Author Archives: Charles Hansen

Genealogical Forum of Oregon Upcoming Meetings and News

by Charles Hansen

GenForum

THE GENEALOGICAL FORUM OF OREGON’S

 

Wednesday Evening E-News 4 November 2015

What’s Happening this Week at the GFO?

Virginia Group – Saturday, November 7th, 10am – 12pm

Peggy Baldwin will be discussing Mind Mapping, which is a process for organizing pieces of information into a more manageable format. It is a creative and logical means of note-taking and note-making that literally “maps out” your ideas.

We will also have a brick wall presentation and continue our discussion on solving those problems.

German Group – Saturday, November 7th, 1pm – 3pm

Tia Cobb and Bonnie Randolph will be talking about their recent trip to Germany and neighboring countries. Come to learn about how they got ready, some of their adventures and misadventures, and the information that they found about their families.

Learn and Chat – Wednesday, November 11th, 1:30pm – 2:30pm

Join us for a discussion of how to use Photoshop Elements to present your family history research, pictures and stories. We discuss scanning techniques, photo restoration, creating pages for presentation, resources and anything else participants want to know related to this topic. All are welcome, from beginners to more advanced users. Come, learn and share your ideas and questions. Taught by Sarah Holmes.

Please NOTE: November’s Family Tree Maker Classes have been cancelled. Continue reading →

Eastern Washington Genealogical Society November Meeting

by Charles Hansen

ewgsheader Saturday, November 7
The Greatest Generations  (EWGS Meetings)
12:30 pm to 3:00 pm
Spokane Public Library Auditorium, Downtown

Who are we?  The GI Generation, The Silent Generation, The Baby Boomers, Generation X, Generation Y, Generation Z?…….

History tells us the “Greatest Generation were those in America, born between 1901 and 1945….but what about those born after 1945; including the newest baby just born last evening in Sacred Heart or Deaconess.

Join our speaker, Brusan Wells, Director The Foundation – Rockwood Retirement Communities as we explore each generation and dare to ask the question….”Could today’s newest generation, born after 2007 …be The Greatest Generation?”

Brusan Rhoda-Wells is a Montana native. After completing her schooling in Spokane she enlisted in the US Army and retired as a First Sergeant. After graduating from Eatern Washington University with a degree in Home Economics she volunteered for Girl Scounting then became a staff member culminating in serving as it’s Assistant Executive Director in 1995. After a short jaunt working in Seattle she came home to Spokane. Brusan is looking forward to retirement and having a chance to continue pursue genealogical research in partnership with her mother, Betty Rhoda.

Cookies and social time: 12:30 p.m.  Meeting starts at 1:00 p.m.

International Conference on Jewish Genealogy Save the Date

by Charles Hansen

iajgs2016_logo

 

Topic tracks include:

The Sephardic Experience in the United States
European Migrations
South American, Australian and South African Branches
Westward Ho! Jews in the Western US
Coming Home to Israel

Program organizers welcome proposals for lectures, workshops and panel discussions on all aspects of Jewish genealogy, though the focus will be on these five topic tracks. Attendees are expected to span the full spectrum of expertise from novice to veteran and professional researchers; thus, a wide range of paper topics is encouraged.

The conference will be held in downtown Seattle from August 7 to 12 at the conveniently located Seattle Sheraton.

Proposals should be submitted through the official conference website www.iajgs2016.org. The deadline for submission is midnight, December 15, 2015. For information about proposals and submissions, please contact the Program Committee at program@iajgs2016.org.

Early registration will open in January 2016 through the conference website.

For more information about the conference, contact the conference co-chairs Janette Silverman, Phyllis Grossman, and Chuck Weinstein through the conference website www.iajgs2016.org.

 

Seattle Genealogical Society Tip of the Week

by Charles Hansen

Seattle

 

TIP OF THE WEEK – THE LEGAL GENEALOGIST’s BLOG

The Legal Genealogist is Judy Russell, a well-known genealogical speaker, educator, writer and lawyer.  She was the featured speaker for our Spring Seminar in 2013.

Ms. Russell writes a daily column, The Legal Genealogist, that is almost always informative and educational, and is usually amusing or interesting, on some topic or event of genealogical interest. These columns are brief and entertaining, and they are free.  While the common theme for most of her columns is some legal issue, there’s much more to them – they illustrate how to research problems, how to source or document your research, and reveal new approaches to problem solving.

To receive these articles by email, just sign up at http://www.legalgenealogist.com/blog/ by clicking on Subscribe By Email on the right margin of this web page.

If you’re unsure, and would like to sample several of her recent columns first, go to her home page at http://www.legalgenealogist.com/.

