Friday, June 24, 2011

Both Male and Female?

Records Say the Darnedest ThingsRecords say the darnedest things

We depend upon records to reveal the “truth” about our pasts.

Yet sometimes records have anomalies.
Some are amusing or humorous.
Some are interesting or weird.
Some are peculiar or suspicious.
Some are infuriating, even downright laughable.

Yes, Records Say the Darnedest Things.”

Both Male and Female?

There are only two genders, right? Well… Maybe…

I came across this record recently while indexing Maine vital records:

Gender both male and female

As it turned out, the card documented the stillbirth of twins.

Stillborn twins

I was grateful that Indexer A knew what she was doing. She had added a second record to the image. One record documented the boy, a second documented the girl.

Yes, “Records Say the Darnedest Things.”

1 comment:

  1. I wish all transcribers/indexers thought that much about what they were doing.
    "Type what you see" is a rule with many limitations, especially when it comes to gender and placenames.

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