FamilySearch 130 years strong for all family historians

Paula Stuart-Warren  FamilySearch  ,  1 Comment

I remember my first visits to the acclaimed FamilySearch Library (formerly called Family History Library) in Salt Lake City. Those were followed by many extended research visits. All three of my adult children have been part of some trips there. Now I need to get back there for some specific things, but in the meantime, I am a fan of all that FamilySearch is placing online for research. I regularly use the FamilySearch Research Wiki. I have attended RootsTech. I even co-wrote a book about the fabulous library, the records, and the city of Salt Lake. Your Guide to the Family History Library: How to Access the World’s Largest Genealogy Resource is now outdated due to all the fantastic changes to the library and the city since it was published in 2001. When compiling the book, we had great cooperation from the library. Here we are in November 2024 and FamilySearch is celebrating 130 years. Any family historian is welcome at the library and on the growing finding aids and digitized material online today. I wonder what the proper gift is for the 130th anniversary?

 

 

 

Recent Minnesota Historical and Cultural Heritage Large Grants 

Paula Stuart-Warren  Minnesota, Uncategorized  , ,  Leave a comment

I am always thrilled when historical organizations post lists of awards and grants to organizations. A few of the grants in Minnesota are listed after this press release excerpt. Shelving for collections, ADA access, preservation of historical buildings, histories, and other items are on the recipients list. Many more can be viewed at https://www.mnhs.org/media/news/legacy-amendment-large-grants-fy25

City of Appleton, Appleton, $75,450
To develop a new website and related materials that enables better public access to the history of the Minnesota River Valley.

Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Cloquet, $49,000
To hire a tribal historian to research the history of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa (Nagaajiwanaang) in preparation for a future exhibit.

Hennepin County Library, Minnetonka, $75,500
To provide better organization of the community’s archival collections, allowing for greater public access to historic resources.

Ramsey County Historical Society, St. Paul, $165,471
To digitize approximately 2.5 million Ramsey County Assessor Field Cards from 1915-2007, allowing for greater public access to this historic resource.

Rock County Historical Society, Luverne, $111,722
To improve collections care and management through proper shelving storage.

 

 

 

 

MyHeritage November Early Black Friday Sale

Paula Stuart-Warren  Uncategorized  ,  Leave a comment

Starting today, 19 November, MyHeritage DNA is available at a great price at https://www.myheritage.com/dna/. As MyHeritage says “With detailed ethnicity results covering 2,114 regions, users can explore where their ancestors came from and connect with relatives around the world through advanced DNA matching. And with the most comprehensive set of genetic genealogy tools available, there’s even more to discover.”

2025 GRIP Genealogy Institute Updates

Paula Stuart-Warren  Education, Genealogy, GRIP, Institutes  , , ,  Leave a comment

Time to get those calendars out to mark some dates for great education in 2025. This is for those interested in genealogy/familyhistory/history/community history/DNA/AI. I think that covers most of the course contents. It’s time to add the National Genealogical Society’s GRIP Genealogy Institute to those calendars.

• 22-27 June 2025, Virtual Courses
• 13-18 July 2025, In-person Courses (Pittsburgh, PA)
• End of November 2024, the GRIP Genealogy Institute website plans to have full course details.
• 4 February GRIP 2025 REGISTRATION OPENS

Many questions can be answered by delving into the various tabs at the top of the GRIP Genealogy Website https://grip.ngsgenealogy.org/. The titles of courses for 2025 can be viewed at https://grip.ngsgenealogy.org/#schedule. Many NEW courses!

I am coordinating a new course “Beyond Digging Deeper: Sources, Methods, and Practices.”

 

We have listened to requests from previous students in the longtime GRIP course “Digging Deeper: Records, Tools, and Skills” and have added another course related to it. This new course “Beyond Digging Deeper: Sources, Methods, and Practices” delves into additional essential record types and provides sessions showing the research process and effective use of tools. This course features hands-on creation of research questions, research plans, and research reports. Application of learned methods will be put into practice throughout the week.
Prior participation in the longtime course, “Digging Deeper: Records, Tools, and Skills,” is not essential. The courses work in tandem and complement each other and are designed to be taken in no particular order.

In a future post, I will share more about this course, the wonderful lineup of instructors, and Cari Taplin’s “The Spirit of the Inland Seas: Research in the Great Lakes Region” in which I am an instructor.

 

 

 

Legacy Family Tree Webinars October Top Ten and Runners Up

Paula Stuart-Warren  Webinars    Leave a comment

Geoff Rasmussen says “We’ve tallied the numbers and made a list of the Top 10 most-watched webinars for October 2024! Are your favorite topics or instructors among the list? Need something new to learn? Use the list to get inspired! You’ll see my name and my September presentation among the runner-ups. Guess it’s still drawing viewers. Thank you.

Free access to b, d, and related records on MyHeritage for a few days!

Paula Stuart-Warren  MyHeritage    Leave a comment

MyHeritage has announced that from “October 29 to November 1, 2024, it is offering free access to their “vast collection of death, burial, cemetery, and obituary records. With nearly 1.2 billion records in 435 collections, it’s the perfect chance to dive into the stories that connect us to generations before us.” 

Search Death, Burial, Cemetery & Obituaries now

 

 

 

Indigenous Peoples Day 2024 in the U.S. At least in some places.

Paula Stuart-Warren  Indigenous People  ,  Leave a comment

Do you know who was on the land where you now live about 200 or more years ago? I’m betting that then or way before, it was Indigenous people who lived on “your” land in what became the United States. You may be a descendant of that group of Indigenous people whose land was taken away by force and by treaty by immigrants to the U.S., aka the federal government. Finally, more and more states, counties, and cities are paying some attention to the original inhabitants. This second Monday in October is being officially recognized as Indigenous Peoples Day. Unfortunately, the federal government has not made it an official “holiday.” My home state of Minnesota definitely has. https://mn.gov/indian-affairs/indian-affairs/indigenous-peoples-day-2024.jsp. The educational aspect noted in the graphic below is important, but only an hour? There needs to be more education and not just on one day.