New Romanian Genealogical Society

This was written by my friend, Vicki Albu.

I am a product of the American “melting pot.” Through genealogy I have discovered Irish, German, Norwegian, hillbilly, and Mormon Pioneer ancestors. Few ethnic traditions survived the four-plus generations that most of my family have been in this country. For years my genealogy “brick wall” has been my Romanian great-grandfather, Ilie Moisescu, who was born in 1875 in what was then Austria-Hungary, and emigrated to the U.S. in 1911. The Twin Cities and especially South St. Paul were popular destinations for Romanian immigrants in the early 20th century, and there are many people of Romanian descent who still live in this area. But I rarely encounter anyone involved in Romanian genealogy, and I know of only one or two Romanian family history organizations in the U.S., if not in the world. Befriended by Romanians who came to this country in the 1990s, my interest grew stronger. I became almost obsessed with my Romanian heritage, and developed a fondness for eggplant, visinata, and sarmale (popular Romanian foods). In 2009, we formed the Heritage Organization of Romanian Americans in Minnesota (www.hora-mn.org) to educate others about Romanian culture and traditions.

At my friends’ urgings, and upon reflection of my tough grandmother’s advice that if you want something done you will need to do it yourself, I decided to form a Romanian Genealogy Society in Minnesota. On November 18, 2011 we held the first meeting of the Romanian Genealogy Society, attended by sixteen people who braved our first seasonal Minnesota snowstorm. I was thrilled at the turnout, because I had known so few people to be researching Romanian ancestors. Officers are Vicki Young Albu, president; Dorrene Dragos Hern, secretary; and Peggy Corniea, treasurer. Our next membership meeting was at the Minnesota Genealogical Society (MGS) on February 18, and we’ve issued our first newsletter.

We are in the process of becoming an official branch group of MGS, and will participate in the Central & East European Family History Conference at Inver Hills Community College on April 27-28, 2012, with three planned presentations on Romanian research. I am getting almost daily e-mails from people all over the U.S., Canada and Romania, asking about the Romanian Genealogy Society! Things are moving so fast; I am learning so much, and I don’t know why I waited this long to “just do it.” If you have any questions or to sign up for a mailing list, please contact Vicki Young Albu by e-mail at young754@umn.edu. Membership dues for the RGS are $20.00 per calendar year per household, beginning in 2012. We welcome photos and stories about all Romanian-American families, especially those with connections to Minnesota and the Midwest.

Follow the RGS news on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RomanianGenealogySociety

Free advertising for society events

What could be better than free advertising?! On top of being free, this free advertising reaches thousands of readers. Don't you want more members and more folks registered for your seminars?

The Federation of Genealogical Societies offers just such an opportunity. Your event listing has the potential of appearing in the FGS Voice blog, FGS Voice monthly newsletter, and in the quarterly FGS Forum. Read more about this by clicking here.

Someone might read the event listing and decide to attend your event. This person might not know about your society. It might be that Suzy Q in California reads about your Indiana event and tells the cousin back in Indiana about the seminar.

So, why is your society ignoring this opportunity for mass exposure? And don't forget to have a very clearly marked "Membership" table at your events. Catch those folks who haven't yet joined your society and those who need to renew!

Voting? Genealogy too!

I really don't think there should be a question mark in that title. Whether it be our national, state, county, or city elections it should not be a question. I feel it is a right, a privilege and a duty. I'd like to take that a step further and talk about organizations. Churches, schools, civic groups, businesses, and other entities also have elections. But today I want to talk about our genealogical organizations.

Let's say you receive a ballot for your genealogical society's elections in the mail. It might require finding a pen and then a stamp to return it. You read it quickly, form some opinions, but set it aside to take care of later. Three months later you find it under a stack of paper on your kitchen counter or desk. The deadline has passed. The society's newsletter announces the election results. Doggone it, that candidate you were planning on NOT voting for is a winner. You worked on a committee with that person and know they did not follow through, missed too many meetings, etc. What if that person beat their opponent by just one vote? Your vote

Support your local genealogical society and one other

Have you given some thought to all those other genealogists who walk through the cemetery and transcribe the info found on the tombstones? How about those who edit genealogy newsletters and quarterly journals? Who teaches classes in the area where you live? I'll bet the local genealogical society plays a large part in all of these.

What can you do to lend a hand to a genealogical society? What projects does your society have in the works. Have you been reading a really good guidebook and might be able to write a short article about its usefulness? Do you belong to your local society? Your local society may be a county or state society one. At any rate, be sure to join it And then join one in an ancestral area. Contribute to both. Can't make it to that other locality? Offer to do some typing, indexing, proofreading. Have the back issues of the quarterly publication been indexed -- if not, offer to do that so both your and others may benefit.

