RootsTech 2020: I'm Back in Salt Lake City!

Yes, it's that time of year:  time to travel to beautiful Salt Lake City and join something like 25,000 other genealogists for that over-the-top production known as RootsTech!

I'm here because I was again fortunate enough to have the program committee accept one of my presentations for the conference.  My talk isn't until Saturday, however, so I have been attending other people's talks and learning all sorts of interesting things.

The conference started Wednesday morning, bright and early at 8:00 a.m., but I decided I couldn't face the world quite that early.  9:00 sounded much more reasonable.  That's when I went to a discussion session organized by FamilySearch.  They were talking to people who volunteer in their communities doing things related to genealogy.  The idea seems to be to find ways volunteers can help each other, both in joining forces and in sharing ideas.  It was an interesting and refreshing way to start the day.  I look forward to seeing what comes of it.

After I enjoyed a leisurely buffet lunch, I attended an informative session with Lara Diamond, who spoke on how to find relatives in Russian-language records if you don't speak (or read) Russian.  She discussed why it's helpful to learn how to recognize terms and your ancestors' names so you can identify them in records (coincidentally, some of the points I will be making in my Saturday presentation).  She also mentioned Genealogical Translations, a free translation group on Facebook that appears to have replaced one that was closed last year, which was great news.

Thursday morning at the conference once more started at 8:00, but I still couldn't make myself get going.  This time I began my day at 9:30 with Thom Reed's presentation about a FamilySearch initiative called Reclaiming Our African Roots.  One focus is preserving records and collecting oral histories in several sub-Saharan countries, many of which were the sources of people captured for the historic slave trade.  As much as I have enjoyed working with Thom over the past few years in relation to Freedmen's Bureau records, and while I hope the initiative does well, I have to admit I was frustrated at the use of marketing hype and imprecise terms used to generate enthusiasm.

An interesting and potentially very useful talk was given by Amy Williams, an academic at Cornell University, who spoke about a method to reconstruct an ancestor's genome by using the DNA of that person's children.  I'm hoping to be able to use the process to put together my mother's genome using my DNA and that of my two siblings, but I need to get conversant in Linux first.  The program used is not currently designed to conduct the process using DNA from half-siblings but might be in the future, so maybe one day I'll be able to do the same for my grandfather using the DNA from three of his children, each of whom had a different mother.  That could be extremely helpful in my search to find his biological father.

Of course, one of the best things about going to conferences is getting to see your genealogy friends face to face.  So far I've been lucky enough to run into Thomas MacEntee, Luana Darby, Sheri Fenley, Elizabeth O'Neal, Tierra Cotton-Kellow, Alice Burch of Utah AAHGS, Randy Seaver, Robinn Magid, and Nicka Smith (in addition to Lara and Thom) and finally have met Ellen Kowitt, Kim Thurman, and Rebecca Koford in person.  I can hardly wait to see who I run into during the rest of the conference!

Tierra and Janice at Wednesday's ProGen gathering

RootsTech 2020 Is Coming and You Can Register Now!

Next year is the 10th anniversary of RootsTech.  It has changed quite a bit since its beginnings and is now the largest genealogy conference in the world (as far as I know).  And I will be there, because I had a presentation accepted!

I will be talking about how useful it is to learn something about the languages your ancestors spoke, as doing so increases the chances you will be able to find them in records and have better results from your research.  It's a brand-new talk, and RootsTech will be the first time I present it.

And if you are planning to go to RootsTech, you can register now!  Registration opened on Wednesday, and almost a thousand people signed up within the first few hours.  I don't think it can run out of spots, but better safe than sorry, right? You can click on the registration link on the RootsTech home page or go straight here.  The super special early-bird discount pricing is good through October 11, so do it soon if you want to save some money.

And I hope to see you next year in Salt Lake City!

Days 1 and 2 of the FGS Conference

I've had full days of learning here at the FGS conference, attending sessions in every time slot.  Even as a kid I loved school, so I guess it's no surprise that I enjoy coming to conferences like this and adding to my genealogy knowledge.

Thursday morning started with the exhibitor hall opening at 10:00 a.m., ahead of the first presentations.  I merrily zoomed around and collected free journals, books, and chocolate from vendors.  In fact, I gathered so many goodies that I had to go back to the car to drop everything off, so I wouldn't strain my back with all that weight!

As for the educational aspect, session topics included an overview of Indiana genealogy (types of records available, when they began, where to find them), letters and claims from emancipated slaves and how helpful they can be when searching for family information, updates from the Records Preservation and Access Committee (have you signed up for the announcement lists yet?), and a workshop on reuniting Jewish Holocaust survivors and the availability of Jewish resources on the Internet (offered in part to help publicize the new Northeast Indiana Jewish Genealogical Society).  The most informative talk I attended was on researching U.S. and Canadian World War I veterans, given by David Allen Lambert of NEHGS.  He discussed several record types that were new to me and gave me new ideas on ways to research the World War I vets in my family.

I think I learned from more of the sessions I went to on Friday.  I began the day with civil registration in Poland.  Although I've definitely attended other talks dealing with the subject, Daniel Jones' explanation of the timelines, jurisdictions, and changes were a little clearer to me.  Legal Genealogist Judy Russell spoke on early Indiana laws and included some general points I don't recall having heard before:  session laws versus compilations/codes, public versus private laws, and additional broad categories to search (legislative records, petitions, committee reports, minutes, debate transcripts, judicial records, circuit/supreme/appelate court records, and territorial/statehood executive/gubernatorial records).  Plus she told us how to find the advanced search page for Google Books, which they apparently have tried hard to bury (and she suggested we all bookmark it)!

