MOSCOW - DNA tests have positively identified the remains of two children of the last Russian czar, settling a mystery that had long surrounded their fate. The memory of the murdered czarist family is still honored by many in Russia.  
The Russian General Prosecutor’s office says remains found last year in the city of Yekaterinburg have […]

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Census Bureau says the Hispanic population has grown to more than 45 million people, and now represents 15 percent of the total population in the United States.Census Bureau statistics released Thursday show the Hispanic population grew by more than three percent (1.4 million) in the year ending July 1, 2007.
Officials say […]

LOS ANGELES - A Hollywood television director is helping elderly Jewish survivors of the Holocaust.
Zane Busby got her start in Hollywood as an actress, appearing in films and television series. Then she became a director of television comedies.
But curiosity attracted her to another part of the world. In 2001, she decided to visit the towns […]

WASHINGTON - The National Archives will host its fourth annual Genealogy Fair. This year’s program will highlight Federal records located at the National Archives relating to general genealogy, World War I, and the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Sessions will offer guidance on topics including Civil War pension files, Freedmen’s Bureau marriage records, World War I […]

ST. JOSEPH, MISSOURI - April 3 is an important date in the Midwestern city of St. Joseph, Missouri because two historic events happened there on that day, 22 years apart. One involved a short-lived, but thrilling chapter in mail delivery and the other was the cold-blooded murder of a local resident who turned out to […]

WASHINGTON - The Library of Congress has been preparing for the digital age since the 1960’s, when it used early technology to create and share its bibliographic information in electronic form.  In the 1990’s, the library started distributing digitized versions of its treasures to schools and libraries across the United States.  Now, there are millions […]

WASHINGTON - On a number of islands off the coasts of the southern states of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, live the Gullahs, a group many believe is the most authentic African-American community in the U.S.
The Gullahs, also referred to as the Geechee in some parts of the south, are descendants of African slaves and […]

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum says it is ready to begin using an international archive to help families find relatives who went missing in Europe during World War II.The museum recently acquired digital copies of records linked to more than 17 million people who were arrested, deported, forced into slave labor, killed, or […]

WASHINGTON - In New York Harbor lies Ellis Island, which was once an immigration center so prominent that it was known as the Gateway to America. At the height of its activity between 1901 and 1924, inspectors on Ellis Island processed 12 million newcomers to the United States. One in four Americans today can identify […]

WASHINGTON - Twenty, maybe even ten, years ago, one of the easiest questions to answer in America was, “What’s the most common last name in the land?”
The answer was “Smith.” The “Smith” section was the longest in the alphabetized telephone book by far. An awful lot of the first European settlers in the United States […]

HARRISBURG, PA — Take a behind-the-scenes tour or learn how to branch out and research your own family tree during Archives Month, sponsored by the Pennsylvania State Archives.
“This is a unique opportunity for people to learn how Pennsylvania preserves the very fragile and valuable records that chronicle the history of our great commonwealth,” Pennsylvania Historical […]

WASHINGTON - He was a bank robber, a train robber and cold-blooded killer.  But to the poor in the south after the U.S. Civil War, Jesse James was nothing less than a hero. 
Think of it as an early form of gangsta rap.  There are 30 recordings at the Library of Congress in Washington that immortalize […]

MOSCOW - Human bones found near the city of Yekaterinburg are undergoing forensic examination to see if they are the remains of the son of Russia’s last czar. If confirmed, the archaeological find could help answer questions about the fate of Russia’s last royal family, the Romanovs.
Russian Archeologists say they have discovered bones near the […]

WASHINGTON - A new report by the U.S. Census Bureau shows that whites are now in the minority in nearly one in ten U.S. counties. Experts say that increased diversity is helping to offset population losses in a number of rural areas, but it is also creating social tensions in some communities.
The population of the […]

NEW YORK (RFE/RL) — More than 200 Jewish families of Afghan descent live in the New York City borough of Queens — the largest group of Afghan Jews outside of Israel. In Afghanistan, meanwhile, there is officially only one Jew left, Zebolan Simanto, a 45-year old caretaker of a synagogue in Kabul.
The focal point for […]

KEOKUK, IOWA - Every summer tens of thousands of Americans return to old battlefields where their ancestors fought a bloody civil war from 1861 to 1865. They fight as if they are in combat.  But no one gets hurt. So what’s going on?
America’s 19th century civil war – known as ‘the war between the states‘ […]

PEA RIDGE, Ark.– Today, Arkansas Dept. of Parks and Tourism announced a new festival to celebrate the 145th Anniversary of the Battle of Pea Ridge (http://www.arkansas.com/state-federal-parks/national- federal-parks/pea-ridge.asp). The Civil War Ozark Heritage Festival takes place June 7-10 in northwest Arkansas. It will be an annual event leading up to the 150-year anniversary in 2012 of […]

ATLANTA — From July 20 thru 29, the world is set to descend upon Atlanta for the 19th annual National Black Arts Festival (NBAF). The 10-day summer festival — packed with music, theatre, visual arts, dance, spoken word, film and family events — offers something for everyone without regard to race, age or ethnicity.
This year […]

WASHINGTON - Britain’s Queen Elizabeth visited the historic Jamestown Settlement Friday, in the U.S. state of Virginia. Jamestown was the first permanent English colony in what would become the United States. The Queen’s visit is part of commemorations of the Virginia settlement’s 400th anniversary.  
The Queen and her husband, Prince Philip, accompanied by U.S. Vice President […]

WASHINGTON - Thousands of people turned out in Richmond, the capital of the U.S. State of Virginia Thursday, to welcome Britain’s Queen Elizabeth and her husband, Prince Philip. The royal couple’s visit is part of celebrations to mark the 400th anniversary of the Jamestown settlement, the first permanent English colony in the United States.
The 81-year […]

Immigrants More Than Doubled on April 17, 1907
ELLIS ISLAND, N.Y. — April 17, 2007 marks the 100th anniversary of the busiest day in Ellis Island’s history, when 11,747 individuals arrived there to begin new lives in America. A usual day saw some 5,000 immigrants processed. It was the highpoint of 1907 when 1,285,349 immigrants entered […]

WASHINGTON - A new genealogical study shows that a prominent African-American civil rights activist is descended from a slave owned in the mid-nineteenth century by the family of a onetime segregationist U.S. senator.
Former U.S. presidential candidate Al Sharpton said Sunday the discovery was the most shocking moment in his life, triggering a surge of emotions.  […]

WILLIAMSBURG, VIRGINIA — With dynamic reenactments of some of the most pivotal moments in the history of Black culture in America, once-in-a-lifetime musical performances and special events throughout the month of February, Colonial Williamsburg offers parents and children the opportunity to experience Black History Month in new, exciting ways.
“The history of African Americans has influenced […]

WASHINGTON and LINDON, Utah — Archivist of the United States Allen Weinstein and Footnote, Inc. CEO Russell Wilding today announced an agreement to digitize selected records from the vast holdings of the National Archives. The 4.5 million pages that have been digitized so far are now available at www.footnote.com/nara.
This non-exclusive agreement, beginning with the sizeable […]

ARLINGTON, VA — PBS broadcasts programming created by and about African Americans year-round, from drama to public affairs to history to independent film. In celebration of Black History Month, February 2007, PBS will broadcast a lineup of new and encore presentations honoring and exploring African-American history.
NOVA “Forgotten Genius” tells the story of one of the […]