Welcoming 2025 and a Look Back on 2024

Welcome 2025 (Image created by CoPilot)

It's 2025! 2024 was an incredible year for genealogy with billions of new records being added and new technology being introduced. Let's take a look at some of the important events of 2024 and some of the things you can do in 2025.

First, let's look at a few opportunities to win some things in the new year.

• CivilWarRecords.com is giving away some prizes including a complete set of Civil War records from the National Archives (pension file, compiled military service records, and any carded medical records) as well as a free Civil War pension file from the National Archives, digitized and delivered to you. You can enter the drawing here.
• RootsTech 2025 media representatives are giving away tickets to RootsTech. You can enter these giveaways by visiting my blog post and clicking on each contest.

Here are some of the highlights from some of the major genealogy companies:

FamilySearch

FamilySearch celebrated their 130th year as an organization and their 25th year of the website. I remember being a beta tester in the original FamilySearch website as well as the "new" FamilySearch website and being interviewed by the developers to see what was working and what needed to be improved. Over the years I have participated on several FamilySearch focus groups to help test and improve the website.

During 2024, there were over 285 million visits to the FamilySearch website. There are now records from more than 170 countries and principalities and more than 2.5 billion new searchable records and images were added in 2024. They now have more than 20.5 billion records available online. The African Oral Genealogies continues to grow as more of the collection are added and indexed.

More than 150 million individuals and 530 million sources were added to the Family Tree in 2024. That means there are now over 1.67 billion people in the tree with over 3.4 billion sources.

More than 45,000 new books were added to the book collection which means you now have access to over 630,000 digital books from various libraries and collections.

324 new FamilySearch Centers were opened in 2024, bringing the total number to over 6,500 locations worldwide. Some of these new centers are affiliate libraries within your communities.

Several new user features were added in 2024. The Merge Analysis tool provides an enhanced ability to review and correct merges. The 3-Star Record Hints introduced a broader range of record hints for experienced researchers. The Portrait Pedigree View update made it easier to navigate and add individuals to the tree.  

FamilySearch Labs added several projects including Family Group Trees, AI Search, and others. The  new Full Text Search powered by AI indexing has been especially helpful. The Full Text Search provides enhanced access to a variety of new records including court, probate, land, and newspapers collections, all of which were indexed by AI. I also especially like the Data Quality Score project which provides guidance on the quality of the profile, sources, and where additional work needs to be done.

RootsTech 2024 had more than 4 million participants attending online and in person from 232 countries and territories and more than 500,000 people participated in the Relatives at RootsTech app.

Indexing has also increased with the introduction of FamilySearch's Get Involved app. The app helps people do indexing quickly and easily anywhere. 

More information on these can be found at https://www.familysearch.org/campaign/year-in-review and https://www.familysearch.org/en/blog/familysearch-year-in-review-2024. 

MyHeritage

In addition to celebrating their 20th birthday in 2024, MyHeritage had some significant new developments. One of those was the release of OldNews.com. This newspaper collection has over 317 million pages with 11.9 billion individual searchable records. They also released the LiveMemory app which uses AI to animate photographs to create 5-second video clips. 

MyHeritage had some cosmetic improvements with their profile pages as well as Theory of Family  Relativity updates. 

MyHeritage also partnered with FamilyTreeDNA and acquired MesAieux.com to provide users access to more resources in their research.

For a limited time, MyHeritage has their DNA kits on sale for $36 with free shipping when you buy 2 or more kits. Their DNA database now has over 8.9 million kits with a large number of those being European. You can order their kits at https://www.myheritage.com/dna.

More information on what MyHeritage did in 2024 can be found on their blog https://blog.myheritage.com/2025/01/wrapping-up-2024-myheritage-year-in-review.

Ancestry

In addition to an increased number of records, Ancestry had some major DNA updates during 2024. They increased the number and  accuracy of their Ancestral Subregions, providing users with more precise locations based on their DNA. They also provided a more detailed parentage analysis to show which DNA came from each parent. Additionally, Pro Tools were introduced as an additional subscription. Pro Tools has enhanced tools such as enhanced DNA Shared Matches, Consistency Checker, Check Facts, and additional charts and reports. All of these tools increase your ability to improve your research.

