Last Sunday, I was very pleased to give a presentation and facilitate a discussion on tablet computing for genealogy. This was for the Technology Interest Group of the Lincoln-Lancaster County Genealogical Society (LLCGS). We had a wonderful turnout with a lot of great comments and questions.
While it's not quite the same as being there in person, here are the slides that I shared with the group. I guess I'm going to have to change a few of the transition slides in the examples of photo editing software for online viewing. But for now, here it is. I've also posted a PDF file of some recommended apps for the iPad and iPhone to aid in genealogy research. I hope you'll pick up a few tips. Click here for the PDF file.
Showing posts with label Lincoln Lancaster Genealogical Society. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lincoln Lancaster Genealogical Society. Show all posts
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Third Blogiversary of LongLostRelatives - Year in Review
Time rolls around so quickly! It's really hard for me to believe that LongLostRelatives.net is already three years old, having been born on December 13 in 2009. 2010 clearly was a landmark year for my blogging, with more than 300 posts that year. 2011 slipped down to a little over 200. This year, I averaged about one post per week, but my reasons for being AWOL from blogging were addressed in my Transitions post.
But LongLostRelatives.net is still attracting readers and serving as cousin bait. Just last week, I received an email from someone who was searching a common ancestor and found the blog. I still get a kick out of hearing from people, sharing our research and discussing our theories.
2012 marked coming around full circle. My first blog post was in the form of a query; I was looking for an obituary to confirm if some information I discovered was truly about my Mom's first cousin. It took me nearly three years to discover that obituary, and it was almost in my own back yard, just an hour's drive away at the W. Dale Clark Library in Omaha.
LLCGS
2012 also marked the year of my return to volunteerism. I've been a member of the Lincoln-Lancaster County Genealogical Society on and off for many years. Now, having been a member for seven years in a row, it was time to start giving back. I had approached LLCGS about doing social media via Facebook almost three years ago, but they weren't quite ready for it. When 2012 rolled around, the President asked if I would be publicity chair and one of the first things I did was to set up our LLCGS Facebook page, a blog and Twitter feed. These methods of communication are integral to our full publicity efforts, and along with our webmaster and newsletter editor, we are communicating with our members and followers in a variety of ways.
In the late summer, I was elected as a member at large to the LLCGS Board of Directors. Yes, I chaired the nominating committee, but I was NOT my own first choice for a position on the Board! As I spoke with the movers and shakers of the society, several of them suggested I consider myself for the open position. After some persuasion, I realized I could do a much better job with our publicity and social media if I were involved in the oversight of the organization, so I agreed. I haven't looked back since.
LLCGS is, by far, one of the most exciting community organizations I've been involved with in many years. There is so much enthusiasm and support for genealogy education in our community. It's fun to be a part of that. Our group offers excellent monthly programs, a conference with a nationally recognized speaker, monthly discussion groups, field trips, and weekly sessions at Walt Branch Library in Lincoln. These Sunday Sessions may focus on DNA, Technology, a Writer's Group, Sharing our Family History, German Genealogy Interest Group as well as drop-in Help sessions for members and the community. Walt Branch Library is becoming "the" place to be for genealogists on Sunday afternoons. Just wait until you see the line-up of events we are planning for 2013! There truly is something for everyone.
Genealogy Speaking
I also continued to dabble in giving talks about genealogy. For LLCGS, I gave a presentation on genealogy blogs. During the summer, I was invited back to W. Dale Clark Library in Omaha and debuted my talk about newspaper research. This fall, I was guest of the Friends of Wymore Library for a talk about beginning genealogy. And I'm starting to line up a few more speaking engagements for 2013.
Homestead National Monument and Beatrice, Nebraska
Over Memorial Day weekend, I finally made it to the Homestead National Monument to see all of the pages of the Homestead Act - the first time all of the pages were on display together. Right before my eyes was that familiar signature of President Lincoln.
I took a lot of photos in the museum and around the prairie grounds that still look much the way they probably did 150 years ago. It was a sunny, peaceful and quiet Saturday morning that left me exhilarated.
I then spent some time getting acquainted with the genealogy materials at the Beatrice Public Library, which is also where the collection of the Nebraska State Genealogical Society is located. I didn't have a research plan in mind - I just wanted to find my way around and see what they had. Then, a true example of social media in action occurred. I've been following Jenna Mills' search for her Buffalo county, Nebraska roots, particularly in Amherst, Nebraska. There, on one shelf, a thick book with the word "Amherst" on the spine caught my eye. I sent off a quick message on Facebook to Jenna to get her surnames. Messages between us then became fast and furious as I discovered pages of information about her family. I was as excited as if it had been my own family! She later said that she just kept clicking on Refresh, waiting as I kept sending more scans to her from the library. I got the biggest kick out of that!
I also drove around Beatrice and found the locations of where my great grandmother, Clara Pecht, had lived after the death of her husband, LeRoy. One appeared to be a vacant lot; another was the site of a church. So, clearly, there are more stories to be discovered in some land records.
