The following is a pess release written by employees of the (U.S.) National Archives and Records Administration:

MLK Records #1 Downloaded Across Government The National Archives—in partnership with several other government agencies—recently released over 230,000 pages of records related to the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  In the first few days after their release, the MLK assassination records were the most downloaded files across any U.S. federal government website --- even more than passport applications. Learn more in this National Archives News story. Martin Luther King, Jr. (detail) by Jack Lewis Hiller, 1960, Gelatin silver print, used with permission of the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Jack Lewis Hiller. 60th Anniversary of Medicare & Medicaid On July 30, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Medicare and Medicaid Act, also known as the Social Security Amendments of 1965, into law. It established Medicare, a health insurance program for the elderly, and Medicaid, a health insurance program for people with limited income. The Medicare and Medicaid Act, also known as the Social Security Amendments of 1965, was signed into law on July 30, 1965, by President Lyndon B. Johnson. NAID: 299908 Winston Churchill's Descendent Visits National Archives On July 22, 2025, Edward Churchill–a descendent of Sir Winston Churchill–and new International Churchill Society (ICS) Executive Director Dr. Adam Howard got a behind-the-scenes look at some of the National Archives' holdings regarding Winston Churchill at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. Archivist Trevor Plante (left) shows Edward Churchill (center; in suit) documents related to Sir Winston Churchill's attendance at a meeting to go over the final plans for Operation Overlord in May 1944. More National Archives News Contact the National Archives: public.affairs@nara.gov National Archives and Records Administration, 700 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20408

In a bizarre incident in the US state of Wisconsin, a woman named Audrey Backeberg, who had been missing for 60 years, was finally located.

However, she has expressed her desire to keep her identity and current location confidential.

Audrey Backeberg left her home in Reedsburg, Wisconsin, in 1962 at the age of 20 and disappeared. Allegedly, due to a forced marriage and domestic violence, she decided to leave home. Reports of physical abuse were documented with the police.

In January 2025, Investigator Isaac Hansen reopened the case, digitized documents, and conducted interviews with relevant individuals. Using family data obtained from Ancestry.com, he identified a possible address.

A deputy was sent to the related area, and the woman was traced. Within 10 minutes, Audrey spoke with Hansen for 45 minutes, during which she confirmed her identity and stated that she is now happy and has "no regrets".

Audrey chose to keep her identity hidden for the sake of her prosperous life. She expressed her wish to keep her current location a secret, and the police have respected her request. 

The following is a press release written by Projectkin.org:

Projectkin.org just announced a novel new series that brings together its diverse Anglophone genealogy community to share stories about the roles members’ ancestors played during the period leading up to and following the American Revolution nearly 250 years ago. Each month, a member’s guest post will be featured, and the author will be the focus of a livestream conversation. 

Learn more at Projectkin.org/stories250.

The following is a press release written by the folks at:  TheGenealogist 

TheGenealogist has just added a substantial new release to its growing collection of historical records, making over 330,000 names available from a variety of wills and probate sources across England and Scotland. These valuable records are great for historians trying to push their tree back, with records spanning 500 years from the 14th century up to the 19th century. They provide a remarkable glimpse into the lives, legacies, and legal affairs of past generations.

Among the notable figures in this collection is George Buchanan (1506–1582), the Scottish historian, humanist scholar, and tutor to King James VI. His testament appears in the Commissariot Record of Edinburgh (1514–1600), offering researchers a direct connection to one of the great minds of the Scottish Renaissance.

