Public Invited to Discuss Changes at National Archives

National Archives Hosts Public Forum to Discuss Research Area Changes at AI
December 17 forum to address researcher ideas and concerns

Washington, DC. . . On Thursday, December 17, at 1:00 p.m., the
National Archives will hold an open public forum to discuss changes
under consideration for public research areas in the National Archives
Building in Washington, DC. Genealogists, scholars, Government agency
offices, and all other researchers who use the services and facilities
of the National Archives are invited to share their needs and concerns.
The meeting will take place in the Robert Warner Research Center of the
National Archives Building, located at 700 Pennsylvania Ave., NW,
Washington, DC. Attendees should use the Pennsylvania Ave. NW Research
Entrance.

In recent years, microfilm usage by researchers has dropped
significantly. Given this decreased demand for the numerous and bulky
microfilm reader machines, the National Archives now has an opportunity
to reallocate space in the building. By reducing the size of the
microfilm reading room to the number of stations actually in demand by
researchers, the National Archives can expand much-needed office space
for staff and public program spaces for visitors, while both maintaining
and strengthening researcher services.

There have been discussions this fall between researcher
representatives and National Archives staff on ways to design and equip
proposed new research areas. The National Archives now invites the
general public to participate in this discussion. National Archives
staff will explain the reasons for undertaking a space plan, its
objectives, and the planning process, and will invite comments and
answer questions. Alternative proposals will be described and
considered at this public forum. The goal is to reallocate space and
update equipment and systems so that researchers receive the most value
from every square foot of space.

Reservations are not required. Those who cannot attend are invited to
send written comments to: inquire@nara.gov.

SECURITY ALERT: Family Tree Crashers

I pulled up my grandfather's pedigree chart today to print it for a relative and was shocked to find my tree had been crashed!

Be Careful - this could happen to you!

SCGS Family History Writing Contest Deadline Dec. 31, 2009

The Southern California Genealogical Society sponsors one of the very few writing contests designed specifically for family historians. The GENEii Family History Writers Contest, now in its tenth year, offers cash prizes in two categories:

Category 1: Family or local history articles of 1,000-2,000 words in length, published or unpublished. If previously published, entries must be accompanied by the written permission of the publisher allowing article to be reprinted by SCGS.

Awards:

1st Place, $200

2nd Place, $100

3rd Place, $50

Honorable Mentions, certificate

Finalists, certificate

Category 2: Family or local history articles of 1,000 words or less, published or unpublished. If previously published, entries must be accompanied by the written permission of the publisher allowing article to be reprinted by SCGS.

Awards:

1st Place, $100

2nd Place, $50

3rd Place, $25

Honorable Mentions, certificate

Finalists, certificate

The deadline for submissions for the 2009 contest is December 31, 2009.

All of the details and contest rules can be found on the SCGS Website at www.scgsgenealogy.com. The FAQs can be found at http://www.scgsgenealogy.com/2009contest-faq.htm

You can read examples of some of the entries on the website as well. Look on the left-hand side of the screen for "Writing Contest" and click on that link.

In November, 2005, Heritage Books, Inc. published an anthology of some of the most memorable entries to our contest in the contest’s first five years. The anthology is called Celebrating Family History, and is available for $25 plus shipping and handling through the SCGS website.

The Sounds of Yiddish Culture

The Library of Congress has just released a new webcast about Yiddish - American Radio giving viewers a tour of the sounds of Yiddish culture from 1925 - 1955.

"While all other aspects of Yiddish culture existed wherever Ashkenazic Jews lived, it was only in America that radio realized its greatest and most fulfilling use by and for Jews. Yiddish scholar Henry Sapoznik discusses and shares some of the most memorable and powerful moments in this nearly lost world of ethnic American broadcasting."

Broad categories of Yiddish radio shows are explored - from rabbinical advice programs to live Yiddish theater acts, from man-on-the-street interviews to the news of the day in verse.

Watch the Webcast which includes not only Henry Sapoznik's lecture but also images from the timeframe from the Library of Congress collection.

Footnote.com's WWII Collection Available Free During December 2009

Lindon, UT – December 7, 2009 – In honor of Pearl Harbor Day, Footnote.com announced today that they will make the largest interactive WWII collection on the web including the Interactive USS Arizona Memorial free to the public during December. Featuring over 10 million records, documents and photos from the National Archives, this collection helps family members and historians better understand the people and events of WWII.

