I’ve shared with you Parts 1 & 2 of Carol Buswell’s presentation to EWGS (Eastern Washington Genealogical Society) back on 7 April 2018. Here is the final part:

“One good use of archival records is for furnishing background to enrich the timeline of life for an ancestor. “So they were born in 1851 and died in 1910, what was going on around them in their lifetime?” Carol asked. “A wonderful feature of the National Archives is the website www.docsteach.org.  At this website you’ll have access to thousands of primary sources…. Letters, photographs, speeches, posters, maps, videos and other document types…spanning the course of American history and we’re always adding more,” as was shown in Carol’s slide from the home page of this website.

The best method for using DocsTeach is this:

• Click to DocsTeach.org
• Create a free account
• Click to search first by time period and/or location
• Results may or may not be name-relevant but will be geographically relevant
• “It’s like asking what was going on in America and the world in 1906?”

Carol Buswell was an informative and interesting speaker and kept us all awake even after a delicious potluck lunch. She is the perfect ambassador for the National Archives at Seattle.  She welcomes questions and comments from us anytime at carol.buswell@nara.gov. She lives in Omak and works from home most of the time.

She ended her time with us with this:  “ALWAYS never happens; there is ALWAYS an exception; that’s the way ALWAYS works.”  Advice worth pondering. Thanks, Carol.

NOTE:  DO NOT pester Carol about Parts 1 & 2…. this is MY summary and notes from her talk to us. Scroll through earlier Tuesday Trivia posts for these first two installments.