From guest blogger, Arlene V. Jennings
For the June observance
of the 100th anniversary of the NGSQ,
the NGS Voices of Genealogy series presents John Frederick Dorman’s story
of “Becoming a Genealogist.” Founder and editor for fifty years of the journal,
The Virginia Genealogist, Dorman is
highly regarded as the “dean of Virginia
genealogy.” This feature is sponsored by the Virginia Genealogical Society.
In this month’s
interview, the sixth release in the Voices
of Genealogy series, Dorman describes the inspiration he felt as a young
child in knowing family members who were born in the 19th century
and who knew other family members born in the decade after the revolution. His
delight in the study of genealogy from the age of eight until today is evident
in his telling of the story.
Dorman’s contributions
to Virginia
genealogy are perhaps incomparable. In 1957, when no other journal was devoted
to genealogical studies for Virginia ,
he founded The Virginia Genealogist, which
he published until 2006. In his journal he created an invaluable collection of
extracts and transcriptions from original records and well researched and
documented articles on Virginia
ancestry. His publication was the first genealogical journal to follow the
model of publishing references in the form of footnotes. Among his extensive
publications, Dorman is also known and valued for the third and fourth editions
of Adventurers of Purse and Person, Virginia 1607-1624/5. He continues to engage in a lifetime study of
his Slaughter family.
John Frederick Dorman
was named a fellow of the American Society of Genealogists in 1958, of the
National Genealogical Society in 1962, and of the Virginia Genealogical Society
in 1995. He is a founding associate and the earliest living associate of the Board
for Certification of Genealogists (BCG), having earned his credential as
certified genealogist number four in 1965. He served as president of BCG from
1979 to 1982 and as BCG Executive Director from 1982 to 1986. In 2004 he was
awarded Emeritus status for “sustained excellence and service” to BCG. In 2006
the New England Historic Genealogical Society presented him the Coddington
Award of Merit recognizing “the
highest standard of excellence in American genealogical scholarship and
lifetime achievement in the field.”
The video was produced
by award winning filmmakers Kate Geis and Allen Moore from an interview by
Melinde Lutz Byrne, CG, FASG, co-editor of the National Genealogical Society Quarterly. John Frederick Dorman, CG
(Emeritus), FASG, FNGS, FVGS, “Becoming a Genealogist,” is now playing for all
NGS members at http://www.ngsgenealogy.org.
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