Home from Southern California.

Paula Stuart-Warren  Seminars  Leave a comment

I just spent four wonderful days communing with other genealogists in Southern California. I was not expecting the 90 degree temps! As I reported earlier, I spoke on Wednesday evening to the Genealogical Society of North Orange County California and yesterday presented four lectures for the South Orange County California Genealogical Society. Both groups have a very dedicated segment of volunteers. Chairs, display tables, refreshments, microphone, and the needs of the speaker were taken care of quickly and professionally. The friendliness of the folks at both meetings made it difficult to say goodbye. I was also able to spend some quality time with long-time genealogy friends and had some wonderful meals.

I answered dozens of questions from audience members and that is another part of these events that I love. Quite a few folks mentioned that they read my blog so this is a special hello to them!

If you live in the Southern California area, watch for monthly events and annual seminars sponsored by both of these societies. They do a great job of making the audiences and speaker feel comfortable.

Where am I off to next? I will be in the Pittsburgh area — watch here for details in a day or two.

DAR guide wins prestigious award

Paula Stuart-Warren  American Society of Genealogists, Darwin, Daughters of the American Revolution, National Archives  1 Comment

This is a press release from the American Society of Genealogists:

FORGOTTEN PATRIOTS wins the Jacobus Award

At its meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah, on 10 October 2009, the American Society of Genealogists voted to give their annual Donald Lines Jacobus Award to Forgotten Patriots, African American and American Indian Patriots in the Revolutionary War: A Guide to Service, Sources, and Studies edited by Eric Grundset, Director of the DAR Library in Washington, D.C., and published by the DAR in 2008. wins the Jacobus Award

Researched by Briana L. Diaz, Hollis L. Gentry, and Jean D. Strahan, as well as by the editor, this substantial reference work has a general introduction, state-by-state introductions, sources, and bibliography, an alphabetical list of names with source codes, maps, photographs, and a glossary of obscure words found in the original records. Many appendices deal with topics such as documenting the color of soldiers and using names as clues to finding them. It is not a collection of biographies but a compilation of source references for individual soldiers that will greatly improve the breadth and accuracy of research. Since Revolutionary War service is often the starting point for research on families of color, this book opens new doors in an increasingly compelling field of genealogy.

The Donald Lines Jacobus Award was established in 1972 to encourage sound scholarship in genealogical writing. It is presented to a model genealogical work published within the previous five years. A list of the books receiving the award in previous years appears on the American Society of Genealogists website (www.fasg.org). Anyone planning to publish their own research, especially as a compiled genealogy or family history, would do well to study the format and style of these books.

Southern California here I come

Paula Stuart-Warren  Family History Month, Seminars  Leave a comment

During this week, I will be making two appearances in southern California. I look forward to meeting blog readers. It is snowing here in my part of Minnesota and I will be happy to leave it. It will melt, but it’s still so early to see this much. (At least in my mind!)

Wednesday, 14 October, Yorba Linda, California
An evening presentation for the Genealogical Society of North Orange County California. The title is Research Rewards in County Courthouse and Town Hall Records. Click here for details on the society’s events for Family History Month.

Saturday, 17 October, Mission Viejo, California
I will be presenting an all -day seminar Locating those Illusive Ancestors for the South Orange County California Genealogical Society. For the full flyer and registration details click here. To see my previous post with the list of the lectures click here.

Equality among family history researchers

Paula Stuart-Warren  Equality, Family History Month  5 Comments

Many scenarios come to mind. When you attend a genealogy meeting and “talk genealogy” with those sitting around you, what comes to mind about the other people? Is it their home life, life style, color of their skin, political leaning, or religious affiliation? Do you consider whether they are single, married, divorced, in a relationship, gay, straight, thin, fat, tall, short, have children, or drive only a red car? I bet these things don’t come to mind. Genealogy is a great equalizer.

Yes, we might be concerned about someone’s genetics — but only to see if we might have some common genealogical background that DNA testing might help out. We might be interested in their religion if they live in a particular town and attend a particular church — but only to see if they can obtain a copy of a christening record for you.

In that conversation one person mentions that they are German and their parents came to the U.S. from Germany. Ah — you are now interested. Parents alive? Might they be able to help you translate a document?