[ George Buchanan shown in the new records on TheGenealogist ]

Read more about George Buchanan’s fascinating life in our latest article, “The Scholar Who Tutored a King and Defied a Queen”: https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/2025/george-buchanan-8698/

The new collections now available to search on TheGenealogist include:

• Archdeaconry of Cornwall Wills and Administrations 1569-1699

• A Calendar of Wills, Gloucestershire 1541-1650

• Calendars of Lincoln Wills 1320-1600 (covering Lincoln, Leicester, Rutland, Northampton, Huntingdon, Bedford, Buckingham, Hertford, and Oxford)

• Wills and Administrations Preserved in the District Probate Court of Lewes 1541-1652 (covering East Sussex)

• Dougal's Index Register to Next of Kin, Heirs at Law, and Cases of Unclaimed Money

• Commissariot Record of Edinburgh, Register of Testaments, 1514-1600

• Commissariot of Inverness, Hamilton & Campsie Testaments, 1630-1800

• Abstracts of Probates and Sentences in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury 1620-1624

• Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills Index 1653-1656
  
  

These records are fully searchable and form part of TheGenealogist’s ongoing effort to bring hard-to-access historical documents into the hands of family historians, academic researchers, and local history enthusiasts.

Mark Bayley, Head of Online Content at TheGenealogist, said:
"These records span centuries of history, from the 1300s through to the early modern era. Whether you're uncovering humble tradespeople or historical figures like George Buchanan, this collection can help you push your tree back before the time of parish records."

Available now to all Standard and Diamond subscribers, these wills and probate collections are part of TheGenealogist’s commitment to preserving and sharing the stories of the past through original records, expertly indexed and easily searchable online.

Don’t miss out! For a limited time, you can subscribe to TheGenealogist for just £139.95 - Save Over £100

Not only will you save £30 with our Lifetime Discount, but you'll also get a research pack worth over £70!*

• 12-Month Subscription to Discover Your Ancestors Online Magazine

• Seven Generation Research Logbook

• Researching and Locating Your Ancestors by Celia Heritage

• 10 Generation Relationship Chart

• Birth Date Calculator

• Ticket to The Family History Show London, Midlands or Liverpool

• Ticket to The Family History Show Online

Explore these new records and start your genealogical journey today with TheGenealogist by claiming this offer here:https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/MGBWLP725

Offer expires 31st October 2025.

*UK delivery only, overseas customers will receive a digital equivalent.

About TheGenealogist

TheGenealogist is an award-winning online family history website, who put a wealth of information at the fingertips of family historians. Their approach is to bring hard to use physical records to life online with easy to use interfaces such as their Tithe and newly released Lloyd George Domesday collections. 

TheGenealogist’s innovative SmartSearch technology links records together to help you find your ancestors more easily. TheGenealogist is one of the leading providers of online family history records. Along with the standard Birth, Marriage, Death and Census records, they also have significant collections of Parish and Nonconformist records, PCC Will Records, Irish Records, Military records, Occupations, Newspaper record collections amongst many others.

Skeletal remains found in Massachusetts in 1992 have now been identified as Anthony Angelli Rea, a teen who was reported missing four years earlier. Investigators are now asking for the public's help for more information. 

Anthony was born in 1973 and lived part of his childhood in Malden with his mother, according to the Essex District Attorney's Office. He was reported missing from the Harbor School in Newbury in August 1988. 

In November 1992, skeletal remains were found partially buried in marsh grass off Route 95 South in Newburyport. An autopsy determined the body was a teenage boy, but no cause of death was declared. 

"For 32 years the State Police assigned to the Essex District Attorney's Office and the Newburyport Police attempted to identify the remains," the Essex DA said. "Although investigators developed significant leads, due to the limitations in DNA identification, they were unable to make a positive identification." 

On Thursday, the Essex DA announced that with the assistance of a private forensic laboratory in Texas using advanced DNA testing, the remains were positively identified as Anthony Angelli Rea. 

Scientists used forensic genetic genealogy

"Othram scientists successfully developed a DNA extract from skeletal remains and used Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing® to develop a comprehensive DNA profile," the Essex DA said. 

"Othram's in-house forensic genetic genealogy team then used the profile in a genealogical search to generate new investigative leads in the case, including the identification of potential relatives of the decedent." 

Anyone with information about Anthony Angelli Rea is asked to call the State Police Unresolved Case Unit at 855-MA-SOLVE.  

THE IRISH Heritage Summer Concert took place in the beautiful surroundings of Leighton House in Holland Park, London.

