Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter

The Irish Cultural Centre of New England

One of the better resources for learning about your Irish ancestors is the Irish Cultural Centre of New England (the ICCNE). Housed in a thatched-roof, whitewashed stone cottage amid acres of green fields, although behind a mundane stretch of office park buildings, the Centre promotes the importance of Irish History and Culture through several offerings:

1. Availability of an outstanding campus, open and accessible to all
2. The Music / Dance / Arts / Literature of the Irish people
3. Sports as an important part of the Irish Culture
4. Applying Irish History to Modern Day Realities
5. Language and Genealogy
6. An Umbrella organization, helping other organizations to prosper

Acadian Heritage Meeting in Louisiana

The Imperial St. Landry Genealogical and Historical Society will explore South Louisiana's rich Acadian heritage at a meeting onSaturday.  The 10 a.m. meeting at Opelousas General Health System's South Campus, the former Doctors' Hospital, is free and open to the public.

The forum's guest speaker will be Brenda Comeaux Trahan, curator-director of the Acadian Memorial and Museum in St. Martinville. Trahan will cover a number of topics, including the March 19-20 Acadian Memorial Festival, which will be held that Friday and Saturday in St. Martinville.

Ulster Historical Foundation Lecture Programme March 2010

The Irish genealogists are coming to the USA! The following announcement was written by Ulster Historical Foundation:

With St Patrick’s Day approaching many people think about their Irish and Scots-Irish ancestry, and the Foundation’s forthcoming lecture tour in the USA (13 to 20 March 2010) is a great opportunity to celebrate your Irish connections.

We have listed below the details for the venues of our six locations in Wayne PA, Lancaster PA, Raleigh NC, Naples FL, Lincoln NE and Bethpage, Long Island NY.

2010 British Institute, Salt Lake City, October 4-8

The following announcement was written by the International Society for British Genealogy and Family History:

The International Society for British Genealogy and Family History (ISBGFH) is delighted to announce the British Institute (BI). The BI will be held in Salt Lake City from Monday, 4 October through Friday, 8 October 2010.

Instructors for this year’s BI will be Barbara Baker, AG, David Rencher, AG, CG, FIGRS, FUGA and Darris Williams, AG.

APG Seeks Information Officer

The Association of Professional Genealogists is seeking a volunteer to serve as its Information Officer (IO). The APG IO prepares and sends press releases to genealogy columnists, bloggers, and other media outlets. The IO also serves as a general resource to the APG Board and Executive Committee on marketing/communication issues. Serving as IO can be a good way to become more active in APG administration as well as to exercise one’s communication skills. Interested parties should send their qualifications and contact information in an e-mail to Kathy Hinckley, APG’s Executive Director, at admin@apgen.org.

DEADLINE: 5 March 2010

History Award Nominations Sought

The following announcement was written by the East Tennessee Historical Society:

The East Tennessee Historical Society (ETHS) is seeking nominations from across East Tennessee for awards of excellence in the field of history.  Each year, the society recognizes individuals and organizations that have made significant contributions to the preservation, promotion, and interpretation of the region’s history.

Awards are in four categories:

Indiana Black History Challenge

Exploring your African genealogy goes hand in hand with knowing about Black History. To promote that goal, the Indiana Historical Society is sponsoring the Indiana Black History Challenge all this month, ending on Feb. 27.

2010 FGS Conference Registration is Open

The following announcement was written by the U.S. Federation of Genealogical Societies:

Registration for the 2010 Federation of Genealogical Societies Conference, scheduled for 18-21 August 2010 in beautiful Knoxville, Tennessee, is now open. This year’s conference theme is “Rediscovering America’s First Frontier,” and is co-hosted by the East Tennessee Historical Society and the Kentucky Historical Society.

The conference schedule includes 173 presentations by 73 noted speakers, including a large number of sponsored luncheons with speakers. There will be two exciting evening events: “Come Sit a Spell: Ballads, Mountain Stories, and Country Fare,” organized by the host societies; and the annual gala FGS banquet, “An Evening in Old Appalachia,” which will be held at the fascinating Museum of Appalachia.

NEHGS Announces New Partnership and Web Portal

The New England Historic Genealogical Society has been expanding its areas of interest for some time now. A new partnership will expand this even further. The following was written by the New England Historic Genealogical Society:

Three regional organizations form partnership to highlight importance of African American family history

Boston, MA – February 9, 2010 – The New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) announced a new collaboration that brings together three Boston-area organizations dedicated to the research, understanding, and education of African American family history. NEHGS, along with the Museum of African American History (MAAH) and the New England Chapter of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society (AAHGS-NE), are bringing together their unique resources and expertise to bridge what has typically been viewed as a gap in the connection between African American family stories and the rich New England regional history.

Pierce County (Wisconsin) Historical Association Seeks Family Genealogies

The Pierce County Historical Association (PCHA) is building an extensive collection of family histories.

