NGS Announces Results of Board of Directors Elections

NGS Announces Results of

2020 Board of Directors Election 

The National Genealogical Society announced the results of its 2020 Board of Directors election at its annual meeting on 1 September 2020. The incoming slate includes three new positions to reflect the upcoming merger of NGS and the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) on 1 October 2020. These new board positions are Vice President for Society & Organization Management and two directors at large drawn from FGS ranks.

Outgoing President Benjamin B. Spratling, JD, of Birmingham, Alabama, announced the results of the election and the incoming board members who will be seated on 1 October.

NGS Officers (1 October 2020 – 30 September 2022)

• President: Kathryn M. Doyle, California
• Vice President: Ellen Pinckney Balthazar, Texas 
• Vice President of Society & Organization Management: Cheri Hudson Passey, South Carolina
• Secretary: Ed Donakey, Utah
• Treasurer: Deborah Lebo Hoskins, Pennsylvania

NGS Directors serve four-year terms that are staggered so that the entire slate does not turn over in one election cycle.

NGS Regional Directors

• Director of Region 2: Faye Stallings, Texas
• Director of Region 3: Janet L. Bailey, Virginia
• Director of Region 4: Bernice Alexander Bennett, Maryland

Directors at Large

• Janet A. Alpert, South Carolina
• Colleen Robledo Greene, California
• Marlis Humphrey, Florida
• Andre Kearns, Washington, DC
• David Rencher, Utah

Continuing their terms on the Board of Directors are Angie Bush, MS, Director of Region 1, and Ronald V. Hodges, PhD, Director at Large.

“I congratulate the incoming Board members,” Spratling said, “And I extend my sincere gratitude for their commitment and service to the National Genealogical Society. I also thank the Nominating Committee, including Jordan Jones, chair; Deborah A. Abbott, PhD; B. Darrell Jackson, PhD, CG; Darcie Hind Posz; CG, and D. Joshua Taylor, MA, MLS, for their excellent work.”


The entire 2020 NGS Annual Meeting can be viewed on YouTube. It includes a short video about the upcoming merger of NGS and FGS, which will be finalized on 1 October 2020, and features outgoing President Benjamin B, Spratling, FGS President Faye Stallings who has been newly elected to NGS Board, incoming President Kathryn M. Doyle, and Executive Director Matt Menashes.

Today is Election Day! Did Your Ancestors Vote?

Vox Efx, https://www.flickr.com/photos/vox_efx/3002776434/sizes/l

Today many of us will vote.  Some of us may all ready have voted via early voting, mail in voting, etc.

Voter records have often been important to our genealogical research.  They tell us something about our ancestors that we will not find out via any other records.  They give us some insight into what they were thinking and the issues relevant to their lives.

For example, in NC, I frequently research historic voter records, the extant voter registrations of 1867

The Reconstruction Acts of 1867 implemented regulations regarding voter registration; all freed individuals were allowed to vote along with white persons who took extended oaths.

... or the 1902-1908 Permanent Registration of Voters

the North Carolina Constitution was amended by a vote in August 1900 which became effective in July 1902. The amendment "provided that no person entitled to vote as of January 1, 1867, or at any time prior thereto, and no lineal descendant of any such person could be denied the right to register and vote in any state election by reason of his failure to possess the required educational qualifications.

... or extant county election records.  Sometimes election records are one of the few places I’ll find someone’s 19^th century relative.

I can also look to see if living people are registered to vote, including myself, as NC has a NC Public Voter Search.  Since the listed elections only seem to go back to 2004, this database might help you find someone living who you want to contact about DNA testing and they won’t be of too much help otherwise though future family historians will probably be fascinated by them!

Many of us, just as our ancestors did (though don’t go looking for woman until 1919 and a large number of our citizens until the removal of many discriminatory barriers to voting removed by the Voting Rights Act of 1965), vote as a way to express our opinions on governance and other issues.

As many vote today, consider whether you have researched voting records for your ancestors.  If not, you might be missing out on some neat information.

Editor’s Note: Past posts about Election Day on Upfront with NGS ...

+ (2012), Today is Election Day! What About Our Ancestors, Their Party Affiliations and Voting?

+ (2010), Past Election Days

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copyright © National Genealogical Society, 3108 Columbia Pike, Suite 300, Arlington, Virginia 22204-4370. http://www.ngsgenealogy.org.

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NGS does not imply endorsement of any outside advertiser or other vendors appearing in this blog. Any opinions expressed by guest authors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the view of NGS.

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Republication of UpFront articles is permitted and encouraged for non-commercial purposes without express permission from NGS. Please drop us a note telling us where and when you are using the article. Express written permission is required if you wish to republish UpFront articles for commercial purposes. You may send a request for express written permission to UpFront@ngsgenealogy.org. All republished articles may not be edited or reworded and must contain the copyright statement found at the bottom of each UpFront article.