Next up was Tony Burroughs' discussion of black employment after the Civil War.    This is a subject I've not seen enough coverage of, so it was all welcome information.  He talked quite a bit about farmers, tenant farmers, and sharecroppers (and the differences between them), which is what most of my family research involves.  And as is usual with his talks, he included a great list of references for further study.  The last session of my day was by Ari Wilkins, on the subject of Quakers (the Society of Friends) and black Americans, particularly before and leading up to the Civil War.  This is a fascinating history, and it was easy to see how some of the Friends' work in freeing slaves (purchasing them and then transferring them to free states, where they were manumitted) laid the groundwork for what became the Underground Railroad, with which the Friends were also involved.

Friday ended with a great event sponsored by MyHeritage.  They booked some time at Crazy Pinz, a local bowling alley/entertainment center, for their employees and some MyHeritage Friends who responded to an invitation.  We were treated to a "luau buffet" (pulled pork sandwiches, fried rice, macaroni salad, etc.) and four bowling lanes in a private area.  Several of us hadn't bowled in many, many years (um, at least 40 for me), but it was a really fun time.  We all got custom-enbroidered bowling shirts, plus we learned that Daniel Horowitz is a pretty good bowler.  I even managed to bowl one strike in my second game!

FGS Conference: Librarians' Day and Society Day

So I was lucky enough to win a registration to this year's FGS conference, and here I am in Fort Wayne, Indiana!  (The last time I was here was 24 years ago, when I still worked full time in the adventure game industry.)  Librarians' Day and Society Day fall on the Tuesday and Wednesday preceding the main part of the conference, and I learn a lot at these days also.

The highlights of Librarians' Day were a presentation by Matthew LaFlash about Omeka, an open-source content management system that is being used to put all sorts of great information online (Newberry Library's Transcribing Modern Mauscripts, the Bracero History Archive, and Ohio Civil War 150, for example), and a rollicking but informative panel discussion titled "Hit Me with Your Best Shot", where speakers including Allen County Public Library's Curt Witcher and FamilySearch's David Rencher (newly named as director of the Family History Library) took any and all questions from attendees.  (Rencher reminded us several times that everything on FamilySearch is still free.)  Some of the topics covered:

• The importance of labeling photos and what to do if they aren't.  Even if photos aren't labeled, you can still look at the context, such as signs, geography (mountains, lakes), dateable items such as cars, etc. to garner information about them.  Recording the provenance is very important, as that might provide context also.

• The best method for scanning photos (this was actually answered by a professional in the photography business who was in attendance):  Scan at the highest resolution that is practical (300 minimum, 600 better, and 1200 if you have the storage space) and save in TIF format.  As a corollary, saving files in at least three locations was also brought up (because Lots Of Copies Keeps Stuff Safe [LOCKSS]).

• The confusion surrounding which files on FamilySearch.org are available in which locations.  An icon identifies whether images must be viewed at a Family History Center or affiliate library, but nothing differentiates between which of those can be seen *only* at a Family History Center and not at the affiliates.  The good news is that almost everything that is restricted can be viewed at both, but no solution right now to let you know quickly which can't.

• Limited hours at several Family History Centers.  Family History Centers are governed locally, and not all of them are able to provide enough volunteers to be open more regular hours.  Because of this, FamilySearch has been expanding the affiliate library program (currently at more than 400 libraries), so that restricted digitized images can be more widely available.

• Which microfilms from the Family History Library are digitized first.  Part of what helps decide the priority of films to be digitized is based on the rights negotiations that FamilySearch holds with the original records holders.  Digitizing films more quickly can make further negotiations go more smoothly, both for more digitization and more records.  (That doesn't explain all of it, of course, but it was nice to hear some reasoning.)

• What to do when newspapers no longer sell microfilm for archival purposes but refer libraries to online subscription options.  This one had no good answer.  Because microfilm has become so expensive, it isn't a viable option for many companies anymore.  Unfortunately, online subscriptions leave the libraries (and everyone else!) owning nothing, so when you drop the subscription, you have nothing to show (like Microsoft and its online Office 365 software).  You are essentially only "renting" your access.  We were told that the Sacramento Public Library paid more than $1 million to have the Sacramento Bee digitized from microfilm that it provided (but were not told which aggregator stuck it to them).  This situation is only going to become worse, and the large information aggregators (ProQuest, NewsBank) will be holding libraries hostage.

• Where to share copies of family histories, research, photographs, etc.  Share them everywhere that they could be considered relevant:  Allen County Public Library, FamilySearch, local genealogical and historical societies, Internet Archive, ethnic societies, and anywhere else you can think of.  Always check with the repository first to make sure it will accept a copy (whether physical or digital), but the more places the information is available, the better the chances that someone who is interested will find it.

And a couple of comments from Curt Witcher:  We should all be trying to pursue, preserve, and present stories.  And facilities always appreciate feedback from visitors.  Think about the latter the next time you go to an archive or library — offer feedback before you leave!

Librarians' Day ended with a behind-the-scenes tour of some parts of the Allen County Public Library (ACPL):  the Genealogy Materials Handling Unit (intake and assessment of donations), FamilySearch Book Scanning (a partnership with ACPL), Internet Archive (another partnership with ACPL), and the Lincoln Collection Library and Fine Book Room.  It was so interesting to get insight into how donations are processed, see ongoing scanning of public-domain books, and view many original Abraham-Lincoln-era photographs, letters, and newspapers.

Internet Archive scanning in progress

Wednesday was Society Day, with sessions geared to those of us in leadership and volunteer positions in genealogical societies.  I attended a session on how to apply business management principles to society procedures and processes, and one on leadership and conflict resolution.  Both had a lot of useful information I will be taking back to the societies with which I am involved.