Conferences and Kick-Offs
2012 marked the release of the 1940 census and I was involved in the Census Kick-Off celebration sponsored by LLCGS. Judi Cook, our program chair at the time, is a whiz at organizing events with so much attention to detail. People wore 1940s attire, someone brought a vintage 1940s automobile, there was 1940s food and candy (oh, it was Fresh, the items were first on the market in the 1940s!). I put together a music loop of some of my favorite Big Band music to accompany a slide show about the 1940s. It was a great event!
In May, I attended the annual conference of the Nebraska State Genealogical Society in Grand Island and became acquainted with our speaker, Laura Prescott. She was fascinating and gave a lot of ideas about resources and techniques I want to pursue. I finally got to meet several of my Nebraska Facebook friends in person, so that was a special treat.
September brought Family History Expos to Kearney, with a turnout of about 300 people! It was great to reconnect with old friends from Lincoln and Omaha as well as other parts of the state. Ruby Coleman of North Platte was our keynote speaker.
Fall brought Hank Jones Jr. to the LLCGS conference in October. He was delightful! And YES, a GOOD speaker can do a full day of entertaining lectures and education without the use of PowerPoint slides! Unfortunately, I missed seeing John Colletta in Omaha two weeks later as I was still keeping an eye on my Dad who had a stroke the day after the Hank Jones conference. (He continues to improve, by the way, thank you to everyone who wrote with your positive thoughts and encouragement).
Reconnecting with the Geneabloggers
While I wasn't able to attend some of the big genealogy gatherings around the country this year, I was able to meet up with some blogger buddies who I first met at the Family History Expo in Kansas City in 2010.
Gena Philibert-Ortega was a presenter at the International Quilt Museum symposium here in Lincoln this year. We were able to get together for lunch at Lazlo's and share a very wonderful spinach and artichoke lavosh. We didn't have a whole lot of time together, but it was Quality time!
I was certainly disappointed in missing the John Colletta conference sponsored by the Greater Omaha Genealogical Society in October - because I had made plans to spend the day with my friend, Diana Ritchie who writes the Random Relatives blog, who has been a very good pal since we met in Kansas City two years ago. I owe her for taking me down the Kindle path! Fortunately, we already had Plan B ready. Her friend, Nancy, has connections in Lincoln and her grandparents are buried at Wyuka Cemetery here. We met bright and early for breakfast on a Sunday morning. I got to look at the beautiful book that Nancy had compiled via Ancestry.com. Then we scouted Wyuka looking for gravestones. Wyuka has THE BEST resource for locating graves on their web site. Every one is indexed and searchable and then there are maps for each section of the cemetery. One wishes that every cemetery had something this genealogist-friendly.
A short distance from Wyuka was the home and former grocery store that had belonged to Nancy's grandparents that she remembered from her visits to Lincoln. We walked around as Nancy and Diana took photographs. Of course, one of the neighbors wanted to know what the heck we were nosing about for!
Getting our Tech Together
This year I also set up two discussion groups on Facebook where we can talk about Kindle for Genealogy and Technology for Genealogy. Recently, I even created an iPad for Genealogy community on Google+. Please drop by any and all of these groups to ask questions and provide your answers for others. My thanks to Becky Jamison and Thomas MacEntee for their help in maintaining the groups.
As I look back over 2012, even I am amazed at all of my genealogical activities - because I thought it was a pretty tame and laid back year. Apparently not!
With my retirement now less than 40 days away (but who's counting?), I am really looking forward to 2013 and more volunteering with LLCGS, more speaking engagements, more blogging, more blog reading, more scanning, more organizing, more research, more conferences, more day trips, more of Everything that I Love!
I have no doubt that 2013 will be an amazing year!
Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to all! And to all a good night!
Love, Susan
But LongLostRelatives.net is still attracting readers and serving as cousin bait. Just last week, I received an email from someone who was searching a common ancestor and found the blog. I still get a kick out of hearing from people, sharing our research and discussing our theories.
 |
| Evelyn Gibbons obituary Discovered at W Dale Clark Library in Omaha |
LLCGS
2012 also marked the year of my return to volunteerism. I've been a member of the Lincoln-Lancaster County Genealogical Society on and off for many years. Now, having been a member for seven years in a row, it was time to start giving back. I had approached LLCGS about doing social media via Facebook almost three years ago, but they weren't quite ready for it. When 2012 rolled around, the President asked if I would be publicity chair and one of the first things I did was to set up our LLCGS Facebook page, a blog and Twitter feed. These methods of communication are integral to our full publicity efforts, and along with our webmaster and newsletter editor, we are communicating with our members and followers in a variety of ways.
In the late summer, I was elected as a member at large to the LLCGS Board of Directors. Yes, I chaired the nominating committee, but I was NOT my own first choice for a position on the Board! As I spoke with the movers and shakers of the society, several of them suggested I consider myself for the open position. After some persuasion, I realized I could do a much better job with our publicity and social media if I were involved in the oversight of the organization, so I agreed. I haven't looked back since.
LLCGS is, by far, one of the most exciting community organizations I've been involved with in many years. There is so much enthusiasm and support for genealogy education in our community. It's fun to be a part of that. Our group offers excellent monthly programs, a conference with a nationally recognized speaker, monthly discussion groups, field trips, and weekly sessions at Walt Branch Library in Lincoln. These Sunday Sessions may focus on DNA, Technology, a Writer's Group, Sharing our Family History, German Genealogy Interest Group as well as drop-in Help sessions for members and the community. Walt Branch Library is becoming "the" place to be for genealogists on Sunday afternoons. Just wait until you see the line-up of events we are planning for 2013! There truly is something for everyone.
