This week’s #FridayFind is… a record of birth!

Written By Dmitri Schmidt

But maybe not the kind you’re imagining.

If you’re familiar with genealogy research, you might know that one of the difficulties is the relative newness of civil records such as birth certificates. This is often where church records come in, particularly baptismal records, but there’s another, although much, much rarer source: a midwife’s diary.

Martha Ballard, the author of the diary featured [below], was one such midwife. In her diary she kept record of the countless births she attended from 1785 til her death in 1812, giving incredible insight into many lives we would otherwise have no documentation for.

Where’s the least likely place you’ve found an ancestor’s birth documented? Send us an email at emma@backlog-archivists.com

Dmitri Schmidt

Dmitri plays a pivotal role in coordinating Backlog’s outreach efforts. They curate our weekly #FridayFinds and #ArchivalTips social media posts, shedding light on items discovered in our genealogy work and providing tips and tricks to approaching problems in the archives.

Dmitri holds a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and German Studies from Saint Louis University. During their university years, they dedicated over 1000 hours to interning and volunteering at local St. Louis institutions, including the St. Louis Science Center and the St. Louis University Museum of Art. As the Collections Intern at the Science Center, Dmitri assisted in developing and installing the "Into the Vault" exhibit.

Before joining Backlog, Dmitri served as a Fulbright Grantee, teaching English as a second language in former East Germany. From guiding 11th graders in analyzing pop albums as poetry to discussing the significance of the civil rights movement with 8th graders, they covered a broad spectrum of subjects. While reveling in connecting with students and injecting fun into grammar lessons, Dmitri's deep passion for all things archival eventually drew them back home.

Today, Dmitri works as a Herbarium Assistant at the Missouri Botanical Garden, helping digitize the millions of preserved plant specimens. After being scanned and transcribed, these images aid scholars around the globe in furthering botanical research. Dmitri also serves as the archivist for the Kirkwood Historical Society. They are currently overseeing the “Journeys into Kirkwood’s History” project, which aims to digitize documents related to Kirkwood’s early Black settlements.

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