In between those two sessions I went to the annual FGS meeting, attending as the delegate of the San Francisco Bay Area Jewish Genealogical Society.  I had received notices about the meeting and had been wondering why no agenda was distributed beforehand.  That question was soon answered.  The entire annual meeting took three minutes.  The agenda was shown on a screen and was approved by voice vote.  The treasurer said that the society had been audited and was in good financial standing, with no details.  No announcements were made, and the meeting was adjourned.  I'm not sure why delegates are even encouraged to attend.

The final event I attended on Society Day was the presentation by Judy Russell, the Legal Genealogist.  Titled "Preserving the Past, Protecting the Future", Judy's talk focused on the attacks that have been made over the past several years on records access and facilities budgets.  Citing circumstances such as the loss of the most recent three years of the Social Security Death Index, New York City's decision to severely restrict birth records (older than 125 years) and death records (older than 75 records), and the encroachment of the Right to Be Forgotten into far too many areas (including a proposed Indiana law that would allow the total destruction of someone's criminal records, leaving no trace that the crime ever occurred), she declared that it is the calling of genealogists to serve as guardians of history.

And how do we do that?  We need to stay informed, join together, and reach out.  You can stay informed by signing up for notifications from the IAJGS Public Records Access Alerts List, which sends out announcements related to access to public records.  You can also stay informed about the activities of the Records Preservation & Access Committee, a joint venture between several genealogical groups, which monitors records access issues.

Joining together has been effective in several instances of keeping repositories open and reopening facilities that have been closed.  And efforts to reach out should include a broad range of individuals, such as archivists, librarians historians, the news media, and medical researchers.

In Judy's words, we all need to pitch in, speak up, and meet up.  I took my first step tonight.  I've written to RPAC, asking how I can help.  What will you do?

Ohio-bound in 2019

The Ohio Genealogical Society recently sent out contracts to the speakers chosen for its 2019 conference, "Building a Heritage", scheduled for May 1–4 in Mason, Ohio at the Great Wolf Lodge.  And I was the happy recipient of one of those contracts!  It will be a relatively Jewish conference for me, as the talks they selected are "Jewish Genealogy:  How Is This Research Different from All Other Research?" and "Online Resources for Jewish Genealogy."

I'm already looking forward to the conference.  Not only will I enjoy giving the presentations and learning from other speakers, I'm sure I'll get to visit some extended family members who live in the area.  Plus Mason isn't that far from Cincinnati, and a con man I am researching was from near there.  The last time I was in Cincinnati, I was able to find a lot of information about him, but I left some stones unturned at the time.

So watch out, Ohio!  I'll be seeing you next year!

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: Survey of Genealogy Activities

This week's challenge for Saturday Night Genealogy Fun sounds similar to the one Randy Seaver posted on May 21 of this year, but this time he has given specific questions and made the exercise less open-ended, which actually makes it easier in a lot of ways.  But it's a lot longer!

Here is your assignment if you choose to play along (cue the Mission:  Impossible music, please!):

1)  Answer these questions in my survey about your genealogy resources and usage:

a)  Which genealogy software programs for your computer do you use (e.g., Family Tree Maker, Reunion, GRAMPS, etc.)?

b)  Which online family trees have information submitted by you, in either a separate online tree (e.g., Ancestry Member Tree) or a universal (collaborative) online tree (e.g., WikiTree)?

c)  For which subscription genealogy record providers (e.g., Ancestry) do you have a subscription?

d)  Which FREE genealogy record providers (e.g., FamilySearch) do you use regularly?

e)  How much time do you spend each week doing actual genealogy research online?  [Note:  not reading, or social networking, but actual searching in a record provider.]  Estimate an average number of hours per week.

f)  How much time do you spend each week doing actual genealogy research in a repository (e.g., library, archive, courthouse, etc.)?  Estimate an average number of hours per month over, say, a one-year period.

g)  How much time do you spend each week adding information to your genealogy software program (either on your computer or online)?  Estimate an average number of hours per week over, say, a one-month period.

h)  How much time do you spend each month at a genealogical society meeting, program, or event (not a seminar or conference)?  Estimate an average number of hours per month over, say, a one-year period.

i)  How much time do you spend each month on genealogy education (e.g., reading books and periodicals, attending seminars, conferences, workshops, Webinars, etc.)?   Estimate an average number of hours per month over, say, a one-year period.

j)  How much time do you spend each week reading, writing, and commenting on genealogy blogs, Web sites, and social media?   Estimate an average number of hours per week over, say, a one-month period.

2)    Answer the questions in a blog post of your own (and please drop a link as a comment in this post), in a comment to this post, or in a Google+ or Facebook post.

Here's my breakdown:

(a) The only genealogy software program I use regularly for my own family tree information is Family Tree Maker, v. 16.  I also have:

• Reunion 9
• Mac Family Tree
• Legacy Family Tree
• PAF
• Personal Ancestry Writer
• Roots Magic
• and I think one or two more

I keep the other programs handy to be able to open other people's files if necessary.

(b) I have submitted no information to any online family tree anywhere.  I have a page with the names I am researching on my own Web site.  I have also discovered that a distant relative of my brother-in-law has entered my mother's information on Geni.com.

(c) I have a paid subscription to FindMyPast.com, because it's the only way I have found to have access to the British newspaper collection.  I still think the interface sucks.

(d) My definition of a free genealogy record provider includes those databases I can use for free at my local Family History Center (technically, FamilySearch Library), in Oakland, California.  These are the sites I use regularly.

• FamilySearch.org
• JewishGen.org
• SephardicGen.org
• Chronicling America
• FultonHistory.com (another site with great material but an awful interface)
• FindAGrave
• USGenWeb
• FreeBMD
• RootsWeb
• Google
• Wikipedia
• Ancestry.com
• Fold3.com
• Newspaper Archive
• 19th Century British Newspapers
• ProQuest Obituaries
• GenealogyBank
• Newspapers.com
• VitalSearch

(e) Online genealogy research each week averages about 15 hours.