If we ask what side the family fought on during a specific war, we aren’t asking so that we know whether to shun them, but to see what kind of knowledge about history they might be able to tell you about or where some records might be.

When visiting a library or archives, those questions in the first paragraph don’t really matter when we meet the librarian or archivist. We want to know if they have knowledge of the archives’ records from the Civil War or if one of them could help read two faded words on a document.

If someone says that their great grandfather was in prison, we don’t move to a different chair, we ask what prison and whether they were able to find any records.

As I have said many times, wouldn’t it be great if the whole world operated like this? Hate crimes, political tirades, religious persecution, and so many other things could be distant memories. It’s Family History Month. How can we get the rest of the people to think like genealogists?

Among my genealogy friends (aka genealogy family) I have tall friends, short friends, gay friends, straight friends, friends who don’t know how to drive, friends with silver cars, friends with no religious affiliation, friends with advanced degrees, friends who struggle to spell correctly, friends who are young, old, retired, and just about any other label. But labels sometimes hurt and in genealogy there are few of those. Equality is important for everyone.

Hamm’s Beer and Brewery History

Paula Stuart-Warren  Beer, Brewery, St. Paul  2 Comments

Hamm’s Beer — a name synonymous with the east side of St. Paul. The St. Paul Pioneer Press ran an article a couple days ago reminding me of the long history of this St. Paul institution. I don’t think that I will ever get the song from the commercial out of my mind. I figured that I might find it on You Tube and here it is!

What’s the genealogy connection? There is one. Years ago I was a subcontractor on a research project that involved the genealogy of the owner of a brewery in Brooklyn, New York. That was pre– online research days. I found that the beer collecting hobbyists have produced books to assist themselves and that much historical background is found in some of those. Books exist that tell about the history of beer cans, breweries, brewers, and even breweries in a given city or area. Visit Worldcat.org and type in terms such as “brewery history,” been can collector,” and similar search terms. Today a lot of that info is online but the books are generally better for genealogical purposes, especially those with source bibliographies.

A guide to beer cans, their provenance, and worth might detail the owners of a specific beer brand over the years. In the one I worked on, the books detailed the owners and even listed information from land tax records as to who owned the brewery.

If your ancestor wasn’t the owner or brewer, your family history could still benefit from the history of a brewery where a family member worked.

Brewery Collectibles Club of America

Buffalo Brewery History

Roslyn Brewing Company (Washington State)

American Breweriana Association

A source for purchasing many such books: http://www.beerbooks.com

October is Archives Month, Family History Month, and a few other important designations

Paula Stuart-Warren  Archives, Breast Cancer, Family History Month  Leave a comment

Among many other valuable and some strange designations, October is Archives Month, Family History Month, and Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Archives Month
Visit a local, state, national, religious, ethnic or other archive this month. Thank the archivists for taking care of historical records. Tell then you appreciate all that they do to preserve them. Acknowledge that they are generally working under stressful situations today as their budgets have been cut, hours slashed, and many other staff members are no longer employed there. Before you visit, check the archives’ website to verify parking, hours, and check for an online catalog or other finding aids so you are better prepared for your visit.

Check out this interesting Blog centered on Wisconsin. I just saw this on another list I read. Lots to read about.

Family History Month
Does your genealogical or historical society have some special events or classes to celebrate family history month? Check the newsletters and websites for these organizations for notice of such activities.

This year to help celebrate October as Archives Month and Family History Month, plan some days where you drag yourself away from the computer and visit an archive and experience the joys of using original records. Nothing compares to holding an actual deed, will, or tax record in your hands or reading an old diary.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month
While you are thinking about all that, be sure that you do monthly self-exams and make sure you are up-to-date on mammograms or ask that question of the women in your life. I can still remember my mother sitting in my living room in the early 1970s and saying” by the way, I am going to the hospital for a mastectomy tomorrow.” Early detection is important.

Historic Bridges

Paula Stuart-Warren  Bridges  Leave a comment

A website for just about anything. That’s the way it is in today’s world. If you love historic bridges you might want to check this website, Historic Bridges of the United States. The website states, “This is a database of 32,527 historic bridges in the United States of America, past and present.”