Genealogy Speaking
I also continued to dabble in giving talks about genealogy. For LLCGS, I gave a presentation on genealogy blogs. During the summer, I was invited back to W. Dale Clark Library in Omaha and debuted my talk about newspaper research. This fall, I was guest of the Friends of Wymore Library for a talk about beginning genealogy. And I'm starting to line up a few more speaking engagements for 2013.
Homestead National Monument and Beatrice, Nebraska
 |
| Homestead National Monument of America near Beatrice, Nebraska |
I took a lot of photos in the museum and around the prairie grounds that still look much the way they probably did 150 years ago. It was a sunny, peaceful and quiet Saturday morning that left me exhilarated.
I then spent some time getting acquainted with the genealogy materials at the Beatrice Public Library, which is also where the collection of the Nebraska State Genealogical Society is located. I didn't have a research plan in mind - I just wanted to find my way around and see what they had. Then, a true example of social media in action occurred. I've been following Jenna Mills' search for her Buffalo county, Nebraska roots, particularly in Amherst, Nebraska. There, on one shelf, a thick book with the word "Amherst" on the spine caught my eye. I sent off a quick message on Facebook to Jenna to get her surnames. Messages between us then became fast and furious as I discovered pages of information about her family. I was as excited as if it had been my own family! She later said that she just kept clicking on Refresh, waiting as I kept sending more scans to her from the library. I got the biggest kick out of that!
I also drove around Beatrice and found the locations of where my great grandmother, Clara Pecht, had lived after the death of her husband, LeRoy. One appeared to be a vacant lot; another was the site of a church. So, clearly, there are more stories to be discovered in some land records.
Conferences and Kick-Offs
2012 marked the release of the 1940 census and I was involved in the Census Kick-Off celebration sponsored by LLCGS. Judi Cook, our program chair at the time, is a whiz at organizing events with so much attention to detail. People wore 1940s attire, someone brought a vintage 1940s automobile, there was 1940s food and candy (oh, it was Fresh, the items were first on the market in the 1940s!). I put together a music loop of some of my favorite Big Band music to accompany a slide show about the 1940s. It was a great event!
 |
| Laura Prescott at the state conference of the Nebraska State Genealogical Society |
September brought Family History Expos to Kearney, with a turnout of about 300 people! It was great to reconnect with old friends from Lincoln and Omaha as well as other parts of the state. Ruby Coleman of North Platte was our keynote speaker.
Fall brought Hank Jones Jr. to the LLCGS conference in October. He was delightful! And YES, a GOOD speaker can do a full day of entertaining lectures and education without the use of PowerPoint slides! Unfortunately, I missed seeing John Colletta in Omaha two weeks later as I was still keeping an eye on my Dad who had a stroke the day after the Hank Jones conference. (He continues to improve, by the way, thank you to everyone who wrote with your positive thoughts and encouragement).
Reconnecting with the Geneabloggers
While I wasn't able to attend some of the big genealogy gatherings around the country this year, I was able to meet up with some blogger buddies who I first met at the Family History Expo in Kansas City in 2010.
Gena Philibert-Ortega was a presenter at the International Quilt Museum symposium here in Lincoln this year. We were able to get together for lunch at Lazlo's and share a very wonderful spinach and artichoke lavosh. We didn't have a whole lot of time together, but it was Quality time!
I was certainly disappointed in missing the John Colletta conference sponsored by the Greater Omaha Genealogical Society in October - because I had made plans to spend the day with my friend, Diana Ritchie who writes the Random Relatives blog, who has been a very good pal since we met in Kansas City two years ago. I owe her for taking me down the Kindle path! Fortunately, we already had Plan B ready. Her friend, Nancy, has connections in Lincoln and her grandparents are buried at Wyuka Cemetery here. We met bright and early for breakfast on a Sunday morning. I got to look at the beautiful book that Nancy had compiled via Ancestry.com. Then we scouted Wyuka looking for gravestones. Wyuka has THE BEST resource for locating graves on their web site. Every one is indexed and searchable and then there are maps for each section of the cemetery. One wishes that every cemetery had something this genealogist-friendly.
A short distance from Wyuka was the home and former grocery store that had belonged to Nancy's grandparents that she remembered from her visits to Lincoln. We walked around as Nancy and Diana took photographs. Of course, one of the neighbors wanted to know what the heck we were nosing about for!
Getting our Tech Together
This year I also set up two discussion groups on Facebook where we can talk about Kindle for Genealogy and Technology for Genealogy. Recently, I even created an iPad for Genealogy community on Google+. Please drop by any and all of these groups to ask questions and provide your answers for others. My thanks to Becky Jamison and Thomas MacEntee for their help in maintaining the groups.
As I look back over 2012, even I am amazed at all of my genealogical activities - because I thought it was a pretty tame and laid back year. Apparently not!With my retirement now less than 40 days away (but who's counting?), I am really looking forward to 2013 and more volunteering with LLCGS, more speaking engagements, more blogging, more blog reading, more scanning, more organizing, more research, more conferences, more day trips, more of Everything that I Love!