(f) Repository research each averages about 3 hours.

(g) I don't spend a lot of time adding information to my own family tree program.  It's probably only about 2–3 hours each week.

(h) Genealogy society meetings and events run about 15 hours every month.

(i) Genealogy education takes about 15 hours of my times every month, once I take into account conferences and seminars.

(j) Reading, writing, and commenting on genealogy blogs, sites, and social media runs about 20 hours each week.

Yikes!  My weekly total is about 70 hours each week that are devoted to genealogy.   That sounds about right, but I hadn't realized it was so high.  This year is probably running a little higher than average due to the number of conferences and seminars on my schedule (SLIG, San Francisco History Days, Sacramento African American Family History Seminar, CSGA [twice!], Jamboree, Ancestry Day, Civil War Teachers Institute, IAJGS, IBGS, and the Contra Costa County Genealogical Society's John Colletta seminar).  And this total didn't even include volunteer work!

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: My Genealogy Life

Uh-oh, this could get scary.  This week for Saturday Night Genealogy Fun, Randy Seaver asked how much of your time is spent on genealogy:

For this week's mission (should you decide to accept it), I challenge you to:

1)  Tell us about your "genealogy life."  How much genealogy and family history work do you do, on average, each week?  What tasks do you routinely perform every day, every month, every year?

2)  Share your genealogy life in your own blog post, in a comment to this post, or on Facebook or Google+.

Ok, here's mine:

On a weekly basis, I probably spend between 60+ hours on genealogy in some form.  An average week with no other obligations:

• Doing research averages between four to six hours every day.  This encompasses research for clients, volunteer work, and my own family and extended family when I can fit it in.  This time includes data entry, report writing, and information sharing.

• Reading the blogs I follow on a regular basis takes about one to two hours every day.

• Social media suck up a lot of my time, even when I try to restrain myself.  I check genealogy-related content on Facebook daily and two to three times a week on Google+ and LinkedIn.  This runs to about 10 hours a week.

• I wish I wrote faster.  As it is, writing for my blog takes me at least 5–8 hours a week.  When I'm working on Who Do You Think You Are? posts, it can go as high as 15+ hours, because I spend so much time looking for the sources used on the programs so that everyone can see them.

• I usually watch three to four Webinars each week, for another 3–6 hours.

• Volunteer work is my other big time sink.  I'm on the boards of three organizations and the editor of three publications, I have a regular volunteer shift at the Family History Center, and the last time someone asked me to write down everything I do the list had more than 20 commitments.  Volunteer work easily takes at least 10–15 hours every week.

Monthly and yearly stuff:

• Attending meetings of the San Francisco Bay Area Jewish Genealogical Society and African American Genealogical Society of Northern California averages about 7 hours each month.

• I attend meetings of other genealogical societies as often as topics and time allow.  This is probably another 6–9 hours each month.

• I give on average two presentations each month.  Creating and updating the files and handouts and giving the talks comes to about 10–20 hours each month.

• I would like to attend more institutes and conferences, but I have neither the money nor the time to do so.  I usually manage to travel to two or three conferences out of state each year, and three or four local events.  This year I went to SLIG and I'll be attending Jamboree, the IAJGS Jewish genealogy conference, and the International Black Genealogy Summit.  Locally, I was at San Francisco History Days, the Sacramento annual African American Family History Seminar, and the CSGA spring seminar in Fresno, and I will be going to the local Ancestry Day in June, the CSGA fall seminar in Oakland, and the Contra Costa County Genealogical Society's October seminar featuring John Philip Colletta.  And as Randy said, these are in addition to my regular commitments.

Yes, genealogy is my life.

2016 International Jewish Genealogy Month Design Competition

International Jewish Genealogy Month (IJGM) is a celebration of Jewish genealogy promoted by the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies (IAJGS).  IJGM takes place during the Hebrew month of Cheshvan.  In 2016 this will be November 1–30 on the secular calendar.

The primary means used to publicize IJGM is the winning design chosen from the annual competition for that year.  The design needs to celebrate Jewish genealogy and help promote genealogy as a hobby.  It will be available to organizations and individuals to help promote IJGM, primarily as posters and flyers.

This year's design competition officially began on January 25, 2016, and the deadline to submit an entry is June 20, 2016.  Submission requirements are available on the IAJGS Web site.  Each entry must be submitted by an IAJGS member organization, but the artist does not need to be a member of the organization.

The winning artist will have a choice of a registration to this year's IAJGS International Conference on Jewish Genealogy, which will be held in Seattle from August 7–12, or of free access to the conference recorded sessions.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: Your 2016 Genealogy Education Plans

What a coincidence!  Tonight, right after I returned from a week of genealogical education at the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy (SLIG), Randy Seaver asked about genealogy education for Saturday Night Genealogy Fun:

1) What are your genealogy education plans for 2016?  Local society meetings or seminars?  Regional or national conferences?  Weeklong institutes?  Genealogy cruises?  Podcasts?  YouTube videos?  Webinars or Hangouts on air?  Magazines?  Web sites?  Blogs?

2) How much time do you invest in genealogy education?  Why do you do it?

3) Tell us about it in your own blog post, in a comment to this blog post, or in a Facebook or Google+ post.

1.  My genealogical education plans for 2016:

* I started out by attending SLIG this past week.

* I will almost definitely attend a local Ancestry Day that is being planned.

* I will be at San Francisco History Days (the revitalized version of the former San Francisco History Expo).  Though it is not specifically focused on genealogy, learning about history is very important for genealogy research.

* I will be giving a talk at Jamboree and plan to attend several sessions there.

