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| A Toast to the Future! FGS Membership Approves Decision to Merge with NGS The boards of the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) and the National Genealogical Society (NGS) are thrilled to announce that the FGS membership has voted to approve the merger with NGS. The final tally of eligible voters expressed unanimous support for the merger. “We are so excited about the bright future of the combined organization that is the new NGS. During the process of preparing for this merger, we have seen a unified commitment and huge enthusiasm of the leaders for serving family history organizations,” said Faye Stallings, FGS President. “We are so thrilled to be ready to welcome all of the FGS membership to the new NGS,” said Ben Spratling, NGS President. “This merger is all about building a strong, vibrant community of family history organizations that assist people as they discover their ancestors, connect with their relatives, and learn their family stories. This is an exciting time to be part of the genealogy community.” While there are still several steps before the merger is effective on 1 October 2020, the vote was a big milestone on the way to creating the “new” NGS. The next big step is the NGS election, which will take place from noon (CDT) on Friday, 28 August 2020, and close at 5:45 p.m. (CDT) on Tuesday, 1 September 2020. The slate of candidates includes several candidates with connections to FGS. Cheri Hudson Passey, the FGS Secretary, is the candidate for the new NGS role of Vice President of Society & Organization Management. Current FGS Board member Ed Donakey is nominated as Secretary of NGS, and current FGS President Faye Jenkins Stallings is nominated as a director. Former FGS President David Rencher, who replaced Mike Hall on the NGS Board earlier this year, is also again nominated. Three other first-time nominees to the NGS Board are Colleen Robledo Greene of California; Marlis Humphrey of Florida; and Andre Kearns of Washington, DC. Keep an eye on the NGS-FGS Merger Gathering Place for more exciting merger news! http://fgs.z2systems.com/np/clients/fgs/unsubscribeEmail.jsp?type=16&emailId=48bb51eee4c29065cda79cd091a721354m4897348b&userId=7uFsyMYKVC9vr3%2BbI2KOmT%2FhqXwm67EE |
Category Archives: Special Events
Update on the USCIS Fee Hike
Dear Fellow Fee Fighters:
We wanted to provide an update on the USCIS fee hike campaign and a helpful chart summarizing the new changes. Thanks for all your previous support, and we are looking forward to working with genealogists and records access advocates moving forward to demand the transfer of USCIS’ historical documents to the National Archives, where they belong.
USCIS announced their final fee rule this past Monday. Records Not Revenue is dismayed at the astronomical fee hikes that will be imposed by USCIS for obtaining copies of historical records via the USCIS Genealogy Program. Many of the records held by the USCIS Genealogy Program should already be available at the National Archives, and we call upon USCIS and NARA to create and make public a plan to transfer the historical records and their associated indices, as soon as possible.
As of October 2, 2020, researchers will pay a minimum of $160 to initiate a records request, and pay up to $415 total to obtain certain historical records. USCIS will also impose additional fees if the requests are made by mail. There may also be additional fees to repay Congress, in the event of a bailout.
You can view the final rule in its entirety on the Federal Register at: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/08/03/2020-16389/us-citizenship-and-immigration-services-fee-schedule-and-changes-to-certain-other-immigration.
In the coming days, Records Not Revenue will update its website with additional information on fees, how all the different permutations of fees will impact researchers, and HOW YOU CAN HELP. Stay tuned.
–Records Not Revenue
https://www.recordsnotrevenue.com/
Vital Records Access
This is the latest update on the changes for ordering birth and death certificates in WA State, coming January 1, 2021 as a result of a new vital records law and rules going into effect.
- For increased security of personal information, only individuals with specific relationships to the person on the record being requested can receive a certificate.
- Identity and proof of relationship documentation will be required.
- Certificate fee will increase to $25.00 per copy.
The Department of Health recently published a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) webpage to assist everyone in better understanding what the new requirements are for ordering birth and death certificates. The FAQ webpage contains information about who can, and how to, order birth and death certificates.
More information and resources will become available as January 1, 2021 approaches. DOH is working on developing informational handouts to provide to customers that may have questions about how to order birth and death certificates after January 1, 2021.
Coming To America
Talk: Coming to America, on Thursday, 20 August, 6-7:30 online.
South King County Genealogical Society President Barbara Mattoon will present Coming to America about how our immigrant ancestors got here, and how to find the records about their journeys. Online through the King County Library System Thursday, August 20, 2020 from 6 – 7:30 pm.
Register here:
Word will spread quickly, so register soon.
Three Stooges Collecting the Census
Dick Eastman has an interesting article on the Three Stooges collect the census. They have a short film on collecting the census here:
Seattle Genealogical Society New Website
Thank you for having our information on your website, we really appreciate that! We have recently gotten a new website address and it is now: https://seagensoc.org Would you be able to change the old link on your website?
