Minnesota State Capitol mall to honor tribal nations with a Tribal Flag Plaza

Paula Stuart-Warren  Minnesota, Native American  ,  Leave a comment

29 April 2025 on Minnesota Public Radio.

Many of my readers know of my years of extensive Native American research for Tribes and individuals. I was pleased to learn about the Tribal Flag Plaza being built on the Capitol Mall in the beautiful area of the Minnesota State Capitol building. The mall area has several such dedicated areas.

Excerpts from the story: “The state’s Capitol Mall will see some changes over the next decade. The Capitol Mall Design Framework aims to develop the mall into a welcoming space for more Minnesotans and to represent the state’s diversity better.”

“The design plan includes a Tribal Flag Plaza, located in the Lower Capitol Mall. The plaza will feature flags from each of the 11 federally recognized tribes in the state. He says the board worked with tribal liaisons from the Office of Gov. Tim Walz and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan to coordinate meetings with tribes.”

Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan is a member of one of those 11 Tribes, the White Earth Nation.
.https://www.mprnews.org/story/2025/04/29/minnesota-state-capitol-will-honor-tribal-nations-with-a-tribal-flag-plaza

 

National DNA Day April 25th means sales on DNA testss

Paula Stuart-Warren  Uncategorized  Leave a comment

“National DNA Day is a unique day when students, teachers and the public can learn more about genetics and genomics. The day commemorates the completion of the Human Genome Project in 2003 and the discovery of DNA’s double helix in 1953.” https://www.genome.gov/dna-day.

Check the various genealogy DNA testing companies (Ancestry.com, FamilyTreeDNA, MyHeritage, 23andMe, and Living DNA) to see what test kit sales are available to commemorate this day.

 

Volunteer month and week needs us to participate in the genealogy world

Paula Stuart-Warren  Genealogical Societies, Uncategorized, volunteers  , , ,  1 Comment

April is National Volunteer Month and this week, 20-26 April, is National Volunteer Week. Last night I did some thinking about my volunteer activities over the years. You don’t need to read all these, but it might give you some ideas of where you can be of help. The friends and colleagues I gained from all these added to my quality of life and my genealogy life. I gained but so did the communities that I and others have served.

My point is that genealogy should not always be a singular activity. Volunteering is networking. Over the worktable or a lunch table you might find someone who knows about researching in the new to you county in New York. Another committee member might know which is the best index for birth and death records in one of your ancestral states. Volunteer time is not wasted time but is excellent helping and learning time. What have you done as a volunteer in our genealogy community? First, join some genealogical and historical societies and get involved. Start by offering short-term help and see how and where you fit in. It is work but we all need to do our part. What are you doing to be a volunteer and to honor other volunteers this week and at any time throughout the year?


• In high school, I was a Red Cross volunteer and was a candy striper at a hospital for a while. I was working two jobs so there wasn’t a lot of free time.

• When my children were in elementary school, I was a volunteer chaperone, on a fundraising committee, and some other activities. It was a great way to meet more of my children’s friends and their parents. I did one volunteer job for my oldest granddaughter’s school.

• Then came genealogy. I joined the Minnesota Genealogical Society and checked yes on the membership form asking if I wanted to be a volunteer. One of the smartest moves of my life. Served on the Board of Directors, ran the library, started the education program, served on multiple committees. All were part of my own genealogy education.

• Served as an officer of the Association of Professional Genealogists, President of the Northland Chapter of APG, served on the Professional Management Conference committee, and other committees. I also served on committees for the Board for Certification of Genealogists.

• Served on several committees for the National Genealogical Society and a joint one for the NGS and FGS.

• Served on the Board of Directors of the former Federation of Genealogical Societies and on various committees. Co-chaired three of the annual conferences and for many years on the conference committee. Began the first blog for FGS.

• Volunteered with a religious archive and at a county historical society. Great way to learn about the inner workings of these.

• All of this added to my experience, knowledge, education, abilities, and provided many special connections. I served along with some pretty incredible and caring people.

 

 

My next two virtual presentations are “in” New Hampshire and Washington

Paula Stuart-Warren  Conferences, GRIP, GRIP Genealogy Institute, Webinars  , , ,  Leave a comment

April 26, 2025. Saturday Virtual Presentation as part of the New Hampshire Society of Genealogists Virtual Spring Conference. Three speakers on writing and publishing. My topic is “A Baker’s Dozen: Easy Ways to Begin Writing Your Family History” and registrants receive a syllabus and access to recordings of the sessionshttps://www.nhsog.org/conferences.


May 17, 2025. Saturday Webinar. South King County Genealogical Society. 10:00 a.m. PDT, Noon CDT. Happy to be going back to the SKCGS. My topic “The WPA Era: Free Records Boon from the Government” is accompanied by a handout. It includes WPA and New Deal info for every researcher plus some special Washington and Oregon projects that are available to researchers. https://www.skcgs.org/home


These are followed by several weeks of me working intensely on my 14 presentations for the virtual week of GRIP Genealogy Institute June 22-27, 2025. I know the other instructors will be doing the same. For more details and registration links visit the details on my Speaking tab above. Each includes an extensive syllabus, instructor and student interaction, and two week access to the session recordings!

Digging Deeper: Sources, Methods and Practices (I am the Coordinator and an instructor in 11 sessions and we have several other fabulous instructors.)

The Spirit of the Inland Seas: Research in the Great Lakes Region (Cari Taplin is the Coordinator and I am one of the instructors for 3 sessions.)

 

Legacy Family Tree Webinars 1/2 price for new members!

