Sankofa bird; public domain image. "The “Sankofa” is a metaphorical symbol used by the Akan people of Ghana, generally depicted as a bird with its head turned backward taking an egg from its back. It expresses the importance of reaching back to knowledge gained in the past and bringing it into the present in order to make positive progress."  https://sankofa.org/about   Looking Back; Looking Forward Thoughtful week here. For many reasons, I've been looking back—and forward, and thinking deeply about both.  My term as president of the South King County Genealogical Society ends May 2025. If you are considering stepping up to ask the membership to entrust you with that responsibility, please contact me or another Board member for help to prepare you. Read about the duties of the President here .  Term Limits According to our Bylaws  Section 5.4.3: "No President or Vice President shall serve more than two consecutive terms in the same office." I want to choose how

Generously Sharing Resources Generated with Bing Image Creator AI, 21 September 2024 It all started with some extra time after one of our first virtual meetings. That day, few people wanted to leave the call and during the following discussion generous book-lovers offered to do look-ups in their treasured volumes. Before we ended, someone suggested meeting again specifically to offer and ask for lookups in various books already on our shelves.  A search of our Society@skcgs.groups.io finds the first message posted about offered books:  Marilyn Schunke's Book . Two great things grew out of this collaboration—our monthly Genealogy Chat , and our  Books: Pleasure, Learning, Lookups wiki page. If you have books to share, please add to that page! and feel free to ask for lookups as well. Don't forget that we have two public book collections too. Most of our books are shelved at Auburn KCLS Library at 1102 Auburn Way South, Auburn, Washington and a smaller one is housed at the Ke

Revisit Old Research   White Goose Flying - Royalty free from pickpic.com Why Rake Up Old Research?  There are lots of reasons to revisit old research. Perhaps: New DNA match New record  Questions from connections Or maybe questions you ask yourself based on new education, more experience and newly-found connections. No matter the reason, I have found that revisiting is more useful than a "do over. " We all learn as we gain experience, both in methodology and as we deepen our understanding of our families and their stories, migrations, and the places where they lived.  DNA Tools Give a Reason for a Fresh Look Recently I asked my cousin to generate a DNA cluster report for my McBee uncle, because he is one generation closer to our ancestors than any of us cousins are. If you have never seen an autocluster, see one here:  https://education.myheritage.com/article/autoclusters-for-dna-matches/ . It is fun to see the report take shape, and the groups are very useful. I share DNA w

Best Reason to Throw a Party The best excuse to clean your house , I once read, is to ready it for a party . While cleaning house, I thought, is the same true about "writing it up"? Writing the stories of our ancestors and relatives is the culmination of our work. When we know that our place is welcoming to guests, we feel free to celebrate; telling stories of the past unlocks the lives of our families to all who hear them. Writing the stories is t he best excuse to research. Write while researching so that that your thoughts have somewhere to go‒directly into the notes, before they evaporate. Writing soothes the itch in the brain instead of sending us down rabbit holes. Now is a great time to get started writing, in preparation for Family History Month in October . Courtesy of the National Genealogical Society Writing tests our research and thinking It is while writing that holes in the story are exposed, inconsistencies glare, and leaps of logic fall flat. If our analysis

 SKCGS Publicity Team Honored at Annual Meeting Friday evening, August 30, our team, along with committees and individuals were honored by genealogists across the state of Washington.  The Washington State Genealogical Society is proud to recognize the outstanding achievements of local individuals and genealogical societies and organizations of the state. Each year, the WASGS presents special citations in recognition and appreciation of the dedication and commitment exhibited to the genealogical community in Washington State. What We Do Our effective, active SKCGS  Publicity team supports everything that our society does. Some behind the scenes, such as our team email lists, shared calendar and file system, some publicly, such as the website and monthly emails which are sent out to each Member and every supporter of the society who wants to stay in touch, and help to promote our programs. This monthly email also is used by others to publicize our events, such as the Washington State G

Healing the Rift of a Century A cousin reached out to me last week on FindAGrave.com , because I had posted pictures to her grandfather's memorial.  Find a Grave, database and images ( https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/38737708/rolland_stewart-wade : accessed August 23, 2024), memorial page for Rolland Stewart Wade (14 Jun 1898–3 Dec 1962), {{FindAGrave|38737708}}, citing Blue Mountain Memorial Gardens, College Place, Walla Walla County, Washington, USA; Maintained by Blue Mountain Memorial Gardens (contributor 47135041). She had never known her grandfather or anyone from his side of the family, for reasons her father had never wanted to discuss. But now that her parents have passed on, she felt that she was missing a piece of her history, and decided to go looking for some answers. Rolland Wade Her grandfather, Rolland Wade (1898-1962), was an older brother of my great-grandmother, Olive Wade Swenson, whom I was fortunate enough to know as a child. I told her what I knew of Roll

  Tree of Life by lilipilyspirit.deviantart.com Not All Stories Need Words Art can speak to us in photos, plays, poems, skits, dioramas, quilts, songs, photographs, even maps and diagrams.  Family trees are stories, too . When you view a timeline of an ancestor's life, does a story spring to mind? Those who think they can't write, can record their story on their phones, or computers. Both Word and Google Docs have voice transcription power.   Tell Your Own Story The magic moment is when a person realizes that they have a story to tell. Is it one of walking hand in hand down a dusty road with great-grandmother? Whether or nit she told her story, your memory is yours; tell it! Sometimes it is the little moments, such as after the ghost story is told around the campfire, when all the kids suddenly feel the urge to get back to the cabin and out of the dark night. Or the feeling after catching your first fish, proudly walking past the crowd to clean it so you can eat your catch. S