Thank you so much.Sue
Sue Schack Jensen
Library Director
website: seagensoc.org
Seattle Genealogical Society
6200 Sand Point Way NE
Seattle, WA 98115
206-522-8658
mail: P.O. Box 15329, Seattle WA 98115-0329
MyHeritage Photo Enhancer
I’m excited to announce the release of the MyHeritage Photo Enhancer — an incredible new feature that brings blurry faces in any photo into sharp focus. Photos are enhanced using specialized technology that produces outstanding, high-definition results. Please share this news with your followers!
Perhaps you have old photos that look grainy or blurred, or photos of large family gatherings with many faces that are too small to recognize clearly. The MyHeritage Photo Enhancer aims to solve these age-old problems and produces phenomenal results that let you see your ancestors more clearly than ever before.
Try the MyHeritage Photo Enhancer now
This feature uses deep learning technology that was licensed by MyHeritage and seamlessly integrated into the platform to enhance photos by upscaling them (increasing their resolution).
Watch the video to see this feature in action, and feel free to share the video or embed it with the following code:
<iframe width=”560″ height=”315″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/LkG0cblYTOE” frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture” allowfullscreen></iframe>
You can enhance your photos and colorize them with MyHeritage In Color™, as these two features complement each other. Like colorized photos, enhanced photos are differentiated from the originals using a special embossed symbol, and enhancement does not modify your original photos. The addition of the Photo Enhancer makes MyHeritage the best platform for uploading, enhancing, and sharing historical photos, bar none.
To enhance your photos, visit the My Photos section of your family site, click on any photo in your albums, and then click Enhance. You can also use the MyHeritage Photo Enhancer page to upload photos to MyHeritage and enhance them, or scan your photos using the free MyHeritage mobile app.
Please find more information about the MyHeritage Photo Enhancer below:
Press release: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200612005172/en/MyHeritage-Releases-Photo-Enhancer-Bring-Blurry-Photos
Blog post (including great examples): https://blog.myheritage.com/2020/06/introducing-the-myheritage-photo-enhancer/
We hope that you enjoy enhancing your photos. Please spread the word about this amazing new feature and encourage your audience to try it too and share their enhanced photos with family and friends. Best regards, Daniel Horowitz Genealogy Expert
MyHeritage (USA) Inc.,
2975 Executive Parkway,
Lehi, Utah
American Ancestors Virtual Preservation Roadshow
| Virtual Preservation Roadshow presented by New England Historic Genealogical Society |
| Greetings, I hope this finds you well. I wanted to bring to attention a unique and interesting virtual program we are hosting later in June. I thought you may be interested in sharing with your members. American Ancestors and the New England Historic Genealogical Society, the oldest and largest genealogical organization in the world, is holding a Virtual Preservation Roadshow, led by archivists and conservators, that will teach best practices on surveying, handling, and storing valued family materials. Experts will offer advice on how to care for items in a personal family collection so that they can be preserved indefinitely. The event opens virtually beginning Friday, June 5, with participant access to recorded lectures and hand-outs, and culminates with a live Q&A encounter among experts, conservators, and participants between 2:00–3:30 p.m. (EDT) on Father’s Day, Sunday, June 21. The program participation fee is US$85.00. Registration is open, with a limited number of seats available. Reservations may be made by clicking here. Participants in the Virtual Preservation Roadshow will receive: Access to 3+ hours of instructional video, plus handouts, articles, and templates Personalized advice from a qualified archivist or conservator on one family item*(*Note: experts will not provide monetary appraisals in this feature) Access to a gallery of submitted items by other participants and the expert advice they generated Special discounts on American Ancestors | NEHGS products and virtual door prizes Participation in a live Q&A with instructors and a selection of submitted items for discussion – Extended access to materials, recordings, and resources on AmericanAncestors.org until September 30, 2020. To read the full press release and for more details, please click here. Thank you for your time and we hope to virtually see you at The Preservation Roadshow, Don Donald C. Reagan Director of Business Development American Ancestors and New England Historic Genealogical Society |
| American Ancestors and New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) is the nation’s most comprehensive resource for family history research. Members have access to expert family history services through the organization’s staff, original published scholarship, its data-rich website at AmericanAncestors.org, outstanding online educational opportunities, and a state-of-the-art research center located in downtown Boston. American Ancestors helps family historians of all levels explore their past and understand their families’ unique place in history. |
MyHeritage One of a Kind Offer
I’m excited to share a one-of-a-kind offer from MyHeritage for the month of June, something I think your readers and followers will be very interested to hear!
