UpFront with NGS

17 April 2015

Newest Edition of NGS Magazine Available to NGS Members Now!

The Jan/Feb/Mar 2015 issue of the NGS Magazine (PDF 6.2 MB) is now online in the Members Only section of the website.

Features

Meet us at the Crossroads of America, by Ann Carter Fleming, CG, CGL, FNGS

Educational opportunities in genealogy Part 2, by Julie Cahill Tarr

Using FamilySearch to solve genealogical problems: 15 tips, by James Ison, AG, CG

Shootout at the Rhododendron Lodge: Reconstructing life-changing events, by Judy G. Russell, JD, CG, CGL

Confederate court-martial records: An alternate research strategy for missing case files, by John P. Deeben

Finding free African American ancestors from the Antebellum period, by Guy-Oreido Weston

Columns
National Archives, by Claire Prechtel-Kluskens

Reference desk, by Kathy Petlewski, MSLS

Genetic genealogy journey, by Debbie Parker Wayne, CG, CGL

Technology, by Jordan Jones

Departments
President’s message, by Jordan Jones

Editor’s corner, by Darcie Hind Posz, CG

NGS/Genealogy news

Editor’s Note: Please note that online access to the NGS Quarterly and NGS Magazine are available only as long as your membership is active. If you wish to discontinue this option and continue to receive print copies of the journal, please with our website and update your profile to indicate the same.

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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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16 April 2015

FREE access to Ancestry.com Immigration Collection (Today - 20 April)

Today through Sunday (16-20 April 2015) you can access the Ancestry.com Immigration Collection for FREE!

As the product of 20^th century immigrants, these are some of my favorite records?

Did this collection reveal something about your immigrant ancestors?

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

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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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2015 "Safe Day" (16 May 2015) -- Woodland Cemetery (Newark NJ) -- Family Gravesite Visitation & Tombstone Recording Day

Cemeteries represent our history. They are also places to celebrate the lives of our ancestors.

In a month there will be a special day held at Woodland Cemetery (Newark NJ) – called “Safe Day.” This cemetery is in the urban area (inner city). It’s been vandalized like several others throughout the country, or those that go unattended. It has no onsite caretaker or fencing. People are free to come and go as they please and unfortunately, often damage the tombstones.

This “Safe Day” is an opportunity to help maintain the cemetery and to also record tombstone inscriptions and/or take digital photos of the tombstones, all while part of a group and with the added protection of the Newark Police Department. This event has been taking place for over 16 years!

If you are not able to attend, you can contact the organizers in advance if you seek inscriptions and/or pictures of family tombstones.

See the image below for the full details!

It is always great to see a community of volunteers do all that they can to help preserve a cemetery, especially one that has long been neglected and at risk.

Here are some related resources:

+ Woodland Cemetery (Newarkcemeteries.com)

+ Historic – Woodland Cemetery – Newark, New Jersey

+ Woodland Cemetery: Damage and Neglect Prevents Safe Day 2013 (includes some photos of the cemetery)

+ Woodland Cemetery (FB Page with images)

Do contact the organizers with any questions:

Mary Lish, mary.lish@gmail.com

John Sass, JAJS918@aol.com

Editor’s Note: The announcement was posted with permission of the event planners. Thanks to Joann Mcmillion for posting this on FB where it caught my eye.

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15 April 2015

ScotlandsPeople -- Get 20 FREE Credits!

You can get 20 credits for FREE at ScotlandsPeople. These must be used by the end of April.

SCOTLAND NOW, the website for Scots everywhere, has teamed up with ScotlandsPeople to give you the chance to help you trace your Scottish ancestry for free.

With this great offer you will receive 20 Free credits worth £4.50. It costs five credits to view an image, and one credit to view a page of search results so there will be plenty to search this offer.

With images of over 100 million indexed births, marriages, deaths, censuses, wills and other documents ...

For complete details, read more here. Full details on how to claim the offer are provided. Where the description says promotion code, it actually means voucher code. I know because I just claimed my FREE credits. My one lone Scottish branch of the family still teases me and I’ll use my credits to see what else I might learn!

Did you use your FREE credits to learn something new about an ancestor? If so, we’d love to hear about it.