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Seattle Genealogical Society News and Meetings

by Charles Hansen

Seattle

WHO WILL LEAD SGS IN 2016??
In this, the fourth installment about the unprecedented number of Board vacancies that SGS will be facing in the coming year, we highlight the position of President.

The SGS President is in essence the Captain of the ship. More than any other officer or director, the President charts the course of the society. He or she is the face and the official spokesperson for the Society. and sets the agenda for the Board of Directors. The President provides leadership and guidance to each member of the Board, and ensures that each fulfills their responsibilities.

The SGS President is also akin to the conductor of an orchestra, an all-volunteer orchestra, coaching, leading and directing individuals of varied backgrounds, personalities and abilities to work together harmoniously toward common goals.

Marilyn Rose, our current president, is in her third and final term; our Bylaws prevent her from continuing on in this position. Many members may not know this, but in 2013 the SGS Nominating Committee could not find a candidate to run for President. Fortunately for SGS, a few members wrote in Marilyn’s name, after one long-time friend asked for her permission. She met the requirement that the president must have previously served in a Board position. In the past, Marilyn had been the Director of Education, Secretary and Vice President and had been President from 2005-2006. She accepted the call. Thus a crisis was narrowly avoided three years ago.

We are approaching a similar but much worse crisis now, with the potential for multiple vacancies on the Board. It is hard to imagine how SGS could continue in the future, if we’re unable to recruit and elect a capable president, and fill the other Board positions as well. Our goal is to have a full slate of candidates by early March 2016 at the latest.

These are challenging times, and we need your help. If you’d like to be considered for this or any other Board position, or would like to suggest the names of someone else, please contact the Nominating Committee at SGSNominate@gmail.com.

Another Interesting Publication Found In Our Library

Do you have a “ghostly” address for one of your ancestors? You know, a place that doesn’t show up on current maps or a town that was completely abandoned.

That was a problem tackled by the Alberta (Canada) Genealogical Society. Discover how they approached this problem as reported in their publication, Relatively Speaking, 1983, Vol. II, No. 3, p. 22.  Come by.  You can find this publication in the Canada Section of the SGS Library. Continue reading →

Bainbridge Island Genealogical Society Meeting

by Charles Hansen

Bainbridge Island
For Immediate Release

The Bainbridge Island Genealogical Society (BIGS) will meet Friday, November 20, in the Bainbridge Island Public Library Meeting Room from 10:00 AM until noon.  The topic is, “Telling Our Family Stories” – BIGS members will share how they are researching their families, and why they decided to share their research.  Come and be inspired!  Free to members, a $5.00 donation is suggested for nonmembers.  For more information go to http://www.bigenealogy.org, or call 206-842-4978.  BIGS is a 501c(3) non-profit organization.

Thank you!

Sylvia H. Nelson

PR and Public Relations Director

Bainbridge Island Genealogical Society

Genealogical Forum of Oregon 2016 Save The Dates

by Charles Hansen

GenForum

 

 

Some Dates to Remember for 2016!

January 31st – House History Workshop with Connie Lenzen

March 12th –  Fintan Mullan and Gillian Hunt from the Ulster Historical Foundation will be presenting a program on Irish Genealogy.

March 13th – Our guests from Ireland will present a workshop on Irish research.

April 9th through 17th –  The GFO’s Annual Open House with days full of free classes for all.

Genealogical Forum of Oregon Upcoming Meetings

by Charles Hansen

GenForum

THE GENEALOGICAL FORUM OF OREGON’S

Wednesday Evening E-News

28 October 2015

For more information visit www.gfo.org, contact us at info@gfo.org, or call our library at 503-963-1932. We love hearing from you!

For a complete GFO CALENDAR go to www.gfo.org/calendar.htm.

Also, if you missed your free copy of our monthly Insider, you’re in luck because we saved you a copy at http://www.gfo.org/insider/15-Nov.pdf.

YD@W…What’s Happening to My Donation Money?

Your Donations At Work (YD@W)

Scanner
This week, we’re featuring the following accessibility and preservation tools that were made possible by your donations and ongoing support: •Microfilm and Microfiche Scanner! Finally. A way to not only search through and view the GFO’s massive microfilm and microfiche collections (see our Oregon Donation Land Claims, for example), but to save scanned copies of the records. Thanks to the generosity of our members and others, we were able to purchase this wonderful tool. Come give it a spin! But please beware, the GFO cannot be held responsible for any addictive or compulsory microfilm researching you may experience as a result.
•Flatbed Patron’s Scanner! What a wonderful way to scan and share some of those family photos and letters that you know are not being seen or even remembered among the dusts of your attic. The flatbed scanner is located in the Research Area, and is free for members and guests to scan and save and/or email copies of their personal family history treasures. For more information about preserving family photos and manuscripts, the GFO encourages you to visit  the Library of Congress and the National Archives websites on these topics! Continue reading →