What does all this connecting with genealogical societies do for you? You may gain access to special databases, learn about area experts, find an index to an ancestral cemetery, and maybe even find a place to donate some funds.

Becoming a member and reading the publications and perusing the website could help you expand your genealogical knowledge, find others to network with, learn about the massive number of recommended (and a few not-so-hot) genealogical guidebooks, keep up-to-date on vital records legislation, gain you entry to some libraries and courthouses, plan your continuing genealogical education, and find out that someone else was researching one of your ancestral lines.

It really is quite simple. Join a genealogical society. That’s it. If you are already a faithful member of one or more, join a new one. Some even accept online credit card payments for memberships.

Multiple benefits

How many do you belong to? None? Well, let me tell you what you are missing. Or are you a member of only those in ancestral areas and not where you live? Continue reading for some reasons why membership is beneficial.

• In some localities you need a membership card to gain entry to a historical society, archive, town hall, or courthouse.

• Info in the society’s library or publications may not appear anywhere online. Or if online maybe only accessed by members.

• Some have the capability for online discussions and queries – but only for members.

• Local society events are the place to find new acquaintances that might be willing to car pool to a seminar a distance away, to the state archives, or to a major genealogy library.

• If you don’t drive, you may find someone that travels monthly to research at a large library and has room in the car for you to tag along.

• You would miss newsletters and flyers that tell about upcoming educational events.

• The society’s publication may contain articles from the local experts that share news about the updating of the newspaper index at the local library, of the volunteer efforts to transcribe all the local cemetery tombstones for an upcoming publication, or of the recent donation to the local history room of the 50 years of material collected by a local genealogist.

• Lending of lecture audiotapes, books, and periodicals may be for members only.

• You might find a fellow member that might lend you their entire bookshelf of back issues of a genealogical or historical society publication.

• Stuck on a genealogical software problem? A fellow member might be available to teach you the finer points of that software.

Old Queries
The publications of societies are often a gold mine. Even the queries published ten, thirty, or 60 years ago may help solve one of your genealogical situations. That person may no longer be interested in genealogy (although, I cannot fathom that!), may have died, may be ill, not have a computer, or for some other reason has not posted family information or queries online. This older periodical may be the only place you find some long sought after clues. (If your research shows that this long-time genealogist is deceased you may be able to find current relatives through an obituary or probate file.)

Take the step
Are you ready to consider joining or rejoining if it has been a while? Check for brochures at your area historical and genealogical libraries, and check online for names of societies at Society Hall , which is a joint effort of Ancestry.com and the Federation of Genealogical Societies.

Check out their websites
One way to find out more is to see if the society has a website. Society Hall is one place to find links. You might also try typing in the name of a society in a search engine or simply type in some key words such as: genealogical society Smithtown.

Please
While you are joining, please consider some volunteer time for the society. It can be in your local area as an on-site volunteer. If you live distant from one of your favorite societies maybe you could offer other services as mentioned above. They may need someone to do data entry of their old typewritten cemetery transcriptions, to write articles, or index a newspaper that is on microfilm. Participate further by donating genealogical books, CDs, and periodicals you no longer need. If the society has a library, your materials may be needed in their library. If they are duplicates of what is already in the library, or the society has no library, selling the donated materials helps with the society budget. Thirdly, why not add a society or two to your list of charitable organizations to which you donate funds? Almost all societies have very limited budget and would appreciate some extra funds for helping to share information and education.

The Oldest Genealogical Society in Florida

The Florida Genealogical Society (Tampa) celebrated its 50th anniversary this past weekend. I was honored to be the speaker on Friday night at the banquet and for the seminar on Saturday. I met many nice people and my hosts George Morgan and Drew Smith treated me royally.

I thought I would mention this society so that snow birds from the U.S. and Canada remember that there are many genealogical societies in Florida and Arizona with monthly meetings and seminars during the time you escape the snows in the northern climes. If you winter in other warmer states, you will find groups there. Some sponsor trips to research places in their areas. This would be a good way to keep involved in genealogy during your time away from your main home. You might even be lucky enough to find some kind of index, book, or database that includes distant relatives or is a book that you didn't find in your home area libraries.

To find such societies look at the FGS Society Hall, Rootsweb.com, or type into your favorite search engine, the name of the county or city where you will be wintering along with other terms such as genealogy, genealogical, and society. There are are also many online listings of genealogical events.