What is coming in 2025? I am sure there will be some major news at RootsTech.

I hope you have a great 2025 and are able to break through some of your brick walls with all of the new research tools that have been released.

Current Events: Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, RootsTech and MyHeritage Announcements

Good morning all. Christmas is only 18 days away and 2025 is coming fast. Have you finished your family history? Just kidding. I know that there is always more to be added, more details, more people, more records to find, and more connections to make. I hope that your year has been productive.

There are so many things going on at this time in genealogy that it is hard to keep up with all the news. So, here are a few that I thought were important.

Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day

Today is Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, commemorating the day the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, causing the United States to formally enter World War II. Back in 2021-2022 I posted several blog posts about connections I had with people who fought in World War II. One of these was the story of John A. Smith (1922-1941), who was stationed on the USS Arizona in Pearl Harbor. Unfortunatety, he was one of the many casualties that day.

I also posted stories about the following individuals:

• Henry Francis Raterman (1917-1943)
• Edward Frederick Gaier (1918-1944)
• George Ellis Schloss (1918-1943)
• Edward Henry Holscher (1918-1943)
• Clifford August Schmiesing (1905-1944)
• Omer William Lammers (1920-1945)

Doing the research on these individuals was enlightening and it was sobering to see the sacrifices they made along with their families to keep the world free from tyranny. I hope you take some time to read their stories and maybe think about documenting a few of your family members' sacrifices during this time of remembrance.

RootsTech Update

Of course I wouldn't be doing my job as a RootsTech Media Representative if I didn't put in a plug for the upcoming conference (March 6-8, 2025). You can see my previous posts for opportunities to win a free 3-day RootsTech ticket, valued ay $129. 

RootsTech also announced a few of their keynote speakers. These speakers come from many areas across the globe so they may not be familiar to you but they are well known in their countries.

• Ndaba Mandela - Ndaba is the grandson of Nelson Mandela and a renowned author, speaker, and social activist.
• Dana Tanamachi - Dana is a world-renowned artist and has contributed to the covers of O Magazine and Time Magazine. 
• Tara Davis-Woodhall and Hunter Woodhall - Tara is an Olympic Gold medalist and her husband Hunter is a Paralympic Gold medalist.

Keep watching for future announcements of additional keynote speakers.

MyHeritage Update

MyHeritage had a couple recent announcements. This week they announced that they had extracted 3.8 billion records from their historical newspaper collection on OldNews.com. The collections contain 658 million records from Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi; 998 million records from Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, and Nebraska; 1 billion records from Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania; and 651 million records from North Carolina, South Carolina, and District of Columbia. OldNews.com now hosts more than 300 million newsapper pages. MyHeritage expects to add more than 10 billion new records to their historical database this month.

You may be wondering how they can add so many new records in such a short time. Well, they are using cutting edge AI technology to extract information from nearly 200 million English newspaper pages. This allows researchers to search by imprecise metholds including nicknames and synonyms. This AI technology extracts not just the names of the individual but also every person mentioned in the article as well as fields such as occupations, residence, travel, and more.

You can read more about this news on their blog.

MyHeritage also recently released their LiveMemory(TM) application. This application can animate your photographs and create a 5-second video. I posted information about this on a previous blog post last month. Click here to view that post.

I hope everyone is able to take time with your families during this holiday season and build those relationships as well as discover more about your ancestors. I will continue to post new information as I have time and I hope to see many of you at RootsTech!

MyHeritage Live Memory

In the past I have written about the various photo enhancement tools that MyHeritage has available.

• During RootsTech 2024, I posted about MyHeritage releasing the Reimagine app. This app automatically cropped individual photos from a photo album page and performed facial recognition, matching the various photos to those who were in them.
• In 2022, I posted about MyHeritage's AI Time Machine application which transported your images back to any time you wanted. Millions of people reimagined themselves as cowboys, Roman gladiators, and astronauts.
• During RootsTech 2022, I posted about MyHeritage releasing their Deep Story applications. The Deep Story application added onto the Deep Nostalgia application from 2021 by not only animating the images but allowing them to tell their own story. 
• During RootsTech 2021, I posted about MyHeritage releasing their Deep Nostalgia application. The Deep Nostalgia application animated the faces of our ancestors. 
• During RootsTech 2020, I posted about MyHeritage announcing their In Color photo colorization tool which changed our black and white and discolored photos to color images.