Paula Stuart-Warren  Webinars  ,  Leave a comment

From the team at Legacy Family Tree Webinars. 15th Anniversary special for new members.

To celebrate the 15th anniversary of Legacy Family Tree Webinars, we’re giving you 50% off a full year of genealogy education. For a limited time, you can become a member for just $25!

Claim your $25 membership now >>
Offer valid for new memberships only, and expires on April 30, 2025 at 11:59PM. https://legacy.familytreewebinars.com/checkout.php?retain_errors=Y&retain_notices=Y&template_package=lfts_4039-1457468776-v3&coupon_codes=spring25

Fifteen years ago, we launched our very first genealogy webinar. More than 2,000 classes and millions of discoveries later, we’re still passionate about helping people like you uncover their family’s past—one story at a time.

With your membership, you’ll get:

✅ Anytime access to 2,300+ webinars from 456 of genealogy’s best educators
✅ 9,400+ pages of syllabus materials you can download and keep
✅ This year’s members-only monthly series: “AI for Genealogists”
✅ Our exclusive series: “The Best of Elizabeth Shown Mills: Genealogy Problem Solving”
✅ This year’s 24-Hour Genealogy Webinar Marathon recordings
✅ All-new classes added weekly
✅ Access to our bonus TechZone videos and Webinar Shorts—a collection of 20-minutes-or-less instructional videos

What our members are saying:

“A 7-minute TechZone presentation of yours enabled me to break through a decades-long research brick wall.” – Sandy from North Carolina

“I just found my grandparents marriage license last night in New York after the MyHeritage webinar.” – Karen from Pennsylvania

“Hooray! I just found the 2nd marriage for my maternal great-grandfather – something I’ve wanted to know for YEARS!!!” – Leah from Washington

Whether you’re just starting your tree or you’ve been researching for decades, there’s always more to discover—and now’s the perfect time to dive in.

Get your $25 membership now—offer ends April 30 >>

Thanks for being part of our journey. We can’t wait to see what the next 15 years will bring!

 

 

 

Upper Midwest Genealogy Institute Registration, April 21st!

Paula Stuart-Warren  Institutes, Minnesota Genealogical Society, Uncategorized  , , ,  Leave a comment

If you’ve checked my Speaking calendar lately you likely noticed this listing.

August 8-9, 2025. Two-day in-person Institute as part of the Minnesota Genealogical Society‘s education programs. The NEW Upper Midwest Genealogical Institute (UMGI)! Join us for this special institute held at the Midwest Genealogy Center in the Saint Paul/Minneapolis suburb of Mendota Heights. Amidst other great presenters, I am presenting two sessions. Full details https://mngs.org/upper-midwest-genealogy-institute.

“The 2025 UMGI focuses on finding and using records to solve Upper Midwest research problems. UMGI’s Upper Midwest focus includes Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, the Dakotas, and neighboring portions of surrounding states.”

REGISTRATION IS OPEN on Monday, 21 April 2025. Visit the UMGI page on Monday to register. Before then visit https://mngs.org/upper-midwest-genealogy-institute to learn about the lineup of sessions, instructors, hotel arrangements, and other details.

 

 

Historical society newsletters for the win! Hennepin County, Minnesota coroner records digitized.

Paula Stuart-Warren  GRIP Genealogy Institute, Minnesoa Historical Society, Minnesota  , , , ,  Leave a comment

One of the sessions I am teaching at this June’s virtual GRIP course Beyond Digging Deeper: Sources Methods, and Practices, is “Mining the Written Words of Repositories, Societies, and their Staff.” A perfect example of this is one of the electronic newsletters I receive from the Minnesota Historical Society. Via that I learned about this digitization effort. “The digitization team often works on large projects that can span several months. The Hennepin County Medical Examiner Reports/Coroner Record Books are a collection of 48 boxes of large bound volumes of records dating from October 1906-1989. The team had previously digitized and published the first 25 volumes, spanning years 1906-1934. This month we published an additional 32 volumes, taking us up through 1958, and will continue this work until the entire collection has been digitized.” You can view the finding aid and records at https://www2.mnhs.org/library/findaids/gr02297.xml. I have not used these yet, so we are all beginning at the same point. A warning that some of this type of records can have contents that are not pleasant to read, even though they are not the actual autopsy report.

 

 

Doane Robinson papers added to the South Dakota Digital Archives

Paula Stuart-Warren  Historical Societies  , , ,  Leave a comment

The Brookings Register (South Dakota) of 18 March 2025, carried an article “South Dakota’s historic Doane Robinson papers digitized, put online.” This amazing collection includes a wide array of correspondents and other material related to this well-known historian and author. The finding aid is excellent, and I was able to search by names and places. Now I need some more free hours to investigate further. The digital images are beautiful.

 

 

Watch FREE right now, Neglected Gold in Older Genealogical and Historical Periodicals

Paula Stuart-Warren  periodicals, Webinars  , , ,  4 Comments

I really enjoyed presenting this webinar last Friday. If you don’t have a Legacy Family Tree Webinars membership, you can still watch (or rewatch) it FREE through April 18th. https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/neglected-gold-in-older-genealogical-and-historical-periodicals/. We are lucky to have webinar hosts Marian and Geoff to guide us and I appreciate Legacy Family Tree Webinars and MyHeritage for making this education possible.

I highly recommend a year’s membership so you can watch almost 2,400 webinars already presented and access the syllabus material for the next year including for this presentation of mine. My affiliate link (a small amount helps support this blog) for memberships is http://legacy.familytreewebinars.com/?aid=1739