Birdie Monk Holsclaw, CG

Paula Stuart-Warren  Birdie, Holsclaw  Leave a comment

Birdie Monk Holsclaw, CG. 1948 – 2010. We have lost another strong, determined, caring, sharing, and intelligent woman. Did you ever get to meet her? I met her because I volunteered to work a shift at an Association of Professional Genealogist’s booth at a conference about twenty years ago. We became friends and I never stopped adoring her wonderful mind. Her interests were beyond what any human being should be capable of. (She’d comment (very kindly, though) on my ending that sentence with a proposition!)

The picture above is Birdie with Karen Mauer Green in May of 2008. This afternoon Birdie’s memorial service is taking place in Colorado. I had hoped to be there but the plane fares prohibited that. I kept trying to finish this post about her but found it too difficult. Today is the day to honor her since I am unable to be there with her family, friends, and colleagues who are doing that together. 

Her love of genealogical research, volunteering in organizations, helping others, giving us instruction, and most of all her smile and excitement about everything is what she needs to be remembered for. Not cancer and not MS. Her mind was filled with her family, genealogy, technology, movies and many other things. We had many long talks about her son Will and my youngest son Pat who we decided were kindred spirits. For the last several years we roomed together (with Karen Mauer Green) each January in Salt Lake City. Talk about kindred spirits — we routinely talked into the early morning hours about everything under the sun. Birdie was an instructor in my intermediate course at the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy. The students were especially thrilled with her assistance during the one-on-one consultations.

The first issue of the Federation of Genealogical Society’s Delegate Digest was distributed in September 1993. The first editor was Birdie, who was a Delegate to FGS from Colorado. For her efforts, Birdie Monk Holsclaw became the first recipient of the Delegate Award, established in 1993 to honor the representatives from FGS member societies.

One project that was near and dear to Birdie was exploring the family histories of pupils at the Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind from 1874-1883. Her website devoted to this is wonderful. Click here to view it. If you are unable to access it, go to your search engine and type in the search terms and view the cached version. For some reason the site is down and the family is working to get it restored. This project was so dear to Birdie because her father had attended this school.

In 2003 I was unable to complete a volunteer job and called my fellow committee member, Birdie, and she listened to my story and immediately completed the job for me.

Birdie had the right husband (Russ) and son — all could techo speak.What a neat family. I actually met Birdie’s mother Arliss Monk, CG, before I met Birdie. I was fortunate to see Arliss at the recent NGS Conference in Salt Lake City and we had some time to talk about Birdie and hug.

A wonderful tribute to Birdie was written by Julie Miller, CG and you can read it here or here Julie really captures the person we know and love. In 2003 Bobbi King interviewed Birdie and you can read that here.

I will miss my friend and her smile. She taught me something and that is life doesn’t stop just because you have been handed some very rotten lemons. Joy. That is a word the fits her.

Public graduation gift to a Mom is truly for us all!

Paula Stuart-Warren  Huffington Post, Rodda, Scams  Leave a comment

Well, genealogical scams have hit the news again and thanks to the author of an article the news on this will be seen by many. The Huffington Post has an article by Chris Rodda about those mass marketed gifts that tell about “your” family’s name. Chris was providing her mother, a professional genealogist, a graduation gift by sharing the details of the scam publicly. Her mother, Anne Rodda, is now better known as Dr. Rhodda! I am also proud to say that Anne is a fellow certified genealogist.

Chris saw the commercial on the History Channel and says “Now they’ve sunk to a new low, airing ads for a company that peddles fraudulent history. So my graduation present to my mother, a real certified professional genealogist, is to expose the genealogical charlatan Michael Walshe, and the scam of his Historical Research Center’s so-called “research.” You can obtain a parchment scroll with “guaranteed authentic family name origin and meaning.”

Yeah, right. There have been several recreations of such “special” items over the years. Ever seen one of those carts in a shopping mall or an ad in the back of a magazine? Pretty much the same thing. We used to get many of those lovely offers by postcard in the regular mail. Over the years many people have told about how they laugh when promised the info on the family name’s origin and meaning or the historically accurate coat of arms. True family historians know about names changes and spelling differences in their own family background and that these one size fits all coats of arms mean nothing.

I hate to see unsuspecting people drawn in by the promises of such material. Each individual, each family is unique and there are no predetermined ready-made family history materials. Good genealogy takes time to research. There are many places to learn what’s the correct way to learn and to research. 

Oh, and Chris tells us that the man behind these commercials is the same man who sold such miracle products as the Ginsu knife. And the guy is even offering franchises of the new business. Run, don’t walk, away, please. Chris, your graduation gift to your Mom is truly an international gift to many.

Illinois opens up birth records to adoptees

Paula Stuart-Warren  Adoption, Vital records  1 Comment

Tonight the Chicago Tribune is reporting something that made me smile. Governor Pat Quinn plans to sign into law a measure allowing adoptees to access their original birth records. The signing is planned for Friday, May 21, 2010.

According to the article “The legislation allows anyone adopted before 1946 to get their full birth certificate information by filing a written request with the state adoption registry. Those born after Jan. 1, 1946, could learn the same information if they are over 21 and at least one birth parent has not requested anonymity.”

This will also be helpful to many Minnesota adoptees whose births took place in Illinois, especially in the Chicago area.

Click here for the full story. The cost is $15.00. Click here for a link to the Vital Records section of the Illinois Department of Health.

Liquor store

Paula Stuart-Warren  Organizing  3 Comments

Every genealogist should visit the liquor store!

