Category Archives: Special Events

Closing Access to Washington Vital Records

by Charles Hansen

This is an ALERT to proposed changes to access to Vital Records

in the State of Washington, SB 5332-2019-20.

Currently, Washington is an open records state. Change has been proposed by the Dept. of Health to restrict access to Vital Records in our state. DOH is proposing changes based on a “best practices” in vital records control and recommendations from the Federal Government, citing privacy concerns and identity theft. These changes will affect all genealogists!

Here is a brief summary of the proposed changes:

Placing restrictions on release of records to the public:

  • 100 years for live birth and fetal death
  • 50 years for death, marriage, divorce, annulment, legal separation and dissolution of domestic partnerships

Placing restrictions on who certified copies of Vital Records (birth, death, marriage, and divorce) may be released to:

  • Birth Certificates will only be released to the “subject of the record” (yourself), the subject’s spouse or domestic partner, child, parent, step-parent, sibling, grandparent, legal guardian, legal representative or authorized representative before the 100 year embargo.
  • Death Certificates will be released to the decedent’s spouse or domestic partner, child, parent, step-parent, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, legal guardian immediately prior to death, legal representative, authorized representative or next of kin as specified in RCW 11.28.120 before the 50 year embargo.
  • Certificate of Fetal Death will be released to a parent, a parent’s legal representative, an authorized representative, sibling or a grandparent before the 100 year embargo.

New Provisions:

  • The State may issue an informational copy to a vital record to anyone. Informational copies must contain only the information “allowed by rule”.
  • Informational death copies will not include information related to the cause of death and manner of death.
  • “Authorized representative” will include genealogists. This will require a notarized letter of permission from next of kin and personal identification.
  • Applicants will be required to provide identification and proof of relationship to obtain certified copies of vital records.

WSGS has been working with the Records Preservation and Access Committee of the Federation of Genealogical Societies, the National Genealogical Society and the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies on this issue.

WSGS has taken the position that:

  • Vital Records are the backbone of our profession and hobby. Access to these records is essential to our work and embargo periods to records are unnecessarily restrictive.
  • We support keeping all Vital Records open. Access to vital records has not been demonstrated to increase the risk of identity theft. We believe that keeping birth, marriage, divorce and death records open does more to prevent identity theft.
  • Keeping the cause of death on Informational Death Records is essential to genetic and forensic genealogists.
  • We support proposed changes to cover the cost for providing access to Vital Records.
  • Redaction of Social Security numbers on an Informational Copies of Vital Records is supported.

We are asking all of you to please contact your local Senator, the members of the Senate Law and Justice Committee and the sponsors of the bill; Sen. Jamie Pederson, Sen. Ann Rivers, Sen. Claire Wilson, Sen. Maureen Walsh, Sen. Emily Randall, Sen. Annette Cleveland and Sen. Marko Liias. This bill is scheduled for a hearing before the Senate Law and Justice Committee on Thursday, Jan. 31, 2019 at 10am. Please submit your comments before Thursday!

Senate Law & Justice Committee: Sen. Jamie Pederson Sen. Manka Dhingra Sen. Mike Padden Sen. Jeff Holy Sen. Patty Kuderer Sen. Jessie Salomon Sen. Lynda Wilson

The proposed changes to the Vital Records Initiative, SB 5332 – 2019 – 20, can be read in its entirety at the link below. You can use this link to access a copy of the bill and/or make comments. Watch on TVW.

Thank you for your attention. Sincerely,

Virginia Majewski, President, Washington State Genealogical Society

Washington State Archives Archives Month 2018

by Charles Hansen
Good morning!

October is Archives Month and the theme is “Activism in the Archives.”

If you would like some free Archives Month posters (shown with the second event below) to hang at your institution, please e-mail us.

The Archives is hosting a number of free events throughout the state during October (and one in September). Join us for one of these great events:

Basics of Historical Research

September 29th
Learn the basic steps for gathering the information you need to investigate and interpret an historical topic.
Location: Kitsap Regional Library, Poulsbo

Registration and more info

Archives Month Special: Preserving Large Items

October 6th
Learn how to preserve outsize items such as maps, posters, and newspapers. There will also be a guest speaker from the UW Library’s special collections.
Location: Olympia Archives Building

Registration and more info

History Day for Teachers

October 6th
Learn about History Day, a project-focused, inquiry-based learning program that develops reading, research, and analysis skills.
Location: Digital Archives Building, Cheney

Registration and more info

Ellensburg Archives and Museums Crawl

October 6th
A tour of archives, museums, libraries, genealogical societies, and other repositories in Ellensburg.
Location: Shuttle boards at Brooks Library, CWU

Registration and more info

History Happy Hour

October 10th
A fun night of trivia highlighting Legacy Washington’s 1968 exhibit and Olympia in 1968 (starts at 6 p.m.; food and beverage priced by the restaurant).
Location: 3 Magnets Brewery, Olympia

More info (no registration required)

Digital Research — Tips, Tricks, and Resources

October 13th
Eastern Regional Branch Archivist Lee Pierce will be at Whitman County Genealogical Society’s fall seminar, speaking about the Digital Archives.
Location: Bishop Place Social Room, Pullman

More info (no registration required)

Archives Month Trivia Night: Activism and the ’60s

October 21st
The Northwest Branch’s second annual trivia night will put the spotlight on the Archives Month theme. Come for the history, stay for the beer! (Starts at 6:30 p.m.; food and beverage priced by the restaurant.)
Location: Archer Ale House, Bellingham

More info (no registration required)

Haunted Tour of the Archives

October 26th
The Haunted Tour takes you into the dark stacks underground at the Archives where grim tales and fright await.
Location: Olympia Archives Building

Registration is not yet open. Look out for the October newsletter (subscribe here if you haven’t already) for more info.

