War of 1812 Pension Project has a deadline

This is an ongoing project and fundraising effort to digitize and preserve the 7.2 million images from the War of 1812 pension and bounty land records files. Digitized because genealogists and others wanted them preserved. These files supply individual, family, military, national, state, and community history. And if we get this all funded, then the images will be online for anyone to view and copy for FREE. This is another project of the Federation of Genealogical Societies ongoing Malcolm Stern NARA fund which helps to preserve records at the U.S. National Archives and make them accessible.

A special effort by the Indiana Genealogical Society (IGS) ends tomorrow, August 31, 2011. I donated. Have you? I want to be able to stand and cheer with pride when the IGS check is presented to the War of 1812 Project fund at the Federation of Genealogical Societies conference in Springfield, Illinois next week. I want to say I am a part of this.

From the IGS website: The Indiana Genealogical Society is proud to support the Federation of Genealogical Societies' "Preserve The Pensions" campaign, which aims to raise $3.7 million to digitize the War of 1812 pension files held at the National Archives and make them freely accessible online. The digitized pension files will be available for free on Fold3.com - see http://go.fold3.com/1812pensions/ to view the files that are available so far. Ancestry.com is matching match ALL donations up to $10,000, meaning that donations made to that point for make to the $10,000+ Match Challenge will actually be QUADRUPLED! And IGS is matching donations up to $15,000

If you donated $50.00 that means IGS' match made it $100.00 and for that first $10,000 total, a match from Ancestry.com, it means your $50.00 meant $200 to fund the project. 

Donate today so you can stand up and cheer no matter where you will be next week when the check is presented. The Archivist of the United States will be there at the ceremony. Let's remind him how smart, important, and supportive we family historians are.