* I will be giving talks at both the spring (hosted by Fresno County Genealogical Society) and fall (hosted by California Genealogical Society) meetings/seminars of the California State Genealogical Alliance, but each will also have other speakers, and I'll have the opportunity to learn from their presentations.

* I plan to attend as many of the presentations offered by the San Francisco Bay Area Jewish Genealogical Society and the African American Genealogical Society of Northern California as I can.  I am a board member of both societies and attend as many meetings as is possible and practical, but sometimes I have schedule conflicts.

* I often go to talks presented by other local genealogical societies and our local Family History Center.  (In fact, I'll be learning about mortuary records at the next meeting of the East Bay Genealogical Society.)

* I listen to as many Webinars as I can fit in my schedule.  It's very convenient to have learning opportunities you can do at home.  I regularly watch Webinars from Illinois State Genealogical Society, Legacy Family Tree, North Carolina Genealogical Society, Southern California Genealogical Society, Wisconsin State Genealogical Society, USCIS, and a few other organizations.

* I usually take one or two online courses each year.

* I have subscriptions to Avotaynu and the Association of Professional Genealogists' APG Quarterly.

* I read about two dozen genealogy blogs on a regular basis and several dozen others less often.

* I hope to attend this year's IAJGS International Conference on Jewish Genealogy and International Black Genealogy Summit, but whether I will be able to depends heavily on at least one of my submitted talks being accepted by each.  I would like to attend another institute, but I don't know if it will be possible, due to costs.  (I need to earn another scholarship!)

* I give about two dozen genealogy talks during an average year, and they are an opportunity for me to learn from other genealogists as much as they are for me to share what I know.

2.  I probably spend an average of one to two hours each day on some form of genealogical education.  I do it because there is always something new to learn, and it is an investment in both my professional work and my personal life.  I try to apply what I learn to my work, my volunteer activities, and my own research.

DNA and Legal Records and Jewish Records, Oh My!

Days 2 and 3 of the Northwest Genealogy Conference continued to be interesting and educational.  On Friday the featured speaker was CeCe Moore, and the theme for the day was therefore DNA, of course.  The session I attended was "Autosomal DNA and Chromosome Mapping:  Discovering Your Ancestors in You" (as I already have a good handle on the basics and ethnicity estimates, and really didn't want to hear about Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and his program).  While I recently attended a one-day seminar by Dr. Tim Janzen on this topic, I have to say that Moore explained it a little more clearly, and now I almost feel prepared to try using these techniques on my own family research.  She was very open about warning everyone that this is time-consuming stuff, however, so I have to figure out a way to fit it into my schedule (ha!).

I also went to Elissa Scalise Powell's third offering at the conference, "Baker's Dozen Steps to Writing Research Reports."  She has created a great template that looks like it will make writing reports much easier.  I'm definitely going to implement ideas from this session in my regular work.

Saturday's featured guest was Judy Russell, the Legal Genealogist, and most of the day's sessions were related to legal records and courthouse research.  I managed to get up early enough to make it to the first presentation of the day, "That First Trip to the Courthouse", by Judy.  Yes, I have done a lot of courthouse research already, but she's just so entertaining that it was worthwhile to listen to.  Some of the points she made really resonated with my own experience, such as "Don't be afraid to ask."  Once I couldn't find a record in the computer index that I really, really thought should be there, so I asked if any other index was available.  The clerk took me across the hall to the original docket books, from which the computerized index had been created.  The case I wanted was listed in the book!  I don't know why it was missing from the computer database, but I found what I needed.

As a follow-up to "Don't be afraid to ask", Judy had in her handout, "Almost every courthouse has someone who really knows the old records.  It's worth trying to find that person and find a convenient time to chat."  When I was trying to determine in which courts and prisons or jails a particular man might have records, the clerk told me that this one guy upstairs in the D.A.'s office knew all about how the courts were set up "in the old days."  You know that I immediately went up there to see if that man was available.  Lucky me, he was!, and he had a few spare minutes.  He explained how the old municipal (city) court and jail used to function and what probably happened to their old records.  I still didn't find the records (the consensus was that they had probably been destroyed decades before), but I had a much better understanding of the process the man I was researching had gone through in the judicial system.

After Judy's morning session I taught my class, "Looking for Non-Jews in Jewish Records."  This talk originated as a keynote at a local family history day.  The main point is that those of us researching Jewish family history can be obsessive (very obsessive) about finding any and all records and resources that might be helpful and then often sharing the information online.  Though the sites on which the information is shared are usually focused on Jewish research, the resources themselves often aren't.  So if, for example, someone who isn't Jewish has ancestors who were in Belarus, the Belarus Special Interest Group's page on JewishGen has links to lots of great information that can help that person.  About twenty-five people came to my class, which went very well.  Several people stopped me later to say that they learned a lot, which is always great to hear.

The next session was Judy's second class of the day, "Where There Is — Or Isn't — a Will."  I learned a few new things here, such as the fact that a "holographic" will (one handwritten in its entirety by the person making it) is called "olographic" in areas that use civil law (as opposed to English common law), such as Louisiana, Puerto Rico, and Québec.  In Florida you might find a "curator" listed as one of the people involved.  He was a temporary caretaker of property after someone's death, before an administrator was appointed.  The example that Judy discussed was when a man who sold perishable foods died; the curator stepped in to make sure that the food was handled properly and saved during the time it took the court to find and appoint an administrator.  I found it interesting to learn that, while minors are not considered competent to bequeath real estate, they can leave personal property:  boys at 14 and girls at 17.