I have no doubt that 2013 will be an amazing year!
Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to all! And to all a good night!
Love, Susan
Saturday, December 22, 2012
Society Saturday: LLCGS
I am a member of many genealogical and historical societies in Nebraska and around the country. Today, I am very proud to take some time to spotlight my "home" society, the Lincoln-Lancaster County Genealogical Society (LLCGS) of Nebraska.
I've been a member of LLCGS on and off for the past 30+ years, but a steady member since 2005. A little over a year ago, I wanted to become more involved in the group and was delighted when I was asked to become the group's publicity chair. I've wanted to bring LLCGS into the social media arena and the time was finally right for our society to have an online presence in addition to our web site, which is superbly managed by Al Harlow.
LLCGS now has a blog, a Facebook page, a Twitter feed and a Google+ page. We also have a newsletter, which is a monthly publication for members only, which is under the guidance of editor Susie Dunn. We all work together in conveying the LLCGS image to the public.
LLCGS is in its 36th year, serving Lincoln, Nebraska, Lancaster County and researchers from around the globe. While many societies are struggling financially and have dwindling membership numbers, LLCGS is strong, with a solid financial base and a membership roster that recently hit 205!
Speaking as a genealogist rather than as the organization's publicity chair, for me the society has three great strengths that make my membership important to me: the variety of our education programs, our free online databases and our resource library of 8,000+ items.
Education
LLCGS has monthly programs along with the member meetings on the second Tuesday of each month. In the last year or so, additional weekly events have been added to our offerings at what I refer to as "Sunday Sessions at the Library." From 2 to 4 p.m. on Sunday afternoons, LLCGS members gather at Walt Branch Library, 6701 S. 14th Street in Lincoln, Nebraska for demonstrations, discussion groups, and "help sessions" for budding genealogists. There are Genealogy Interest Groups (GIGs) for German research, technology, DNA and sharing your genealogy. We will soon be adding a writer's group. All of our sessions are open to the public and our presence in one the newest city library branches has opened our group to new members who noticed our sign as they entered the library.
Two of our members hold afternoon discussion groups monthly in other locations in Lincoln.
Our program topics for 2013 have been identified and the program and education committees are in the process of securing speakers and planning presentations. Also in the works are field trips to out of town libraries and research facilities, as well as other special events.
We will be partnering with Lincoln City Libraries in February in the promotion of the One Book One Lincoln project. The book selected this year is Destiny of the Republic by Candice Millard. LLCGS will be branching out to other branch libraries to make a presentation regarding the era following the Civil War and reconstruction and how our families fit into that time frame. LLCGS members will be available to help genealogists with their family history and acquaint them with genealogy resources available in the Lincoln City Libraries.
I counted nearly 100 different education sessions that will be available for our members and the community during 2013. How's that for an active society!
Online Databases
LLCGS has provided many free databases to help researchers with their Lancaster county roots. You can search cemetery records, marriage records, mortuary information, probate information, naturalization information. Naturalization records (vols 1 - 14) were indexed by LLCGS members for the period of October 6, 1906 through June 29, 1929.
 |
| Sample Search Result for my grandparents in the LLCGS database |
The newspaper database is growing, with more than 2,200 names uploaded from the Nebraska State Journal this week. I found two references for my great grandfather John Bellinger's marriage to Emma Landon in 1879. This newspaper index is based on cards that were done primarily by Melvin Sitler and cover the period from May 1873 through December 1899. This is a gold mine of records as the information pre-dates vital records in Nebraska.
People can learn more about the LLCGS digitization projects at our first meeting of 2013 on January 8. Facilitators will be webmaster Al Harlow and librarian Cindy Cochrane.
LLCGS Library
The LLCGS library is housed in the Don Love building on the Union College campus, 3800 S. 48th Street in Lincoln, Nebraska. Yes, you read correctly. We have more than 8,000 volumes of genealogy resources including reference books, genealogies, DVDs, microform, periodicals and videos. Our catalog can be searched here. Not only does our collection cover Lincoln and Lancaster county, but other areas of the country as well. Sadly, as someone who has been working full time and being a caregiver, I've yet to visit our library. BUT - once I am retired after the end of January, I can assure you, I will be spending many hours perusing our collection.
Our library accepts donations of materials and funds to purchase new items. At the moment, we are interested in adding to our collection of high school and college yearbooks. I know that once I make a few scans of my own yearbooks, they will be going to the LLCGS library.
Special Projects
We welcome volunteers to help index and scan records and assist in a variety of projects.
Membership
Membership to LLCGS is a bargain at $15 for an individual. Joint memberships are only $20. We also have patron levels and accept donations via PayPal. To become a member, visit our web site.
A gift membership to LLCGS makes a great stocking stuffer for you last minute shoppers!
Visit LLCGS Online
Web site
Blog
Google+
I also want to salute the members of LLCGS, committee chairs and the board of directors. Without the work of this active group of people, LLCGS would not be what it is today. It's all about the people giving back to the community.
LLCGS is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) education organization.
