Archives Month at Washington State Regional Archives

by Charles Hansen

Poster (2)

Archives Month celebrates WA bridges

If it’s October, then our State Archives is celebrating its annual Archives Month. This year’s theme is Washington’s historic bridges, those indispensable links for moving people and goods around the state. I’m a big fan of our bridges and have my favorites, as I’m sure you do.

I want to give you a head’s up that as part of the month-long celebration, the main State Archives in Olympia and the regional branches in Bellevue, Bellingham, Cheney and Ellensburg will host open houses or Basics of Historical Research workshops on Saturday, October 24. Contact the State Archives at (360) 586-1492 or research@sos.wa.gov for more information about these events. Another research workshop will be held October 10 from 9 a.m. to noon at the Floyd Norgaard Cultural Center in Stanwood. For more info about the Stanwood workshop, contact Janette Gomes at the Northwest Regional Archives at janette.gomes@sos.wa.gov or (360) 650-2813.

A great-looking free poster helps commemorate Archives Month. The poster (shown here) is available in the State Archives headquarters in Olympia, the front desk of our Executive Office at the Capitol and at all regional Archives branches, as well as several local historical societies, universities with archives/library collections, museums and heritage centers. Get your poster while supplies last! If you want to see the digital version of the new poster, just go here. The poster was designed by Archives’ own Benjamin Helle.

 

If you want a larger version of the poster go here: http://www.sos.wa.gov/_assets/archives/2015ArchivesMonthFINAL_300_5x7.jpg

Seattle Genealogical Society Tip of the Week

by Charles Hansen

TIP OF THE WEEK – WORLDCAT

Suppose you just learned about a book on a subject or a family that you were researching, a book that you had not heard of before?  Wouldn’t it be great if there was a quick & easy way to find the library closest to you that had that book?!

Well, there is.  It’s called WorldCat and it’s the world’s largest library catalog, literally a global catalog of library collections.

On this website, https://www.worldcat.org/, you can enter the title or the author of the book to find a list of libraries that hold that book.  By entering your zip code, you can quickly determine whether a nearby library has that book.  Seattle Public Library, the King County Library System, the University of Washington libraries and the Fiske Genealogical Library are all participants in WorldCat.  (The SGS Library is not at this time because the costs have been deemed too great.)

If no nearby library has the book, you can still obtain information from a library that does have it, via interlibrary loan, or by requesting photocopies of relevant pages. WorldCat can also be used to search for all books on a given topic or subject, thereby discovering books that you didn’t know about before

Seattle Genealogical Society News

by Charles Hansen

Coming Soon!

SGS 2015 Fall Seminar
Saturday, October 17
Nordic Heritage Museum
There is only a little more than 2 weeks before the SGS 2015 Fall Seminar on Saturday, October 17.   Don’t miss out on your chance to hear nationally renowned genealogist and widely acclaimed speaker Dr. Tom Jones present “The Family History Detective: Finding Solutions to Your Toughest Research Problems.”

The four seminar presentations include:  •Can Complex Research Problems Be Solved Solely Online?
•Five Ways to Prove Who Your Ancestor Was (Some Reliable and Others Not Reliable
•Inferential Genealogy: Deducing Ancestors’ Identities Indirectly
•Solving the Mystery of the Disappearing Ancestor

Register now!  Mail or bring in the seminar registration form you recently received or register online by visiting http://www.seattlegenealogicalsociety.org/content/2015-fall-seminar-registration  Deadline for ordering a lunch is October 13.

Seminar registration fee: $50 for SGS members, $60 for non-members

Special Interactive Classes Taught by Dr. Tom Jones
Sunday, October 18
Seattle Genealogical Society

Only 12 spots remain available for the Sunday special classes.  Register now to secure your chance to work with Dr. Jones in a small group setting.  The two classes include:  •Research Questions and Hypotheses: Planning an Exhaustive Search
•Finding Immigrant and Migrant Origins
Special class registration fee: $35 for SGS members, $40 for non-members

Go to http://seattlegenealogicalsociety.org/fallseminar for full details on our fall seminar and special classes.

See you at the seminar!

BOARD POSTPONES PUBLICATION OF THE SGS BULLETIN

Despite our best efforts over the past 6 months, we have been unable to find someone to fill the currently vacant position of Director of Publications. Continue reading →

Whitman County Gen Society News Flash

by Charles Hansen

WCGS

Whitman County Genealogical Society

Saturday, October 24, 8:30 – 1:30, with lunch

is hosting a seasonal seminar featuring:

Janet Norby: Salem Witch Trials and Their Consequences for our Country. Janet utilizes information about personal ancestors who participated in the trials and searches for an understanding of the cultural influences that
prompted them to do so. With discussion to follow.

Jill Nock and Barb Crossler: DAR presentation includes historical background, info on their chapter, types of service that can be proven, documents needed and places to search. With discussion to follow.

Barbara Bradley Petura: Preserving Genealogical Research & Family History for Future Generations. Barbara will give us ideas and show us internet sites where we will be able to enter our research for others to find and expand on in years to come. With discussion to follow.

