New Name, New Look, Same Genealogy

If you popped in to read a post and thought you might be at the wrong place, relax. I’ve just been redecorating.

Paying Back, Paying Forward

Note: This post was written during the holiday season of 2011, but not published due to the hectic schedule of the author during that time.

This is the time of year for gift-giving and thankfulness, and it brings to mind two of the main reasons why I spend so much time sharing transcribed documents and helping others with their research.

When I was just beginning to research my family, I had no clue where to turn for help. There were no classes or lectures available nearby, and the local library and historical society shunned genealogists (but, curiously enough, not historians, our kissing cousins). I was, however, very fortunate to know several other historians and genealogists, people who helped me, one way or another, whether they knew it or not.

GRIPitt

A new program in genealogical research was announced recently. The Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh, aka GRIPitt, is a week-long program similar to Samford University’s Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research, to be held annually each July at LaRoche College in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

This summer, GRIPitt will offer four courses:

• Intermediate Genealogy: Tools for Digging Deeper with Paula Stewart-Warren
• Advanced Research Methods with Thomas W. Jones
• Beneath the Home Page: Problem Solving with Online Repositories with D. Joshua Taylor
• German Genealogical Research with John T. Humphrey

The course leaders are widely known genealogical researchers, lecturers, and authors, and are joined by other distinguished members of the genealogical community, including Clair Bettag, Rick Sayre, Pam Stone Eagleson, and Pamela Boyer Sayre. Elissa Scalise Powell, another well-known face, and Deborah Lichtner Deal serve as directors.

Although 2012 is GRIPitt’s first year, one course, Tom Jones’ Advanced Research Methods, filled within minutes of registration opening. The other three courses still have space, most likely not for long.

As time moves on and GRIPitt becomes more popular, I expect other courses will be added, possibly as counterpoints to IGHR’s offerings or in response to trends within the discipline. Whatever direction GRIPitt takes, the opportunity to tap into the minds of some of genealogy’s brightest stars is a welcome one.

More, Please!

Last year, a potential client approached me to perform research in a nearby county on an ancestral family. This client had never performed research before, instead relying on the work of others, but was interested in moving this particular family back in time a generation. After consulting with me and the others who had performed previous research, the client decided not to hire me because all the records had already been searched. The belief was, amongst that group, that there was no further information to be found pertinent to that family or the research problem because they had already gathered all documents created by or for the ancestor in question.

I strongly disagreed and explained why, but still lost a client over a common misconception, that all there is to research is extracting information from records about a particular ancestor.

A Sunday Walk Around the Blogs

Lots of new web sites and articles to share today.

Genealogist unearths contribution made by local militia in the War of 1812 from thestar.com discusses the work of genealogist Janice Nickerson documenting contributions made by Toronto militiamen to the War of 1812, and her upcoming book York’s Sacrifice.

Harold Henderson wrote a great article, Climbing the Spiral Staircase, about the learning curve all genealogists experience. I recommend this one to every genealogist, regardless of skill level or interest.

The Boston Channel published an article, Murder Suspect’s DNA Linked to Mayflower Kin, detailing how investigators hope to use DNA to eventually find the person who killed a teenaged girl near Seattle in 1991. Forensic genealogist Colleen Fitzpatrick is contributing to the investigation.

If Helen F. M. Leary is the Grand Old Dame of genealogy, then Elizabeth Shown Mills is certainly its First Lady. Mills recently debuted her web site, Historic Pathways, which features a collection of her writings over her several decades as a historian and genealogist.

A Few Days of Rest

After one last push to finalize and polish the manuscript for Rabun County, Georgia, Newspapers, 1894 – 1899 (now with an editor), I took a few well-deserved days off. During that time I worked on some long-term projects I’ve kept on the backburner but which I’d like to finish this year. I spent two days in Morrow at the Georgia Department of Archives and History working on a compilation of records related to slaves, something that should be completed by the end of this year.

By the way, if you’re a Georgia researcher and haven’t written your local legislator about keeping the Archives open, it’s not too late to do so. Every voice counts!

New Year’s Resolutions, Five-Year Plans, and Paths to Professionalism

It’s that time of year again, time to dust off the previous year’s resolutions and revise them to reflect one’s goals for the coming year. This year, instead of making a to-do list I’m making a five-year plan incorporating long-term goals in a way that, I hope, will help me become a better and more productive researcher.

Feature Friday: Serenading, December 1897

Christmas customs vary from place to place. One custom practiced in Rabun County up through at least my father’s generation was serenading. No singing here. Instead, groups of young people would go around to their neighbors on Christmas Eve and play practical jokes.

In the 16 December 1897 issue (Vol. 2, No. 20) of The Tallulah Falls Spray, the Wolf Creek correspondent cautions his fellow readers.

Christmas is coming. You may look[?] out—the serenaders will be around till you can’t rest; the Christmas bells will ring. Look careful; they will be here before you know it.

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Quotation excerpted from my upcoming volume Rabun County, Georgia, Newspapers, 1894 – 1899, expected to be released in 2012.

Feature Friday: Christmas Novelties, 1897

One hundred and fourteen years ago today, Taylor & Sweet, merchants whose store was then located in Tallulah Falls, published the following advertisement in The Tallulah Falls Spray (16 December 1897 issue, Vol. 2, No. 20).

Notice.

We have bought a complete stock of Christmas novelties, comprising a nice line of Chinese and Japanese dolls, toys, Christmas cards, etc., which we will sell at a sacrifice. We have a few dozen taffeta and serge silk umbrellas for 50 cents each worth two dollars. Also a line of overcoats for $2.25 and $2.50 worth three times that amount. Buy before they are gone. Taylor & Sweet.

I wonder how many boys and girls found Taylor & Sweet goodies in their stocking that Christmas?

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Quotation excerpted from my upcoming volume Rabun County, Georgia, Newspapers, 1894 – 1899, expected to be released in 2012.

Legislative Alert: Georgia Archives Scheduled to Close to Public

In the upcoming January 2012 session of the Georgia General Assembly, legislators must cut 2% from the state budget. One of the cuts will be to the Georgia Department of Archives and History, which will be forced to close to the public. While the Archives has continued (and will continue) to service government officials and agencies, previous budgetary cuts reduced the hours open to the public from five to two days per week. Further cuts could not only reduce the Archives’ ability to carry out its mandate (to protect and preserve important government documents across many agencies), but will also completely obfuscate these documents from public review, a necessary check on government by its citizens.