2023: Drawing to a Close

-

 2023: Drawing to a Close

Courtesy Picryl.com

As we enter the holiday season, it felt like a good time to look back at the year. 

Year of Collaboration

In January, I said that for me, it would be the year of collaboration. In so many ways, it has turned out that way, both on a genealogy society level, personally and in my genealogy work. 

Our society collaborated with Eastside Genealogical Society to sponsor two speakers, one (Dr. Leah Larkin) presented at one of their evening meetings, and one (Angela Packer McGhie, CG) will present at our general meeting in January. Both the Washington State Genealogical Society and the Washington Presidents Council exist to promote and support local societies and rely on collaboration. 

SKCGS is a member of the National Genealogical Society, which, since it merged with the Federation of Genealogical Societies a few years back recognized "the need to coordinate projects so societies, libraries, and archives would not duplicate the work of other groups at various local and state levels. FGS also knew activism was needed to protect access to genealogical records and to advance preservation instead of destruction of records. These critical roles in the genealogical community are now part of the new NGS." https://www.ngsgenealogy.org/welcome-to-the-new-ngs/


So now, NGS exists to support our genealogy organizations and "Help Build Your Family History." They say "Genealogy education and training are at the core of NGS’s mission." As the SKCGS NGS Delegate, I see our work supported both as researchers and educators, and also as organization leaders.


Digging Into the Past






Here on the blog, occasionally we dipped far into the past: What’s YOUR Story? 

We touched on some stories with both sad and happy threads, like: 

So much of our work uncovers events that can sadden, inspire or even disgust us, as in Tough Times and Hard History. 

The past truly is another country; they did things differently there (paraphrase of L.P. Hartley). Or maybe as Forrest Gump said, a box of chocolates; when you open it you never know what you're gonna find. 


Education    

This year we wrote about education:



Methodology    


We also have some posts about methodology:


What's Your Review?


As you review your progress this year and make your plans for the future, Organizing is a Bunch of Four Letter Words is worth re-reading. Also, the images are hilarious! We always think of you, the reader, and what we can write about that will help you in your genealogy research journey. Your comments and other feedback along with your stories and other submissions are really valuable! I hope your new year diligence brings A New Can of Worms like it did for MaryLynn and me!



Valorie Zimmerman


Comments

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