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Upcoming Genealogy Events in Nebraska
Upcoming genealogy events in Nebraska. If you have an event to add, please email me at sooznebr@gmail.com
|
Date & Location
|
Description
|
|
|
|
|
December 2, 2012
1:30
p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Walt
Branch Library
6701
South 14th St
Lincoln,
NE
|
LLCGS – Lincoln-Lancaster County
Genealogical Society - Planning Programs for 2013
Join
the Program and Education Committees to make plans and scheduling events for
2013. Facilitated by Phyllis Ericson, program chair.
|
|
|
|
|
December 5, 2012
7:00
– 9:00 p.m.
Nebraska
Methodist College
720
N. 87th, 3rd floor
Omaha,
NE
|
GOGS – Greater Omaha
Genealogical Society
Dennis
Kingery will present “Searching for Grundsheim: Finding Family in Germany.”
He will discuss his research trip to Germany, preparation, how he organized
the trip.
|
|
|
|
|
December 6, 2012
1:00
p.m.
St.
Paul United Methodist Church
12th
and M Streets
Lincoln,
NE
|
LLCGS – Lincoln-Lancaster County
Genealogical Society - Discussion Group led by Bob Houser
Theme:
discovering holiday traditions of our ancestors.
|
|
|
|
|
December 7, 2012
7:00
p.m.
LDS
Family History Center
11027
Martha St
Omaha,
NE
|
GO-PAF meeting
|
|
|
|
|
December 9, 2012
Ethnic
Holiday Traditions
2:00
p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Walt
Branch Library
6701
Normal Blvd
Lincoln,
NE
|
LLCGS
– – Lincoln-Lancaster County Genealogical Society - Ethnic Fair with foods, traditions,
music, languages and shared advice about researching our specific regions.
Get out your favorite recipes, music, crafts, maps and other memorabilia
representative of our varied cultures.
|
|
|
|
|
December 11, 2012
7:00
p.m.
Fellowship Hall
Eastridge
Presbyterian Church
1135
Eastridge Dr
Lincoln,
NE
|
Celebrating our Ethnic Heritage and
Traditions
|
|
|
|
|
December 12, 2012
6:30
p.m.
Valentino’s
102nd
and Maple
Omaha,
NE
|
GOGS –
Greater Omaha Genealogical Society
Christmas Party
|
|
|
|
|
December 19, 2012
2:00
– 4:00 p.m.
Great
Room
Chatelaine
6201
Normal Blvd
Lincoln, NE |
LLCGS Discussion Group led by Lila Garner
|
|
|
|
|
2013
|
|
|
|
|
|
January 19, 2013
9:15
a.m. – Noon
Mormon
Trail Center
3215
State St
Omaha,
NE
|
GOGS –
Greater Omaha Genealogical Society
Tell Me About My Family – Getting Started
with Family History.
|
|
|
|
|
February 16, 2013
9:15 a.m. – Noon
Mormon Trail Center
3215 State St
Omaha,
NE
|
GOGS –
Greater Omaha Genealogical Society
Part I: Vital Records of Their Lives
– Birth, Marriage and Death Records; Part II: Substitutes for Vital Records
|
|
|
|
|
March 16, 2013
9:15 a.m. – Noon
Mormon Trail Center
3215 State St
Omaha,
NE
|
GOGS –
Greater Omaha Genealogical Society
Making Sense of the Census – Using U.S.
and International Censuses
|
|
|
|
|
April 20, 2013
9:15 a.m. – Noon
Mormon Trail Center
3215 State St
Omaha,
NE
|
GOGS –
Greater Omaha Genealogical Society
Part I: Searching the World’s Records – using Family
History centers; Part II: The Name Game – Learn Tips to Help with Your Family
History Search
|
|
|
|
|
May 18, 2013
9:15 a.m. – Noon
Mormon Trail Center
3215 State St
Omaha,
NE
|
GOGS –
Greater Omaha Genealogical Society
Part I: Where’s the Dirt? Overview
of Land Records
Part II: What’s Black and White and
Read All Over: Newspaper research
|
|
|
|
|
June 15, 2013
9:15 a.m. – Noon
Mormon Trail Center
3215 State St
Omaha,
NE
|
GOGS –
Greater Omaha Genealogical Society
Part I: Genealogy Problem Solving
Part II: Internet Genealogy |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
List
compiled and maintained by Susan Petersen, LongLostRelatives.net.
To add or update your listing, please email me sooznebr@gmail.com
|
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Nebraska Genealogy Events - August and beyond
Nebraska not only has Hot temperatures, we also are Hot with genealogy events for the rest of the summer and fall. Listed below are upcoming events for August 2012.
As cooler weather approaches, make plans to attend the Midwest Family History Expo in Kearney, Nebraska on September 7-8, 2012. If that's not enough, two fantastic speakers will be appearing in Nebraska in October. Hank Z. Jones will be the featured speaker at the fall conference of the Lincoln-Lancaster County Genealogical Society on October 12, 2012 in Lincoln. John Philip Colletta will speak at the Greater Omaha Genealogical Society fall conference in Omaha on October 27, 2012. I plan to attend all three events, so it will be a busy autumn for me!
