Rock Island, IL: Honoring the veterans in your ancestry often starts with knowing their story, and a new tool from Rock Island Public Library can help researchers fill in the blanks. Just in time for Veterans Day, Rock Island Library has added access to the Fold3 Library Edition by Ancestry database.
Available for in-library use, Fold3 Library Edition provides genealogy researchers with convenient access to historical US military records and unique military content. The continually growing collection of nearly 450 million records from world-class archives brings to life the details of America’s military veterans with stories, photos and personal documents. The Fold3 name comes from a traditional flag folding ceremony in which the third fold is made in honor and remembrance of veterans.
The Fold3 archives go far beyond simple service records. Non-military records include:
· War of 1812 pension applications and service records,
· Civil War Widows’ Pensions, Social Security death indexes, and naturalization records,
· An African American collection, including service records of Civil War Colored Troops,
· Native American history, including American Indian Medal of Honor winners, treaties, Indian census rolls and newspaper archives, and
· FBI case files.
Researchers will also discover a rich collection of Holocaust archives, including concentration camp stories, maps, and facts, Holocaust era asset lists, National Archives records of original documents and photos, and stories from the Holocaust museum. Amy Sisul, Reference Services supervisor at the Rock Island Library, notes that the diversity of content made Fold3 a good addition to the library's database collection.
"We hope that Fold3 proves to be a valuable research resource for historians, genealogists, military enthusiasts, veterans and their families, teachers, and even historical re-enactors. It's easy to search unique historical documents, some of which are exclusive to Fold3," she said.
A majority of the subscription cost was funded by memorials to the Rock Island Public Library Foundation from the Harris and Katz families of Rock Island.
To access Fold3, go to www.rockislandlibrary.org from any Rock Island Library location, and select the "Genealogy/History Research" link. Fold3 is distributed by ProQuest. Other ProQuest databases available at the Rock Island Library include Ancestry Library Edition and HeritageQuest Online.
