Are you in the Los Angeles area this Saturday, October 25th?

I wish I could be in the Lost Angeles area this Saturday, October 25th. The 3rd annual L.A. As Subject archives bazaar, Archives Live!, will be held at the University of Southern California Davidson Conference Center.

It is a full day devoted to showing off Los Angeles history “whether they are working on a scholarly project or family genealogy.” [I always cringe at such a differentiation as do many other genealogists.]

Among the exhibitors are many of the city's archives and libraries. These include collections such as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Autry National Center, Los Angeles City Archives, Los Angeles Public Library, and UCLA Library Special Collections. Also represented will be the Boyle Heights Historical Society; Chinese Historical Society of Southern California; Filipino-American Library; Japanese American National Museum; LA84 Foundation--Sports Library; Mayme A. Clayton Library and Museum; ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives; Orange Empire Railway Museum; Society of California Archivists and the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center Library and Archive and many others.

The bazaar will also include screenings of films, presentations on genealogy, teaching sessions and book signings by several authors.

And to make this special day during Archives Month even better, the event is free, but parking is not. [I am guessing that there must be some big sponsors and that the cost to be an exhibitor is high.]

For more information:

http://www.usc.edu/libraries/archives/arc/lasubject/

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/thedailymirror/2008/10/coming-attracti.html

http://www.usc.edu/libraries/archives/arc/lasubject/documents/ARCHIVESLIVEFINALPROGRAM.pdf

Have Ancestors in the Southwest Germanic Areas?

From the GGS E-Connect, Newsletter of the Minnesota based Germanic Genealogy Society (GGS)

Sunday, October 26
Southwest Germanic Regional Workshop
Covering the areas of Alsace-Lorraine, Baden-Wùrttemberg, Hesse, Luxembourg, Palatinate (Pfalz) Rhineland, Saar, Switzerland.

Place: Concordia University Library Technology Center
Near the corner of Hamline Ave. and Concordia Ave., St. Paul, Minnesota
Room 214 (above the library) [This is where the GGS extensive library is housed]

For a map, go to http://concordia.csp.edu/Library/about/mapdirections.html
Free parking on the north and west sides of the building on weekends

Time: 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. (Concordia Library is open from 1:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. on Sunday for extended personal research.)

Cost: $5 (to cover the cost of the room)

What to expect: At this session, you can....

* Get individual help with questions on this Germanic area
* View resources to help you locate ancestral villages and answer immigration questions
* Examine additional resources in the GGS library collection
* Get help with the Meyers-Orts gazetteer
* See examples of findings from various areas
* Talk to other researchers in your areas of interest

Tagged by another blogger

Kathy Brady-Blake, CG, of Kathy's Genealogy Blog tagged me. It is basically a challenge to respond with my own answers and tag other Bloggers to do likewise. Here goes:

***10 Years Ago I........

Was beginning work on the FGS 2001 Quad Cities Conference
Lost my gallbladder
Was awaiting the birth of my daughter’s first child
Was renewing friendships with some people from New England
Was on an extended research trip to NARA in DC for a client


***5 Things on Today's To-Do List......

1. Write on my blog
2. Call my Dad
3. Tons of TMG data entry for a client
4. Vacuum
5. Remind SLIG instructors that syllabus material is due to me November 8th


***5 Snacks I Enjoy........

1. Hershey’s Special Dark Chocolate
2. Soft Serve chocolate & vanilla twist ice cream in a cup
3. Strawberries
4. Anything mint
5. Diet Cherry Limeade from Sonic


***5 Places I Have Lived......

1. St. Paul, Minnesota (7 addresses)
2. Mountain View, California (3 addresses)
3. Zimmerman, Minnesota (1 address)
4. Eden Prairie, Minnesota (1 address)
5. That’s all folks


***5 Jobs I Have Had.....

1. Candy Girl and Ticket Sales at Highland Movie Theater, St. Paul
2. Shipping and Receiving at Feldman’s in Highland Park, St. Paul
3. Office help at Hart Ski Manufacturing in St. Paul
4. Day Care Provider
5. Genealogical researcher/lecturer/writer/consultant


