Tackling the stacks of paper that genealogists collect

Paula Stuart-Warren  Uncategorized  ,  3 Comments

That’s a big topic. A huge topic. An often-unwieldy topic. A scary topic. 

I have limited time to sort the years and years of accumulated boxes and tubs of paper. I still work full time in research and lecturing. Yet, I still need time to whittle down some of the stuff that surrounds me.  The paper includes mementos, family research, client research, lecture content, 2022 taxes (ICK), things to read, and a few other subjects. My workspace is not very big so I have to move things in order to get to other things.

I finally have figured out a way to assist myself in this. Strike that, two ways. First, I recently hired my 17-year-old granddaughter for a few days. She helped me reshelve books, did some photo sorting, and was wonderful company at the same time. What friend, niece, or someone else would be your own helper?

Second, I activated my long-ago Lazy-Day filing system. If you’ve attended my presentations on Controlling Chaos, you’ve heard about this. Dollar store to the latest rescue. 

I purchased a bunch of these trays and labeled them for my sorting purposes. I really don’t have space to spread these out for my sporadic sorting times. Solution, put an old towel on my coffee table so it doesn’t get scratched and use the couch behind the coffee table for more space. Now I sit in front of the television, using my rolling cart in front of me as I sort, and immediately sort the stacks into the recycling paper grocery bag or into the proper Lazy-Day filing tray. Now I can easily move these trays to my desk when family visits. Maybe I should just let them do the moving?

The Genealogy Squad on Facebook now has 50,000 members! A milestone, for sure!

Paula Stuart-Warren  Uncategorized  ,  2 Comments

I have been a member of The Genealogy Squad on Facebook since its inception and now one of 50,000 members. WOW!

This alone is worth joining Facebook. It’s one of those groups that keeps people on task, polite, and helpful. No complaining about the census enumerator, genealogy website, grumpy courthouse clerk, or another family history researcher. It’s a breath of fresh air compared to posts in some other groups. I know the administrators of the Squad and heartily endorse their judgment, caring, sharing, and all this shines through in that amazing number. It’s all free. As if that’s not enough reason to join, it’s an international group. One more reason is the education we all absorb. 

You request to join, answer some basic questions, agree to their guidelines, and then you are in. Use the magnifying glass icon to search by topics for past posts, check under each of the informational tabs, and post your own questions or help someone else. Remember to tell what country, province, state, county or other jurisdiction as research is different in each place. Provide dates, names, and places so that the administrators or other members are able to give you pertinent tips. 

Just join The Genealogy Squad!  You will thank me. https://www.facebook.com/groups/genealogysquad

 

Colleen Joy Shogan, Nominee for Archivist of the United States

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From the White House today! Ms. Shogan is among several nominees by President Biden for government positions. She will be the first ever woman to be the Archivist of the United States. Trudy Huskamp Peterson was acting archivist from 1993-1995. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/08/03/president-biden-announces-key-nominees-28/

“Colleen Shogan is the Senior Vice President and Director of the David M. Rubenstein Center for White House History at the White House Historical Association. For the past decade, Shogan has taught a graduate course on politics and American history at Georgetown University as an Adjunct Lecturer in the Government Department. She also moderates the Emerging Governance Leaders seminar at the Aspen Institute. She served as the Vice Chair of the Women’s Suffrage Centennial Commission, the bipartisan commission designated by Congress to commemorate the Nineteenth Amendment. Before her current position, Shogan worked for over a decade at the Library of Congress, serving in senior roles as the Assistant Deputy Librarian for Collections and Services and the Deputy Director of the Congressional Research Service. As a Library employee, she completed the Stennis Congressional Fellowship Program for the 112th Congress. Earlier in her career, Shogan worked as a Senate policy staffer, beginning her service through the American Political Science Association (APSA) Congressional Fellowship Program. Shogan served as the President of the National Capitol Area Political Science Association and was an elected member of the APSA Council.

Prior to her federal service, Shogan was an Assistant Professor of Government and Politics at George Mason University. Her research areas of focus include the American presidency, American political development, women in politics, and Congress. Shogan’s Moral Rhetoric of American Presidents was named by the Wall Street Journal as one of the top five books written on presidential rhetoric. She received her Ph.D. in Political Science from Yale University. A first-generation college graduate in her family, Shogan received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Boston College. Born and raised near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, she is a public-school graduate of Norwin Senior High School. Shogan currently resides in Arlington, Virginia.”

