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The Dallas Genealogical Society wishes to remind potential entrants to their 2012 Writing Competition that the deadline for submitting articles is September 30.
Prizes of $500, $300, and $150 are offered.
Details are in this press release written by the Dallas Genealogical Society:
This article was first published as a Plus Edition article on March 7, 2012. It turned out to be a very popular article. At the suggestion of some newsletter readers, I am re-publishing it today as a Standard Edition article so that more people can read it. I have made a few minor updates to the original article as well.
Please feel free to forward this article to others or to republish it anywhere you please for non-commercial purposes. There is no need to ask for permission; “just do it.”
NOTE: This article contains several personal opinions.
I travel a lot, and I spend a lot of time with officers and members of many genealogy societies. Most everywhere I go, I hear stories of societies that are shrinking in size and even a few stories of societies that are struggling to maintain their existence. Even amongst all this "doom and gloom," I do hear a few rare stories of genealogy societies that are thriving and growing larger. Not only are they attracting more members, but these few societies are also offering more and more services to their members with each passing year.
Why do the majority of societies flounder while a handful succeed?
The following announcement was written by the Federation of Genealogical Societies:
August 22, 2012 – Austin, TX. The Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) announces the publication of the second edition of Bylaws Workbook: A Handbook for New & Established Societies, compiled by Marcia S. Lindley and revised by Roberta “Bobbi” King.
This workbook is designed to help societies create successful bylaws that prevent confusion, dissension, and disagreement. Whether large or small, new or established, societies can use this guide in planning, drafting, and implementing bylaws that guarantee a smooth-running organization. Whether a society realizes it or not, the most important document for its members is the bylaws. It is the only document that tells the members how the society is supposed to function.
The Manchester (New Hampshire) Union Leader has published an article by Bill Smith telling of the efforts by the American-Canadian Genealogical Society to start a fundraising drive to pay for needed repairs to its headquarters. This caught my eye because I spent many hours in the society's previous headquarters building learning about my French-Canadian ancestors. The society has done the same to help thousands of others. Now the society needs some help.
The American-Canadian Genealogical Society (usually referred to as "ACGS") is home to church and civic records from most of Quebec province, an exhaustive collection of marriage, baptismal and burial records from New Hampshire, as well as records from Maine, Massachusetts, New York and other states. When I was there, I also found a few scattered records from New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. In fact, I solved one mystery concerning my ex-wife's Scottish ancestors who lived in New Brunswick, something I would not have expected in a library dedicated to French-Canadian genealogy research!
This weekend I spoke at the Kentucky Genealogical Society in Frankfort. I think the audience enjoyed the presentations. I am certain that I enjoyed the experience.
The Kentucky Genealogical Society meets monthly on the second Saturday at 10:30am at the Thomas D. Clark Center for Kentucky History, 100 West Broadway, in downtown Frankfort. This is a gorgeous facility. Kentucky citizens can be proud of the History Center and its wide collection of materials.
The Family History Information Standards Organisation (FHISO) was recently formed. See the announcement in an earlier newsletter article at http://goo.gl/KRjOF. I received the following message from the FHISO:
Family History Information Standards Organisation, Inc. (FHISO) was incorporated earlier this year to act as the community-owned standards organization serving genealogists, world wide. Standards organizations depend on broad support that includes support across some of the entrenched territorial lines we find in our community.
This sounds like a great idea. It starts tomorrow (July 23) so it is probably a bit too late to sign up for this year's session but you might ask if it will be repeated next year. I am writing about it simply because it sounds like a nifty idea that other genealogy societies might want to emulate.
The Jacksonville, Florida, Public Library will host Genealogy Summer Boot Camp at the Main Library this week in partnership with the Jacksonville Genealogical Society, Inc. Sponsors include the Friends of the Jacksonville Public Library, the Federation of Genealogical Societies, the National Institute for Genealogical Studies, and the State Archives of Florida.
The following announcement was written by the Federation of Genealogical Societies:
Estate of Jon Stedman To Help Digitize Important Family History Records
June 25, 2012 – Austin, TX. The Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) announces the donation of a generous gift in the amount of $135,000 from the estate of the late Jon Stedman in memory of his mother, Ardath Stedman. The donation to the Preserve the Pensions – War of 1812 Pension Digitization Fund will be used to help preserve and digitize War of 1812 Pension records.
The following announcement was written by the (U.S.) National Genealogical Society:
Arlington, VA, 14 June 2012: Join the National Genealogical Society for a weeklong guided research trip to the world renowned Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah. Researchers can choose to attend 21–28 October 2012 or 6–13 January 2013. NGS offers a substantial discount with early bird pricing if you register for the 21–28 October trip by 15 July and register for the 6–13 January trip by 15 October.
The hosts for the October 2012 trip are Sandra MacLean Clunies, CGsm, and Shirley Wilcox, CGsm, and the January 2013 hosts are Marie Varrelman Melchiori, CGsm, CGLsm, and Shirley Wilcox, CGsm. These experts, all certified genealogists, are available to the attendees all week long to help them focus their research work and to take the utmost advantage of the Family History Library resources.
The following announcement was written by the Illinois State Genealogical Society:
The Illinois State Genealogical Society is proud to support the Federation of Genealogical Societies’ “Preserve the Pensions” campaign.
