Genealogists & historians, the NEH gives 31.5m in grants for research, preservation, and education.

Paula Stuart-Warren  Uncategorized  1 Comment

I admit to being a history and preservation nerd. Add education to that and we have a need that is being supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). $31.5 million in grants to support these in the latest round of NEH grants. While huge, it’s still a drop in the bucket for what is needed to preserve history, create finding aids, digitize newspapers, encourage the written word, educate children and adults, tell the story of indigenous people, and show people what is available in our historical, archival, and educational institutions. NEH also provided grants in Puerto Rico, Canada, and England. History is everywhere. I skimmed through the list of grants that were awarded by NEH and it was amazing to see all the projects.

A couple excerpts from today’s NEH press release:

“WASHINGTON, D.C. (August 16, 2022) — The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) today announced $31.5 million in grants for 226 humanities projects across the country.  . .

This round of funding also marks the addition of the 50th U.S. state to the National Digital Newspaper Program. Dartmouth College received NEH funding to serve as the hub of the New Hampshire Digital Newspaper Program, expanding the scope of the Chronicling America online database of historical American newspapers published between 1690 and 1963. Additional funding awarded in this round will support ongoing newspaper digitization work in Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Minnesota, Nebraska, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia.”

 

Click on the links in the above paragraphs to read the full press release and to see that lengthy list of projects. I’m disappointed to see only one in Minnesota and none for Wisconsin. The projects for and with institutions in other areas are amazing. 

 

 

Navigating Cyndi’s List. Helpful for genealogists and beyond!

Paula Stuart-Warren  Cyndi's List    Leave a comment

I am catching up on some of my reading this weekend. A few webinars are on my list, too. Cari Taplin’s blog was my first to tackle. She has a couple of posts about https://www.cyndislist.com/ and discusses the usefulness, ways to understand it, and about reporting broken links. Even though Cyndi checks and adds a lot of links each day, she may not know about a broken link you find. Why do websites change their URL and not provide a redirect!!! 

To read Cari’s last two blog posts on CyndisList, https://genealogypants.com/pantspockets/.

 

 

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.