For the complete calendar of Nebraska events, click here. Email your event to me at sooznebr@gmail.com.
|
Date & Location
|
Description
|
|
|
|
|
August 2, 2012
1:00
p.m.
St.
Paul United Methodist Church
12th
and M Streets
Lincoln,
NE
|
|
|
|
|
|
August 3, 2012
7:00
p.m.
LDS
Family History Center
11027
Martha St
Omaha,
NE
|
Greater Omaha PAF meeting
|
|
|
|
|
August 5, 2012
2:00 – 4:00 p.m.
Walt Branch Library
6701 South 14th St
Lincoln,
NE
|
Lincoln
Lancaster County Genealogical Society – Get started finding your roots. LLCGS members will help
you discover resources at the library and online.
|
|
|
|
|
August 12, 2012
2:00
– 4:00 p.m.
Walt Branch Library
6701
South 14th St
Lincoln,
NE
|
Lincoln
Lancaster County Genealogical Society Demonstration of using Shutterfly to create a photo
book. If you’ve created one, bring it along to share.
|
|
|
|
|
August 14, 2012
7:15
p.m.
Dick
Administration Building
Union College
3800
S. 48th St
Lincoln,
NE
|
Lincoln
Lancaster County Genealogical Society monthly program: Technology Update: How can technology
help us find our roots? Presented by Tom McFarland and Marcia Stewart.
Demonstration of LLCGS web site
databases, library catalogs.
|
|
|
|
|
August 15, 2012
2:00
p.m.
Great
Room
Chatelaine
6201
Normal Blvd
Lincoln,
NE
|
Lincoln
Lancaster County Genealogical Society Discussion
Group led by Lila Garner
|
|
|
|
|
August 15, 2012
7:00
p.m.
Social
– more info TBA
|
|
|
|
|
|
August 18, 2012
11:00
a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
W.
Dale Clark Library
215
S. 15th St
Omaha, NE |
Keeping Up with the Joneses … and
The Smiths – researching ancestors with common names; presented by Gail Blankenau
|
|
|
|
|
August 18, 2012
12:00
p.m. – 1:30 p.m
Saddlebrook
Branch Library
14850
Laurel Ave
Omaha,
NE
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Discovering the 1940 Census – Omaha Public
Library
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August 19, 2012
2:00 – 4:00 p.m.
Walt Branch Library
6701 South 14th St
Lincoln,
NE
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Lincoln
Lancaster County Genealogical Society German Genealogy Interest Group – if you have German
ancestors or Germans from Russia ancestors, plan to attend. Participants will
plot ancestral home locations on a German map and see how many are searching
in similar regions. Bring along helpful resources you have used, resources in
German, etc.
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Saturday, July 21, 2012
New Playground in Town: Technology for Genealogy
Just in case I might have missed it, I messaged my pal, Thomas MacEntee, to see if he knew of any such group. After all, if Thomas doesn't know about it, no one does! Thomas' reply was basically "great idea, go for it!"
In a few minutes, the Facebook group was hatched. I invited a few friends, posted a message on my Facebook wall and Twitter. Before I could finish configuring the group settings, the online genealogists were flocking to this new gathering place. People were really jumping on the bandwagon and there were nearly 100 members during the first hour.
Three weeks later, we are quickly approaching 400 members, much due to mentions by Thomas MacEntee, James Tanner and Lynn Palermo of the Armchair Genealogist.
While the chatter has calmed down a bit after the first week, there is still plenty of information sharing going on regarding the technology tools that we use for genealogy. If you have a question about a product or need to learn the "how to" of software, apps or other technology, this is the group for you.
Lincoln, Nebraska "Genea-Tech" group
Along the same lines, I've started a Genealogy Interest Group through my local society, the Lincoln-Lancaster County Genealogical Society. We had our organizational meeting last Sunday with 10 members and three guests present. We brainstormed the various technology topics we wanted to pursue in depth, then narrowed down the topics to four major themes. Our next session in September will be a comparison of some of the major genealogy software programs. My hearty thanks goes out to Drew Smith (one of the Genealogy Guys) who graciously shared his PowerPoint slides from a presentation he did for his society this month. It's a great starting point for us without having to re-invent the wheel.
It's very clear that technology is a hot topic for genealogists - we just can't get enough! And it's an ever changing field with new devices, apps, software and web sites emerging on a daily basis, a person really needs to keep up with it.
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Hank Jones is coming to Lincoln - October 13, 2012
Noted genealogist, author, lecturer and actor Henry Z. "Hank" Jones will be the featured speaker for the LLCGS fall conference on October 12, 2012. Be sure to save the date on your calendar and plan to attend.
Hank Jones' biography
Not long ago, Time Magazine had a cover-story devoted to genealogy in the new millennium and chose to close the article and tie things together with a quote from Hank Jones. That's a long way from his genealogical beginnings: Henry Z ("Hank") Jones, Jr. has been actively climbing family trees since the age of eight, when he found an old trunk filled with fading tintypes, family letters, and old newspaper clippings in the basement of his parents' home in San Leandro, California. He wrote his first genealogical work A Few More Left: The Story of Isaac Hillman, his great grandfather, while still in high school. Hank continued to pursue his genealogical interests while attending Stanford University, from which he graduated in 1963.
