{"id":1651,"date":"2012-09-12T14:07:28","date_gmt":"2012-09-12T14:07:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=1651"},"modified":"2021-04-21T11:06:15","modified_gmt":"2021-04-21T15:06:15","slug":"the-social-columns-mrs-smith-is-visiting-her-parents-in-new-mexico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/the-social-columns-mrs-smith-is-visiting-her-parents-in-new-mexico.html","title":{"rendered":"The Social Columns: Mrs. Smith Is Visiting Her Parents in New Mexico"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/em><\/strong>: Gena Philibert-Ortega is a genealogist and author of the book \u201cFrom the Family Kitchen.<\/span>\u201d In this guest blog post, Gena shows how much valuable family history information can be found in newspapers\u2019 social columns.<\/em><\/p>\n

Newspapers report important events and breaking news on the local, national and international level. They document accidents, crimes, politics, and natural disasters. They also report on the rich and famous, the infamous, and politicians. Many people have an assumption that only \u201cfamous\u201d or \u201cimportant\u201d people are written about in the newspaper. Some people assume that their ancestor\u2019s name would never be found in the newspaper because they were \u201cjust farmers\u201d\u2014no one special.<\/p>\n

But of course, everyday people\u2019s lives are<\/em> recorded in newspapers, with many articles documenting births, marriages, and deaths. Ordinary people\u2019s stories can also be found in other parts of the paper. Newspapers document their community, both the good times and the bad. They report everything from who owes back taxes and epidemic victims\u2019 names, to legal notices and school achievements. Many of a town\u2019s small goings-on can be found in the local newspaper\u2019s social columns.<\/p>\n

I love the social columns of the newspaper. This is the section that names community members and reports on their everyday lives. Think of it as Twitter for an earlier generation.<\/p>\n

According to the online article \u201cUsing Newspapers for Genealogical Research<\/a>\u201d available from the Genealogy Center of the Allen County Public Library in Indiana, one type of newspaper article that is especially helpful to genealogists is the \u201csocial items, such as notices of visitors from out of town; visits of local people to other places; birthday parties and their attendees; illnesses; community events, contests, and holiday celebrations and their participants; notices of residents who have moved to other locations; etc.\u201d<\/p>\n

There can be great genealogical benefits to searching a social news column, especially around the time of an ancestor\u2019s death. Once as I was researching a death for a client the social column reported the illness of the client\u2019s ancestor, the update on her illness, her death, and then mentioned that the deceased\u2019s son was coming to the funeral. All great family information that was not recorded anywhere else.<\/p>\n

Consider the following social news column, which records everything from the names of people visiting, to who won awards and who is ill.<\/p>\n

\"Social<\/a>
Plaindealer (Topeka, Kansas), 30 October 1931, page 6<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Some of the details we learn in this historical news article:<\/p>\n