From roots-in@roots-l.rootsweb.com Thu Aug 17 08:46:10 2006 Received: from mail.rootsweb.com (mail.rootsweb.com [192.168.65.34]) by admin.rootsweb.com (8.12.8/8.12.8) with ESMTP id k7HEkAjb000766; Thu, 17 Aug 2006 08:46:10 -0600 Received: from roots-l.rootsweb.com (roots-l.rootsweb.com [66.43.16.22]) by mail.rootsweb.com (8.13.4/8.13.4) with ESMTP id k7HEk5ri012469 for ; Thu, 17 Aug 2006 08:46:09 -0600 Received: from roots-l.rootsweb.com (roots-l [127.0.0.1]) by roots-l.rootsweb.com (8.12.10/8.12.10) with ESMTP id k7HBnoFI012686 for ; Thu, 17 Aug 2006 07:49:50 -0400 Received: (from roots-in@localhost) by roots-l.rootsweb.com (8.12.10/8.12.8/Submit) id k7HBnowc012685 for roots-approved@rootsweb.com; Thu, 17 Aug 2006 07:49:50 -0400 Received: from lists5.rootsweb.com (lists5.rootsweb.com [66.43.27.41]) by roots-l.rootsweb.com (8.12.10/8.12.10) with SMTP id k7HAYOFI012458 for ; Thu, 17 Aug 2006 06:34:24 -0400 Received: (from slist@localhost) by lists5.rootsweb.com (8.12.8/8.12.8) id k7HDDxik032655 for roots-in@roots-l.rootsweb.com; Thu, 17 Aug 2006 07:13:59 -0600 X-Envelope-From: MaeMay510@aol.com Thu Aug 17 07:13:59 2006 Received: from mail.rootsweb.com (mail.rootsweb.com [192.168.65.34]) by admin.rootsweb.com (8.12.8/8.12.8) with ESMTP id k7HDDxjb032644 for ; Thu, 17 Aug 2006 07:13:59 -0600 Received: from imo-m14.mx.aol.com (imo-m14.mx.aol.com [64.12.138.204]) by mail.rootsweb.com (8.13.4/8.13.4) with ESMTP id k7HDDup6011950 for ; Thu, 17 Aug 2006 07:13:56 -0600 Received: from MaeMay510@aol.com by imo-m14.mx.aol.com (mail_out_v38_r7.6.) id e.458.3c03df80 (39330) for ; Thu, 17 Aug 2006 09:13:43 -0400 (EDT) From: MaeMay510@aol.com Message-ID: <458.3c03df80.3215c587@aol.com> Date: Thu, 17 Aug 2006 09:13:43 EDT To: Roots-L@rootsweb.com MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" X-Mailer: 9.0 Security Edition for Windows sub 5331 X-Spam-Flag: NO X-Scanned-By: MIMEDefang 2.52 on 192.168.65.34 X-Scanned-By: MIMEDefang 2.52 on 192.168.65.34 Sender: roots-in@roots-l.rootsweb.com Subject: [ROOTS-L] Unexpected sources A friend asked for help with German research. I neglected to tell her many of us overlook one of the best sources for addresses, the embassies in Washington, DC. No, they will not do research, but they do have the mailing addresses of towns and town halls and churches. I used the Australian embassy when I was researching Australian Aborigines for a college term paper. They sent maps and compiled statistics on the natives. I contacted the Italian embassy to get the mailing address of the post office in a town in Italy. I'm sure they would have had the church information if I'd asked, but that I didn't need. The embassies are free sources for these addresses we need. Another source often overlooked is the Chamber of Commerce in towns. When I first started, I was casting about and decided to write to the mayor of the town where I was researching, explaining my lack of knowledge about the area itself. He forwarded my letter to the Chamber of Commerce which sent me not only brochures on the town but also entries from the city directories for many years of the surnames I mentioned, plus they contacted the funeral director who actually called me on the phone to give me the information. They also sent a centennial booklet compiled some years previously. Another time I wrote to the postmaster in a small town and he knew the town "historian." Bingo. Sometimes we have to think creatively about how to accomplish what we want to do. Shirley Maynard Hampton, VA