| Washington State Archives will present another iteration of “Stump the Archivist,” a Q&A webinar for researchers of all experience levels, on March 18 at 10 a.m. Bring your questions and a notebook, and chat with Research Archivist Tracy Rebstock! Learn how to use state and local government records in your historical research or family history. New records are added to our collections all the time. Updates to vital records means more access to birth, death, marriage, and divorce collections. As promised during last month’s webinar, Rebstock will talk briefly about land records and then take your questions so you can dig deeper into your research. Register here. It is free to attend this event. Visit our YouTube channel to view past webinars. |
Nominations Sought for President’s Award for Outstanding Achievement
The nomination period for the Washington State Genealogical Society President’s Award for Outstanding Achievement is open. Nominations are due by 01 May 2022.
The President’s Award for Outstanding Achievement is designed to single out that rare individual, society or organization who has demonstrated exemplary service above and beyond expectations.
The ideal recipient of the President’s Award for Outstanding Achievement has:
• Exhibited long-term, consistent service in the field of genealogy, family or local history, the genealogical community, records preservation or made an important single contribution in those areas that will endure into the future.
• Demonstrated a high degree of energy, commitment, flexibility, and professional conduct.
• Provided significant support and impact to the local genealogical community time and time again.
• Exhibited personal influence and example to society members and/or the general public with their unselfish service.
• Supported or advanced local or statewide genealogical research.
Nominations may be submitted by any individual, local society or organization, regardless of WSGS membership. Nominees do not have to have been officers in their local societies.
Additional information, including the nomination form, is available here. Questions should be directed to Info@wasgs.org. Please type “President’s Award” in the Subject Line.
Wenatchee Area Genealogical Society are you ready for the 1950 Census?
Whatcom Genealogical Society In Search of Pink Flamingos
Please join the Whatcom Genealogical Society on Monday, March 14th, at 2pm at the Ferndale Pioneer Pavilion, 2207 Cherry St., Ferndale, WA when our guest speaker will be award-winning local author, Susan E. Greisen. Susan will be discussing the process she used to create her recent memoir, In Search of Pink Flamingos: A Woman’s Quest For Forgiveness and Unconditional Love. The book begins with 8 year old Susan living on a remote farm in Nebraska, then takes you on a vivid journey through Africa and ends with 63 year old Susan back in the U.S.
Susan will share with you her writing process and how she collected and recalled the detailed scenes written in her book. She will share helpful tips on how you can create a powerful story. Copies of her book will be available for purchase at the meeting.
Susan was a Peace Corps volunteer in Liberia and Tonga, and has journeyed to over forty countries on six continents. She is a published poet, author and photographer. Her stories and poems can be found in seven anthologies and two of her photographs were selected by the BBC online news. Learn more at susangreisen.com.
Skagit Valley Genealogical Society Family Search Wiki
24 Hour Genealogy Webinar Marathon
 3rd annual 24-Hour genealogy webinar marathon We’re excited to announce The 3rd Annual 24-Hour Genealogy Webinar Marathon hosted by FamilyTreeWebinars.com and MyHeritage. The marathon will begin on Thursday, April 7 at 5pm eastern U.S. time (Friday, April 8 at 7am Sydney time) and end on Friday, April 8 at 5pm eastern U.S. time (Saturday, April 9 at 7am Sydney time).Visit www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com/24 to register (free!) You will learn how to trace your ancestors from the world’s top genealogists and educators. From the 1950 U.S. census to DNA, from Airtable, hard drives and iPads to Poland and Scotland, there’s something for everyone… in every time zone. And thanks to FamilyTreeWebinars.com and MyHeritage, the entire event is free! Pop in for a session or two, or stick around for the full 24 hours — it’s completely up to you. There will even be time for Q&A and door prizes. How to Listen In Register at www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com/24. Live attendance for each session is limited to the first 1,000 attendees. If you can’t join us in real time, we’ve got you covered: all recordings will be available afterwards absolutely free for a week. Beyond that, you can watch them anytime with a webinar membership to FamilyTreeWebinars.com. The Lectures Viewers will enjoy a wide variety of lectures of genealogy and DNA. Each class will be 45 minutes long including time for questions at the end. Here’s the classes. – Everything You Need to Know About the 1950 Census by Lisa Louise Cooke – Confirming Smart Matches™ and Record Matches by Daniel Horowitz – What’s New in Jewish Genealogy 2022 by Ellen S. Kowitt – Smarter Searching: Refining Search Parameters for Genealogists by Cyndi Ingle – The Geography of Genealogy in Europe by Dave Obee – Using Macs and iPads for Genealogy by Nancy E. Loe, MA, MLS – Supercharge your Research Spreadsheets with Airtable by Francine Crowley Griffis, CG – Writing as You Go is the WAY to Go! by Elissa Scalise Powell, CG – In Your Ancestor’s Kitchen: Researching the Items You Remember by Gena Philibert-Ortega – Polish non metrical genealogy sources by Kinga Urbańska – Analyzing My DNA Matches by Gal Zrihen – Clans and Families in Scotland by Dr. Bruce Durie – Who were the Scots-Irish? by Natalie Bodle – Introduction to Swedish Military Records by Kathy Meade – Searching for My Ancestors’ Records by Moshe Etlis – Sons of the Soil: researching our British agricultural labouring ancestors by Janet Few – The Lady of the Scrapbook: A Newspaper Case Study by Mary Kircher Roddy, CG – Simply using timelines will make a difference in your research! by Dr. Shelley Viola Murphy – Organizing My Photos by Keren Dotan – Spinsters and Widows: Using Women to Reconstruct Families by Shannon Green, CG – Doing Time – Prison Records as Genealogy Resources by Judy G. Russell, JD, CG, CGL – Hard drive and SSD drive failure rates and what to do by Andy Klein – Family Discoveries in Minutes by Devin Ashby – Baptists, Methodists and Presbyterians–Oh, My! by Sunny Morton Looking forward to “seeing” you there! |