Starting tomorrow, June 1, each day of the month a different and significant historical record collection will be available for free!
The collections we have chosen for this offer were handpicked for their value for family historians and include collections that are exclusive to MyHeritage. Among them are the Sweden Household Examination Books, 1840–1947, 1940 Denmark Census, and U.S. City Directories. Altogether, we’ll be providing free access to more than 2 billion historical records throughout June!
All the collections are available on www.myheritage.com/research, and you can find the full schedule for the free collections, including direct links, on our blog.
This just might be the chance your readers and followers have been waiting for, and we are pleased to offer this as part of our effort to provide people with more opportunities and resources to further their genealogy research while at home.
Enjoy and stay safe, Daniel Horowitz
Genealogy Expert
MyHeritage (USA) Inc.,
2975 Executive Parkway,
Lehi, Utah
FGS Unsung Heroes Program
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| We want to share some exciting news for societies from our friends at the Genealogy Guys Podcast and Vivid-Pix, one of the FGS partners… The Genealogy Guys and Vivid-Pix Announce Society Grants Program and New Unsung Heroes Program Nominees The Genealogy Guys Podcast, the world’s oldest genealogy podcast, and Vivid-Pix, makers of the acclaimed RESTORE photo and document image improvement software, announce a new Unsung Heroes Program and a call for nominations for Unsung Heroes Awards. The partners created the Unsung Heroes Awards in 2019 to encourage, acknowledge and celebrate members of the genealogy community who lead the way in digitizing, indexing, and transcribing photos and documents, for use by researchers around the globe. They have added a brand-new Unsung Heroes Societies Grant Program for societies to obtain a scanner and high-quality software to make digitization projects a reality. They have also adjusted the Unsung Heroes Awards Program eligible nominees and the contents of the prize package. Unsung Heroes Societies Grant Program This program will award grants to two societies each year to facilitate their digitizing, indexing, and transcribing photographs and documents. The grantees will each receive a high-quality scanner, a backup and online storage software package, and two copies of Vivid-Pix RESTORE software to improve the legibility of documents, the color/contrast of photographs, and to add image tags and other important information to the image metadata. The grant package is valued at $500. Applications must describe the intended use of the grant. Multiple applications may be submitted by a single society/chapter but grantees are limited to one grant per society. The grant application form is available at the Aha! Seminars, Inc., website at https://ahaseminars.com/cpage.php?pt=24. The due date for the first grant is by midnight EDT on August 1, 2020, and should be sent to genealogyguys@gmail.com. Successful grantees will be announced separately at different times of the year by The Genealogy Guys Podcast and Vivid-Pix via press release, social media, and the partners’ websites. The first grant recipient society will be announced during the Federation of Genealogical Societies Conference, September 2-5, 2020. The next grant due date will be announced later in 2020. Unsung Heroes Awards Program The Unsung Heroes Awards Program continues to recognize individuals, societies, and libraries for their work in digitizing, indexing, and transcribing photographs and documents and making that work accessible to the genealogical community. All nominations are to be submitted using the nomination form at the Aha! Seminars, Inc., website at https://ahaseminars.com/cpage.php?pt=24. Self-nominations are welcome and encouraged. The due date for the next set of nominations is midnight EDT on August 1, 2020, and should be sent to genealogyguys@gmail.com. Award winners will receive a commemorative certificate, a customized mug that can include an image of their choice, and a copy of Vivid-Pix RESTORE software. Individual winners will also receive a one-year subscription to Genealogy Guys Learn, the online subscription education program. Winners will be announced by The Genealogy Guys Podcast and Vivid-Pix via press release, social media, and on the partners’ websites. Winners for the next round of category nominations will be announced during the Federation of Genealogical Societies Conference, September 2-5, 2020. Nominations of non-winners will be retained for consideration for future awards. Instructions for Submissions Full details of the programs are available at the Aha! Seminars, Inc., website at https://ahaseminars.com/cpage.php?pt=24. The grant application form and the award nomination form are available there in PDF format for download. If you have any questions, please email genealogyguys@gmail.com or aha@ahaseminars.com. Contacts: George G. Morgan The Genealogy Guys Podcast http://genealogyguys.com/ genealogyguys@gmail.com (813) 220-6274 Rick Voight Vivid-Pix https://vivid-pix.com/ rick.voight@vivid-pix.com (404) 664-9897 http://fgs.z2systems.com/np/clients/fgs/unsubscribeEmail.jsp?type=16&emailId=4f25386cdfa1c60d67cb85f9f281bf634m433234f2&userId=7uFsyMYKVC9vr3%2BbI2KOmT%2FhqXwm67EE |