Frenchtown Rendezvous

by Charles Hansen

The upcoming Frenchtown Rendezvous, this October 6, 2018, in Walla Walla, WA. 
 
This is a great event for anyone who is interested in the history of Eastern Washington. Our program this year is of particular interest to archaeologists and geneaologists. It features a workshop on writing and publishing family history led by Christina Dubois, retired editor of Columbia Magazine of the Washington State Historical Society, and a presentation by historical archaeologist Maryanne Maddoux about the ongoing digitization of the Harriet D. Munnick Papers by the St. Paul Mission Historical Society, and her experiences as lab manager at the field school excavation of a French-Canadian homestead at Champoeg, OR. 
 
Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions. We’d love to see you there!
 
 
Sarah Hurlburt
Secretary, Frenchtown Historical Foundation
 
 

Preserve and Digitize Over-sized Items Workshop

by Charles Hansen

Washington State  Archives

Preserve and Digitize Over-sized Items Workshop

October is Archives Month and that means we have something great in store for you! Preservation is our specialty and we want to show you how to do it at home with your over-sized items, such as posters, panoramic photos, maps, certificates, diplomas, and more. We’re going to get hands-on! This won’t just be Power Point slides. Digital Projects Archivists Mary Hammer and Maggie Cogswell will get out old, tightly rolled items, show you how to flatten and scan them, then store for archival preservation. Everything we are going to show you will be relevant and replicate at home.

Attendees will get a preservation starter kit! Bring your own over-sized item — there will be Q&A, and chances to share and show off.

Plus, we are going to have a guest speaker from the University of Washington Libraries Special Collections.

Schedule
10:00 a.m. — 12:30 p.m.: Preserving and digitizing over-sized items with Digital Projects Archivists Mary Hammer and Maggie Cogswell. They are going to demonstrate how to preserve and digitize your private collections with the actual equipment we use.

12:30 — 1:00 p.m.: Lunch break (there are nearby eateries, or you may bring a lunch – we have a fridge)

1:00 — 2:00 p.m.: Guest speaker Conor Casey, the Labor Archivist from UW, will share about the collections at the university’s archives, and activism in Washington.

There will be light refreshments. Parking is free. An email with more info will be sent the day before the event. Please register each individual separately.
Date & Time Start:
10-06-2018 10:00 AM
Date & Time End:
10-06-2018 02:00 PM
Location
1129 Washington St. SE
Olympia, WA 98501

1968 The Year that Rocked Washington

by Charles Hansen

 

Join us for an exhibit opening Thursday, September 13th, Capitol Building, Olympia
Program at 3:00 p.m., State Reception Room
Reception to follow, Office of the Secretary of State

Legacy Washington explores the lives of Washingtonians caught up in one of the most tumultuous years in world history. 1968 changed us in ways still rippling through our society a half-century later.

1968: The Year That Rocked Washington is a series of online stories and an exhibit at the Washington State Capitol that documents remarkable Washingtonians during a historic year. The experiences of these Washingtonians invite visitors to think critically about the monumental year and the changes they made.

Join the conversation as we unveil our newest exhibit. Doors open at 2:30 p.m. with program starting at 3 p.m. and a reception immediately following in the Office of the Secretary of State.

Olympia Genealogical Society Ask the Experts

by Charles Hansen

For fans of “Genealogy Roadshow”, Olympia’s own version called “Ask the Experts” from Puget Sound Chapter Association of Professional Genealogists is coming Saturday October 27 to the Olympia Center, 222 N Columbia ST from 10 am to 2 pm. By registering BEFORE September 22 with only the $20 Olympia Genealogical Society member registration fee at www.OlyGenSoc.org  you, too, can ASK THE EXPERTS.

JOYCE OGDEN   PUBLICITY

=======================================================================
Joyce T. Ogden
jtogden@comcast.net

Grays Harbor Genealogical Society Fire Help

by Charles Hansen

Dear Local Society,

 

As you may have already heard, the Grays Harbor Genealogical Society’s Research Library, housed in the Aberdeen Museum of History, was one of the victims of a devastating fire on Saturday, June 9, 2018. The 3-alarm fire destroyed most of the first and second floors of the historic Armory Building, which was built in 1922.

The Grays Harbor Genealogical Society’s Research Library was housed on the 1st floor of the Amory Building.

Investigators are still determining the cause of the fire so we are unable to get inside the building, but are preparing for the worst: the loss of our entire library holdings.  We had recently completed a conversion of the library to emphasize Grays Harbor County (and its predecessor Chehalis County), and were enormously proud of our extensive collection of now-defunct Whiteside and Elerding funeral records and obituary records, dating back as far as the late 1800s.

 

I am asking for your help.  We are scrambling to find another location and have begun the task of re-gathering our collections. While many of our holdings were digitized or are available in other locations, we are still looking to gather Grays Harbor-related records, photographs, documents, maps, and books. If you or your society have any Grays Harbor-related materials, we would love to have copies or donation. We are hoping to rebuild our holdings to be the “go-to shop” for family researchers in Grays Harbor.

 

Alternatively, anyone wishing to make financial donation is encouraged to use our Go Fund Me campaign or direct to the Grays Harbor Genealogical Society, P.O. Box 916, Aberdeen, WA 98520.

Bonnie Johannes added: I have done researches for people from other WA State societies who had family members/ancestors here at some period of time. We would like copy of what was sent to them, if possible. Thank you.

 

If you would like more information or have questions, please contact me at gjparfitt@msn.com.

 

Gary Parfitt, President

Grays Harbor Genealogical Society