The afternoon began with Judy's last presentation of the conference, "Order in the Court:  Using Court Records in Genealogical Research."  This was a different kind of class.  She gave a brief overview of courts but then switched gears and suggested that researchers take the time to simply read through cases that occurred in the same time and place as where their ancestors lived, even if those ancestors themselves had not been involved in the cases.  The information in the write-ups of cases can give you a lot of details about what life was like at that time and place.  She read from several cases.  The most detailed example was an 1844 Virginia appellate case relating to a murder, in which we learned about the types of houses people lived in, family living arrangements in those houses, when people normally went to bed, the styles of shoes men wore, and what types of guns were commonly used, among many other things.  While it's always recommended to read about the history of an area, this was the first time I've heard a recommendation to read the court cases of an area to learn more background information.

The final session of the day really surprised me.  The title, "Field Dependency:  A Way to Evaluate Genealogical Sources", and the handout sounded very academic and stuffy, but Jean Wilcox Hibben turned it into a lively talk about looking at records and thinking about for what purpose a record was created, who gave the information, ways in which the information could have been misunderstood, reasons for which someone might have lied or made a mistake, and generally just looking at each record critically and analyzing it.  It was a great way to end a conference at which I learned a good amount of new things and made several new genealogy friends.  I had a wonderful time in Arlington and hope the conference continues to grow and improve in the years to come.

Northwest Genealogy Conference and a Visit to the Cemetery

Today was the first full day of the Northwest Genealogy Conference, which had a very busy and impressive schedule.  I unfortunately did not make it to the opening welcome and prize drawing, because I missed a turn on the way to the conference and went ten minutes out of my way (which I then had to repeat on my back to the correct turn).  But that allowed me to discover the Arlington cemetery, which I visited on my way back in the afternoon (more about that soon).

Today's featured speaker was Angela Packer McGhie.  I attended two of her sessions, "Mining for Family History in Federal Land Records" and "Read All about Your Ancestors by Locating Historic Newspapers."  The land records class was by far the best I have had on the subject.  She provided a very clear timeline of what types of federal land records were created during which timeframes and also gave great instructions on how to find and obtain copies of those records.  These are obviously records she is passionate about.  I am very motivated now to try to find these records for as many of my relatives as possible!

Because I teach so many classes about newspapers myself, I did not expect to learn much new in her class on that subject, but I still picked up some information.  One gem was a list at the University of Minnesota's Immigration History Research Center & Archives of its periodicals sorted by ethnic group.  These periodicals are not online, but it's a great resource to know about.

I had been looking forward to going to the classes that Luana Darby was going to teach (on tax records and online archives), but she unfortunately fell ill and had to cancel her sessions.  The conference organizers arranged for Elissa Scalise Powell to teach her Saturday classes today instead, to fill the gaps.  In one way this worked to my advantage, because one of her sessions was originally scheduled at the same time as mine, so I was going to miss it.

"Bridging the Decades:  Little-used Clues from the Census" (the class I would have missed on Saturday) emphasized all those columns to the right of the names, ages, and birthplaces that many people stop at.  A lot of information there is often overlooked by researchers.  And "What's a Prothonotary?:  Pennsylvania's Courthouse Records" was important for my personal research, because about half of my father's ancestors were in Pennsylvania.  Elissa explained which offices have which types of records, the . . . interesting indexing method used by county offices in the state of Pennsylvania (Randy Seaver wrote about his adventures with the Russell Index System a few years ago), and showed some examples of using the index system to find records.  I also learned that FamilySearch.org has digitized the microfilms of Pennsylvania probate records (more research I need to make time for!).  Oh, and "prothonotary" comes from the first or most important notary; it's now used to denote the chief clerk.  Apparently a title used in commonwealth states (Kentucky, Massachusetts, and Virginia in addition to Pennsylvania), only Pennsylvania still uses the term.

Speaking of my talk on Saturday ("Looking for Non-Jews in Jewish Records"), I just discovered that it was featured in a post about the ethnic genealogy track at the conference.  I hope Val comes to my class; I think it would help her a lot with researching her husband's mother.

Several ProGen alumni had lunch together today at the conference.  I'm happy to say that we got a photograph of the group (the first time I've managed that in the four get-togethers I've coordinated!).  Thank you to Michelle Goodrum, Cyndi Ingle, Mary Kathryn Kozy, Janice Lovelace, Angela Packer McGhie, Linda Okazaki, Elissa Scalise Powell, and Cari Taplin for a very pleasant lunch break, and to Reed Powell for taking our photograph!

On my way back to the hotel from the conference, I stopped at the Arlington Municipal Cemetery.  It's a very pretty cemetery, with well kept grounds and easy access from multiple entrances.  I spent some time walking around and took photos of a few of the gravestones that particularly caught my attention.

Frank L. Greeno's tombstone was made in the shape of a tree trunk cut off at the top, and since he was only 34 years old when he died (1869–August 13, 1903), I thought the shape might be to emphasize that he died relatively young.  The information about him on FindAGrave suggests that the tree trunk form might be because he was a member of the Woodmen of the World.  (If I knew more about the Woodmen, I might have recognized the "Dum Tacet Clamat" phrase on the stone.)  Sadly, when he died in a work accident he left behind a widow and five children.

I found the stone for William Spoerhase to be very graceful.  When I read the birth and death dates — April 8, 1876 to June 18, 1918 — I wondered if he had died in the influenza pandemic.  The transcribed obituary on FindAGrave doesn't say that directly, but it seems to imply it.

By far the most impressive grave I saw was that of Mariano Soltero.  Mr. Soltero lived a full life (April 17, 1925–October 15, 2001), and he must have been well loved by his family.  His stone, which says, "Brother • Son • Husband • Father" and "He is remembered by his wife, children, and family" in Spanish, is beautifully carved with a natural scene.  The grave also has an elaborate Catholic shrine at the head of the stone.  The flowers were fresh and had to have been put there recently, probably this morning.