***5 Blogs I tag to play.....

David at David Lambert Blog
Alvie at Alvie's Genealogy Spot
Steve Danko at Steve's Genealogy Blog
Drew and George at Genealogy Guys Podcast
Miriam at AnceStories

Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy, January 12-16, 2009

I have received a couple of questions asking me to explain the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy (SLIG). An institute is not the same as a seminar or conference which may have multiple individual sessions from which to choose. An institute, such as SLIG, has five (5) full days of learning. Registrants choose one five-day course and attend all the sessions that course offers. It's not a pick and choose for each hour. One of the advantages is getting to know your fellow registrants and the instructors better, thus allowing for better learning, networking, and Q&A time. Registrants come from all over the U.S. and some from Canada.

Each course has twenty (20) total hours of sessions. I coordinate and teach in an intermediate level course titled American Records and Research: Focusing on Localities.

In this course we have 22 hours for the same fee as the other courses. There are 16 hours of classroom instruction and 6 hours of Family History Library Lab. During those FHL hours, three of your instructors are on hand to give tours of the FHL, for one-on-one consultations, or whatever assistance you need during that FHL Lab time. Need to learn how to use the technological equipment, how to make a good copy from a microfilm or transfer it to a flash drive or CD? Does one branch of your family stymie you more than others? Need to become acquainted with the library catalog or the in-house finding aids? This is the course to help you with that. I am one of those consultants and am joined by Birdie Monk Holsclaw, CG, and D. Joshua Taylor, both of whom were great consultants in 2008.

Other in-the-classroom instructors are John Philip Colletta, PhD, Thomas W. Jones, CG, J. Mark Lowe, CG, and Kory L. Meyerink, AG. This assemblage of instructors is reason enough for taking the course. Add the lectures, syllabus, and library consultations and you have an exceptional week.

This 2009 course alternates in the even years with "Focus on Families" which has completely different class sessions.

If you have any questions about this course, please don't hesitate to contact me at PaulaStuartWarren@gmail.com. Visit the Utah Genealogical Association's website to learn about all the courses and individual classes. All have excellent coordinators and instructors. Online registration is easy. See you in January in SLC where the weather is never bad enough to stop genealogists. SLC sidewalks are amazingly clear for walking.

Register by October 30th and save $25.00 off the full price. Check out the list of evening classes that SLIG offers, too. These can be taken individually.

See you in SLC!

Black Americans in Congress

The first African Americans to serve in Congress did so in 1870. An extensive website tells more about Black Americans in Congress. Based on a book, Black Americans in Congress, 1870-2007, it tells the story of the painful and also successful road over time as these elected officials moved in and out of Congress. The site includes historical essays about black Congressional members, educational tools, historical data, member profiles, and digitized images of political ephemera and artifacts.

The member profiles give the name of each person, whether serving currently or a former member of Congress, Senator or Representative, state served from, and which political party. Clicking on each name leads to a long and interesting biographical essay about the person, citations to articles and books, and a citation to the papers of the member, if they exist.

American Archives Month

October is American Archives month. Important? That would be an emphatic yes for family historians. Where would our research be without our local, county, state, and federal archives? What about archives devoted to specific topics? When you research at one of these archives in October, be sure to thank the staff for being there for you. Archivists are not a highly paid group and most archives have had major budget cuts for several years.

That registration certificate for Grandpa's first car, Uncle Manny's naturalization record, a probate file for Grandma's father, the case file for a divorce, great grandpa's Union or Confederate pension, grasshopper relief applications, tax records, bankruptcies, and more are found in archives.

Here are some links to important articles and archival websites archives that will help demonstrate the value. Some of these share info on special activities for Archives Month. Many archives have website that include indexes, finding aids, catalogs, and other helpful information.

Arkansas History Commission
Minnesota State Archives
Pennsylvania State Archives
Texas State Library and Archives
U.S. National Archives and Records Administration
Utah State Archives
Washington State Archives

14,300 Years Ago!