National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown has many Minnesota connections (& a library!)

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These magnets from Cooperstown are on my office filing cabinet.

Today was the National Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony. I watched it on TV and wished I had been there. In July of 2009, I visited the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. What a neat experience viewing the bronze plaques and at least peeking into the library. The Giamatti Research Center is a place where I really would like to spend time. Thank you to my friend and colleague Karen Mauer Jones for the hospitality and tours of Cooperstown that year.

Today’s ceremony was full of Minnesota connections. Hall of Famers Paul Molitor, Jack Morris, and Dave Winfield who grew up in Saint Paul (my hometown) were on the stage. All three of them played for the Minnesota Twins during their careers. Former Minnesota Twins players also in the Hall of Fame include Bert Blyleven, Rod Carew, Steve Carlton, Harmon Killebrew, David Ortiz (Big Papi), Kirby Puckett, and Jim Thome. Today, Jim Kaat and Tony Oliva (Tony-O) were added to that list.

That stage held many Hall of Famers today but I loved seeing Blyleven, Carew, Kaat, Molitor, Morris, Oliva, Ortiz, Thome, and Winfield there.

Then there was Dave Winfield speaking for one of the inductees, Bud Fowler. Fowler grew up in Cooperstown. He was born nearby as John W. Jackson and his pioneering as an African American player is legendary. Late last year, I learned he had a Minnesota connection! He played for one season on a Stillwater, Minnesota team. The Washington County, Minnesota Historical Society’s website and Facebook page share a lot about Fowler.

Minnesota Historical Society announces recipients of Minnesota Historical and Cultural Heritage Grants

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On July 12, 2022, the Minnesota Historical Society (MNHS) announced recent recipients of 33 Minnesota Historical and Cultural Heritage Small Grants totaling $281,675 in 23 counties. It’s always exciting to see what’s happening with the fund from the Legacy Amendment in our state.

A few examples of the grants and how they will be used:

  • Cottonwood County Historical Society, Windom, $10,000
    To purchase a microfilm reader/printer/scanner to make microfilmed records more accessible to the public.
  • St. Olaf College, Northfield, $10,000
    To hire a qualified professional to complete a manuscript on the history of Japanese American college students in World War II Minnesota.

  • Scandia Heritage Alliance, Scandia, $10,000
    To hire a qualified historian to conduct primary source research on the history of indigenous peoples who lived along the St. Croix River around what is now Scandia and Marine on St. Croix.

  • Stearns History Museum, St. Cloud, $9,655
    To write a literature review of the Dakota and Ojibwe people in Stearns County.

To see the full list of grant recipients click here to view the media release on the MNHS website.

 

MyHeritage and adding bio, adoptive, and foster parents!

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Day by day, week by week, month by month our genealogy websites change, update, add, configure, and other things behind the scenes that we don’t even see! What? Nothing stays the same on a given site as technology changes. I appreciate that companies keep working to keep things running. Then there are the things that are NEW additions that are really needed. The word family doesn’t always have the same meaning as we might have given it when we were young. For some, the word family may have been a bad emotional trigger. My family life as I was growing up was not too bad. I’m the first-born, just 9 months after my parents were married! I have friends who were adopted and others who have adopted or fostered some really cool children. 

Two days ago, MyHeritage announced one of these important updates:

“Families come in all shapes and sizes. MyHeritage users can now specify up to three sets of parents for any individual in the online family tree: biological, adoptive, and foster. For example, if an individual was adopted and his or her biological parents are known, both relationships can now be accommodated in the family tree in a few simple steps.”

Read more about it on the MyHeritage Blog https://blog.myheritage.com/2022/07/new-managing-multiple-sets-of-parents-in-the-online-family-tree/

 

Catching up on email, cleaning house, and GRIP still feels exhilarating.

Paula Stuart-Warren  Uncategorized  ,  1 Comment

I recently posted on Facebook and here about the great week instructing in my course for GRIP. Of course, my 31 students were the best group in all courses! I didnt do all the presentations myself. Cyndi Ingle, Debbie Mieszala, and Cari Taplin did fantastic ones. Lois Mackin was our course’s tech host. 