Heritage Quest Research Library German Research when you do not speak the Language
| Doing German (and other country) Records When You Don’t Speak the Language. While focusing on German records for those who live in America and don’t speak German, this program will also assist people looking at ancestral records from other areas of the world. There are many helpful websites and tools to assist in translation, locating people and places, and narrowing your search. This does NOT deal with how to transcribe Gothic German Script but will give direction on where those helps can be found. Don’t stop your research just because you came to the ocean! Jean Wilcox Hibben; PhD, MA, former So. Cal. college speech professor (MA – Speech Communication; PhD – Folklore), is a national speaker and author. A member of the DAR, she is the former director and current staff trainer for the Corona, CA Family History Center, has worked on background research for two genealogy television programs, and was a host for podcasts on social history. A former Board-Certified genealogist with over 40 years of research experience, she is a former board member of APG and past president of its So. Cal. Chapter; President of the Corona Gen. Society, as well as webmaster for that same organization; and has participated on a number of other society boards. Jean writes the “Aunty Jeff” column for the Informer, the newsletter of the Jefferson County NY Genealogical Society. Her website: circlemending.org. |
| WHEN: March 17, 2022 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM WHERE: ZOOM COST: Members $20 – Non-members $25 Sign up & Pay: Come into HQRL at 1007 Main Street, Sumner, WA 98390 or Call (253)863-1806 OR go to hqrl.com and sign up on line. Members must log in to the members page and go to the hqrl store in order to obtain the discount. |
Recognize your Outstanding Volunteers and Team NOW
WSGS is proud to announce that the Outstanding Volunteer and Team Awards are back!!
After a three-year hiatus and a global pandemic, it’s time to honor those members who kept societies together and moving forward. Local societies can submit up to four individuals or two teams/projects for special recognition by WSGS.
The process for this year’s Outstanding Volunteer/Team Award program is accelerated and streamlined to recognize our volunteers as quickly as possible. They all deserve it, don’t they?
Letters to local societies and organizations, with additional details, have been emailed to society contacts. If you have not received that information, please contact Roxanne Lowe, WSGS Secretary at Info@wasgs.org. The milestones for this year’s nomination process are:
• No later than May 1, 2022: Submit the name(s), narratives and photographs of your honorees to Info@wasgs.org. The narrative (approximately 150 words) should explain the accomplishments of your nominee and why you are honoring him/her. The photograph should be a good quality digital photograph (at least 300 dpi).
• June 1, 2022: Formal announcement of the recipients will be announced.
Additional details and deadlines, plus indexes of honorees since 2003, may be found at the WSGS website at: https://www.wasgs.org/cpage.php?pt=54
Please contact Roxanne Lowe at Info@wasgs.org if you have questions or suggestions.
Eastern Washington Genealogical Society Spring Seminar coming soon
The EWGS Spring Seminar is coming soon!
Don’t miss out on these dynamic speakers; they will be bringing us fascinating stories about the area in which we live and how our ancestors came to be here.
This will be our first Hybrid Meeting! Please join us in person or on Zoom!
To register go to the website: EWGSi (The registration is two steps, so be sure to read the instructions at the bottom of the registration form.)
EWGS Spring Seminar
Saturday, April 2
EWGS Spring Seminar
9:00 am to 2:30 pm
Our First Hybrid Meeting at the Shadle Public Library! Free parking at the Shadle Library!
Shadle Public Library is located at 2111 W. Wellesley Avenue, Spokane, Washington 99205
Richard Sola will present:
1) Creating a Region – The Populating of Spokane & The Inland Empire, 1870-1920 We will be looking, decade by decade, at how Spokane grew from a village of less than 50 people in 1870 to a major U.S. city in 1900 with a population of over 100,000. Practical resources for you to use will be discussed.
2) Living Their Lives in the Inland Empire – 1870-1920 Who moved here and why? Where did they come from? How did they get here and why did they stay? What was it like to live in the new city of Spokane?
Susan Dechant will present:
3) A Monumental Story, a Grand Coulee Mystery Once considered to be the Eighth Wonder of the World, the Grand Coulee Dam has had a huge impact on not only us here in the state of Washington but on all of the western states that are supplied with energy produced at the dam. During construction of the main dam and later the third powerhouse (roughly from 1933-1975), 81 men were killed working on the project. Who were those men and what are their stories? Susan will share how she used her genealogy research skills to solve the mystery of the missing monument.
Were your ancestors miners….. east or west?
Did you have an ancestor whose occupation was a miner? Many were. And many immigrants with a mining background came to places in America where they pursued that same occupation. (Welsh coal miners to Pennsylvania.) I just discovered a cool website, Discover Mining History with the Mining History Association. Right on the home page is this question: “I am working on my family tree and have relatives who worked in mines. Where can I find more information?” And next, “My relative worked at the XYZ mine. How can I find records of his/her employment?” So if you do have an ancestor whose occupation was miner, I’ll bet you’d find some good stuff on this website. www.mininghistoryassocation.org
Have you visited our Roslyn cemeteries? It’s located just east of Snoqualmie Pass. This is actually 27 separate cemeteries bundled together in the wooded Roslyn hillside with nearly 5000 graves representing 24 different nationalities that used to live in the town……… many of these folks came to be miners and work in the coal mines. Lots of mining history right in our own Evergreen state.