How often do we fail to find our ancestors in the census because they simply are not there?
Author Archive for Tammy Hepps
When Henry Silverstein Got Cold: Fraud in the 1920 Census
How one man’s illegal scheme led to an awful enumeration of one Homestead neighborhood.
“Where are they all kept?”: Undercounted Immigrants in the 1900 Census
Hidden in miles of Homestead newspaper microfilm is the forgotten story of why many of us cannot find our families in the 1900 census.
The Chinese Laundrymen of Homestead
The Chinese residents of Homestead were never permitted to form a community in the way other immigrants took for granted. Here’s what their lives were like.
The Friedlander Envelope: And Then There Were Two
A second Friedlander envelope turned up! What story does this one tell?
The Influenza “Vaccine” that “Saved” Homestead’s Steelworkers
A 1918 public health effort that you haven’t heard about (here’s why)
A Homestead Poem Takes an Unexpected Journey
The story of a memorial poem for a Jewish soldier that was forgotten for a century.
The Homestead Hebrew With a Statue and a Hollywood Star
One kid who grew up in Homestead’s Jewish community became a major Hollywood star. You knew I would have to write about him eventually!
The Stories in Data
Introducing Homestead Hebrew Data, where you can share in all the wonderful discoveries I’ve made about your families.
The Friedlander Envelope
An envelope addressed to M. M. Friedlander and postmarked 1901 found its way to Greece — and that is the least exciting leg of its journey.
What We Commemorate and Why It Matters
Some thoughts on Gettysburg vs. Homestead, written on the anniversary of both.
April 1917: Bloody April
A hundred years ago Homesteaders rallied around the country’s entry into a war going worse than they knew.