I thank the "residents" of the Arlington cemetery for sharing their afternoon with me.  I hope they all are resting in peace.

Call for Artists: 2015 International Jewish Genealogy Month Poster Contest

International Jewish Genealogy Month (IJGM) is a celebration of Jewish genealogy supported by the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies (IAJGS).  IJGM takes place during the Hebrew month of Cheshvan.  In 2015 this will be October 14 through November 12 on the secular calendar.

The primary means used to publicize IJGM is the winning poster chosen from the annual design contest for that year.  The poster needs to celebrate Jewish genealogy and help promote genealogy as a hobby.  It will be available to organizations and individuals to help promote IJGM.

This year's poster competition officially began on February 3, 2015, and the deadline to submit an entry is June 20, 2015.  Submission requirements are available on the IAJGS Web site.  Each submission must be submitted by an IAJGS member organization, but the artist does not need to be a member of the organization.

Traditionally, the winner of the contest has earned a registration to that year's IAJGS International Conference on Jewish Genealogy.  This year's conference will be held in Jerusalem from July 6–10.  This year IAJGS has added an alternative option to registration, that of free access to the conference recorded sessions.

The IAJGS Conference is Coming Soon!

I announced previously when I learned that my talk "Bubbie, Who Are You?:  Finding the Maiden Names in Your Family Tree" was accepted for this year's International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies 2014 International Conference on Jewish Genealogy, to be held in Salt Lake City, Utah from July 27–August 1.  The preliminary program has now been posted online, and while adjustments might be made between now and the conference, the bulk of the schedule is likely to remain the same.

There are plenty of interesting topics scheduled throughout the conference.  Some of the talks I am particularly looking forward to are "Newspapers.com" (which has great information but I have found an awkward site to use), "Jewish Life in Bessarabia as It Is Reflected in Bessarabian Newspapers, 1850–1930" (one branch of my family lived in Bessarabia from about 1894–1927), and "Sticking to the Union:  Using Labor Union Documents for Genealogical Research" (my great-grandfather was a strong union member and supporter).  I know I will learn a lot this year, as usual!

I discovered that my presentation is scheduled for Friday, August 1, the last day of the conference.  The last day is only a half day.  Traditionally, this is the day with the lowest attendance, and many people plan their trips to depart Thursday night.

That doesn't make Friday a throw-away day, however.  Last year's conference showed that IAJGS is trying to schedule interesting talks for Friday in an effort to encourage more people to stay through the entire conference.  One of the most useful sessions I attended last year, Vivian Kahn and Rony Galan's quick-and-dirty Hebrew for family history researchers, was on Friday, and the room was packed.  I hope I draw that many people to my talk this year!

Salt Lake City, Here I Come!

Hooray!  I received notice that my talk on finding women's maiden names was accepted for the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies 2014 International Conference on Jewish Genealogy, which will take place in Salt Lake City, Utah!  This has become one of my favorite presentations, because it covers so many different possible places you can find information.  The conference will run from July 27–August 1, but I won't know for a while on what day my talk will be.

There is always a great selection of presentations at the conference, and I know I'll have the opportunity to learn a lot.  Of course, the big attraction of going to Salt Lake City is that the Family History Library is there, with all of those books, maps, microfilms . . . and I'm only going to be two blocks away . . . it's going to be awfully hard to choose between conference sessions and going to the library for research.  Maybe I can add a couple of days on to my trip . . . .

Since I mentioned one talk, I guess it couldn't hurt to list the other presentations I have scheduled for the year, right?  I mean, as long as I have your attention and all . . . .

April
12:  Read All about It!:  Using Online Newspaper for Genealogical Research, Oakland FamilySearch Library

May
10:  Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust:  What's Buried in Cemetery Records, Oakland FamilySearch Library
17:  Calling in the Pros, Merced County Genealogical Society

June
7:  Read All about It!:  Using Online Newspaper for Genealogical Research, Solano County Genealogical Society
12:  Using the Subscription Newspaper Web Sites at FamilySearch Centers and Libraries, Root Cellar Sacramento Genealogical Society
14:  The Flim-Flam Man:  The Con Man Who Helped Discover the East Texas Oil Field, California Genealogical Society
21:  Where There's a Will:  Probate Records Can Prove Family Connections, Oakland FamilySearch Library

July
9:  Get Me to the Church on Time:  Finding Religious Records, East Bay Genealogical Society

September
6:  Grandma, Who Are You?:  Finding the Maiden Names in Your Family Tree, Oakland FamilySearch Library
8:  Where There's a Will:  Probate Records Can Prove Family Connections, Livermore-Amador Genealogical Society
17:  They Died in San Francisco:  A Little-Used Source of Pre-1906 Deaths, Genealogical Association of Sacramento
21:  Anybody Home?:  Using City Directories in Your Research, Jewish Genealogical Society of Sacramento
27:  Read All about It!:  Using Online Newspaper for Genealogical Research, California Genealogical Society

October
18:  Get Me to the Church on Time:  Finding Religious Records and Grandma, Who Are You?:  Finding the Maiden Names in Your Family Tree, Digging for Your Roots Family History Seminar

November
5:  Jewish Genealogy:  Why Is This Research Different from All Other Research?, Oakland FamilySearch Library
6:  Grandma, Who Are You?:  Finding the Maiden Names in Your Family Tree, Genealogy Society of Vallejo-Benicia
15:  A Better Way to Do Slave Research:  Records of the Freedmen's Bureau, African American Genealogical Society of Northern California
22:  Vital Records and the Calendar Change of 1752, California Genealogical Society

Any any time you're wondering what I might talking about next, you can always check the list of my scheduled presentations.  I try my best to keep it up-to-date.  And please say hello if you attend one of my talks!

