Follow Friday – What Caught my Eye (& Ear) June 8, 2012

* I really enjoyed Sir Paul McCartney singing the old songs he listened to growing up. Good background music for research. I especially like this one, although it is a song I had not heard before.

* Elliot Malkin has a unique vision of preserving his family stories. Check out his Everything I Know About Hyman Victor, Mother’s History of Birds, and Home Movie Reconstructions.

* This week I  was looking for information about life in the County of Durham, England during the 1800s. I had hoped to write a comprehensive post about my great-grandfather in honor of the 145th anniversary of his birth. Instead, I spent waaaay too much time watching these videos. There are lots of them to view – here’s  a list of the 129 videos from DurhamTelly. Not all are vintage footage, but many are.

* And I learned a lot about the history of coal mining in Britain from this series of vintage footage!

* My STRANGE family lived in Lincoln County Kansas for many years, so I enjoyed this article about the special Memorial Day activities which included erecting a marker to a Civil War soldier where none had been before. I’ve never met Tracee Hamilton, who discovered the tragic story of Edwin Simmons and his family while compiling obituaries, but know her through the gifts she gives in time and research through the Lincoln County Genweb. This effort is another of her gifts.