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

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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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14 April 2015

FREE Access to Fold3 Civil War Collection

Through the end of April you can have FREE access to the Civil War Records collection at Fold3.

Visit http://www.fold3.com/ for details.

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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.

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

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

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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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13 April 2015

Discover Missouri’s Genealogical Societies & Repositories At the NGS Society Showcase St. Charles, Missouri, 12 May 2015

Arlington, VA, 13 APRIL 2015— If you are planning to attend the NGS 2015 Family History Conference, be sure to stop by this area when picking up your registration packet to learn about Missouri and Illinois genealogical repositories and resources at the NGS Society Showcase on Tuesday, May 12, from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the St. Charles Convention Center.

St. Louis and the surrounding metropolitan area have a rich history and a wealth of genealogical data. Once the domain of Native American tribes, the French and Spanish ruled over Colonial Missouri before it was sold to America as part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Over the centuries, settlers came from France, Germany, Ireland, Bohemia, Hungary, Italy, and Poland. Post Civil War and industrialization brought a large migration of African American’s from the South. From the earliest explorers, they left a prolific repository of diaries, letters, memoires, maps, court documents, drawings, photographs, and more that are a treasure of trove for genealogists.

Missouri and Illinois archives, libraries, genealogical and historical societies will be available at the Society Showcase to answer questions, discuss their group’s activities, and sell their publications. With a focus on genealogy societies in Missouri and surrounding states, this is an event you won’t want to miss.

Founded in 1903, the National Genealogical Society is dedicated to genealogical education, exemplary standards of research, and the preservation of genealogical records. The Arlington, Virginia, based nonprofit is the premier national society for everyone, from the beginner to the most advanced family historian, seeking excellence in publications, educational offerings, and guidance in research. It also offers many opportunities to interact with other genealogists.

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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.

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

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

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

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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10 April 2015

Public Domain Documents and Access -- An Opinion Piece by Dick Eastman on his blog

The title of a recent blog post by Dick Eastman (Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter aka EOGN) certainly got my attention ...

I Have a Complaint Concerning Many Genealogists

He then provides this warning ...

Warning: This article contains personal opinions.

This is an almost exact duplicate of an article I posted several years ago. The topic has come up again lately so I decided to publish it again for the benefit of those who did not read or do not remember the original article. I have changed a few words to make sure it covers recent comments.

The focus of his blog post is a discussion about the belief by many that public information should be free and not the private property of some company. You can read his entire post by clicking here.

I suggest you read his post and the posted comments (132 when I last checked a couple of days ago). Whether you agree or not with the premise of his post, I found his analogy relevant and his perspective an interesting read. It makes us think about public domain documents and what free access really means as we pursue the hunt for our ancestors.

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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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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

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

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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09 April 2015

American Archive of Public Broadcasting Launches New Website

The Library of Congress has released this news ...

Local Radio and Television Records from Public Media Stations Across the Country To Be Made Available to the Public

The American Archive of Public Broadcasting (AAPB), a collaboration between the Library of Congress, WGBH Boston and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, launched a new website at americanarchive.org today, providing the public with access to a collection of American public radio and television content dating back to the 1950s. These audio and video materials, created by more than 120 public broadcasting organizations across the country, have now been digitized and preserved, and will be a resource for scholars, researchers, educators, filmmakers and the general public to delve into the rich history of public broadcasting across America.

The website will initially provide access to 2.5 million inventory records created during the American Archive Content Inventory Project. The records will provide information about which public media video and audio materials have been digitized and preserved in the AAPB, indicate which video and audio files are available for research on location at WGBH and the Library of Congress, and highlight the participating stations. Contributing stations’ histories, information about significant productions and resources for participating organizations will be available online...

You can read the entire news release here.

When you perform a search you will see the notice “Please note: Media will not be available for research on the website until October 2015. Click here for information about researching the collection at the Library of Congress or WGBH.”

Public radio and television are such an intrinsic part of our lives and have and continue to capture our rich history! Whether you are seeking historical context or have a family member who was a broadcaster or the basis for a story, I imagine there are some really neat gems to be found in this collection.

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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.

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

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

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

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

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