I read an article today that added a whole new range of time to our genealogical research. Archaeologists and anthropologists have pinpointed proof that humans were on the North American Continent earlier than the previous marker of Clovis, 10,000 years ago. That is, the oldest proof they now have shows that it was 14,300 years ago. DNA research on coprolites determined this. Ouch, how many more generations does that add for family historians, especially those with American Indian ancestors? Who will write the first genealogy how-to guide on this? What genealogy software program will handle this? It's just like we are taught -- you are never finished with the family history research.

Coprolites? You are just going to have to look that up for yourself. I want to see the family history and the source citation for this.

Minnesota Genealogy

This was a great weekend. The Star of the North Genealogy Conference took place at the Minnesota History Center, which proved itself as a welcoming host. The conference was the annual seminar of the Minnesota Genealogical Society. Christine Rose, CG, was the main event on Saturday and I was privileged to be the main speaker on Friday. As always, attending a MGS event was like old home week as friendships were renewed. It was great to see some new faces, too.

At the Friday evening banquet, author and Professor of History, Annette Atkins, PhD, was the speaker. She began by thanking the genealogists for teaching historians like her about research. There was an audible murmur throughout the audience as this sunk in. Thanks, Annette, for recognizing the skills and knowledge of genealogists. In turn, we have learned much from the historians! This almost sounds like "working together for the common good."

Genealogical societies are always looking for volunteers to help run meetings, work in libraries, write articles, publicize the society and events, recruit other volunteers, teach classes and other tasks. One of the best things I ever did was join MGS back in 1982 and place a check mark next to the box that asked if I wanted to volunteer. I served six year on the MGS board of directors and many other years doing assorted volunteer tasks. MGS awarded certificates to an amazing array of volunteers at the banquet. What spirit among them and also of the other award winners from around the state.

I was presented the Minnesota Genealogy Ambassador Award for "Representing Minnesota Genealogy in the Region and Nation and Bringing Honor to Minnesota Genealogy." I told people that being a promoter of MGS, MHS, and Minnesota in general is an easy task. And selfishly, I am fortunate to have worked along side other volunteers who are now part of my greater family.

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.

2009 Conference of the Federation of Genealogical Societies

The Federation of Genealogical Societies and the Arkansas Genealogical Society invite you to the 2009 Conference. The conference takes place next September 2-5, 2009 in Little Rock, Arkansas. Check the FGS Website www.fgsconference.org> for details later this fall.

Want to be up-to-date on the news, lectures, exhibit hall, and people connected to the 2009 FGS/AGS Conference? It’s easy! The conference blog debuted this past weekend. We’ll post lots of breaking news, more details on the lectures, speakers, vendors, special offers, conference events, shopping, getting to hotels and the convention center, and the beautiful area around the conference location. This conference will have some special elements never done before at a FGS conference.

Today's posting was about hotel reservations. I have driven to Little Rock from Minnesota several times -- it is a nice drive. You might consider a few days in Branson before or after the conference --but be sure to save some days for traveling in Arkansas. The "Natural State" is quite beautiful.

Bookmark <www.FGSConferenceBlog.org> and visit us often as it will be updated frequently.

Star of the North Genealogy Conference

Two nationally renowned genealogists will headline the Star of the North Genealogy Conference, September 19-20, at the Minnesota History Center in St. Paul.

Minnesota professional genealogist Paula Stuart-Warren will teach a class on finding ancestral places of origin, as well as lecture on tactics for researching Midwestern ancestors with New England roots and easy ways to begin writing a family history. Stuart-Warren is a Certified Genealogist and a former Officer of the Association of Professional Genealogists.

Christine Rose, also a Certified Genealogist, will offer four lectures covering inheritance records, military records, ways to avoid erroneous conclusions and tips for solving complex genealogical problems in 25 hours or less. Rose has written many genealogical research guide books and has been an instructor at the Institute for Genealogical and Historical Research at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama.

“This is a premier family history learning opportunity for Upper Midwest genealogists,” said Robin Panlener, President of the Minnesota Genealogical Society, sponsor of the event. “We invite family history researchers from Minnesota and neighboring states to experience the unsurpassed family history resources of the Minnesota History Center in Minnesota’s Sesquicentennial Year.”

