GenealogyClassBlog

FGS Pathways to the Heartland

Registration is now open for the Federation of Genealogical Societies Annual Conference, to be held September 7th through 10th in Springfield, Illinois, the former home and resting place of President Abraham Lincoln. I have been looking forward to this national conference since they announced the location a few years ago. The location is not too far of a drive from Tulsa and many of my ancestors lived in Illinois, in Kane, DeKalb, La Salle, Kendall, Union, Ogle, Mercer, Jo Daviess, Rock Island, or Cook Counties. Some of my clients had ancestors in still more Illinois counties. So, not only am I attracted by a national genealogical conference, but local research opportunities are enticing to me as well.

Dick Eastman writes about details of the announcement in his blog post of today. The conference page on the society’s website provides, among other things, links to the conference program (click Conference Activities), online registration, and the conference blog. I just subscribed today to receive emails of the blog posts from the Blog page (down on the navigation bar to the right). The emails I will get will enable me to learn more about things to do in Springfield, conference events, and other insider information.

I am familiar with several of the speakers including Thomas Jones, Pamela Boyer Sayre and J. Mark Lowe – three that we have had in Tulsa to speak and I know to always have professional and informative lectures and lecture materials. And I see the names of many speakers that are not so familiar to me. But, from attending FGS or NGS (National Genealogical Society) conferences in the past, I know that I have been very pleased to attend lectures presented by Paul Milner, Craig Scott, Ann Carter Fleming, Loretto Szucs, Curt Witcher, David Rencher, Rhonda R. McClure, James L. Hansen, Tony Burroughs, and Marie Varrelman Melchiori, and I look forward to hearing any of them again. Typically, the program committee will encourage proposals from speakers who have expertise in the geographic area where the conference is held, so I spotted lectures on Iowa and Missouri in my first quick glance. Again, I have ancestors and clients’ ancestors who lived in both of these states. And there are lectures whose topics are independent of geographic location, offering lessons in techniques and methodology, like the lecture I presented at the 2009 FGS Conference in Little Rock – “How to Be a Power Hitter.”

Programming on Wednesday of the conference will be focused on genealogical society management. Librarians have separate Wednesday programming as well. I would recommend the luncheons, even though they are expensive, not only because of the opportunity you will have to meet other genealogists who sit at your table and because it can be less stressful than trying to find a place to eat, but because the luncheons include a program. They are also often gatherings of the members of an organization, like the New England Historic and Genealogical Society. I noticed that three of the luncheon speakers are Pay Richley (aka Dear MYRTLE), Craig R. Scott (military records guru), and J. Mark Lowe (who has been to several workshops in Tulsa sponsored by the Tulsa Library Trust and is always enjoyable). The conference banquet speaker will be Harold Holzer, noted Lincoln scholar and author, speaking on “The Lincoln Family Album.”

I spotted both a Swedish Genealogy Workshop and a German Genealogy Workshop — both of which interest me, since I have German ancestry (a little over 1/4, with Becker, Ebner, Mayer and Trefflich) and my husband has Swedish ancestry (3/8 – Anderson, Anderson, and Berg). These have an additional fee, too, and take the place of three other lectures, so the cost is not insigificant. Still, I will consider attending one or both of these four-hour workshops offered on Friday.

Sometimes the lecture topic attracts me, and sometimes it is the speaker. With several lectures offered during each time slot, I always have difficulty choosing which to attend and which to miss. Sometimes I attend some and purchase the audio recordings of others. In order to register, you do not need to commit to which lectures you will attend, but the committee asks that you select which you will probably attend so that they can determine room assignments. However, they do want you to commit to the luncheons, workshops and the banquet when you register. In case space is limited, you should register as soon as you are sure that you will attend and reserve your space for the events.

National conferences are a wonderful and fun way to advance your understanding of genealogy. You have an opportunity to see books and other products you might like to purchase, to visit with representatives of societies you might like to join, and to watch demonstrations of genealogy software or have your software questions answered. You can also meet other genealogists who share your interest or who know of a contact or resource that will help you in your search. And, of course, you can attend lectures given from some of the best speakers on genealogical or historical topics that you will find anywhere.

I hope you will consider attending this conference, or the NGS Conference in May in Charleston, South Carolina (see information here), and let me know if you think you will go or if you have any questions.

The Tulsa Genealogical Society will be offering a series of mini-workshops at their facility, starting this Thursday, January 27. According to the society’s publicity, at the first workshop, “Scrapbooking – Genealogy Style,” “Peggy Blodgett and Linda Quinn will demonstrate ‘hands on’ how to organize a family scrapbook that will find a space on your coffee table, and a special place in your heart.” Doors open at 6:30pm; workshop 7:00-9:00pm.