MyHeritage Live Memory

And now, MyHeritage has released their Live Memory application. This application can animate your photos into 5 second video clips. I have tried it on several of my photos and here is an example of one of the better versions. The quality of the video depends on the quality of the photograph. Poor lighting, shadows, blurriness all contribute to poor video output.

Original wedding photo

Live Memory video

The MyHeritage AI tool is able to take the context of the photograph and provides a relevant video that can be used to tell a story. Running the same photo through the Live Memory app several times does produce a different video each time so you can select the one you like the best if you aren't happy with what is produced.

The App is only available on the updated MyHeritage mobile app and can be used with your photo gallery on the device or the photos that have been uploaded to your MyHeritage Gallery.

If you want to learn more about the Live Memory app, visit MyHeritage's blog and read all about it.

RootsTech2023 - Focus on MyHeritage, Platinum Sponsor

Disclosure: I have been a member of the MyHeritage Friends group since 2018. As such, I get advanced notice of upcoming information and early access to MyHeritage releases. I do not receive compensation from MyHeritage for any of my posts or feedback.

Click on the logo for a special deal
for new subscribers to MyHeritage
Available February 24-28, 2023

MyHeritage is one of the Platinum Sponsors for RootsTech2023 along with Ancestry and Storied. As such, you will see MyHeritage representatives around the Expo Hall and in 15 lectures during the conference. But before the conference even starts, Daniel Horowitz, an Expert Genealogist with MyHeritage, will be doing several presentations on his way from Isreal to Salt Lake. 

On February 24th, he will be giving two presentations at the Oakland Temple Visitor's Center at 4766 Lincoln Ave, Oakland, California. At 10:30am he will be presenting Genetic Genealogy and the MyHeritage DNA Test. At 12:00 he will be presenting Advanced DNA Tools to Analyze MyHeritage DNA Matches.

On February 25th, he will be speaking to the Clark County Nevada Genealogical Society and the Jewish Genealogy Society of Southern Nevada at Pasco Verde Library, 280 S Green Valley Parkway in Henderson, Nevada. That presentation will be at 10:30am and is Exploring Billions of Historical Records on MyHeritage's Search Engine. 

On February 26th, he will present two talks at the Las Vegas FamilySearch Center at 509 S 9th Street in Las Vegas, Nevada. Those presentations will be Research Jewish & Isreal Genealogical Resources on the Internet at 1:30 and MyHeritage Latest Features Overview at 3:30.

On February 27th, the Utah Jewish Genealogical Society has invited Daniel to speak at the FamilySearch Library, main Floor Classroom B, in Salt Lake City, Utah. He will be presenting Why is my grandmother's record private? at 6:00pm.

That's six presentations in four days prior to even arriving at RootsTech. I know the last conference I spoke at resulted in me losing my voice for about a week after presenting three talks in three hours. I hope Daniel will still be able to speak after all that.

Then, once their team gets to RootsTech they will be very busy. 

On Thursday, March 2nd they have the following presentations scheduled:

• 8:00am - Marie Cappart: Social Networks 101 (Room 255E)
• 1:30pm - Marie Cappart: Research in Europe (Ballroom H)
• 1:30pm - Maya Lerner: Innovations & Tech Forum (Hall E)
• 3:00pm - Daniel Horowitz: In Pursuit of My Family in the Arolsen Archives (Room 155D)
• 3:00pm - Myko Clelland: Understanding British & European Cemeteries (Ballroom A)
• 4:30pm - Tal Erlichman: An Overview of Recent MyHeritage Photo Feature Releases (Ballroom A) and Virtually

On Friday, March 3rd, they have the following classes:

