Genealogy seminar means back to Arizona

Due to the lost voice of the previous speaker, I have agreed to fill in and do the all-day seminar for the West Valley Genealogical Society (Arizona) this coming Saturday, February 22nd.

I will be presenting these four lectures:

1. Genealogy and the Internet:  Make it Work for You
2. Major Midwestern Archives & Their Records
3. The U.S. National Archives: The Nation's Attic
4. Genealogical Goldmine:  The Records Old Settlers Organizations

The seminar is 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 22, at Lakeview United Methodist Church, 10298 W. Thunderbird Road, Sun City, Arizona. For location details, visit www.azwvgs.org.

The cost for on site registration is $45.00 and includes the Program, Beverages, and Door Prize chances. There are spaces available for more registrants. There might be a few extra continental breakfasts and box lunches available that day.

GRIP Pittsburgh registration opens February 12!

That is tomorrow, Wednesday, February 12, 2014. Registration opens at noon EST for six wonderful courses that are being held in Pittsburgh from July 20-25, 2014. Can't make it that week? Another edition of GRIP will be offered the first week of August in the Detroit area. Details are on the GRIP website for those courses and later registration.

I coordinate and teach in Intermediate Genealogy: Tools for Digging Deeper. For my course, you also get to interact with Debbie Mieszala, CG, and Josh Taylor, MA, MLS. We all have some special things planned for the week. Students will hear from me in early summer with an opportunity to participate further in the course that week. Four of the days feature an in-classroom opportunity for open discussion and further learning.

The three of us are also instructors in Josh' course Becoming an Online Expert: Mastering Search Engines and Digital Archives.

A computer, iPad, or other tablet is not a requirement for the Intermediate Course but it is helpful if you bring one to class. You may wish to check websites, look at your own family in whatever genealogy software you use, or work along with the instructor on a website that is being discussed. Bring along pen and paper too, as there will be some other hands-on work.

You may see the full lineup for the Intermediate Course by clicking here or keep on reading this long blog post. For a handy guide to the registration process, click here.

Monday
8:30 a.m.:  Analyzing Documents Workshop: Self-Judging Your Expertise Part I (Paula Stuart-Warren)
Are there times you question your analysis of a document? It’s likely you can do a much better job than you give yourself credit for. In this session we will analyze a document, prepare a research plan, and discuss it. Then we will break into groups and do analysis and research preparation of a different document that will

Genealogy travel in 2014 and open weekends for seminars

I just returned from a long trip that was mostly business related but I also enjoyed a few days in the warm sun of Arizona. The four days there went by too fast and I returned to snowy and cold Minnesota. I was in many states on this driving trip: Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Kansas, and Missouri. Each state has its own beauty and I reveled in it as I traveled.

As of today, the rest of 2014 will take me to Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, California, Pennsylvania, and Texas plus many other states via live webinars.

I have several large projects that need completion so I turned down some seminar invitations for this spring. I do have open weekends this fall and next winter and spring if your society is in need of a speaker. Just send me an inquiry via PaulaStuartWarren at gmail dot com. I can send your program chair all the details via email.

How do you pronounce some of the Minnesota town names where your ancestors lived?

So, how would you pronounce the Minnesota city name of New Prague? I can always tell when a new person is on a weather or newscast here. They usually pronounce it New Prahg. It's actually pronounced New Prayg with a hard g.

City Pages has a neat article about "17 Minnesota cities and streets everyone mispronounces." I don't think everyone mispronounces these names but the article itself is good. Be sure to read the comments for more items.

Click here to read the article.

RootsTech 2014 Live Stream Schedule

I have been asked to post the full live-stream schedule for this year's RootsTech. It is available here. https://familysearch.org/node/2519.

The listed times are Mountain Time Zone.

2014 RootsTech Live Streaming

Were you unable to attend RootsTech in person this year? Did you know that some sessions are being live-streamed?Click here to see the live presentations https://rootstech.org/ today through Saturday.

2014 Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh - registration is coming soon!

It's just two weeks till registration opens for the 2014 Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh that takes place at LaRoche College in Pittsburgh. The Institute dates are July 20-25 and registration begins on February 12th. 

The Institute's website has some great tips to prepare you for the registration process.

I hope to see many of you in the course I coordinate, "Intermediate Genealogy: Tools for Digging Deeper" but there are five other excellent courses that will also be offered in Pittsburgh.