In support of this digitization project the ISGS announces the ISGS $10,000 War of 1812 Pension Match Challenge. ISGS will MATCH any contribution (up to the first $10,000) made to the Preserve the Pensions project before December 31, 2012. For instance, if you donate $100, the ISGS will match your contribution for a total of $200! In addition, Ancestry.com has announced it will also match ALL ISGS contributions which would mean any contribution you make will actually be QUADRUPLED! Your $100 contribution would become a $400 contribution! Any size contribution is welcome! A $10 contribution equals about 80 pages of Pension files digitized as part of the Preserve the Pensions project.
The following announcement was written by the Dallas Genealogical Society:
June 12, 2012, Dallas---The Dallas Genealogical Society (DGS) is sponsoring the 2012 Writing Competition for original material submitted by members and non-members. Hobbyists, intermediate, and professional genealogists are invited to submit articles for consideration.
While DGS has a goal of preserving Dallas history, articles for this competition may range beyond the local geographic area as specified below .
The following announcement was written by the Guild of One-Name Studies:
In April 2012 the Guild of One-Name Studies published "Seven Pillars of Wisdom: The Art of One-Name Studies" as a guide to the running of a one-name study. The book is a collection of helpful advice and information gathered from the Guild Wiki, and was published immediately before the Guild’s 2012 Conference in order to complement its "Seven Pillars" theme. Copies of this book are now available via the Guild website www.one-name.org/sales.html, with payment via PayPal or credit card online, or by cheque through the post.
The following announcement was written by the Connecticut Historical Society:
Using digitization as a tool for preservation, the Connecticut Historical Society increases its resources by making previously stored documents available.
Hartford, CT - May 30, 2012 -- Stories from the past have been handed down from one generation to another through various means. The most consistent of these have been documented in newspapers and books. Historians face challenges such as the degradation of paper and the fading of words and images. In order to preserve antique books, librarians store books in climate controlled rooms, avoid their exposure to UV rays, and limit how much books are handled. Keeping a book free from dust will also prolong its life. While all of these methods assist in preservation, they also limit the access to the knowledge within these books and, therefore, are not convenient for historians.
I had a fun holiday weekend in Denver. I had the pleasure of addressing the Colorado Genealogical Society's Computer Interest Group. This very active computer interest group met on Saturday at the Denver Public Library in Denver, Colorado. I was amazed at the turnout on a beautiful spring day on Saturday of a 3-day holiday weekend. I think attendance was about 130 genealogists.
The Colorado Genealogical Society sponsors many seminars throughout the year as well as numerous other activities. If you live in or near Denver, you probably will want to join this society.
The following announcement was written by the New England Historic Genealogical Society:
Scott Steward and Christopher Child Share Top Prizes from NGS and CSG
Boston, MA – May 22, 2012 – The New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) announced today that one of its latest Newbury Street Press titles, The Descendants of Judge John Lowell of Newburyport, Massachusetts, by Scott C. Steward and Christopher C. Child, has won top honors from both the National Genealogical Society and the Connecticut Society of Genealogists. The awards were handed out at recent ceremonies hosted by each organization.
The following announcement was written by the St. Louis Genealogical Society:
St. Louis Genealogical Society Completes Indexing 1.6 Million Burials
Do you know what these people have in common? Engineer, James Eads; Blues hockey player, Barclay Plager; Negro Leagues baseball player, James "Cool Papa" Bell; sports broadcaster, Jack Buck; slave, Dred Scott; poet, Sara Teasdale; educator, Susan Blow; and humanitarian, Tom Dooley?
They are just a handful of the 1.6 million people buried in St. Louis City or St. Louis County, Missouri, who have been indexed by the St. Louis Genealogical Society. This unique project was completed entirely by dedicated volunteers who donated thousands of hours to finalize this massive task. With the publication of its fourth and final cemetery CD, the society has now indexed every known cemetery with only one exception in St. Louis City and County.
The following announcement was written by the American Society of Genealogists:
The American Society of Genealogists gives an annual $500 scholarship that can be applied to any of three genealogy institutes: (1.) the National Institute of Genealogical Research at the National Archives in Washington, D.C.; (2.) the Institute of Genealogy and Historical research at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama; and (3.) the Certificate Program in Genealogical Research at Boston University.
The following announcement was written by the Association of Professional Genealogists:
Call for Nominations - Due 1 June 2012
APG will award its fifth Professional Achievement Award at the APG Luncheon to be held 31 August 2012 at the FGS Conference, Birmingham, Alabama.
The award honors an APG member with a record of exceptional professional achievement and contributions to the field of genealogy through individual excellence and ethical behavior in published research, public presentations, innovative organizational leadership, writing or editing, or successful business achievement by creating valuable products or services. The winner will be a professional who has demonstrated a commitment to advance and promote the highest standards in the field.
The following was written by the Southern California Genealogy Society:
SCGS has instituted a new Jamboree scholarship program for aspiring genealogists and family historians between the ages of 18 and 29 as of June 8, 2012. The scholarship will cover basic registration for the conference, which will be held June 8-10, 2012 in Burbank, California.
These young people will be admitted to Jamboree at a substantial discount. The special registration fee is $15 per day or $25 for all three days.
The Collin County Genealogical Society partnered with The University of North Texas' (UNT) Texas Digital Newspaper Program (http://tdnp.unt.edu/) to digitize and make available online to a worldwide audience the contents of six microfilm rolls of the McKinney, Texas newspaper, The Democrat, from the years 1884-1904 and one microfilm roll of incomplete runs of the Daily Gazette, Democrat, McKinney Examiner and McKinney Gazette (years ranging from 1880 to 1936). This is a total of 5047 newspaper pages whose content can then be found via search engines like Google or through direct searches free of charge at The Portal to Texas History Web site: texashistory.unt.edu/explore/collections/TDNP/browse/
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