Finding records for females in the past is a special problem. Prior to the twentieth century, as a rule, menfolk typically created the family records. A wife usually was not entitled to act in her own stead, and a respectable unmarried woman seldom dared. When a public record was required for her, a brother, father, or guardian was expected to handle such affairs for her. Today, we offer 6 tips for teasing yesteryear’s women out of the shadows in which they lived:

Research problems are rarely solved by simply learning what records exist and where to find—then looking for names in those records. Most tough problems are solved by spotting connections and patterns between seemingly unrelated things. Here are seven tips guaranteed to sharpen your skills at tracking elusive people through past times. ...

18 March 2015 A recent discussion of proof arguments triggered a common question: Why can’t we just ‘let the documents do the talking’? Unfortunately, documents don’t talk. They may lie, but they do not talk and they cannot ...

15 March 2015 When we extract a “fact” from a source and we cite that source in our research notes, we feel so virtuous, don’t we? Our inner self reaches out and pats us on the back. “Atta girl! Way to go! Keep up this good stuff!” Truth it, citing sources doesn’t mean ...

9 March 2015 In citations to published works, parentheses are used to set off "publication data." When citing a magazine or journal article ...

12 March 2015 To reach a sound conclusion about any historical event of person, our first criteria is reasonably exhaustive research. However, this does not mean that quantity assures accuracy. Quantity and quality are entirely different critters and quantity can never trump quality. For the history researcher who has no living firsthand witnesses to interview ...

6 March 2015 EE user Simon (aka “Nomis”) poses a question that puzzles many researchers. When we cite a source that cites its own source, we introduce that second layer of our citation with the word "citing." But, Simon asks, what exactly should come after that? What details need to be included? ...

27 February 2015 Our last post considered the subject of useful redundancy. Before we abandon this track, let's turn the train around and head it in the other direction. Whether it's Cleveland in Ohio we're writing about or anywhere else on the globe, a reader's train of thought will stall in the weeds when it hits the state of Pointless Redundancy. ... So, what's the rule for identifying place names? ...

24 February 2015 Grammarphobia, the delightful blog by two writers who spent years in the editorial trenches at the New York Times, was recently asked: "Is 'close proximity' redundant?" We'll let you read for yourself their take on the subject, but we'll crib one line and build upon it ...