While on the Institute's website take a peek at the "On the Road" edition that will be held August 3-8, 2014 in Orchard Lake, Michigan (suburban Detroit). That registration begins on February 25th.

Mark February 12th on your calendar for Genealogical Institute of Pittsburgh registration

It's just a bit more than two weeks till registration opens for the 2014 Genealogical Institute of Pittsburgh registration. (Fondly known as GRIP) There are six courses from which to choose and students may stay in a college dorm. The dorm and classrooms are a very short walk from each other. The cafeteria is in the same building as the classrooms. The 2014 dates are July 20-25.

I coordinate and instruct in Intermediate Genealogy: Tools for Digging Deeper.

Instructors:
Debbie Mieszala, CG
D. Joshua Taylor, MA, MLS
Paula Stuart-Warren, CG, FMGS, FUGA

Are you beyond the beginning stages of researching your family history? You probably have checked the basic records and done online searches but still have blanks to fill in. Maybe you need to gain more leads and judge the records but need some analytical skills for that. We will delve deeper into a variety of records, some that you may have never heard about, and where they may be accessed. During the week there will be some hands-on projects, small group discussions, and full class interaction as we develop research plans, delve into the records, and learn what may get those blanks filled in.

The class covers 19th through 21st century U.S. records and includes online resources. Prior to the course students will be able to send the coordinator a brief research issue of their own along with a listing of the U.S. places where their ancestors resided. The course includes some “homework” that is optional but highly suggested. Students often find they like those learning exercises. An extensive syllabus including online resources is provided.

While not required, it is suggested that you bring along a netbook, laptop, or electronic tablet for taking notes and for the week’s projects. Make sure you bring a copy of your research (either as a database or in paper form).

Debbie and I will also be teaching in Josh Taylor's Pittsburgh course Becoming an Online Expert: Mastering Search Engines and Digital Archives.

Can't make it to Pittsburgh? GRIP "On the Road" will be in suburban Detroit from August 3-8 with four courses. That registration starts on February 25th. Learn more about courses and registration for both cities here: http://www.gripitt.org/

Smithsonian preserving languages including Native American dialects

Yesterday's Washington Post carried an interesting article about the preservation of languages including Native American languages. I can't read or write any of these languages but often need to translate documents. I can use word lists and ask others for advice. The article "Smithsonian archives preserve lost and dying languages" is informative and exciting.

"The archives had been accumulating for more than 150 years, the findings of scholars, explorers, soldiers and travelers  . . ." It includes a "immense hoard of recorded voices, documents and other materials describing more than 250 languages from all over the world."

The collection is more comprehensive than I thought it was. You may read the article here. 

Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy 2013 goes out with a bang

A week ago I was finished with the first day of teaching at the 2013 edition of SLIG. The week flew by and it now seems like a distant memory. That is sad because it was a fantastic week. I had a classroom full of wonderful adult students who participate in discussions, questions and the small group project. The Room Monitor, Phyllis Codling McLaughlin, was always attentive.

Christy Fillerup and her fellow Utah Genealogical Association SLIG staff greeted us warmly, answered any questions, and as always were cool, calm, and collected. Thank you all!

New Location
The 2015 SLIG will be the 20th Anniversary! I have taught and/or coordinated classes since the second year of SLIG. SLIG is so successful it has outgrown two hotels. In 2015 it will move to the Salt Lake Hilton for the week of January 11-16. Instructors and coordinators had a great tour of the Hilton meeting space last Friday afternoon. Impressive! It will give students more space in the classroom and provide room for consultations, small group discussions, and will be such an improvement.SLIG will run a shuttle to and from the Family History Library in the afternoons.

New title for Course I

At the request of SLIG Director, Christy Fillerup, I have changed the title of my course to United States Records and Research, Part I and Part II. The 2015 Part I will not be the same lineup as what students had in 2014. What was offered in 2014 will be offered again in 2016.

The new description: This beyond- the-basics course provides in-depth learning on 19th-21st century U.S. resources and the methodology for using them. Probe deeper into the content, origin, location, and interpretation of records. Informative and interactive classroom hours delve into significant records and strategies that take you beyond basic research tools both online and off. On-site Family History Library support and a computer lab from course instructors provide one-on-one assistance and guidance with your own research. Suggested prerequisites: experience researching in a variety of repositories, familiarity with FamilySearch.org and other family history websites, and previous class room learning related to family history.

