History’s Mysteries LLC is a researching firm setting out to uncover answers to your inquiries about history in Northeast Iowa, central to the Waterloo area in Black Hawk County. Our expertise lies in the research of real estate in Iowa and cemeteries in the Midwest as well as other areas of genealogical and ephemera research.

We are a proud member of the Association of Professional Genealogists (profile here) and abide by APG Code of Ethics. We are currently working on our certification through the Board for Certification of Genealogists. Applicants for BCG must demonstrate The Genealogical Proof Standard which can be seen here.
If you would like our assistance to answer a burning question you might have, please send an email to Research@HistorysMysteriesLLC.com. In your email, specify your question and provide additional background on what you already know and what steps you have taken (if any) to previously research this question. A phone conversation can then take place to proceed.

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

The blog



Ephemera: something of no lasting significance –usually used in plural
Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. (http://www.m-w.com : accessed 8 January 2014).

Ephemeron takes on numerous forms: posters, business cards, letters, tokens, advertising and postcards. Some pieces carry the memory of our grandparents. Other pieces carry the recollections of the business down the street. If we destroy the ephemera, we may destroy the memory tied to that tangible item for ourselves and the nugget of existence for those to follow. When this ephemeron is gathered, what do we call this pile? Perhaps we call it a collection of memories or an archive for the future? How about a cemetery of ephemera? This blog is intended to help those of us who desire to build and grow upon the ephemera in our lives. We can preserve the past in the present, for the future. We can assist others to create something worthwhile.
So for those delving into research, genealogical and historical, this is a place for you to learn and collaborate. While the cemetery is a place of unanswered questions, so many people are there, but they will not answer the questions you might inquire. Ephemera provide vast answers to our questions, but at the same time may create even more questions than the answers they provide. Ephemeron is quite unique. As you have no doubt heard, “One man’s junk is another man’s treasure” as well as “a picture is worth a thousand words”. Ephemeron was not produced to be saved for a prolonged length of time, yet ephemeron is vastly faceted in what information it can provide and an invaluable tool for historical research.
So, you ask, does this blog have to do with ephemera or cemeteries? It deals with both! Ephemera Cemetery has two historical applications; that of short lived ephemera and of the small cemeteries abandoned and soon nonexistent. The ephemera in our lives may be such that some do not care what becomes of it all, yet others feel the need to cling to these remnants. They are carried away by the nostalgic reminiscence and desire to preserve this history for future generations.

1 comment:

  1. Thank you so much!! Abandoned cemeteries and the printed documentation about them and those interred in them are both important. Old post cards showing cemeteries are also great to view because so many gravestones sink out of sight or are knocked down over time. Most are not repaired and re-erected.

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)