This week’s #FridayFind is a pair of early 20th century census annotations!

Written By Dmitri Schmidt

In the 1920 census, Jack Sabin’s “Mother tongue” is listed as “Russian.” While that itself is not unusual for an immigrant from Bessarabia (today part of Moldova and Ukraine), what is interesting is the small “OL” written above “Russian” and the “Rom” written above “Bessarabia. “Rom” likely stands for “Romania,” as Romania was in control of the region at the time. Meanwhile, “OL” as used here, stands for “Other Language.” Since Romanian would have been the national language, Russian would have been considered “Other.”

Need help deciphering old census annotations? Email us 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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From vivid deaths to thrilling 19th-century thefts, past newspapers differ from today. This week’s #FridayFind explores what was deemed newsworthy in a 1916 newspaper!