See you next January!

Joy Reisinger, RIP my friend

It was 1982 or 1983. I was in the audience here in Minnesota listening to a genealogy lecture by a woman dressed in pink. All pink. That aside, she knew her stuff! Thirty years later, that lady, a special friend is gone.

Joy Reisinger was her name. One of her specialties in the field was French-Canadian and Canadian research. Her serial publication Lost in Canada takes up a bunch of space on my bookshelves and I am so grateful for her dedication to that publication. Of course we were cousins a lot of generations back on our French-Canadian lines, but that’s common.

We bonded over research, talking about our kids, and having fun together. She encouraged me to take many big steps in the genealogy world. Way back in 1988 when I was working toward my certification by the Board for Certification of Genealogists, she encouraged me and kept repeating this mantra: document, document, document. Always three times. The meaning was to be dang sure I had the proper documentation aka citations in what I submitted. I got the hint! She was a great mentor. I was tickled when BCG granted her the title of Certified Genealogist Emeritus, a well-deserved honor.

About that time in 1988 she gave me my first opportunity to lecture at a national conference when the National Genealogical Society held the event here in my hometown of St. Paul. I turned down the opportunity because I knew I wasn’t ready.

When my husband received a life-threatening diagnosis of a heart condition, she was there for us. She put us in contact with a relative with the same heart condition. When we felt too shocked by all this to make a planned visit to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, she practically commanded that we still go. She was right. That trip got us motivated to keep on living and enjoying the friendship of others.

I served on the Association of Professional Genealogists Executive Committee with her and her follow Wisconsinites, Jim Hansen and Beth Stahr. We had great meetings and the friendship grew.

I watched her topically index the syllabi from the Federation of Genealogical Societies and NGS conference. We would chat about how to index some of the lectures that just didn’t fit the parameters she had set up. I wonder if I still have some of her early editions of that indexing?

When my personal life fell apart in 2003 she was there to bolster me. She was the conduit between me and a minister who helped me immensely. I am grateful to her for bringing the Reverend Doctor David McDonald into my life. In the last several months, he has kept me informed of Joy’s condition and about the recent death of her daughter, Jane.

If you never saw Joy’s home library and the wonderful working space her husband, Jim, made for her, you missed some real gems. I coveted that space.

As time went one, we had some other common interests as professionals in our chosen field. Then when we became grandmothers it was fun to talk about the new generations in our families. Then she became a great-grandmother and I teased her about that.

The last few times we were in Salt Lake City together I watched her struggle with breathing in the high altitude and due to her own physical issues. We even had one hospital visit there when she was suffering too much. She wanted to go alone but I told her it was my turn to help her. I was so scared we were losing her then.

There’s so much more I could tell you about Joy and what she has done for the field of family history but I should get back to working on my own renewal portfolio for BCG. I am sure she is waving her finger at me and telling me to do so!

Goodbye my friend. Thank you for letting me join you in so many parts of your journey in this life.

Minnesota Genealogy: Finding Divorce Records

Learning that a family member may have been divorced 50, 75, or 150 years ago might yield a temporary shock to your system. It might also yield a plethora of family history details.

Divorce in the past is different from divorce today in some ways. Societal and family pressures may have caused a family or individual to hide the fact that a divorce took place. An abandoned woman may have listed herself as still married or as a widow and never filed for a legal divorce. Some couples just lived apart without benefit of a legal divorce. In Native American communities, tribal culture often considered divorce as simple as the couple separating and being involved in a new relationship. This practice veered toward official court proceedings in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. 

The impetus for consulting divorce or marriage dissolution files varies. For most family historians, the reason is not salacious, but to gain additional family details and to help understand family relationships. I once had a

Cafes in cemeteries: will the idea come to the U.S.?

I love this idea. A story on the ABC News website "Dead Good Coffee: Cemetery Cafes Gain Popularity" tells about a new trend in Europe. Coffee cafes in cemeteries are attracting a wide variety of customers. A visit before or after visiting the graves of our ancestors might soothe the nerves. A group of genealogists transcribing the words on tombstones could have a mid-morning coffee break together. When the other customers ask what the group is doing, we could spread the word about our society.