Poster Contest for 2014 International Jewish Genealogy Month

One of my (many) genealogy-oriented volunteer activities is being on the committee for International Jewish Genealogy Month (IJGM), a celebration of Jewish genealogy supported by the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies (IAJGS).  IJGM is celebrated during the Hebrew month of Cheshvan.  In 2014 this corresponds to the secular calendar dates of October 25 through November 22.

One of the activities of IJGM is a competition to design the poster/flyer that will be used to announce and publicize the event.  The poster should celebrate Jewish genealogy and help promote the hobby.

This year the poster competition started earlier than usual (Wednesday, January 15) and has an earlier deadline, Wednesday, April 30, 2014.  The winning entry will be announced and unveiled publicly at this year's IAJGS Conference on Jewish Genealogy, to be held in Salt Lake City from July 27–August 1, 2014.  The winning artist will receive free registration to the conference.  The winning flyer/poster will be available on the IAJGS Web site to all who wish to use it.

These are the details for the poster competition:

Poster/Flyer Design Requirements

General:
• Size: tabloid (11" x 17")
• Bleeds and no bleeds are acceptable
• Reproducible in JPEG, TIF, and PNG formats

Must include:
• A 3.5" x 3.5" area for the IAJGS logo and the URL "www.iajgs.org"
• A 3" x 5" blank area for local society name and contact information
• The words "International Jewish Genealogy Month: Cheshvan" plus the Hebrew and civil dates for the year

May include:
• The words "Submitted by [name of IAJGS member society]"
• The artist's signature/name

Facebook Design Requirements

The main poster image must be capable of being adapted for use on the IAJGS Jewish Genealogy Facebook page.

Facebook Page Cover Image

The cover image must be at least 851 pixels wide and 315 pixels tall, otherwise it will be stretched to this size.  It also must be less than 100 kb.

Facebook Event Cover Image

The Event Cover image graphic must be 714 pixels wide and 264 pixels tall. The image is cropped in thumbnail mode to the top center 176 pixels tall and 264 pixels wide.

Facebook Profile Image

Page profile pictures are square and display at 160 x 160 pixels on our page. The image must be at least 180 x 180 pixels and must be a square image.

Who May Submit an Entry

• Only IAJGS member organizations may submit entries.
• An organization may submit more than one entry.
• The poster creator is not required to be a member of an IAJGS member organization.  A creator who is not a member needs to have a member organization sponsor the entry.
• There is no age requirement for the creator.
• Each entry must be accompanied by the form on the IJGM Web page (see below).
• Entries will not be returned.

Judging of Entries

Judging will be done solely by the International Jewish Genealogy Month committee.

Submission Requirements

• The deadline for the 2014 contest is April 30, 2014.
• Each entry must be submitted as a JPG or PDF file via e-mail attachment to Secretary@iajgs.org.
• The required application information or completed application form and release form (available on the IJGM page) must be included with each entry.
• You may include artist comments about the poster (optional).
• If no entries are received by the deadline or no entries are judged to be appropriate, the committee will solicit further entries.

Workshop: The Present and Future of Public History in New York State

Currently this conference is free, including lunch, but you must make a reservation.  If they are swamped with reservations, they may decide to charge a small fee for lunch.  This sounds very interesting, and I wish I could attend.

Conversations in the Disciplines: The Present and Future of Public History in New York State
November 17, 2012
University of Albany (State University of New York at Albany)

The History Department and the Public History Program at the University of Albany will host a workshop, The Present and Future of Public History in New York State on Saturday, November 17, 2012. The workshop will bring together public historians and SUNY faculty from around the state to exchange ideas, build networks, and reflect on that will shape the practice of public history in future years.

This free workshop is sponsored by the Conversations in the Disciplines Program of the State University of New York, the New York State Council for the Humanities, and the M. E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives. It immediately follows the Researching New York conference on November 15 and 16. For more details and to register, contact David Hochfelder at dhochfelder@albany.edu.

The purpose of the workshop is to foster discussion and debate about the role and purpose of public history in New York. The format of the workshop will be a series of roundtable discussions with no moderator in order to encourage dialogue between presenters and audience. The workshop will be held on the University of Albany campus and will use breakout areas to facilitate small group conversations.  Panels will include Public History in New York: A Wide Angle View, What Local Historians Do,  Grants to Fund Public History Projects, Training Future Public Historians, and The Future of Public History in New York.

Schedule

9:30 a.m., Public History in New York: A Wide Angle View
Robert Weible, New York State Historian
Anne Ackerson, Executive Director, Museum Association of New York
Gerald Smith, President, Association of Public Historians of New York State

10:15 a.m., What Local Historians Do
Christine Ridarsky, Rochester City Historian and Director of Historical Projects
Carolyn Vacca, St. John Fisher College and Monroe County Historian
Don Rittner, Schenectady County and City Historian

11:00 a.m., Coffee Break

11:15 a.m., Grants to Fund Public History Projects
Jose Torre, SUNY Brockport
Karen Markoe, SUNY Maritime
Ralph Blasting, New York State Council for the Humanities and Siena College
Ken O’Brien, SUNY Brockport

12:00 noon, Lunch

1:00 p.m., Training Future Public Historians
Ellen Litwicki, SUNY Fredonia
Bruce Leslie, SUNY Brockport
Gretchen Sorin, Cooperstown Graduate Program, SUNY Oneonta
Ivan Steen, University of Albany (emeritus)

2:00 p.m., Breakout Sessions

3:45 p.m., The Future of Public History in New York
James Chung, Reach Advisors
Cynthia Koch, Office of Presidential Libraries, National Archives

4:30 p.m., Workshop Ends.
Participants are encouraged to continue conversation informally over dinner.