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Sylvia Plath & Ancestry.com

Many people are interested in genealogy. Ancestry.com is the place for this. They have an amazing amount of archival "stuff" available either to those that subscribe or have access through school or work or sign up for a trial.

In October, Ancestry.com announced via their blog, among other things, the availability of "Reports of Deaths of American Citizens Abroad,1963-1974". This time period would include Sylvia Plath. And, to boot, they made it so easy as to include a link to Plath's report! No wait... come back... Before you click away, I just wanted to let you know that this post is a set-up! Unless something major happens between now and Sunday, check back late in that day for my next post, a long one, aided immensely by Ancestry.com's archive, the good people at the Lilly Library and Emory University, and money ("For money, Lord, the crowds are fierce!").

There are a couple of interesting anomalies with the information on the report. Such as Plath's birth date is one day off and the date of notification sent to Plath's aunt and uncle, Mr. & Mrs. Joseph Benotti. The report lists the date sent as 11 February 1963; however sources such as this and biographies that mentions it was sent the following day, the 12th, as the telegram/cable read "Sylvia died yesterday". Also her daughter Frieda's name is misspelled.

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