The evening attracted a large attendance and featured performances from flautist Sinead Walsh, pianists Georgina Cassidy and Alfred Fardell, tenor Owen Lucas and violist Eve Quigley.

Irish Heritage is a registered charity whose objective is to advance public education and appreciation of the arts, particularly those of Irish and Anglo-Irish music, arts, literature and drama to the benefit of the community.

The next Irish Heritage event in the calendar is a collaboration with the London Yeats Society celebrating the era of William Butler Yeats with an evening of poems and music on October 22.

Click here for more information.

NOTE: Here’s an article that is not about any of the "normal" topics of this newsletter: genealogy, history, current affairs, DNA, and related topics. However,  I will suggest that every computer user should be aware of the issues mentioned here and probably should bookmark the following article: https://www.howtogeek.com/free-tools-to-help-you-identify-and-avoid-malicious-links/

TOPLINE:

Patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) who had a family history of psoriatic disease were diagnosed with psoriasis and PsA earlier and showed more entheseal involvement than those without such family history.

METHODOLOGY:

• Researchers enrolled 843 patients with PsA (mean age, 50.8 years; 50.6% men; 76.4% White individuals) from the New York University (NYU) Psoriatic Arthritis Center and associated clinics in an observational, longitudinal registry to study familial aggregation and differences in disease onset and phenotype.
• They collected data on demographics, medical and family history, and psoriatic phenotype and activity.
• Patients were categorized on the basis of family history, with 379 participants having one or more first-degree or second-degree relatives with psoriatic disease (301 had relatives with psoriasis, and 78 had relatives with PsA) and 464 having no history.
• Disease measures included the age at which psoriasis and PsA were diagnosed, types and locations of psoriasis, and areas affected by PsA.

TAKEAWAY:

• Patients with a family history of psoriatic disease were diagnosed with psoriasis and PsA earlier than those without (mean age, 27.6 vs 32.2 years and 37.6 vs 40.3 years, respectively; P < .01 for both).
• Patients with first-degree or second-degree relatives with PsA were diagnosed with psoriasis and PsA earlier than those with relatives with psoriasis alone or no family history (P < .01 and P = .01, respectively).
• Patients with a family history of psoriatic disease were more likely to have a history of enthesitis than those without (36.7% vs 30.0%; P < .05) and active enthesitis at baseline (30.1% vs 21.6%; P < .01).
• The transition time between the diagnosis of psoriasis and PsA was longer among patients with two or more first-degree or second-degree relatives than among those with only one relative or those with no family history (mean time to diagnosis, 14.1 vs 8.0 vs 8.8 years; P < .01).

IN PRACTICE:

“Additional studies integrating molecular and immune features are needed to elucidate how genetic, environmental, and epigenetic elements influence the progression from psoriasis to PsA, as well as PsA’s clinical presentation, severity, and therapeutic response,” the authors of the study wrote.

SOURCE:

The study was led by Catherine Howe, MD, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York City. It was published online on July 14, 2025, in Arthritis & Rheumatology.

Improved lighting, additional security and a registration system will be in place at the Africville Family Reunion this coming weekend, in response to a shooting that left five people injured at the event last July.

The new measures have been implemented as the result of a safety audit organizers requested after unprecedented gun violence at the event, which reunites former residents and descendants of the historic Black community.

Running for more than 40 years, the weekend festival is one of the most important of the year for many people who return to what is now a National Historic Site, after the neighbourhood was torn down by the city of Halifax in the 1960's.

"We want people not only to be safe, but we need them to feel safe so that they return back out here and join with us," said Irvine Carvery, president of the Africville Genealogy Society, which hosts the annual event.

Carvery said some attendees had felt apprehensive about returning, but he is confident they're feeling better knowing precautions have been put in place.

"I want them to come here, feel comfortable and enjoy the fellowship and renew old acquaintances and introduce new generations to their families," he said.

People from across Canada and parts of the U.S. attend each year with as many as 5,000 people passing through the park during reunion weekends, he said.

