Announcing the new German-American Genealogical Partnership

Dick Eastman · June 5, 2015 · Societies · No Comments

The following announcement as written by the folks at the Germanic Genealogy Society:

“Bridging the Gap between North America and Europe for Genealogists”

This partnership forms a German-American genealogy structure between countries and organizations for sharing contacts and genealogical research. This partnership is open to all organizations interested in Germanic genealogical research.

Goals of Partnership

Our shared goal is to stimulate interest in Germanic Genealogy and to provide a forum to share research methods and information to further the researching of our ancestors. The goal of the Partnership is to assist, strengthen and support each society as they continue to grow.

Common Goals include:

1. Sharing strategies for research
2. Developing contacts between organization and individuals
3. Creating a list of most valuable resources
4. Create lists of references and websites
5. Sharing contact lists of organizations, speakers, researchers, guides, historians and
   translators

A future plan may include Germanic national and international conferences. Additional plans and goals are under discussion with new partner societies.

Founding Societies

The founding societies of this new partnership include the Germanic Genealogy Society (GGS), the Pommern Regional Group of Minnesota (PRG), and the Deutsche Arbeitsgemeinschaft genealogischer Verbände (DAGV).

The first international online meeting for this partnership was held on 28 May 2015, which included representatives of various societies from Germany, Poland, and seven U.S. states ranging from California to New York.

Representatives from the three founding organizations officially signed a Proclamation of St. Paul on 29 May 2015 before a large audience as part of the GGS Conference. The proclamation describes the goal to create a closer German-American genealogical relationship between all interested societies.

From this original online meeting four additional societies have already joined in this partnership with several more waiting for board approval. We encourage other societies interested in Germanic Genealogy to join us in the German-American Genealogical Partnership. Further information can be found on the GGS website under the German Partnership menu item.

Founding Partner Societies:

• Germanic Genealogy Society
• Deutsche Arbeitsgemeinschaft genealogischer Verbände
• Pommern Regional Group of Minnesota

Additional partners include:

• Sacramento German Genealogical Society
• Immigrant Genealogical Society of Burbank, California
• Southwest Florida Germanic Genealogy Society
• Ahnenforscher Stammtisch Unna und Umgebung

New NEH Grant to Digitize Family Records

Dick Eastman · April 30, 2015 · Announcements, Preservation · No Comments

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) announced “Common Heritage,” the first grant of its kind, to make “light historical records and artifacts currently hidden in family attics and basements” available to the public. In announcing the initiative, NEH Chairman William “Bro” Adams said, “We know that America’s cultural heritage isn’t found only in libraries and museums, but in our homes, in our family histories, and the stories and objects we pass down to our children.”
The announcement states, “The program supports day-long events organized by community cultural institutions, which members of the public will be invited to attend. At these events experienced staff will digitize the community historical materials brought in by the public. Project staff will also record descriptive information—provided by community attendees—about the historical materials. Contributors will be given a free digital copy of their items to take home, along with the original materials. With the owner’s permission, digital copies of these materials would be included in the institutions’ collections. Historical photographs, artifacts, documents, family letters, art works, and audiovisual recordings are among the many items eligible for digitization and public commemoration.”

NEH encourages local institutions such as libraries, archives, museums, and colleges to apply for up to $12,000 in project funding. The application deadline is June 25, 2015, but a webinar for interested applicants will be held on May 5, 2015.
More information may be found at the NEH’s webpage: http://www.neh.gov/grants/preservation/common-heritage.
My thanks to newsletter reader Claire Bettag for telling me about this new grant.

DAR Provides Contributed Supporting Documentation Online

DAR Provides Contributed Supporting Documentation Online for Genealogy Researchers

Dick Eastman · February 22, 2015 · Online Sites, Societies · 2 Comments

The following announcement was written by the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution:

The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) is pleased to announce a new added feature to its Genealogical Research System (GRS). This newSupporting Documents feature allows users to purchase documents that were submitted with previously verified DAR membership and supplemental applications. These documents may include family bible records, deeds, wills and other various materials used to prove lineage to a patriot of the American Revolution.

“The DAR is committed to making family research materials more readily available to the public,” said DAR President General Lynn Forney Young. “Genealogy is such an exciting passion for so many and these newly added resources will expand accessibility to family history documents.”

The Supporting Documents made available on the GRS may prove to be very helpful to researchers who are looking for a missing piece in their genealogy search. For example, if a researcher is having difficulties connecting two generations or finding proof of an ancestor’s military service, the needed documents could possibly be included in the supporting documentation submitted for a common ancestor.

The GRS is a free resource provided by the DAR to aid general genealogical research and to assist with the DAR membership process. The GRS is a collection of databases that provide access to the many materials amassed by the DAR since its founding in 1890.

GRS users have long been able to purchase Record Copies (previously verified DAR membership and supplemental applications), which show the lineage going back to the ancestor who contributed to the American Revolution, but before now the documents which were submitted to support the Record Copy were not available for purchase online. Now these supporting documents are available on demand for the user to purchase either in conjunction with a Record Copy or separate from the application with which it is associated.

“The addition of Supporting Documents to the GRS may ease the difficulty of family research in some situations,” said Eric Grundset, Director of the DAR Library. “Previously, you may have needed to search through many resources in various locations to find documents; now you may be able to find them in the GRS.”

These Supporting Documents have been reviewed and indexed by DAR staff genealogists and DAR member volunteers. More Supporting Documents will become available as more are reviewed. Any documents that have not been thoroughly reviewed will not be available for purchase on the GRS.

Record Copies and Supporting Documents are now part of the DAR Online Library Documents Service. This service allows researchers to select an application or Supporting Documents (if they are available), pay by credit card, and instantly download the document as an Adobe PDF document. It is important to note that any applications or vital records (birth, death, marriage, divorce or other sensitive documentation) that are less than 100 years old will not be available in an effort to keep personal information confidential.