The suggested donation of $10.00 benefits the Tulsa Genealogical Society. There will also be a $2.00 charge for scrapbooking materials. For more information, call 918-627-4224.

Additional workshops have been scheduled (including the workshop I will present on February 24)

• February 24, 2011 — Barbara Meehan, “What’s New With FamilySearch.”
• March 31, 2011 — Janet Cottrell, “Cemeteries”
• April 28, 2011 — Laura Martin, “Oklahoma Historical Society”
• May 26, 2011 — Steve King, “Steamships & Early Migration Routes
• June 23, 2011 — Kathy Huber, Topic To Be Announced

The suggested donation for each of the mini-workshops is $10.00. TGS is located at 9136 East 31st Street, at the southeast corner and back of the Briar Village Shopping Center.

beta.familysearch.org

Whether you are new to genealogy or have been researching your ancestry for years, you need to know what is going on with FamilySearch®. I included the topic of FamilySearch® in class in late October and I have already heard about changes I’ll need to make to my presentation.

On Thursday, February 24, 2011, I will be presenting an evening workshop for the Tulsa Genealogical Society on the topic, “What’s New With FamilySearch®?”

I presented the same topic in July for the Tulsa City-County Library and had a large crowd at Hardesty Library. FamilySearch® is a free website, an online home for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and their genealogical help to everyone – whether Mormon or not.

The people at FamilySearch® have been listening to genealogists. I even had a meeting with Jay Verkler, the FamilySearch CEO while at the Federation of Genealogical Societies’ 2009 National Conference in Little Rock. They have introduced new online spaces, and are uploading digitized records. They have a huge volunteer indexing program and they are working to digitally back up their collection of 2.4 million rolls of microfilm as well.

When I presented the program in July, I included two brand new online videos that you should be sure to watch. Visit their blog entry from July to access the videos.

And, to visit their beta site, which is where they are testing all of these new features, go to http://beta.familysearch.org. Their original site can still be found at http://www.familysearch.org.

The mini workshop is a fund-raiser for TGS, and will be held at their library, 9136 E. 31st St., from 6:30 to 8:30. Check the Tulsa Genealogical Society’s website for the recommended donation amount.

Boston Avenue Church

It’s time again for the School of Continuing Education at Boston Avenue United Methodist Church. My five-week genealogy classes will move from their usual Tuesday evenings to Wednesday mornings, from 9:30 to 10:30 and from 10:45 to 11:45. Registration for the school is $12.00, and includes all of the classes you can take for that same price. Other classes are listed in the brochure or in the church newspaper, available at BostonAvenue.org.

Genealogy classes are in two different series — one to learn the basics and the other to pick up particular topics in a lecture format. All five of these are programs that I have presented locally, including two that I presented at the 2009 Federation of Genealogical Societies National Conference. Here are the specific titles:

GENEALOGY:  FAMILY HISTORY BASICS  9:30 – 10:30 am

Oct 6 – Important First Steps
Oct 13 – The Census
Oct 20 – The Family History Library
Oct 27 – Court, Land & Military Records
Nov 3 – Tour of Internet Resources

FIVE GENEALOGY TALKS  10:45 – 11:45 am

Oct 6 – How Do You Know? Understanding Evidence and Citing Your Sources
Oct 13 – How to Be a Power Hitter: Improve Your Online Searching Skills
Oct 20 – What’s New at FamilySearch®?
Oct 27 – Oklahoma Settlement:  Territorial Homestead and Allotment Records
Nov 3 – Deutsche Vorfahren:  German Ancestors

For more information call Boston Avenue at 918-583-5181 or visit the church’s web site at www.bostonavenue.org/newspaper.shtml and download the newspaper from 24 September 2010.

I will be presenting two programs at the Family History Fair in Pagosa Springs, Colorado on Saturday, August 14, 2010. This will be my first time ever to visit Pagosa Springs and I am looking forward to it — to a brief vacation there, to meeting the genealogists there, and to presenting two of my favorite lectures:

• How to Be a Power Hitter:  Improve Your Online Searching Skills
• Information Overload: Organizing Your Genealogy Records

My friend, Patricia Lee is one of the main organizers and a part-time resident of Archuleta County, Colorado. She will be presenting at the Family History Fair, too. Her lecture will be “Irish Family History Research.”

You can read more about this all-day event in the Pagosa Sun. There have been two articles:

Photo by John Fancher

July 14, 2010 “Pagosa to host Family History Fair” by Patricia Lee

July 22, 2010 “So, who do you think you are?” by Patricia Lee

For more information, or to register for this free Family History Fair, contact Sharron Oldham, the Director of the Family History Center in Pagosa Springs, or Barbara Ford, vice-president of the Archuleta County Genealogical Society.