Last week I worked a day in Special Collections, which is always sort of intimidating yet interesting. I'd actually love to "get" Special Collections and work there constantly, but that's not really in the cards the way the larger organisation is operating. Besides, I don't quite know where to find some of the more specific stuff that people serious enough to come to Special Collections are looking for.
Anyway, while I worked, I read over a blog entry about the library getting access to passenger lists up until 1935. This was of interest because my family, both sides, came to Canada in the last century. My mom's family didn't make it over until the '40s, but my dad's family came before he was born, in the late '20s. I thought I'd try out the process, see if I could find anything about my dad's family.
My aunt mentioned that she didn't remember very much about the voyage, just that they were seasick. After doing a couple of searches, I finally managed to find them in the passenger lists. I actually got teary-eyed while I stared at their names. My aunt wasn't just sick from the ship; she had chickenpox and the whole family had to be quarantined for an extra week because of it. They landed in Quebec on May 24th, 1929 with their Old Country names. I copied the image and made a mental note to mention it to my dad.
Then I promptly forgot about it.
Almost as soon as I got to my parents' house today, I thought about the image. Thankfully I attached it to an email message and downloaded it onto Mom's computer. Dad is never a very emotional person, but I think he appreciated the effort and was extremely quiet as he looked at it. Mom was pretty interested as well; she's got a stash of documentation from when they emigrated.
Perhaps that idea to write books about them isn't so far-fetched...
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