Ancestry "AI Stories" in Beta

Another new feature just showed up in an email sent to me by Ancestry: AI Stories, in which added info is provided to help us understand the background of a particular document. 

UPDATE: There is another way to see AI Stories, see bottom of this post. Easiest way to access AI Stories is through an email announcing the availability of such hints. So be sure to watch your email for any Ancestry hint messages. When I clicked through, the hint itself appears on the right of the screen, with the document on the left. 

In my case, the document being described in an audio narrative is about my paternal grandma Henrietta Mahler Burk crossing the border from Canada to the United States, enroute from Montreal south to New York City. 

The written description and audio incorrectly state that Henrietta and her children are going to Montreal, when in fact this is a US immigration document about going from Montreal through Vermont to travel to her mother in New York City. Below is the actual source citation, clearly described as "From Canada to US"

The audio correctly identifies Henrietta as she is shown on the manifest, and links her to her mother, the relative she will be joining in New York City, as well as to her husband, Isaac Burk, who she left in Montreal. 

Below this initial audio and written narrative are other written AI Stories designed to help me "explore what shaped their life." Here's one:

The explanatory details about cross-border movement and documentation were interesting and I found this background helpful as a refresher. I see that the footnote only refers to the particular document, not the source of this historical background.

I will continue to look at AI Stories but not listen as I think I can glean the key details about a document more quickly by reading than by listening.

With luck, the "Ideas" beta will spread more widely and so will "AI Stories" in beta, so readers can share their experiences!

UPDATE: AI Stories can be accessed from the record page of a document in your hints or attached to an ancestor. They are not yet available for every record. Below, an image of a document record page that has the notation Listen and Explore. That leads to the AI Stories page for this particular record. I like the background for these records more than listening to a "story" about the ancestor in the record. See what you think!

MORE about AI Stories can be read in the Ancestry announcement here.

Randy Seaver wrote about this feature in beta here.

Remembering Abraham Berk and the Hebrew Sick Benefit Assn of Montreal

 

My grandfather and his older brother, Abraham Berk (1877-1962), left their home country of Lithuania around the turn of the 20th century. They stopped off with their aunt and uncle in Manchester, England, learning a new language and making extra money for their trip across the Atlantic. Both were trained in carpentry and cabinet making, both able to make a living anywhere.

While in Manchester, Abraham fell in love and married Anna Horwich (1880-1948) in 1903. By mid-1904, he was on a ship bound for Canada while she stayed behind, awaiting the birth of their first child. He found a place to live in Montreal and began working, sending for Anna and their daughter Rose in 1905. The couple soon added to their family with three more children: Lily, William, and Irving Isidore.

Incorporating the benevolent association

Redoing my research this week, I discovered a new-to-me legal notice published on Oct 31, 1919 in the Le Canada newspaper, via OldNews.com. 

Abraham Berk, contractor, was one of the people involved in incorporating the Hebrew Sick Benefit Association of Montreal. This association had already been active since 1892, and in fact it was the oldest mutual aid group of its type in Montreal. In 1919 it was being incorporated and as part of the process, the association published a legal notice about the change in status. Abraham was 42 years old at the time, and his wife Anna was 39. 

Buried in the association plot

In 1948, Anna Berk died, aged 68, and was buried in Baron de Hirsch Cemetery in Montreal, in the Hebrew Sick Benefit Association plot. Abraham was also buried there when he died on Dec 11, 1962, at age 85. 

Remembering great uncle Abraham on the anniversary of his death, a man devoted to family. 

Memories of Expo 67 on Canada Day

The first time I visited Montreal was as a student taking a school trip to Expo 67 during Canada's centennial. Here's the guide book, saved all these years and in good shape!

By 1967, I was a young veteran of giant expositions like this, having visited the New York World's Fair in 1964 and 1965 at least a dozen times. My father, a travel agent, received complimentary entrance tickets. All we had to do was hop the subway from the Bronx to Queens with family or friends, carrying pocket money for sodas and snacks. Lots of fond memories!

So when the Expo 67 trip was announced, I was ready for the adventure. And it was an adventure, starting with the first day. After a long, long bus ride from the Bronx to Montreal, we arrived at what was supposed to be a brand new motel, built to accommodate Expo visitors.

I'll never forget teetering off one of the two buses and staring at the motel building, which had walls and a roof, but not much else. It was dusk, and our group was standing at what was clearly a construction site. The motel simply didn't get finished in time, and we had no place to sleep for four nights.

Somebody scrambled to make other arrangements, and after a delay, we wound up in a different, newly-built motel far, far away from the expo itself. But at least we were in Montreal! The Expo exhibits were fascinating and sometimes futuristic, the fair food was fun, and we had stories to tell when we returned home. Plus souvenirs like this guide book.

Happy Canada Day, and happy 150th to a special country.