Genealogists and family historians of all experience levels will be able to choose from 12 seminar offerings. Joe Amato, professor emeritus of history and rural studies at Southwest State University and Brigid Shields, Minnesota Historical Society reference librarian will give tips of telling family history stories. Amato is author of Jacob’s Well: a Case for Rethinking Family History.

Other classes will feature three other Certified Genealogists from Minnesota. Tom Rice will teach a class on using the internet to find unusual printed sources. Darlene Joyce will lecture on best practices for family history researchers, and J. H. Fonkert will present an illustrated talk on Midwest historical geography for genealogists.

The Friday evening program includes Minnesota Genealogical Society’s annual awards banquet. Dr. Annette Atkins, author of the Sesquicentennial retrospective, Creating Minnesota: a History from the Inside Out, is the featured speaker for the banquet. Atkins is Professor of History at St. John’s University and the College of St. Benedict.

Atkins, Amato and Rose will sign copies of their books at a 6 p.m. Friday reception preceding the banquet.

MGS will present its annual Service and Achievement Awards at the banquet.

The Minnesota State Archives

The Minnesota State Archives is housed in the Minnesota History Center in downtown St. Paul. The Archives is part of the Library and Archives Division of the Minnesota Historical Society. The website for all of these parts is at www.mnhs.org. This includes the massive electronic catalog that enables researchers to find book, manuscripts, state and county records, and artifacts. Additional and important finding aids are "in-house."

To see what MHS might have that relates to your ancestral county just type keywords such as "Winona County" into the catalog search. On the State Archives page, click on recent acquisitions to see the monthly lists of acquisitions for the past year. These list are phenomenal.

A few exciting examples of acquistions, many of which are original records. In many cases, new acquisitions complement original records the state archives already has. Some acquisitions may not be immediately available as processing and cataloging occurs.

November 2007
Rural Credit Department. Contract for deed files (ca. 1920s-1995), county plat maps (ca. 1920s-1930s), and an index (1936) to the contract and deed files and the county plat maps. 4 boxes.

January 2008

• St. Louis County Marriage License Records 1871-1944, on microfilm

• Winona County Courts Records including plaintiff and defendant indexes 1854-1960, index to probate files 1856-1983, and civil case files

June 2008
Adjutant General. World War I bonus records, including warrants paid registers (ca. 1920-1924) which serve as a name index to the World War I paid bonus files, registers (undated) of World War I bonus payments and of Spanish-American War Veterans Relief Payments, and World War I veterans relief record (1931-1941) of the State Auditor. These records were created by the State Auditor, then used by the Adjutant General’s office to administer the World War I bonus program. World War I Bonus Disallowed/Rehearing Files (1921-1922) of the Soldier Bonus Board of Review. World War I Bonus Application Registers (1919-1924) of the Soldiers Bonus Board. 6 boxes, 4 oversize volumes, 1 oversize folder.

Upcoming appearances

I took the summer off from lecturing and had planned lots of organizational and writing work. Then my son announced his wedding and I moved. So much for the organizing tasks. Now, this fall I am speaking in several states. The September seminars and conferences are:

September 3-6, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Federation of Genealogical Societies Annual Conference
www.fgsconference.org and http://www.fgsconference.org/blog/
Haven't registered yet? Online and mail registrations have closed, but you can still register at the Pennsylvania Convention Center beginning Tuesday, September 2d from 3:00-7:00 p.m.

September 12-13, Tampa, Florida
Florida Genealogical Society of Tampa Fall Seminar
Includes a Friday Evening banquet to celebrate the Society's 50th Anniversary
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~flfgs/ and http://fgstampa.blogspot.com/

September 19-20, St. Paul, Minnesota, Minnesota History Center
Star of the North 2008 Minnesota Genealogy Conference featuring several speakers
Minnesota Genealogical Society
The two day event includes a big banquet on Friday evening.
http://www.mngs.org/quarterly.shtml#meeting

Beyond the Web: Immigration History Research Center

I have to admit that I enjoy sitting at home in my pj's doing genealogical work online. Still, there are many repositories with one-of-a-kind records. One of these is here in Minnesota. The Immigration History Research Center is part of the University of Minnesota.