A week-long genealogy educational institute is work, joyful, camaraderie, laughs, sharing, and not to be missed. It’s also a mounting disaster for your living space. Doesn’t matter if you are the instructor as I was this past week for the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh, a student, a tech host, the tech goddess, or the directors. I probably shouldn’t speak for others, but the dishes piled up in the sink, the dishwasher wanted to be unloaded, the floor had crumbs, laundry pile grew, and the bathroom said it’s been a few days since you cleaned me. I did the sweeping on Friday, went to a ball game yesterday, and today was cleaning day. Ahhhh.

This morning I came up with the word I needed to describe this past week with the students in my course. That word is exhilarating. I’ve done this for 11 years with GRIP and can’t wait to do it again next June. My course “Digging Deeper” will be virtual again.

I have some mighty patient research clients and need to get back to them, answer a ton of emails, and spend some time with family members. Blogging will need to do some catching up, too.

 

Genealogy overload but Looking forward to GRIP 2023!

Paula Stuart-Warren  Uncategorized  ,  Leave a comment

It’s been a month since I posted on here and I have many reasons why. Nothing bad or sad, just lots of work deadlines, some good family stuff, and my own birthday that passed without any celebration due to that work. In the past week alone, I have done 15 virtual presentations. Each presentation involves creation or updating of the handout material and the PowerPoint presentation. Some take several days for this and that has been preceded by extensive research. None of the above sentences is meant as a complaint because I love all this. 

In June, I was an instructor during the June week of the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh (GRIP) in a course coordinated by Cari Taplin, CG. This past week I have been the coordinator and an instructor in my own GRIP course “Digging Deeper.” The 31 students were amazing as was our course tech person, Lois Mackin. Cyndi Ingle, Debbie Mieszala, and Cari Taplin each presented some great sessions in the course. Debbie Deal and Elissa Salise Powell are the ever-working GRIP directors. Cyndi Ingle was the main tech guru for GRIP, and she kept us going all week. I can’t begin to show enough thanks to each of them. 

I am not checking my calendar to see when my next virtual presentation occurs. It’s rest and family time for a week.  Guess what!  I have signed a contract to coordinate my GRIP course virtually the week of 18-13 June 2023. All the GRIP scheduled courses are in the image below. 

Genealogy websites and updates

Paula Stuart-Warren  Uncategorized  ,  1 Comment

I love reading about the updated and new collections on genealogy websites. Then I rejoice at the searchable and indexed collections news. Today’s news from MyHeritage’s Daniel Horowitz states 

“I’m excited to tell you that during April and May, MyHeritage added 1.3 billion historical records in 37 collections from all around the world. These records are from the U.S., the U.K., Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Romania, Scotland, Spain, Switzerland, and Ukraine, and they include birth, marriage, death, military, census, newspaper records, and more. Many of the collections include high-quality images alongside the indexes. With this update, the total number of historical records on MyHeritage has now reached 18.2 billion.”

Read the details on their blog https://blog.myheritage.com/2022/06/historical-record-collections-added-in-april-and-may-2022/?

While you are reading their blog, I will be checking some of the new and updated records.

A researcher’s commentary on the value of librarians and archivists!

Paula Stuart-Warren  Uncategorized  ,  4 Comments

An 8 June newspaper article in the StarTribune that has a connection to my 9 June post seems appropriate to share. It’s not from a genealogist, but David R. Smith, the author, did research that resembles what we do. Once again, it shows the connection with history and genealogy. 

His commentary “In Praise of Librarians and Archivists” tells about his research journey and the assistance he received along the way. What would we do if the librarians, archivists, and other repository staff wasn’t there to assist us!

After you read his commentary, be sure to read the comments. I had many thoughts I wanted to share but stopped myself before I posted some strong words. He just educated people on the value and some truly don’t get it! We have fellow genealogists who don’t get it either. Copyright, costs and time to digitize, and the vastness of the material in libraries, historical societies, and archives makes the librarians and archivists invaluable. Added to that is the knowledge and experience they possess!

https://www.startribune.com/in-praise-of-librarians-and-archivists/600180439/?refresh=true