I haven't heard of any such cafes in the U.S. but I can think of some perfect places for them. Many cemeteries are extremely picturesque and would provide a perfect backdrop while sipping a hot drink. It might even bring in some extra funds for struggling cemeteries. Okay, Roselawn, Calvary, Resurrection,

$2.3 Million in National Archives Grants for Historical Records Projects

I received this press release from the National Archives yesterday. The projects include some wonderful one that will aid family historians!

Washington, DC... Archivist of the United States David S. Ferriero has awarded 44 grants totaling $2,283,079 in Federal funds for archives and publishing projects in 32 states, territories, and the District of Columbia.  The National Archives grants program is carried out through the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC).  A complete list of the new grants is online at www.archives.gov/nhprc/awards/awards-11-13.html

Publishing grants totaling $1.1 million went to nine publishing projects from the U.S. Colonial and Early National Period, including the papers of Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, John Adams, Thomas

A family genealogical connection to Chicago's Soldier Field

One of my favorite lectures to present during seminars is "Your Anytime Library: Success in the Virtual Stacks." It's about finding digitized records, books, pamphlets, and periodicals while lounging in your own home. So much has been placed online that we get excited about it. The number of websites with such material is growing by the day as are the individual collections already online. Each time I present it, the handout needs to be extensively updated to keep up with all the changes. As I say in my preface to the lecture: "Peruse books at any hour without starting the car or breaking into the library? Add newspapers, documents, family trees, pension records, periodicals, and more to the accessible items and you might be housebound for days (months?)."

I periodically check these sites for my family surnames and localities to see if anything new has been added. Tonight I spent extra time on one specific person, my Great Granduncle James Edward Stuart (1842-1931). I have posted about him before. At times he seems to be everywhere online. He was a Brigadier General, served on active duty in three wars, and was Chief Inspector for the Postal Service in Chicago. I have stories about him that don't appear online and I may not share them for a long time!

Tonight I found a connection that would have thrilled my late father. Ol' Jim Stuart was part of the ceremony when Soldier Field in Chicago received its current name. Soldier Field is the home of the Chicago Bears. It seems particularly fitting to find this bit of history in a week when the Chicago Bears will be playing the Minnesota Vikings. Alas, they are playing here at the Metrodome and not at Soldier Field. On a future trip to Chicago, I just might take a tour of Soldier Field now that I have a connection and know more about its name.

I found this on Hathitrust.org and the digitized and searchable book is Chicago's Great Century, 1833-1933, by Henry Justin Smith. (page 176, Chicago: Consolidated Publishers, 1933).

Appalachian research collection accepted at University of Kentucky

National Public Radio station WUKY at the University of Kentucky is reporting that the papers of  "distinguished Appalachian history professor, Ron Eller who’s retiring from UK at the end of the academic year" have been accepted in the Special Collections Library.


Click here to read the story. I imagine it will be some time before the collection is open to researchers. In the meantime, I will just dream of the Kentucky gems I might find in his papers.

Local historical society blogs are gems

Have you checked for blogs written by staff at the city and county historical societies in ancestral localities? You might find one for a place where you lived as a child. These cover a variety of topics including photos of people and places, overviews of research collections, local historical events, biographical notes on local families, historical sites, history of area buildings, cemeteries, churches, and  local disasters.

• Edina, Minnesota:  http://www.edinahistoricalsociety.org/blog.html
• Altadena, California:  http://www.altadenahistoricalsociety.org/about.htm
• Geneva, New York:  http://genevahistoricalsociety.blogspot.com/
• Brown County, Indiana:  http://www.browncountyhistorycenter.org/historical-society-blog.html
• Whatcom County, Washington:  http://whatcomhistory.wordpress.com/
• Yellow Springs, Ohio:  http://whatcomhistory.wordpress.com/

Recent FamilySearch Digital Updates

Every time I look at the digitized images on FamilySearch.org I find something new. A recent press release reported "FamilySearch has added more than 135 million indexed records and images from Brazil, Canada, England, Hungary, Indonesia, Italy, and the United States. Notable collection updates include the 1,227,603 indexed records from the new Canada Census, 1911, collection, the 949,214 indexed records and images from the Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, Immigration Cards, 1900-1965, collection, and the 132,330,416 indexed records from the United States Public Records Index ."

The updates also include material from England, Hungary, Indonesia, Italy, and from Indiana and other states. Search these collections and more than 3.5 billion other records for free at FamilySearch.org. I find a lot of current day connections via the Public Records Index.