When Hank discovered that he descended from Abraham Bergmann, a German from Iggelheim in the Pfalz who immigrated in 1709 to County Limerick, Ireland, his interest in all matters Palatine was born. He exhaustively combed all archives in Germany, London and Ireland to gather all extant data on this Irish-German group who arrived with his ancestor in 1709/10 and then published his results in 1965 in The Palatine Families of Ireland (reprinted and expanded in 1990 by Picton Press).
Determined to continue his investigations into all the families who left Germany in the great exodus, Hank then turned his attention to those 847 families who settled in colonial New York in 1710. His New York Palatine project began in 1969: Hank's goal was to write a history of these courageous emigrants firmly documented with sources contemporary with the events!
Palatine Families Research
Every extant New York "Palatine" churchbook was extracted for every Palatine reference 1710 - 1776, and this information was placed on family groupsheets - which eventually totalled 17,000! A major thrust of the project was to find the ancestral homes and German origins of the 847 families, and, via Hank's village-to-village researches overseas, over 600 of the 847 were found and documented in Europe.
His two-volume set The Palatine Families of New York - 1710 was finally published in 1985 and has won the prestigious Donald Lines Jacobus Award as "best genealogical work of 1986" and also the Award of Merit "in recognition of distinguished work in genealogy" from the National Genealogical Society
For his efforts on the Palatines, Jones was elected as a Fellow of the American Society of Genealogists, of whom there are only 50 in the world. Hank has continued to write many articles on the Palatines over the years, and they have been published in The American Genealogist (TAG), National Genealogical Society Quarterly, New York Genealogical & Biographical Record, Genealogical Journal, Genealogical Magazine of Pennsylvania, Der Reggeboge, The Palatine Immigrant, and many others. He also has served on the national Board of Directors of the Genealogical Speaker's Guild and as a Trustee of the Association of Professional Genealogists.
In 1989, Hank co-authored a volume with noted Pennsylvania scholar Annette K. Burgert on the German origins of 250 families from the Neuwied/Westerwald region who arrived in Philadelphia 1740 - 1753 entitled Westerwald To America (published by Picton Press). More Palatine Families, the companion volume to his 1710 set, which chronicles the European origins and American activities of many of the families who arrived in colonial New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey in the great second wave of emigration from Germany 1717 - 1776, was released in 1991.
Psychic Roots
Hank's 1993 book Psychic Roots: Serendipity & Intuition in Genealogy (Genealogical Publishing Company), drawn from intriguing near "Twilight-Zone" experiences shared by over 200 prominent family historians, is now in its 6th printing.
NBC-TV's popular program "Unsolved Mysteries" starring Robert Stack featured an episode based on Psychic Roots. Hank's story of how he started genealogy at the age of 8 by exploring that old trunk was recreated and dramatized. He also had the opportunity to talk at length about his experiences in genealogy on the show, prompting a deluge of mail and calls from viewers wanting to know more about his work and how they might pursue their family history. This wonderful response has prompted a sequel - one of Hank's newest books - More Psychic Roots: Further Adventures in Serendipity & Intuition in Genealogy (also published by GPC): 225 genealogists worldwide contributed 300 new stories/experiences for this latest volume.
Hank's Life as an Actor
As to his "other life" apart from genealogical research, Hank Jones has been in the entertainment field since his graduation from Stanford. He began his career as co-star of the old daytime Tennessee Ernie Ford television show on ABC, logging 400 network appearances on the program; during this period, Hank also recorded albums on RCA, Capitol, and Epitome Records. In 1963, Hank Jones began a twenty year career as an actor in films and television.
He was a featured player in many of the Walt Disney films of the 1960's and 1970's, which still come back to haunt him on television today! These include Blackbeard's Ghost with Peter Ustinov, Elsa Lanchester, and Suzanne Pleshette, Herbie Rides Again with Helen Hayes, The Shaggy D.A. with Dean Jones and Tim Conway, The Cat From Outer Space with Sandy Duncan, and several others. He also appeared in many other films, including MGM's Girl Happy with Elvis Presley (a Palatine descendant of Valentin Pressler of 1709) and 20th Century Fox's Tora! Tora! Tora! the Academy Award winning film about Pearl Harbor.
On television, Hank Jones had recurring roles on My Three Sons with Fred MacMurray and William Frawley, and also on the Patty Duke Show. He was on many of the comedy programs of the 1960's and 1970's, including Love Boat, The Jeffersons, Mork and Mindy, The Henry Fonda Show, Love American Style, Petticoat Junction and many others. One of his most interesting roles was playing former Beatle Ringo Starr's twin brother (after five hours of make-up every day) in a tv version of Mark Twain's Prince and the Pauper.
Over the years, Hank has been featured in countless tv commercials, several of which (for MacDonald's, Hai Karate After Shave, Honda, and Dial Soap) won awards and were shown on NBC's PriWORLD'S GREATEST COMMERICALS show. A long-time songwriter and member of ASCAP, Hank's song Midnight Swinger, recorded by Mel Torme, was honored with a preliminary Grammy nomination in 1970. In 1986, Hank made three appearances as "champion" on the popular quiz-show Jeopardy! on television. Besides all the fun and money involved, it gave him a chance to talk about genealogy on national television and brought forth thousands of letters from around the country from those interested in the Palatines!
