Thoughts from Your Member-At-Large

-



As Member-at-Large on the SKCGS Board of Directors, I get to do a lot of different things including head the Nominations Committee looking for officer candidates. I am happy to announce that we have a candidate for each of the pending openings for which we will have election at the May General Meeting.

For Vice-President--Alexis Hacker Scholz. Alexis has served this past year, filling the position that was vacated when Valorie became President.

For Secretary--Melanie Hinds. Melanie lives in Illinois and has been attending general and SIG meetings for over a year. She has been assisting us by posting items to the calendar.

Nominations remain open until the election; contact me at nominating-committee@skcgs.org.

Things I learned while talking to you

1.  Some people have problems finding the confirmation after registering for the general meeting.  

Personally, I had problems as well until I learned to flag that confirmation email or put it in archives. I've since learned a technique in my gmail account--Snooze the email and set it to come back at 9:30 the morning of the meeting. Genius solution.

2.  Some people are aware that our general meeting speaker presentations are recorded but don't know how to access the recording later.

Near the beginning of each month, members receive an email from So. King County Genealogical Society with details of all the events for that month.  Scroll all the way to the bottom of the message and you will find the User ID and Password unique to that month for access the the Members Only page on our website.

3. Historic Newspaper (free) websites require payment to get to the good stuff.

What's in your wallet?  If it's a King County Library card, go to kcls.org and Online Library.  Under Formats, select Magazines and Newspapers to access collections.

Also, if you have a King County Library card, you can apply for cards to other nearby libraries including Seattle Public Library, spl.org.  At their Online Resources you can choose either Genealogy or Magazines and Newspapers to access several databases including: 


    America's Historical Newspapers - Early American News Explore early American history to support school assignments, genealogical and local history research, and more. Features more than 1,000 historical newspapers from all 50 states. This database includes early American newspapers previously available in America's Genealogy Bank.                                             

If you do not live in King County, please check your local library website. You might be surprised at what you find, for FREE!

4.  Many of you would love to volunteer in some capacity but you can't commit to a weekly or monthly schedule.

We understand and hope you will find something that fits. Please don't hesitate to speak up; there are always opportunities to help out.

I've really enjoyed talking to those with whom I have made contact.  I think I'll continue to call people just to get to know you and I encourage other members to do the same. If you would like to chat with someone, speak up.  (Pardon the pun!)

This Is YOUR Blog

Just a reminder, this is your blog.  You have access to share your experiences in research.  Please send your ideas, images, stories, articles to m.strickland@skcgs.org.  Don't worry about spelling, formatting, etc.  The editors are willing to work with any willing author!.


Your Member-at-Large,

MaryLynn Strickland



Comments

  1. Anita MooreMay 8, 2022 at 12:24 PM

    I lived in Duwamish all my life until I graduated from HS. Now that I have hit 50 [and beyond] I find a Historical Society for South King Co. while I now live in Alamogordo, NM. It is a small world. But to add to this my mother, grandmother and great grandmother all settled in Duwamish as well as all their off spring as well.
    They first migrated there in 1920 but I know they were there in 1918. My mother and grandmother owned and operated a candy store during the war {II} while my great grandmother was a housekeeper for Mr. LaFrenchie at the Codiga Farm.
    Then my mother married and had 2 children [me] and our roots were in Duwamish. Where at the Duwamish school all my cousin's attended as well as my brother and myself. So my history started in Duwamish right across from the Duwamish River. I have so many good stories to tell. The first one is my grandfather and his father went to Alaska to the Forty Mile River to pan for gold. Out of the 400,000 that went from all over the world only 40,000 returned, with a story they would tell, my folks were of that 40K. That is how we were able to purchase property was with that gold money, right at the foot of Poverty Hill. I would love to hear from you. I can be reached at quilterwannabe@gmail.com.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Looking for a Needle in a Haystack? GAME CHANGER at FamilySearch

-
Image
Generated with Bing ImageCreator (AI), March 13, 2024 Where is YOUR Needle, Your Missing Record? Genealogical Proof Standard When we use the GPS (Genealogical Proof Standard) as our guide, we all know that "exhaustive research" can be both tedious and exhausting. Is life long enough to search page by page through all the counties where all the members of a family might have lived, paid taxes, bought, leased or sold property, made a will or died intestate? It is possible that the new Full Text Search at FamilySearch will  eventually  allow us to do just that. It has been estimated that 75% or more of the records at FamilySearch were browsable but not searchable; the only indexes those found in the records themselves. Those records are certainly attainable by using those indexes and browsing to the record of interest, but the process is tedious, often frustrating, and slow. And once found, the record must be read and transcribed to be useful. This new Full Text Search tackles a
Read more

What's the Question?

-
Image
We genealogists are often told by experienced researchers how important it is to begin with a research question. I resisted doing this for a long time, but now that I use a series of questions to guide my research, the search is more focused and actually finds more of the history of the family I'm investigating. I use a Google Doc as the  research proceeds, where I keep the question(s), the plan, timelines, checklist of resources to search, etc. all in one place. I've seen others use spreadsheets in the same way, perhaps splitting up things in tabs (Excel or Google Sheets). I prefer a document because I add source citations as I find them and I can begin writing up the case right there in the doc as the hypotheses are proven. Specific Questions in Previous Successes As beginners we often have no clue how much and what details we already know about a person, event or relationship, so it's hard to specify what we want to know. But when looking back at successful research, it
Read more

Help Save This Abused and Neglected Cemetery

-
Image
Screen capture from Google Maps History In an exchange of emails this past week in both the main SKCGS group, and in the Washington-State-Genealogy group, many facts were revealed about the history of the I.O.O.F. Comet Lodge Cemetery, also known as the Old Burying Ground, the Georgetown Cemetery, the Graham Street Burying Ground and maybe more.  FindAGrave sums it up this way: "Since it was established in 1881, the Comet Lodge cemetery site has been whittled away to less than half its original 5 acres. Records are sketchy but it's safe to say that some 500 pioneers were buried here, atop unknown numbers of native Duwamish people. New burials ended in the 1930s. Since then, homes and streets were built on top of many of the plots as the neighborhood around the cemetery grew.  "Upkeep and ownership of the cemetery bounced between the city, civic groups, relatives of Comet Lodge residents, and nearby neighbors. For years, much of the property was allowed to deteriorate int
Read more