• 8:00am - Marie Cappart: Aspects of Adoption (Ballroom B)
• 9:30am - Gal Zrihen: The Latest Research Tools to Assist with Your DNA Matches (Hall E) and Virtually
• 1:30pm - Gilad Japhet: Address from the Founder and CEO of MyHeritage (Room 155A)
• 3:00pm - Daniel Horowitz: The Three Things that Matter in Genealogy: Location, Location, Location (Room 155E)
• 3:00pm - Myko Clelland: Tracing Migrating Ancestors: Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How (Room 254)
• 4:30pm - Marie Cappart: MyHeritage's European Collections (Room 150)

On Saturday, March 4th, they have the following classes:

• 8:00am - Marie Cappart: COVID-19 and Us: How to Document, Preserve, and Share What We Experienced (Room 155E)
• 8:00am - Uri Gonen: Different Ways to Work with Your Family Trees (Ballroom A) and Virtually
• 1:30pm - Myko Clelland: Are You Related to Royalty? (Ballroom A)

Additionally, MyHeritage will have classes in their booth every 30 minutes each day. That is over 40 classes at their booth. The current schedule is listed below.

Speaking Schedule for MyHeritage at RootsTech 2023

As you can see, there are many interesting classes being presented by MyHeritage. Their presentations alone would make for a great conference. I hope to see some of you in these classes.

RootsTech Connect 2021 - Day 2 - Discovery

Day 2 of RootsTech is coming to an end. Today was a day of Discovery at RootsTech. I started out this morning working in The Family History Guide booth in the Expo Hall. The Expo Hall was a bit slow but we did get to talk to some people about what we do at The Family History Guide. I invite everyone to take some time over the next two days to visit the Expo Hall and chat with the people in the booth. We won't bite and we will be happy to have a conversation.

After that, I participated in two panel discussions and had a great time interacting with the participants. These programs are live and are not available after the conference. 

We just finished up the Family History and Genealogy in K12 Classrooms discussion. Our panel talked about our experience using family history as a teaching tool. I came at the topic as a homeschool parent who used family history in my child's education. I am also the Education Director at The Family History Guide where we develop programs to teach a variety of age groups. And lastly, I am involved in the Indian River Genealogical Society's youth outreach program. The other panel members had their own experiences that they were able to discuss. Our goal was to begin the discussion and encourage the participants to think of ways they can incorporate family history in their programs.

Before that, I was the moderator for the Connecting Your Communities in the FamilySearch Family Tree panel. This panel discussed ways people interested in family history could work with their communities to encourage family history related projects. Some panelists discussed their experience working with African-American cemetery projects. Others talked about collecting various records and adding them to FamilySearch. We had a good discussion and started a new Facebook group to further this discussion after RootsTech.

Tomorrow at 3:00pm EST, I will be on a panel discussing Inspiring Children and Youth to Love Family History. This will be another great opportunity to interact with people at RootsTech.

I also discovered a new photo tool at MyHeritage. This tool is called Deep Nostalgia. It is able to animate your photos by moving the head, eyes and mouth in a fairly realistic way. Several of my Facebook friends have been trying it out. You can see an example of how this works in the video below. It's a little Harry Potteresque, don't you think?

The great thing about this is that we had the original black & white image, which we colorized at MyHeritage, and then we were able to animate it. This brings a whole new layer to your photographs. Some people may not like it because it manipulates the original photographs integrity but I see it as a new way to appreciate the images we have of our ancestors.

What else did I do today? I spent some time talking with Todd Hansen of Story Trek fame. He has a new project called Todd Hansen's Legacy Story Project. This project helps you record your own story. They have a downloadable workbook which provides prompts to help you develop your story. Todd and his crew will record your story in your home, at their studio, virtually, or you can take Todd's online training to learn how to record your own life story and the stories of those you love. If you are familiar with Story Trek, you know that Todd believes everyone has a story to tell. He is there to help you tell your story.

So my theme for today was Discovery. Discover your passions to build community and educate youth through family history. Discover your ancestors through seeing their images in a new way. And discover yourself through your own life story. I encourage each of you to discover something new about yourself, your ancestors, and your community in the coming days.

I hope everyone has a great rest of the week at RootsTech. Get some sleep, stay hydrated, and most of all, learn how to tell the stories.