Ephemera--paper items (such as posters, broadsides, and tickets) that were originally meant to be discarded after use but have since become collectibles. [1]     While researching the resources available in the Daughters of the American Revolution library, I encountered an entire category labeled “Ephemera". In my mind, ephemera had just been the “stuff”, odds and ends, that we all acquire during our lifetimes. When I looked into it, I discovered that there are categories of ephemera. According to Wikipedia, over 500 categories are listed in the Encyclopedia of Ephemera. [2]   At that point, I realized that I have a lot of ephemera! As the only child of an only child on my maternal side, I inherited everything that had been saved on that side as well as the normal amount to be expected from my father. Of course, along the way, I have saved my fair share of bits and pieces from my own life. Newspaper Clippings The oldest clipping i...

Card catalog by Reeding Lessons. Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) If you ever had to write a research paper in high school or college, step one was always the "literature survey" -- finding out what had been published about your topic. Remember when that meant asking the librarian to show you where in the card catalog to look, to begin that search? Very often we skip that step now, especially when researching our own families, because we have our own personal knowledge as context. But do we really? Why Do a Survey?  For our Black Heritage of Franklin project, I've been working on families in Chester, Randolph County, Illinois, where many of the families seem to have been free people of color. After reading part of a paper about Brushy Fork IL , I got curious and searched for a more general article about Blacks in early Illinois. I began with a Wikipedia article about Chester and Randolph County, including where it is located, which is in...

The Daughters of the American Revolution Library contains valuable resources for genealogical research. The Library has books, family histories, genealogies, manuscripts, Bible records, and more. It is free and open to the public. What Resources Does the Library Have ·         Print and Microform Resources ·         The Revolutionary War Ancestor Records ·         The Descendants Database ·         Genealogical Records Committee Collection ·         The Native American Collection ·         The American Women’s History Collection ·         The National Huguenot Society Collection ·         United States Ephemera Collection ·         WPA Collection DAR Print a...

 President's Report:  Where We've Been and Where We're Going 2021 is now in the rear-view window, and South King County Genealogical Society is looking forward to what we have planned for 2022.  You have seen what some of the teams are planning, last week: https://skcgs.blogspot.com/2022/01/2021-in-review.html .  Highlights of 2021-2022 as we fulfill our mission: furthering genealogical research and interest in family and local history . Communication and Social Media Groups.io We've grown! Although we're less chatty than we were last year, we now have 228 members at  https://skcgs.groups.io/g/Society . Blog: http://skcgs.org/blog.html Read all over the world! Facebook https://www.facebook.com/SKCGenealogy Washington State Genealogical Society Blog  https://wasgs.org/blog/ . If you aren't subscribed, you're missing out. We post at least monthly, and so do other societies and people. Keep up! Conference Keeper Most of our new attendees from outside of t...

  2021 SKCGS in Review And What's Coming in 2022? At this time of year, as individuals we are reminded to reflect on our past year and make plans for the new year.  This is a good strategy for continued growth in every aspect of our lives. It is also a good strategy for organizations, presenting a fresh, dynamic approach to the new year.  South King County Genealogical Society is striving to maintain our purpose " educational in character and devoted exclusively to furthering genealogical research and interest in family and local history.” SKCGS has operated in the "virtual" world for nearly two years with tremendous growth in the organization in general and individuals specifically.  The efforts of society members who have contributed to this success may not have been obvious to people in the general public so we present here brief reviews and plans for the future. Education Committee The team is composed of the Director of Education Barbara Mattoon, Lola Weber, and...