Maria von Trapp in the Social Security Death Index

Maria von Trapp, Austrian-born matriarch of the famous singing von Trapp family, passed away in Vermont in 1987, and she can be found listed in the Social Security Death Index (SSDI) ...Name: MARIA TRAPPBirth: 26 Jan 1905Death: Apr 1987Last Residence: 05672 (Stowe, Lamoille, VT)Last Benefit: (none specified)Social Security Number: 009-32-2317Issued: VermontNote that her surname lacks the "von" part and her death date is given as April 1987 without a specific day. Maria actually died on 28 March 1987 as can be seen in this listing from Ancestry's Vermont Death Index -- See: Vermont Death Indexes and Records ...Given, Middle Name, Surname: Maria A VontrappBirth Date: January 26, 1905Death Date: March 28, 1987Place of Death: Morristown, VTResidence: Stowe, VTGender: F; Age: 82; Race: WhiteMarriage Status: WidowedBirthplace: OTHERWhen using the SSDI if you come upon a month and year only for the death date you can usually get the correct date from other sources such as the person's death certificate. Try the online death records directory for some online indexes and sources.Also, when searching for surnames that contain more than one word you might try different variations like... Trapp, Vontrapp or von Trapp.Maria von Trapp is buried in the Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe, Vermont, along with her husband, Georg Ritter von Trapp, who died on 30 May 1947, and Hedwig von Trapp (1917–1972), daughter of Georg and his first wife, Agathe. (The photo at left: Maria von Trapp, 1944.)Georg and Agathe (Whitehead) von Trapp had seven children, all born in Austria: Rupert, Agathe, Maria, Werner, Hedwig, Johanna and Martina. Agathe von Trapp died in 1922 of scarlet fever. Georg and Maria (Kutschera) von Trapp, who married in 1927, had three children: Rosmarie, Eleonore, and Johannes. The first two were born in Austria. Johannes was born in Philadelphia while the von Trapps were visiting Pennsylvania on a singing tour. The family later settled in the United States.Suggested ReadingThe Story of the Trapp Family Singers by Maria Augusta von Trapp - this is Maria's book that inspired the Sound of Music Broadway musical and movie.Sound of Music FunIn the Sound of Music movie the real Maria von Trapp, along with one of her daughters and a granddaughter, did a "walk-on" and can be seen briefly in the "I Have Confidence" segment behind Julie Andrews.More von Trapp GenealogyFor more information on genealogy records related to the von Trapp family see: Immigration Records for the Singing von Trapp Family

New York Times Archive Search Brings 72 Years of History to Your Desktop

The New York Times has recently made available a free, full-text, searchable archive of its articles, reviews and editorials covering the period from its first issue in September 1851 to December 31, 1922. The archive contains over 3.5 million items. The search engine supports searching by keyword, headline, and author, and it is also possible to limit the date range of a search. Search results are displayed by relevance (closest match to search terms), with options to resort by date (oldest or newest first). The display of results includes complete citation information and the first paragraph of each article; to view a complete article it is necessary to select a link to a scan of the article in PDF format.The New York Times archive site also includes contents from 1923 to 1980, but the majority of these articles are not freely accessible.In addition to the archive, the Cheng Library also provides subscription access to the full text of the New York Times from June 1980 to the present through the ProQuest search interface and through the Lexis-Nexis Academic database.