In 1982 or 1983, I joined the German branch of the Minnesota Genealogical Society. It was already a force in the world of Germanic research. It has become a separate entity, the Germanic Genealogy Society, with a worldwide presence. I am proud to be a member of the group of the forefront of this new initiative. It makes so much sense and gives me great hope on my Fischer, Kuschke, and Rohr lines.
I was scheduled to be a part of the initial meetings last month, but alas, a opportunity to visit with some of the grandchildren in Northern Minnesota took precedent. This press release was written by the new partners:
Announcing the new
German-American Genealogical Partnership
“Bridging the Gap between North America and Europe for Genealogists”
This partnership forms a German-American genealogy structure between countries and organizations for sharing contacts and genealogical research. This partnership is open to all organizations interested in Germanic genealogical research.
Goals of Partnership
Our shared goal is to stimulate interest in Germanic Genealogy and to provide a forum to share research methods and information to further the researching of our ancestors. The goal of the Partnership is to assist, strengthen and support each society as they continue to grow.
Common Goals include:
- Sharing strategies for research
- Developing contacts between organization and individuals
- Creating a list of most valuable resources
- Create lists of references and websites
- Sharing contact lists of organizations, speakers, researchers, guides, historians and translators
A future plan may include Germanic national and international conferences. Additional plans and goals are under discussion with new partner societies.
Founding Societies
The founding societies of the new German-American Genealogical Partnership include the Germanic Genealogy Society (GGS), the Pommern Regional Group of Minnesota (PRG), and the Deutsche Arbeitsgemeinschaft genealogischer Verbände (DAGV).
The first international online meeting for this partnership was held on 28 May 2015, which included representatives of various societies from Germany, Poland, and seven U.S. states ranging from California to New York.
Representatives from the three founding organizations officially signed a Proclamation of St. Paul on 29 May 2015 before a large audience as part of the GGS Conference. The proclamation describes the goal to create a closer German-American genealogical relationship between all interested societies.
From this original online meeting four additional societies have already joined in this partnership with several more waiting for board approval. We encourage other societies interested in Germanic Genealogy to join us in the German-American Genealogical Partnership. Further information can be found on the GGS website: <ggsmn.org> under the German Partnership tab.
Founding Partner Societies:
Deutsche Arbeitsgemeinschaft genealogischer Verbände
Pommern Regional Group of Minnesota
Additional partners include:
Sacramento German Genealogical Society
Immigrant Genealogical Society of Burbank, California
Southwest Florida Germanic Genealogy Society
Ahnenforscher Stammtisch Unna und Umgebung
© 2015, Paula Stuart-Warren. All rights reserved.
