



More recent books on this subject

BOMBER COMMAND

Available for checkout from Central Library's History & Geography Room:



More recent books on this subject

BOOK DONATIONS

Like many people, you don’t want to simply throw books away. You feel that someone will want to read them. And you think that the best place for your books is the public library.

St. Louis Public Library in fact gets offered numerous book donations. So many, in fact, that we simply cannot take them all. This does not mean we don’t think your books are valuable. Of course we do. We are a library! We truly want to help you find a home for your books. A number of organizations in the St. Louis area accept book donations. Some of them can be found here.

As the St. Louis Public Library, we are interested in preserving the history of St. Louis; in building collections that document its history. So we are interested in getting materials about or related to the St. Louis region. An example--we get many requests for St. Louis City high school yearbooks. We have many for various City high schools (past & present) but we have gaps. We would love for people to contact us to see if they have just the ones we need to fill these gaps.

Do you have other St. Louis books or materials? St. Louis neighborhood material, books by local authors, works on St. Louis businesses are other categories that we look for. If you have St. Louis books or materials, check with us.

We also know that some of you may have collected on specific subjects for years, carefully compiling a collection that cannot be found elsewhere. The Library will also consider donations of such unique collections that can complement items we already have. Examples are African-American materials, sheet music, architectural subjects, and family and county histories.

To find out if you can help us-–or if we can help you--call our Collection Development Department (314-539-0330) or Special Collections (314-539-0399).

Book donation form

Saturday, May 10, 2014

WIRELESS WEB

There are now 14 open wireless hotspots to choose from!

St. Louis Public Library offers Open Wireless Web access at these locations:

* Central Library
* Central Express
* Baden
* Barr
* Buder
* Cabanne
* Carondelet
* Carpenter
* Divoll
*Julia Davis
* Kingshighway
* Machacek
* Schlafly
* Walnut Park

From your wireless enabled device you can connect to the ‘SLPL’ wireless network and enjoy the convenience of high-speed web access at any of these 14 locations.

There is no card number or password requirement. Simply connect, and you are free to browse the Web!

Please note that if you need to print documents, you may reserve one of the Library’s computers; or you may register to use our Mobile Print services. For more information on Mobile Printing, ask one of our staff members for assistance.

For details on our Wireless Connectivity ask a staff member for a bookmark flyer at any of our branches.

CENTRAL LIBRARY PARKING

Downtown is busy with shopping, sporting events, restaurants, concerts, and Central Library! We want to make it as easy as possible for you to get to us. There is a large lot at Olive Street and 15th Street available for free parking for those using Central Library. A parking token is needed to raise the gates when exiting. Tokens are available at the Olive Street and Locust Street Issue Desks within Central Library. Check at either desk when you arrive.

If you are parking at a meter, the meters are monitored from 8am until 7pm Monday through Saturday. The meters accept nickels, dimes and quarters. Quarters are your best choice as they are good for 20 minutes. The meters are good for a maximum of 2 hours at a time.

There are also numerous parking lots in the downtown area with various rates.

If you have any questions, please call 314-241-2288 or Ask A Librarian.

Thursday, May 1, 2014

ST. LOUIS OBITUARY INDEX UPDATE

St. Louis Public Library staff have compiled an index for obituaries (written by a reporter); death notices (furnished by the family); and burial permits (usually provide only name, age, and cause of death) appearing in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper.

Years indexed at this time include 1880-1930; 1942-1945; 1960-1970; and 1992-2014. You can check our online index here:

St. Louis Public Library Obits Index

Listings in the index provide year of death, date the obit or death notice appeared in the newspaper, and the page number in that newspaper (occasional index listings do not provide a page number). The index also notes if the listing is a burial permit (*) or obituary (#).

In order to make a copy for you, we will need:

* Name of the deceased
* Exact listing from our index (or exact date of death)
* Your name
* Your mailing address
* Your phone number & email address

If you do not find the persons of interest in our index, there are several things you can do. You can try to find a death date by checking:

* Bellefontaine Cemetery (non-denominational)

* Catholic Cemeteries of St. Louis

* Find a Grave

* Social Security Death Index

* Nationwide Gravesite Locator (for veterans and their spouses)

* Missouri State Archives Death Certificates Database (1910-1963)

If your search finds an exact death date for a person who died in the St. Louis metro-area, we can then do an obit search for you. Please note that our index starts in 1880 because death notices were uncommon prior to that time period.

We can copy up to five obits per request. Wait until you receive those obits before making another request. It is currently taking up to four weeks to fill requests (orders are placed in the queue in the order received--rush orders are not accepted).

In some cases, we can send you a scan of the obits requested. If so, there is no cost to you.

If we are unable for whatever reasons to send a scan of obits requested, we will make print copies and mail them to you with a bill ($1.00 overall for postage & handling plus $0.25 per copy).

If we cannot locate one or more obits you have requested, you will be notified of that fact.

Send your orders to webref@slpl.org, or call us at 314-241-2288.