The pictures for some of the bridges are beautiful, but many more bridges are listed than have images. The site has instructions for providing pictures of bridges. The “News” section is interesting. Links on the right hand side of the website allow you to check by state, type of bridge, condition, and other categories including those on the Nation Register of Historic Places.

Of course I had to check Madison County, Iowa because of the Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood movie, The Bridges of Madison County. Coincidentally, the movie is on a cable channel as I type this. I just checked on the date of this movie at imdb.com and found that it is a 1995 movie. That’s 14 years ago. My does time fly.

You might be able to find details and a picture of a bridge that was in the town where great granny lived.

New Digital Holocaust Collection free through October

Paula Stuart-Warren  Footnote.com, Holocaust, National Archives  3 Comments

This press release just arrived from the U.S. National Archives.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 29, 2009

National Archives and Footnote.com Announce New Digital Holocaust Collection

Collection includes Holocaust-related photos and records available online for first time

Washington DC and Lindon, UT -September 29, 2009 The National Archives and Records Administration and Footnote.com today announced the release of the internet’s largest Interactive Holocaust Collection. For the first time ever, over one million Holocaust-related records – including millions of names and 26,000 photos from the National Archives- will be available online. The collection can be viewed at: http://www.footnote.com/holocaust

“We cannot afford to forget this period in our history,” said Dr. Michael Kurtz, Assistant Archivist of the United States and author of America and the Return of Nazi Contraband: The Recovery of Europe’s Cultural Treasures. “Working with Footnote, these records will become more widely accessible, and will help people now and in the future learn more about the events and impact of the Holocaust.”

Included among the National Archives records available online at Footnote.com are:

  • Concentration camp registers and documents from Dachau, Mauthausen, Auschwitz, and Flossenburg
  • The “Ardelia Hall Collection” of records relating to the Nazi looting of Jewish possessions, including looted art
  • Captured German records including deportation and death lists from concentration camps
  • Nuremberg War Crimes Trial proceedings

Access to the collection will be available for free on Footnote.com through the month of October.

The collection also includes nearly 600 interactive personal accounts of those who survived or perished in the Holocaust provided by the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. The project incorporates social networking tools that enable visitors to search for names and add photos, comments and stories, share their insights, and create pages to highlight their discoveries. There will be no charge to access and contribute to these personal pages.

“These pages tell a personal story that is not included in the history text books,” said Russ Wilding, CEO of Footnote.com. “They give visitors a first-hand glimpse into the tragic events of the Holocaust and allow users to engage with content such as maps, photos, timelines and personal accounts of victims and survivors through over 1 million documents.”

So that visitors may more easily access and engage the content, Footnote.com has created a special Holocaust site featuring:

  • Stories of Holocaust victims and survivors
  • Place where visitors can create their own pages to memorialize their Holocaust ancestors
  • Pages on the concentration camps – includes descriptions, photos, maps, timelines and accounts from those who survived the camps
  • Descriptions and samples of the original records from the National Archives

The Holocaust collection is the latest in a continuing partnership between Footnote.com and the National Archives to scan, digitize, and make historical records available online. The goal is to give more people access to these and other historical records that have previously only been available through the research room of the National Archives. This partnership brings these priceless resources to an even greater number of people and enables the National Archives to provide ever-greater access to these critical holdings.

About Footnote, Inc.
Footnote.com is a subscription website that features searchable original documents, providing users with an unaltered view of the events, places and people that shaped the American nation and the world. At Footnote.com, all are invited to come share, discuss, and collaborate on their discoveries with friends, family, and colleagues. For more information, visit www.footnote.com.

About the U.S. National Archives
The National Archives alone is the archives of the Government of the United States, responsible for safeguarding records of all three branches of the Federal Government. The records held by the National Archives belong to the public – and it is the mission of the National Archives to ensure the public can discover, use, and learn from the records of their government.

Professional genealogist or thinking about that occupation?

Paula Stuart-Warren  Association of Professional Genealogists, Professional Genealogists  Leave a comment

Today must be a big day for press releases. This just came from APG:

The Twelfth Annual Association of Professional Genealogists Professional Management Conference took place September 2, 2009, in Little Rock, Arkansas. The Syllabus is available for sale while supplies last at http://www.apgen.org/catalog/products.html for $20 plus shipping and handling.