A six shelf, two-by-seven foot bookcase is filled quite full already with family genealogies, with the first shelf in a second case also occupied. Hard copy is good, but the PCHA also welcomes CDs loaded with data and photos. Photos are especially of interest.

Conversations with the Dead

The Genealogical Society of Yuma (Arizona) has a great idea for generating publicity and I suspect it is a fund raiser as well. The society is sponsoring the eighth annual Dining with the Dead barbecue and guided tour of the Yuma City Cemetery. The idea is to relive history with some of the pioneers of Yuma who are buried there.

A group of 10 will re-enact the historical figures whose lives had significant impact on the city. Visitors will be led through the graveyard and will have a chance to meet and talk with the re-enactors.

Fire Destroys Historic Building and Genealogy Society Records

Fire destroyed residential units and several businesses when it ripped through an Otho Street complex in Inverell, New South Wales, Australia during the early hours of Sunday morning. Among the devastated residents and businesses is the Inverell District Family History Group.

NOTE: This is NOT the Inverell Genealogical & Historical Society, Inc., a different society with a somewhat similar name.

Volunteers have worked tirelessly over the years to piece together records and photos of Inverell’s history. The group apparently never created digital copies of the holdings. The Inverell District Family History Group has lost all their archives, books, family histories as well as various other records on paper and film as well as their CD collection, which are almost all irreplaceable.

APGQ Advertising Sales Representative Opening

APGQ is looking for a motivated advertising sales representative. The successful candidate will have a combination of ad sales experience, knowledge of the APGQ, and a familiarity with the genealogy community. Job duties include maintaining current advertiser relationships, developing new ones through a proactive sales approach, provide sales contracts to APG administrative staff, and work with staff to ensure correct and timely invoicing of all advertising. Sales representative will earn $100/issue, plus 20% of collected ad revenues. Interested candidates should send an introductory letter and resume to Kathleen Hinckley, Executive Director, admin@apgen.org.

Andover, Kansas Library Organizing Genealogy Group

The genealogy volunteers of the Andover Public Library would like to begin a group to discuss genealogy -- what it is, how to start, how and where to find ancestors, and other questions that may arise.

Anyone interested is asked to call the Andover Public Library at 316-558-3500, or Mary Roth at 316-733-2904.  Just leave a name and phone number.  A time and date will be set soon.  All ages are welcome.

Virginia Historical Group Receives $10,000 Grant for Cemetery Work

The Fayette Area Historical Initiative (FAHI) has been awarded a $10,000 grant to document and preserve historic African-American cemeteries in the area.

According to a news release, the Helen S. and Charles G. Patterson Jr. Charitable Foundation Trust awarded the grant. The cemetery project, which is under way now, is a partnership between FAHI and the Dan River Basin Association to document and preserve the natural and cultural features of historic African-American cemeteries.

NGS Call For Papers, 2011 Family History Conference

The following announcement was written by the U.S. National Genealogical Society:

The National Genealogical Society announces the Call for Papers for the 2011 Family History Conference, “Where the Past is Still Present,” to be held 11-14 May 2011 in North Charleston, South Carolina. The deadline for submitting proposals is 1 April 2010.

Roof Collapses at Iowa Genealogical Society Library

Officials with the Iowa Genealogical Society Library said Thursday that the roof of the building that houses their library partially collapsed. The collapse happened during the first major blizzard of winter, officials said. The library at 628 East Grand Avenue in Des Moines suffered extensive damage.

NGS Website is Experiencing Technical Difficulties

The following is posted on http://www.ngsgenealogy.org:

The NGS website is experiencing technical difficulties and we are working to correct this as soon as possible. Access to the Members Only section of the website is not currently available.

Bedford, Virginia Genealogy Society and Museum Resort to Litigation

The Bedford Genealogical Society Inc. has filed a lawsuit against the Bedford Museum accusing the museum of "deceptive" acts. In its written response, the Bedford Museum and Genealogical Library, as the museum is officially known, calls the society's leaders a "disgruntled" group out to "hijack" the organization. At issue: how much independence from the museum the society actually has. The society considers itself autonomous, yet museum officials contend that the society was created as a research arm of the museum.

At stake: ownership of a database of roughly 1,500 county cemeteries, along with more than 37,000 names carved into tombstones. The database is a gold mine for researchers, who can use birth and death dates to find lost branches of family trees and peer into forgotten corners of local history.

Missouri State Historical Society Cuts Hours and Services

Due to a 25 percent withholding in its fiscal year 2010 state appropriation, the State Historical Society of Missouri has decreased its hours open to the public to Mondays through Thursdays, 8 a.m. to 4:45 p.m.

The society will no longer be open for research on Fridays or Saturdays. The withholding ($364,010), caused by the continued downturn in Missouri state revenues, was made public Wednesday, Oct. 28.