This repository focuses on the history of American immigration with materials on 24 ethnic groups from eastern, central, and southern Europe and the Near East. It includes newspapers, periodicals, church records and histories, photos, personal papers, genealogies, business papers, records of ethnic fraternal organizations, and oral histories. Some of the groups covered are Czech, Finnish, Polish, Italian, Greek, Hungarian, Jewish, Russian, Slovak, and Ukranian people. It is not limited to those who settled in Minnesota. Many of the records are in the native languages.

The IHRC website provides many details. A 1991 publication, Immigration History Research Center: A Guide to Collections described many collections (Susanna Moody and Joel Wurl, eds., Greenwood Press, 1991.) The website also has descriptions of many collections.

Some examples of records at the IHRC:

• Order Sons of Italy in American, Alabama Grand Lodge Records 1923-1987

• Holy Ghost Greek Catholic Church, Cleveland Ohio, Marriage Records 1909-1967

• Milford Finnish Relief Committee Records, 1939-1941 [Milford, New Hampshire]

• New York City P.S. 20 Alumni Association Records, 1958-1972

• Jarven Kukka Temperance Society, Sparta and Gilbert, Minnesota, Records 1897-1921

Register online for FGS Conference by August 22nd.

You can still be a part of the 2008 Federation of Genealogical Societies Conference, Footprints to Family History, being held in Philadelphia, September 3-6. Four full days of lectures, luncheons, a banquet, and an Exhibit Hall with many vendors is not to be missed.

Registrations or changes to a registration can still be done online through Friday, August 22nd, 5:00 p.m. CDT. After that point, registrations and modifications will need to be done on site at the Philadelphia Convention Center beginning on Tuesday, September 2d at 3:00 p.m.

Visit the FGS Conference Website or the Conference Blog for more of the exciting details.

See you there! While at the conference, be sure to visit the FGS booth area and pick up information on the 2009 FGS Conference being held in Little Rock, Arkansas. The local host, the Arkansas Genealogical Society, is planning some very special events in the area of the Statehouse Convention Center.

Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy Update

10 August UPDATE: all registrations for Course I can be done online. Thanks to the webmaster for fixing this!

I received this note today from the 2009 Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy (January 8-12) about the course that I coordinate at SLIG.

"For some reason, the popular Course 1 "American Records and Research: Focusing on Localities" with Paula Stuart Warren does not appear in the registration area of the UGA members section. It is listed in the non-member section. Our programmer is still working on solving this problem.

To register for Course 1, UGA members should email info@infouga.org to reserve a place. Then submit payment ($280 until Oct. 30th):
- by mail to UGA, PO BOX 1144, Salt Lake City, UT 84110
- or by credit card by calling our toll free number at 1-888-463-6842

For further info, please contact the Utah Genealogical Association."

Ancestry.com launches 1891 Census of Canada

Ancestry has launched the 1891 Census of Canada, which is online for the first time. The 1891 Canadian census contains 4.5 million searchable names and 90,000 images of original census pages. Included is information from all 10 present-day Canadian provinces and its three territories. The 1891 census is fully indexed and searchable and can be accessed on Ancestry.ca, as well as on Ancestry.com at: http://content.ancestry.com/iexec/?htx=List&dbid=1274.


I have been searching for some of my ancestral surnames. Maybe I can find my great great grandfather's brothers!

Recent genealogical press releases

Project cooperation between FamilySearch (Family History Library) and Ancestry.com (The Generations Network) including reindexing of the 1920 U.S. census.

Thinking about becoming a certified genealogist? The Board for Certification of Genealogists now has a full application and judge's comments online. If you are attending the FGS Conference in Philadelphia this September, visit the BCG booth in the Exhibit Hall and check the sample portfolios there.

Speaking of the FGS Conference: if you have just registered or haven't quite done that yet, you might want to gather a group of your genealogical society's members and become eligible for a rebate. Full details are on the FGS Conference website and on the Conference Blog.

FamilySearch has been posting many new indexes and digitized records at its website.

The Utah Genealogical Association has posted overviews of its ten courses and nighttime lectures for the annual week-long Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy to be held January 12-16, 2009.