Yes, you read that correctly. At least this applies to most of the genealogists I know. None of us has unlimited genealogy funds. But we love maps and large charts and need a way to store them. Oh, a map cabinet would be perfect but even used ones are costly. The solution is to go the liquor store or the liquor area of your grocery store. I said go, not drink. Though some genealogy brick walls might have us thinking about that drink!

The boxes that wine and liquor are delivered in, make a great place to store oversize items. The dividers that separate the bottles leave enough space to place a rolled up map or chart. Make a simple table in your computer and type the contents of each divider as illustrated below. Tape it to the side of the box so that you know what is in each divider. I do have more than one rolled item in each divider.

You can also purchase archival quality map tubes, flat bloxes, and other storage options from places such as Hollinger Metal Edge and Light Impressions .

Limited access to microfilms at Minnesota Historical Society May 29 – June 21

Paula Stuart-Warren  Minnesota Historical Society  Leave a comment

The Hubbs Microfilm Room which is part of the research library at the Minnesota Historical Society will be closed from May 29 – June 21, 2010. New carpeting is being installed during this three week period. Some items such as newspapers from around the state will not be available for research.

For a list of what will be available for research (on a limited number of film readers) click here. 

Illinois state level vital records ordering delay (temporary)

Paula Stuart-Warren  Illinois, Vital records  Leave a comment

The Illinois Department of Public Health’s Division of Vital Records is moving to new offices. The office will be closed from May 27 -31 and will reopen on June 1, 2010. Because of this move, rush service and some other customer requests for birth and death records might be delayed.

Click here to read the article in the online edition of the Springfield, Illinois State Journal Register.

Don’t forget about the FGS Genealogy Conference this August!

Paula Stuart-Warren  Conferences, Federation of Genealogical Societies, FGS  Leave a comment

Did you attend the NGS Conference in Salt Lake City earlier this month or wish you had after hearing about the great lectures, special events, luncheons, and Exhibit Hall? There’s another chance to attend a large genealogy event that will revitalize your research, teach you new techniques, tell about the growing software applications, surround you with folks willing to talk family history, have three days of an Exhibit Hall filled with a plethora of goodies, and give you tickets for fantastic door prize drawings (anyone need a free week in Salt Lake City?)? This year’s FGS Conference is in beautiful and bustling Knoxville, Tennessee in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains.

Maybe you would like to learn from some of the top speakers in the field of genealogy, sit with them at a luncheon, hear from the software developers first-hand, spend an evening at the Museum of Appalachia, visit with experts who can help you on your way to solving genealogical dilemmas, learn about ways to help your genealogical society grow, and most of all revel in four days of excitement.

Don’t forget to register for the 2010 FGS Conference by June 1st. If you register on or before that date, you will save a whopping $50.00 off the full registration price for the conference. It’s easy to register online or to print out the registration form and mail it in.

It’s easy to register for the luncheons and special events at the same time — but if you need to add others after you register, that is easy to do. When you register online you receive a PIN that will allow you to go back in and add another luncheon or two or register for one of the special evening events.

Leaving the excitement and education of the NGS Conference and the friendliness and helpfulness of fellow genealogists was tough — except that I knew the feeling would be repeated in August in Knoxville.

Check out these links for more info:

Yes, I have been “missing” on my blog

Paula Stuart-Warren  Uncategorized  Leave a comment

Three weeks ago I left to do a two day seminar in Norfolk, Nebraska where I was treated royally by the folks from the Nebraska State Genealogical Society and the Madison County Genealogical Society. It was a packed house and an attentive group. The two days ended with a trip to a cemetery for a grave witching demonstration.

Then I was off to Salt Lake City for the National Genealogical Society Conference and some meetings. It was a wonderful four days. At the opening session on Wednesday I presented a tribute to Marsha Hoffman Rising, an amazing woman, friend, and genealogist extraordinaire. That was a difficult experience and I hope I did her justice. The tribute plus some additional words will be in the National Genealogical Society’s NewsMagazine later this year. After the conference ended I spent a week researching at the Family History Library for clients. Lest you think it was all work the time I was gone, I did have a lot of time with good friends in the genealogical community. A conference is like a family reunion and even better are the new family members you meet.

One of the conference week highlights was the “Celebration of Family History” held at the Conference Center of the LDS Church. A special performance by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir was so neat, followed by a wonderful presentation by a high ranking official of that church and then the evening became even better (if possible) with a talk by noted author David McCullough. I did not want the evening to end.

On the Friday of the conference week, Ancestry.com held a group viewing of the final episode of Who Do You Think You Are?, complete with refreshments. What a neat experience to be with a big room full of fellow genealogists watching this show.

I now have time off from conferences and seminars until mid-August for the Federation of Genealogical Societies four day conference in Knoxville, Tennessee. So I have lots of time for blogging, spending time with my grandchildren, preparing lectures for FGS, and maybe even dusting and vacuuming. A big maybe on the latter.

Family in southwestern Kansas?

Paula Stuart-Warren  Archives, Libraries  Leave a comment

The April 17th issue of the Pittsburg, Kansas Morning Sun has an article that is one of my favorite types. It tells about an old record book being turned over to an institution for preservation. In this case, it’s a 1923 jail register for Crawford County, Kansas that has been sent to the Special Collections Department of the Axe Library at Pittsburgh State University.

Alas, my own Kansas connections were not in that part of Kansas. The preservation of this volume is a reminder to continually check online catalogs and finding aids for repositories of historical materials. A book of records, a set of old letters, or some loose papers found in the back of a filing cabinet may get turned over to a library, historical society, or archive. A collection that was previously not catalogued or not fully described may now be.