Vecteezy image October 20, 2024 What kind of reader are you? Do you become involved with the characters in the book, locating their setting on a map even though the main town is fictional?  Do you enjoy books that have historical settings, either time period or location so you are immersing yourself in a favorite environment or are learning something new?  Do you look forward to the next adventure that a main character may experience, thus following them through a series of books? If any of these traits describes you, you will probably greatly enjoy reading genealogical crime stories.  And you will find several authors to satisfy your hunger. Vecteezy October 20, 2024 Genealogical Mysteries are like lessons in Genealogy The authors take their characters through the trials and tribulations that most of us experience when we are researching.  We can identify with the frustration of a brick wall and rejoice with a character's successful discovery. Good authors keep thei...

Miners Day Sign on the way to the event Join SKCGS at Black Diamond Miners Day! We'll be there all day. Early birds can show up around 7 am to help us set up, or show up any time before 4 to help us greet people, answer their questions, or ask them about their family history.  At 4 pm, as the event ends, we would welcome help to pack up  and clean up.  Please write to Outreach@skcgs.org to volunteer.  Chalk drawing from 2023 Miners Day Black Diamond Area a Favorite Topic Over the history of SKCGS Blog and our previous newsletter, the Black Diamond and Franklin Mine areas have been a great source for stories.  We are especially grateful for the volumes of information available at the Black Diamond Museum and Historical Society. People who live in South King County, especially on the eastern side are familiar with the coal mining communities of Newcastle, Renton, and Black Diamond; some may even remember the names of Franklin, Cedar Mountain and other towns from l...

Generated by AI May 12, 2024 I had to take my car in for routine service this week, a task that always takes a few hours of my day. I took the morning paper and my iPad to do some reading while I sat in the waiting room. I settled down next to another lady near my age who greeted me with a pleasant "Good morning", and of course I responded the same. We got started talking, comparing our aches and pains or something, just normal conversation between two strangers.  But somehow we began "swapping stories." She has always raised a few chickens in her yard and still does. She told me about her grandmother, Angie, who had a rooster that she loved very much.   Angie's Rooster Generated by AI May 12, 2024 Angie had trained the rooster to walk on a leash and go for walks with her. If she went to the local grocery store she would tie the rooster up outside; everybody knew that it was Angie's rooster.   In the summer when it was too hot to sleep in the house, Angie wo...

Illustration Vectors by Vecteezy I love serendipity!  I've been toying with a blog topic for a couple of weeks and have even received a couple of responses for future publication.  The basic topic is storytelling and title of the blog asks people to "Tell Me A Story".  More on this below. Friday April 26,2024, on ABC's Good Morning, America  there was an item about a new book, Cemetery for Untold Stories  by Julia Alvarez.  Brief synopsis of the book: an author decides to literally bury a pile of unfinished manuscripts in a cemetery plot and be done with them.  But the characters in the manuscripts protest and haunt her to finish their stories.  That sounded so intriguing, I had to go on Amazon and purchase the book! I am about one third into the book and Alma, the protagonist is expressing some of my exact thoughts.  The epigraph is a simple four words: Tell me a story.   I swear, and have witnesses, that I started using that phrase bef...

Courtesy of Islington.gov.uk Thank You! Volunteer Recognition Day is observed every year on April 20. In addition, National Volunteer Week is celebrated from April 14 to 20. During this week, volunteers are recognized for their selfless contributions to help others and promote good causes. At SKCGS we are always appreciative of the efforts of our many volunteers, regardless of the size of the job or amount of time of involvement.  As in an exquisite machine, every cog, regardless of size, is important for the smooth operation of the whole. SKCGS operates totally on the service of its volunteers.  Among those are the elected officers of the Board of Directors.  Nominations are now open for the positions of Vice President and Secretary, to be elected at the annual meeting, May 18, 2024. We are happy to announce that we have a candidate for each of the pending positions, but more nominations are welcome.    Nominees Alexis Hacker Scholz Currently Vice President of...

The Blackwell's Kinfolk Family Tree highlights two prominent members. Arthur Ashe Jr.'s name is in gold, right. Family genealogist Thelma Short Doswell is highlighted in yellow, left .  Photo from Library of Congress, blog September 28, 2023 Have you checked out "our" library recently? By "our" library, I don't mean the library branch in your neighborhood, although it is definitely a place that should be very familiar to you. I mean the library that belongs to all of us--the Library of Congress.   At our fingertips we have the ability to  search millions of items in many formats and languages; to explore a growing treasury of digitized materials .  This is one of the most valuable resources available for enhancing our knowledge and understanding of the lives of our ancestors.  It's very easy to remember the URL--loc.gov.    Library of Congress Blogs | Blogs from the Library of Congress (loc.gov) And the collections and exhibits are constantly expa...

Generated by Bing Image Creator In your research experience have you been contacted by someone who had a picture or other item that belonged to your family and they wanted to give it to you? If it was something you have sought for years, weren't you thrilled to finally have it and so grateful for the person who sent it to you? Maybe you have been on the other side, instrumental in connecting an orphaned heirloom with its family. Didn't it feel great to make that connection? I've had it happen a few times and I always feel so satisfied when I succeed.  Several years ago I was researching the history of photography for a presentation I was doing for the society. I needed examples of antique photos because I didn't have very many in my own family. I went to antique stores and shopped on Ebay for good examples of very early photography. When people found a stray photo in their collections that they didn't want, they offered them to me for my use. Making Trans-Continenta...

Courtesy Pixabay In the past ten or twelve years a new fiction genre has gained popularity--genealogical crime mysteries. Some rely on historical research to solve modern day mysteries while others use modern research resources such as DNA to solve cold cases, and some, both. Some of the new literature is nonfiction as people present their search for family through adoption and other family dynamics. As a result there is a wealth of entertaining reading material available.  By now, most of you are familiar with Nathan Dylan Goodwin and his Morton Farrier, Forensic Genealogist series which has its tenth book in progress. Nathan has also written two books in his Venetor series which focuses on solving cold cases with DNA. Nathan is presently researching for the third book in that series as well. At this point you loyal readers are expecting me to list other authors and, if I do, I am sure to neglect somebody's favorite so I suggest you go online to your local library or Amazon books ...