I just have a problem where I keep creating profiles for Notables

+12 votes
215 views
Today as I was bored I created a profile for Alan Arkin that was needed according to the Notables project page, and Yes Scott I did edit the page to show that the profile was created. I then added his parents profiles along with some sources for them and discovered his grandmothers maiden name. I also found out that my skills are limited  from there back. It seems that his grandparents were Jewish immigrants from the Ukraine, Russia, and Germany. I guess he will remain unconnected for now but I also saw that his father has a Wikipedia page
WikiTree profile: Alan Arkin
in The Tree House by Dale Byers G2G Astronaut (1.7m points)
I don't have the time or inclination to do this work, but just did a quick lookup.  His mother was born in NY.  Her father came from Russia in 1890 or 1891 and her mother came from France or Germany.  Family Search has loads of birth, marriage, and census records for all the family members.  It shouldn't be too difficult to find immigration records using the info already available.  Try jewishgen.org, where you have to be a member to use the databases, but membership is free (except that they'll send you a lot of spam begging for donations).

I have managed to get the 1 step farther back to work on profiles of the immigrants, but have not yet managed to get anywhere with people behind them who were born and died in the other country.

(edited) Warning - when someone is listed as having been born in Russia in the 1800's or early 1900's, that does NOT mean Russia - it only means the Russian Empire and the person could have been born in Lithuania, Ukraine, Poland, Czechoslavakia, Yugoslavia, or a whole bunch of other countries!!!
Thanks Gaile, I will check that site out later. I am at a birthday party right now but I should have lots of time in the next couple of days.

Dale

I don't know what I'm doing in profiles is correct, but for whatever it's worth, you can check Harrison-11075 to see how I handle it in data AND bio.  I used Russian language in data because this is my family and I know that the language they spoke was Russian, even though they were in Lithuania and even though there is a language choice named Lithuanian.

Edited to add:
Bresnick-31 is an example where the town was actually in Russia then, but is now in Lithuania.  What I've been doing is using the language and place name "then" (as best I can determine it) in data, but English and the current place name in bio.

Gayle. In my opinion you are doing the right thing with those profiles. You are using the names and names of places in the language they used but putting the English versions in the biography for those of us who do not know that language and that is a very good thing.
You are so right, Gaile. I am finding people who say they are from Czechoslovakia in one census and Hungary in another and Austria in another, but they are really from Slovakia. which was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.They came here in the early 1900s, and then World War One happened and the lines were redrawn. The country they were from didn't exist anymore! Eastern European genealogy sure is confusing!
Dale - I'm one of "those of us" who don't know these languages - believe me, this is a very big problem for me to deal with!  Before that language tool was added to the editing page, I had no way to cope at all.  The Russian Empire ones are on my father's side and my family always said they were from Russia, so it's not just the census and other records that foul me up - when a 2nd cousin found me through WikiTree about 3 months ago, he told me we're not Russian, we're Lithuanian!

Sharon - Now you're talking about my mother's side - they're Hungarian - at least that's what they always said and, in this case, I found that it's pretty much true.  These country borders might as well be drawn on ice with every season's thaw and re-freeze they keep moving around!  Most of my mother's family was from a town that I don't even know its country right now - it was a larger jurisdiction (some foreign word kinda like we have counties), but the town literally straddles the border between Ukraine and Hungary now, so I'm calling it Hungary (as a nod to what the family says) in the profiles, but It might be Ukraine, depending on which side of town they lived in!
Gayle, I know just enough French, German, and Spanish to get into trouble with so I can relate. My biggest problem right now is physical however. I am facing probable surgery from a recent fall and can only work in short spurts at the time being so everything I do is a big problem. At least I have not given up completely.
Oh nooooo, Dale!!!!  You just have to do something about your age - at 21, nothing can hurt me.  It's only old people who fall and get hurt. Believe me - if I can be 21 then you can be anything you want.  Seriously, I wish you the best possible recovery.

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