Grants available for historical societies | Columns - Danville Commercial News

The Illinois State Historical Records Advisory Board (ISHRAB) will again offer a grant (up to $5,000) to Illinois historical records keepers for projects "to identify, preserve, access and use historical records in Illinois." Application deadline is March 22, 2021. Complete information (including an application form) is available at https://tinyurl.com/3lxbjbuk or contact David Joens at (217) 782-3492.

Websites share data on U.S. presidents

Presidents Day was celebrated earlier this month, but there are many websites on the Internet that pertain to America's presidents. For example, read about the Library of Congress' (LOC) collection of Presidential papers at https://tinyurl.com/425mkfx6. The LOC's digitization project has posted the papers (with links) of 23 U.S. presidents, available free, online, from George Washington to Calvin Coolidge.

The popular TV show, Jeopardy, has tested that shows' contestants with hundreds of clues about U.S. Presidents. Can you solve any of the clues at http://tinyurl.com/4z772bgn ?

Read "The Most Surprising Fact About Every America President" at https://tinyurl.com/1nx3wigc. For example, "No one will ever outrank George Washington. In 1976, Congress passed a law making Washington General of the Armies, a rank that will never be surpassed."

Smithsonian Magazine has posted an article, "Ten Fascinating Presidential Facts to Impress on Presidents' Day," https://tinyurl.com/azwb4q7u.

History buffs may appreciate the "quick family history of every U.S. president," at https://tinyurl.com/3vz5zv77, which includes family heritage, birthplace, years spent in office, and a photo.

BillionGraves' articles educational

Did you know that the Audubon Society suggests that cemeteries can be some of the best places for birdwatching? The BillionGraves blog post, "Animals at the Cemetery: Wildlife Meets Afterlife," includes some fun cemetery animal facts and stories. Visit https://tinyurl.com/36cvvdy8.

Also read Cathy Wallace's article, "Using Gravestone Clues to Grow Your Family Tree" at http://tinyurl.com/jqql4mv3.

Interesting facts about the seven largest cemeteries in the world are detailed at https://tinyurl.com/4o5y6jcc. For example, the largest cemetery in the world is located in Najaf, Iraq, with approximately 5 million interments on 15 square miles. Cincinnati Ohio's Spring Grove Cemetery ranks No. 7 in size. Chicago's Lincoln National Cemetery, the third largest cemetery in the world with more than 400,000 burial sites, also makes this list. Calverton National Cemetery in Calverton, New York, is the second largest cemetery in the world and one of the most active national cemeteries overseen by the National Cemetery Administration.

The website includes many colorful illustrations—well-worth viewing.

Family records on Fraktur

Fraktur is "a style of German blackletter type often reproduced in Pennsylvania Dutch art" (as per Webster's 1972 dictionary.) According to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) many case files of Pension and Bounty-Land Warrants based on Revolutionary War service include family records in the form of fraktur—beautiful examples of family information recorded in this format. NARA has posted a website showing 166 of these frakturs from Record Group 15 (RG15) at https://tinyurl.com/5bklnm8b. One can scroll down through images in this collection or conduct a search for a specific name.