Date: Saturday, October 24, 2015
Times: 08:30 am: Registration
09:00 am-10:00 am Janet Norby: Salem Witch Trials
10:15 am-12:15 pm Barb Crossler and Jill Nock: DAR
12:30 pm-01:30 pm Barbara Petura: Preserving Genealogical Research &
Family History for Future Generations
Lunch: 12:15 pm-01:30 pm during Barb Petura’s talk we will have a soup lunch with a vegetarian option
Place: Ridge Pointe Clubhouse, 1402 SE Fancy Free Drive, enter from 900 Bishop Blvd. (which is across the street from the Hospital’s red Emergency
Entrance sign), then turn left immediately

Cost: Pre-Registration, by October 17: $30.00 including lunch & snacks
Registration, after October 17 or at the door: $35.00 including lunch & snacks

If you have any questions or need more information contact President, Sue Kreikemeier at:
aerocraft@completebbs.com or 509-635-1303
===================================================
REGISTRATION FORM:
Name: ___________________________________
Email: ______________________________________ or Phone: _________________
Make checks payable to W.C.G.S and send to: WCGS, P.O. Box 393, Pullman, WA 99163…….For planning purposes, please have pre-registrations in by October 17.

Kittitas County Gen Society News Flash

by Charles Hansen

 

KCGS_logo

Kittitas Co. Genealogical Soc. Meeting  —  Monday Oct 5 at 7 pm

NOT AT 413 N Main, Ellensburg NOT

MEETING IS AT HAL HOLMES CENTER—RUBY ST & 2ND AVE, Ellensburg WA

We’ll have VERY GOOD Program and Refreshments, as usual.

 Thanks to Erik Bakke for suddenly trying to adapt our computer to Hal Holmes, as our former meeting room no longer available?

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Call Mary Christensen at 509-925-9104 if you could substitute occasionally  in our genealogy library to help keep our library open 10 am – 4 pm Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday.

Training will be provided and this new knowledge could be what takes you “up to the next level” in YOUR family history research

 

 

Eastern Washington Gen Society News Flash

by Charles Hansen

Cyndi Ingle is coming to town!!!

Cyndi

Cyndi has lectured all over the world (practically) and all over the Pacific Northwest but she has never come to Eastern Washington…… and this coming Saturday, October 3rd, she is coming to town!!

It’s not too late to register…… click to www.EWGSI.org to get all the scoop and to register (PayPal or send check or pay at the door).

Cyndi’s List has over 300,000 links to websites that pertain to genealogy. If you live near Spokane (within a 3-hour drive is near) then you really must come to spend the day with EWGS and with Cyndi.

Shutterbugs Wanted

by Roxanne Lowe

Did you notice the latest photos in our Blog banner? They’re part of a rotation of photos submitted by you — our enthusiastic readers — and we’re hoping you’ll send us your favorite photos of our beautiful state.

Rural cemetery near Hartline in Grant County. Photo by Donna Potter-Phillips.

Rural cemetery near Hartline in Grant County. Photo by Donna Potter-Phillips.

This latest batch of photos was submitted by Donna Potter Phillips, WSGS Vice President, Eastern Washington Genealogical Society President AND avid photographer. On a rotating basis, you’ll see Donna’s photos of a rural cemetery (pictured here), sea urchins at Salt Creek Recreation Area near Pt. Angeles, Lake Crescent, Mt. Rainier, Stevens County, and the Eastern Washington Branch of the State Archives.

Donna’s photos are part of our Blog Banner Photo Challenge — photos you’ve taken of scenes in our great state of Washington. There’s still time to send us your favorite photo for the Blog banner. For more details, read the 08 July 2015 blog post or enter “Blog Banner” in the search bar on the right.

Where are your photos? We hope to see them soon!

Serendipity Friday

by Charles Hansen

We Washingtonians recognize how important our apples are to the world.

Back in the first decade of the 1900s a series of National Apple Shows were held across Washington…….

AApple

This photo was from the first-ever-held National Apple Show in 1908 in Spokane. The photo comes from our Washington State Digital PHOTOGRAPH collection……….. bet you didn’t remember that there were many, many older photos available via this website. (They were Charles Libby photos.)

Doing a Google search for “national apple show,” I found this newspaper quote (from the San Francisco Call ) for December 6 and 8, 1908:

“President Roosevelt will press a button at 10:30 tomorrow morning Pacific time which will give the signal for the formal opening of the National Apple Show to be held in Spokane December 7 to 12. The exhibits, ranging all the way from a single apple to carload lots will fill twenty thousand feet of floor space………… the exposition is the greatest and finest exhibition of apples, apple products, implements and machinery associated with the cultivation of the apple that has ever been assembled anywhere. The array is bewildering in magnitude and beauty.

“The bulk of the exhibits come from Washington, Idaho, Montana and Oregon but some are from western Canada and Luther Burbank sends an exhibit from California……….. there are exhibits from Japan, France and England, Norway, Germany and several U.S. states…….”

“One feature of the show is the presence of sixteen young women from the Domestic Science class at Washington State College in Pullman who will demonstrate the coking and serving of apples…. they have 56 ways of cooking this one fruit.”

Think about it; would YOU have been excited to go to an Expo all about apples?????

Seattle Genealogical Society Tip of the Week

by Charles Hansen

TIP OF THE WEEK – Puget Sound Genealogical Society’s Obituary Records Project

Check out Puget Sound Genealogical Society’s Obituary Collection Index file on-line.  PSGS entered into a partnership with the Kitsap Regional Library and has indexed over 40,000 obituaries dated from 1891 through August 31, 2012.

You can request a search and mailing of obituaries that they may have on file. Response is fast.  It’s free; however, they are always happy to receive a donation for this valuable service.

You can access their Obituary Index File & the Obituary Research Request Form at : http://www.pusogensoc.org/obituaryprojectcommittee.html