Ships of Our Ancestors

Reviewed by Thomas L. Hollowak, PGSA Fall 1985 Bulletin

By Michael J. Anuta. Published by Ships of Our Ancestors, Inc.,RA 655 Westland 577, Menominee, MI 49858-9775.@1983. Price $30.00

Ships of Our Ancestors is one of the most, if not the most, comprehensive collection of photographs and illustrations compiled of ships which carried immigrants to America. However, as the author points out in his Foreward, "Pictures of some of the ships are missing or not available especially before photography." Even so there are 880 photographs and drawings, covering the period 1820-1950, which are arranged alphabetically by the name of the vessel. Mr. Anuta has also included photographs of passengers aboard the ships, as well as advertising posters of the major steamship lines that operated between Europe and America bringing immigrants to this country. They came to the Western World in ships over the Atlantic, from ports in the Scandinavian, Russian, Danish, Belgian, Holland, German, English, Irish, Scottish, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian and Greek Ports by the thousands.

The most important part of their pilgrimage was the crossing of the Atlantic. The waters of the northern Atlantic, the shortest way between Europe and the Western world, was one of the most dangerous of all ocean passages. The voyage of each ancestor was epic, a heroic adventure.

To us of the first, second, third, fourth or even later generations, the name of the ship, the passenger list and a picture of the ship itself is one of the most positive pieces of evidence of their coming and of their courage and foresight that willed them to endure every hardship to reach their goal of a new life for themselves and those who followed them.

One of the greatest thrills for a descendant is to actually see a picture of the ship on which his or her ancestors crossed the seas. Most descendants of immigrants will be able to find the ship of their Ancestors or at least a sister ship or the ship of the period during which they made their Atlantic voyage.

The photographs and drawings were compiled from ten research centers that the author has included for those who desire more information on a particular ship or ships. The serious drawback to this book is a lack of information on the ships found within, i.e., date launched, years of service, and ports of call. However, the author does answer the criticism, " It was hoped that with the pictures of the ships, the ship departures and arrivals could be published along with some of the history of each ship. It developed that the number of ships involved limited the amount of information which could be included." It is hoped by this reviewer that Mr. Anuta will publish a second volume with the information he describes above. The two would be a formidable contribution to the field of genealogy and social history.

Bound in soft cover perfect binding, the book is available at $30, from

Michael J. Anuta, RA 655, Westland 577, Menominee, MI 49858

Study of Obituaries as a Source for Genealogical Research, The

Reviewed by William F. Hoffman, PGSA Fall 1987 Bulletin

By Thomas E. Golembiewski, Published by The Polish Genealogical Society 984 Milwaukee Ave., Chicago, IL 60622 @ 1984 $8.95 plus $2 postage.

Regular readers of the Newsletter may remember that Thomas L Hollowak and I have been working on compiling indexes of obituaries in the Dziennik Chicagoski; so far I have scanned issues of the daily newspaper from December, 1890to September, 1924. It is safe to say that this project has taught me, the hard way, quite a bit about obituaries in Polish American newspapers. I rather wish I had noticed that in 1984 the Polish Genealogical Society published Thomas E. Golembiewski's book 7be Study of Obituaries as a Source for Genealogical Research. If you plan to do research using obituaries in Polish-American newspapers, do yourself a favor and buy this book.

This reference-work succeeds in doing precisely what it sets out to do: provide the reader with invaluable information on how to use obituaries in research. Mr. Golembiewski does so by linking almost every paragraph he writes to an illustrative reproduction of actual examples. He gives background information on two prominent Chicago newspapers that he used in his own research. He shows every kind and format of obituary to be found in those newspapers, and gives lists of words that help non-Polish-speakers find their way around the obituaries, and illustrates how even a phrase or two can yield data. The format of obituaries varied little from paper to paper, so the examples he cites will be of practical value no matter what newspaper one studies

I admire this book particularly because I have written and spoken on this very subject, so I know how much there is to mention and how hard it is to remember it all. As I read I constantly thought, "Yes, that's right; I'd forgotten it, but it's a good point." An excellent example is the final chapter, "Tracing the Development and History of an obituary." Researchers who rejoice at finding the obituary of a relative often don't realize that some obituaries were printed over several days, each day adding to or correcting what had appeared earlier. Mr. Golembiewski chooses an apt example and traces it from day to day, pointing out what each version has to offer the researcher; the chapter is concise, logical and informative.

Actually, that chapter accentuates one of the two minor flaws with the book: the other chapters don't seem quite so tightly organized and developed. The impression that the author just jotted down whatever points came into his head is probably not true, but an air of looseness about the presentation does detract from its effectiveness. The other flaw is a certain awkwardness of style that requires close reading to be clear on each point.

But those flaws are minor, and mentioning them almost amounts to nitpicking. The researcher who is considering using obituaries as a resource will profit from this summary of the knowledge Mr. Golembiewski acquired the hard way, and will be glad he chose to share it.