The PMC presentations included:

  • Writing Professionally by Tom Jones, CG, CGL, FASG
  • Solving Mysteries for Money: the Forensic Genealogist and Private Investigator by Mary Ann Boyle, Ph.D., CG
  • The Bachelor: Reconstructing a Solitary Life Using Obscure & Far-Flung Records by Mary Penner
  • Talking to the World by Sherry Irvine, CG
  • Elements of a Good Client Agreement by Richard Camaur, JD, CG
  • The Genealogy Consumer: Who Pays for Professional Research? by Natasha Crain, MBA
  • Publish! And Supplement Your Income by Desmond Walls Allen
  • Bull’s Eye! Planning and Delivering a Winning Marketing Campaign by Heather Henderson
  • Get Paid For Your Passion: Becoming a Professional Genealogist by Elissa Scalise Powell, CG

Kathleen W. Hinckley, CG
Executive Director

APG presents awards

Paula Stuart-Warren  Association of Professional Genealogists  Leave a comment

This press release was received today from the Association of Professional Genealogists. Congratulations to the award recipients!

APG HONORS FIVE MEMBERS FOR OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTIONS AND ACHIEVEMENTS

WESTMINSTER, Colo., September 24 – The Association of Professional Genealogists (APG) honored five members for outstanding contributions and achievements at the 2009 Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) Conference held September 2-5 in Little Rock, Arkansas.

APG named Loretto Dennis Szucs as the recipient of the APG Professional Achievement Award. The award was created in 2007 to recognize a record of exceptional professional achievement with contributions to the field of genealogy through individual excellence and ethical behavior. Szucs has been involved in genealogical research, teaching, lecturing, and publishing for more than thirty years. Previously employed by the National Archives, she is currently executive editor and vice president of community relations for Ancestry.com. She has served on many archives and genealogical boards, and was founding secretary of the FGS. Currently, she serves as a director on the Board of the FGS.

Sandra MacLean Clunies, CG, received the Grahame T. Smallwood Jr. Award of Merit, an award honoring personal commitment and outstanding service to the APG organization. Clunies has served APG in several leadership roles since 1996, including two terms on the APG Board of Directors (2004-2008), National Capital Area Chapter President (2004-2008) and National Capital Area Chapter Vice President (1996-2000). In addition to her APG leadership
roles, Clunies has served as Director for the Genealogical Speakers Guild, Vice-President of GENTECH and an adjunct faculty member at the National Institute on Genealogical Research (NIGR) and the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research (IGHR) at Samford University.

APG named Sharon E. Sergeant as the recipient of the APGQ Excellence Award, given to recognize excellence in submitted APG Quarterly material. Sergeant was honored for her article titled, “Holocaust Secret Exposed: How Forensic Genealogy Cracked the Misha Defonseca Case”. She is the past Program Director and current Secretary of the Massachusetts Genealogical Council. She is an active lecturer, author, and conference planner.

Certificates of appreciation were also awarded at the FGS in recognition of outstanding, continual or unusual contributions to APG, by a member or a non-member. This year, there were two recipients. Luke M. Muszkiewicz (of Pure Development, LLC) was honored for long-term contributions to the APG organization in the areas of technical advice, computer programming, web design, and customer service. Alvie L. Davidson, CG, was honored for continued generosity and involvement in the support, planning, and execution of APG’s 30th Anniversary Celebration and the 2009 Professional Management Conference.

The Association of Professional Genealogists, established in 1979, represents over 1,800 genealogists, librarians, writers, editors, historians, instructors, booksellers, publishers, and others involved in genealogy-related businesses. APG encourages genealogical excellence, ethical practice, mentoring, and education. The organization also supports the preservation and accessibility of records useful to the fields of genealogy, local, and social history. Its members represent all fifty states, Canada, and twenty-six other countries.

Contact: Kathleen W. Hinckley, CG, Executive Director,
Association of Professional Genealogists
P.O. Box 350998, Westminster, CO 80035-0998
Phone 303-422-9371, fax 303-456-8825, e-mail
[email protected]