Included in this exclusive collection is the Interactive USS Arizona Memorial. This online version allows people to view the actual wall of names and search for those they know. An interactive box for each name on the wall features additional information about each veteran and includes a place where anyone can contribute photos and stories. View the Captain of the USS Arizona, Franklin Van Valkenburgh, on the interactive wall.

It’s estimated that a little over 2 million WWII veterans are still alive in the United States today. However, thousands of veterans are passing away every month taking with them many of the stories from WWII. Footnote.com is making an effort to help preserve these stories by digitizing documents from the National Archives and providing interactive tools to help people connect with each other.

Christina Knoedler from Pennsylvania used the Missing Air Crew Reports on Footnote.com to discover information about her father-in-law, who is a WWII veteran. “The other night, I showed him what I had found,” explains Christina. “He couldn’t believe that these papers existed. They had not only his name but also his buddies’ names. He started to reminisce and it was quite an evening. This will allow me to go back and document many more events in our family’s history for the generations to come.”

The Missing Air Crew Reports are just one of the record collections found on Footnote.com. Other WWII collections on Footnote.com include:
Pearl Harbor Muster Rolls
U.S. Air Force Photos
Submarine Patrol Reports
Japanese Air Target Analysis
Army JAG Case Files
Navy JAG Case Files
Naval Press Clippings
Allied Military Conferences
Holocaust Records

“People are making fascinating discoveries in these records,” says Russell Wilding, CEO of Footnote.com. “Reading some of the first-hand accounts helps you develop a different view and appreciation of our WWII heroes and what they went through.”

To experience the Interactive USS Arizona Memorial and the World War II visit http://www.footnote.com/wwii/.

Many Thanks! And Some of The Bloggers I Enjoy

I'm honored that The Genealogy Gems News Blog has received the Kreativ Blogger award, and grateful to Katie at the You Are Where You Came From blog for nominating me! To earn my prize, I have to reveal 7 things you may not know about me:

1. I collect cartoon glasses - you know the kind that came from Taco Bell and Pizza Hut in the 1970s. I admit it - I have nearly every one ever made.

2. I'm about to become a grandma for the first time in about a week. I'm ecstatic! (OK, my podcast listeners probably already knew this!)

3. I love crafts - It started with making puppets when I was little (now you know I did the Socks to America video), and moved on to cross stitching, sewing, painting, knitting, crocheting...this all goes back to my great grandmother (and perhaps further back) and was inherited down the female line.

4. My television debut was on The Brakeman Bill Show in 1972 in Tacoma, WA.

5. I helped kill a rattlesnake that my daughter stumbled into.

6. I come from a long line of TV and movie "quoters." It's a gene I seemed to have passed on to my kids.

7. I don't eat my vegetable. :-(

And now for the 7 bloggers upon whom I bestow the Kreativ Blogger award. These are some of the bloggers who keep me informed, inspired, and moving forward in my own research.

The Genealogy Insider

The Chart Chick

Voices of the Past

Gena's Genealogy

Paper Portraits - Silhouettes by Kathryn

Blind Pig & the Acorn

Ernie's Journies

Here's Why As A Genealogist You Should NEVER Give Up!

At the Family History Expo in St. George last year I did some "on the fly" interviews with participants who stopped by The Genealogy Gems Podcast booth. One of the questions I was asking was "what's your most precious heirloom?"

I got some wonderful answers: A flapper dress, a door knob from a honeymoon suite, a pocket watch...but there was one answer that stopped me in my tracks.

"I have no heirlooms" a tall, nicely dressed lady said flatly. "They're all gone. No one thought there were worth keeping, and the family photos were tossed - everything."

The eternal optimist in me hoped for her sake that this wasn't the case, and that perhaps someone out there still had a precious photo from her family.

In my conference presentations I share techniques that I have used to find family heirlooms on Ebay, as well as through tracking down long lost cousins. After sharing some of these ideas on the podcast, listeners have written me in excitement to share their discoveries. (above is a matchbook that one listener found on Ebay that is from his great grandparents store!)

But a recent article in the Pekin Daily Times is a testimony for why we as genealogists should NEVER give up hope!

Read the article to learn how a box chock full of family photos and mementos that was sold at a garage sale made it's way five years later into the hands of a family descendant, John Engstrom. The Pekin Daily Times is a GENEALOGY GEM for assisting the purchasers in reuniting the box with John and his family!