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Unless indicated otherwise or clearly an NGS Public Relations piece, Upfront with NGS posts are written by Diane L Richard, editor, Upfront with NGS.

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NGS Board Nominations Now Being Accepted

Source:  League of Women Voters of California, http://www.flickr.com/photos/lwvc/6306132745/

Used via Creative Commons, Attribution 2.0 Generic, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

The election of NGS officers and board members will be held at the annual meeting at the NGS Conference in Richmond, Virginia, on Saturday, 10 May 2014. The following positions are open for election this term:

Terms for officers run from 1 October 2014 through 30 September 2016:

President

Vice President

Secretary

Treasurer.

Terms for directors run from 1 October 2014 through 30 September 2018:

Director, Region 1

Director, Region 2

Director at Large (three candidates).

A PDF of the map showing the various regions is available on the NGS website at http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/cs/board_nominations.

Members who wish to suggest a possible candidate for an office may e-mail their suggestions to the committee chair, Terry Koch-Bostic, at kochbostic@aol.com, by Friday, 28 March 2014. Please include the potential candidate’s name, a brief biography, and contact information. Candidates must have been a member of NGS for at least one full year prior to nomination.

The NGS Board is a working board. Board members spend on average twenty or more hours a month in a variety of activities. Each member is expected to either chair a committee or actively participate on one or more committees. Board members pay their expenses (travel, food, and lodging) to the three board meetings held each year; one meeting is by teleconference. Board meetings are typically held at the annual conference (usually the day before the conference), at the NGS headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, and in Salt Lake City. Additional meetings are held as needed by conference call. Attendance at the annual conference is also expected.

NGS Nominating Committee:

Terry Koch-Bostic, Committee Chair

Diane Gravel, cg

Connie Lenzen, cg

Charles S. Mason Jr., cg

Judy Russell, jd, cg, cgl

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copyright © National Genealogical Society, 3108 Columbia Pike, Suite 300, Arlington, Virginia 22204-4370. http://www.ngsgenealogy.org.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Want to learn more about interacting with the blog, please read Hyperlinks, Subscribing and Comments -- How to Interact with Upfront with NGS Blog posts!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NGS does not imply endorsement of any outside advertiser or other vendors appearing in this blog. Any opinions expressed by guest authors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the view of NGS.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Republication of UpFront articles is permitted and encouraged for non-commercial purposes without express permission from NGS. Please drop us a note telling us where and when you are using the article. Express written permission is required if you wish to republish UpFront articles for commercial purposes. You may send a request for express written permission to UpFront@ngsgenealogy.org. All republished articles may not be edited or reworded and must contain the copyright statement found at the bottom of each UpFront article.

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Think your friends, colleagues, or fellow genealogy researchers would find this blog post interesting? If so, please let them know that anyone can read past UpFront with NGS posts or subscribe!

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Today is Election Day! What About Our Ancestors, Their Party Affiliations and Voting?

Today is election day!  Many of us have and will voted in this elections!  Have you researched your ancestors and their participation in elections?

Here are some resources on how we might research our ancestors and their involvement in elections.

1. How Did Great-Grandfather Vote? [article in PDF]
2. The Daily Genealogist: Ancestral Political Affiliations [blog post]
3. Examining Ancestors With A Political Eye [blog post]
4. Did My Ancestors Vote [Genealogy About.com]

Some other thoughts on determining your ancestor’s political affiliation ...

·    Children's names may provide an answer.

·    Look in the newspaper. Some newspapers clearly had a political-affiliation and a mention of your ancestor in it or his subscription to it may tell you a lot about him!

·    What clubs did your ancestor belong to?

Don’t forget to check out the laws on “who” could vote!  Though emancipation freed the slaves, it didn’t guarantee them the vote?  When did women become eligible? How about your immigrant ancestor?

Also consider whether you ancestor ran for office.  I had a great uncle who did and it was fun to learn more about what office he ran for, the election results and much more!

What resources have helped you learn more about your ancestor, elections and voting?

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copyright © National Genealogical Society, 3108 Columbia Pike, Suite 300, Arlington, Virginia 22204-4370. http://www.ngsgenealogy.org.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NGS does not imply endorsement of any outside advertiser or other vendors appearing in this blog.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Republication of UpFront articles is permitted and encouraged for non-commercial purposes without express permission from NGS. Please drop us a note telling us where and when you are using the article. Express written permission is required if you wish to republish UpFront articles for commercial purposes. You may send a request for express written permission to UpFront@ngsgenealogy.org. All republished articles may not be edited or reworded and must contain the copyright statement found at the bottom of each UpFront article.

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Follow NGS via Facebook, YouTube, Google+, Twitter

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Think your friends, colleagues, or fellow genealogy researchers would find this blog post interesting? If so, please let them know that anyone can read past UpFront with NGS posts or subscribe!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Suggestions for topics for future UpFront with NGS posts are always welcome. Please send any suggested topics to UpfrontNGS@mosaicrpm.com