It was around 10 p.m. and dark when shots were fired last year, Carvery said, so the safety review suggested lighting throughout the park.

That will be done this year using portable lights.

"All of the grounds should be well illuminated for people throughout the weekend," he said.

'I am not going to be afraid to go to Africville'

Participants will also be registered and given a park pass as they arrive which must then be displayed while they're in the park.

Additional security is being hired and police presence has been secured for the weekend.

In a statement, Halifax Regional Police confirmed officers will be on site and patrolling the surrounding area.

"We want the community to feel like they can celebrate their history and culture without fear. We encourage anyone who sees anything concerning to flag down an officer or call police," the statement said.

Paula Grant-Smith, who grew up in Africville and has never missed a family reunion, will return this weekend.

"I'm going because that is something that we've always done and I am not going to be afraid to go to Africville," Grant-Smith said.

Paula Grant-Smith says she is looking forward to returning to an event that is part of her family's tradition, and getting together with other former residents to celebrate the spirit of Africville. (Gareth Hampshire/CBC)

She said last year's tragedy hurt her heart, and has shaken some of her younger family members.

A niece and nephew who are around the age of ten are reluctant to go back.

"To have that gunfire, they were traumatized then and they're traumatized now," she said. "If they do come down there, they won't stay."

She supports the new safety measures but planned on returning regardless to continue her family's tradition of honouring the spirit of Africville.

Police have not made any arrests in the case, and have said they believe people have information that could help their investigation.

In April, the Nova Scotia government announced it is offering a reward of up to $150,000 to try to find those responsible for the shooting.

There have been no further tips as a result of the incident being added to the Major Unsolved Crimes Program, police said, adding they are still hoping someone comes forward.

People are expected to begin arriving on Thursday with reunion's events running from Friday through Sunday.

The following is a press release witten by the (U.S.) National Archives and Records Administration:

Release marks new “business as usual” for identifying, digitizing, reviewing, and releasing files at the National Archives 

Enlarge

Martin Luther King, Jr. (detail) by Jack Lewis Hiller, 1960, Gelatin silver print, used with permission of the National Portrait Gallery , Smithsonian Institution; gift of Jack Lewis Hiller.

WASHINGTON, July 23, 2025 – The National Archives and Records Administration coordinated with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) and other federal agencies —including the Department of Justice (DOJ), Federal Bureau of Intelligence (FBI), Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and Department of State—to identify, digitize, review and release more than 230,000 pages of records related to the assassination of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

This historic release occurred on Monday, July 21, 2025 and was done in accordance with Executive Order 14176, Declassification of Records Concerning the Assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., signed by President Donald Trump on January 23, 2025. 

The Acting Archivist of the United States, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, said: “Today’s record release marks a historic step in the Trump Administration’s ongoing commitment to transparency and accountability. Preserving, protecting, and releasing the records of the U.S. government is at the core of NARA’s mission. Thanks to President Trump’s leadership and a coordinated interagency process, NARA was able to review and release the records at an unprecedented speed.”


The National Archives began releasing records related to the tragic assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in March 2025. These releases have been among the largest in the history of the National Archives, and are the result of around-the-clock work of archival staff and the web services team in coordination with an interagency group led by the ODNI. 

Across these three releases, the National Archives published in five months what would usually take more than two years. This process has highlighted NARA’s capacity when the agency is streamlined and prioritizing records digitization, reviews and releases. NARA is now implementing operational process changes across the agency to continue to post newly-released records at an accelerated pace. 

This Monday’s release includes FBI records related to the investigation into the assassination of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (codename: MURKIN), records that the CIA deemed responsive to E.O. 14176, as well as State Department records concerning the extradition of James Earl Ray from the United Kingdom. 

In accordance with the National Archives’ statutory role as the final repository of the records of the United States federal government, these records are now available to the American people at https://archives.gov/mlk.

While some of these documents were made public through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests in the past, this release marks the first time these records are posted online in one place with minimal redactions at https://archives.gov/mlk.