Hank retired from "on-camera acting" in 1981 to devote more time to his first love of genealogical research. He has a daughter Amanda, now in her mid 30s, and lives with his wife Bonnie in the Scripps Ranch area of San Diego.
Biography courtesy Hank Jones, used with permission
Pre-conference session:
7:00 p.m.
Friday, October 12, 2012
Hank Jones Conference
Saturday, October 13, 2012
Southeast Community College
Continuing Education Center
301 S. 84th St.
Lincoln, Nebraska
This is a cross-posting from the Lincoln-Lancaster County Genealogy Society blog, which I also manage; disclosure: I'm the publicity chair for LLCGS.
Hank Jones' biography
Not long ago, Time Magazine had a cover-story devoted to genealogy in the new millennium and chose to close the article and tie things together with a quote from Hank Jones. That's a long way from his genealogical beginnings: Henry Z ("Hank") Jones, Jr. has been actively climbing family trees since the age of eight, when he found an old trunk filled with fading tintypes, family letters, and old newspaper clippings in the basement of his parents' home in San Leandro, California. He wrote his first genealogical work A Few More Left: The Story of Isaac Hillman, his great grandfather, while still in high school. Hank continued to pursue his genealogical interests while attending Stanford University, from which he graduated in 1963.
When Hank discovered that he descended from Abraham Bergmann, a German from Iggelheim in the Pfalz who immigrated in 1709 to County Limerick, Ireland, his interest in all matters Palatine was born. He exhaustively combed all archives in Germany, London and Ireland to gather all extant data on this Irish-German group who arrived with his ancestor in 1709/10 and then published his results in 1965 in The Palatine Families of Ireland (reprinted and expanded in 1990 by Picton Press).
Determined to continue his investigations into all the families who left Germany in the great exodus, Hank then turned his attention to those 847 families who settled in colonial New York in 1710. His New York Palatine project began in 1969: Hank's goal was to write a history of these courageous emigrants firmly documented with sources contemporary with the events!
Palatine Families Research
Every extant New York "Palatine" churchbook was extracted for every Palatine reference 1710 - 1776, and this information was placed on family groupsheets - which eventually totalled 17,000! A major thrust of the project was to find the ancestral homes and German origins of the 847 families, and, via Hank's village-to-village researches overseas, over 600 of the 847 were found and documented in Europe.
His two-volume set The Palatine Families of New York - 1710 was finally published in 1985 and has won the prestigious Donald Lines Jacobus Award as "best genealogical work of 1986" and also the Award of Merit "in recognition of distinguished work in genealogy" from the National Genealogical Society
For his efforts on the Palatines, Jones was elected as a Fellow of the American Society of Genealogists, of whom there are only 50 in the world. Hank has continued to write many articles on the Palatines over the years, and they have been published in The American Genealogist (TAG), National Genealogical Society Quarterly, New York Genealogical & Biographical Record, Genealogical Journal, Genealogical Magazine of Pennsylvania, Der Reggeboge, The Palatine Immigrant, and many others. He also has served on the national Board of Directors of the Genealogical Speaker's Guild and as a Trustee of the Association of Professional Genealogists.
In 1989, Hank co-authored a volume with noted Pennsylvania scholar Annette K. Burgert on the German origins of 250 families from the Neuwied/Westerwald region who arrived in Philadelphia 1740 - 1753 entitled Westerwald To America (published by Picton Press). More Palatine Families, the companion volume to his 1710 set, which chronicles the European origins and American activities of many of the families who arrived in colonial New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey in the great second wave of emigration from Germany 1717 - 1776, was released in 1991.
Psychic Roots
Hank's 1993 book Psychic Roots: Serendipity & Intuition in Genealogy (Genealogical Publishing Company), drawn from intriguing near "Twilight-Zone" experiences shared by over 200 prominent family historians, is now in its 6th printing.
NBC-TV's popular program "Unsolved Mysteries" starring Robert Stack featured an episode based on Psychic Roots. Hank's story of how he started genealogy at the age of 8 by exploring that old trunk was recreated and dramatized. He also had the opportunity to talk at length about his experiences in genealogy on the show, prompting a deluge of mail and calls from viewers wanting to know more about his work and how they might pursue their family history. This wonderful response has prompted a sequel - one of Hank's newest books - More Psychic Roots: Further Adventures in Serendipity & Intuition in Genealogy (also published by GPC): 225 genealogists worldwide contributed 300 new stories/experiences for this latest volume.
Hank's Life as an Actor
As to his "other life" apart from genealogical research, Hank Jones has been in the entertainment field since his graduation from Stanford. He began his career as co-star of the old daytime Tennessee Ernie Ford television show on ABC, logging 400 network appearances on the program; during this period, Hank also recorded albums on RCA, Capitol, and Epitome Records. In 1963, Hank Jones began a twenty year career as an actor in films and television.
He was a featured player in many of the Walt Disney films of the 1960's and 1970's, which still come back to haunt him on television today! These include Blackbeard's Ghost with Peter Ustinov, Elsa Lanchester, and Suzanne Pleshette, Herbie Rides Again with Helen Hayes, The Shaggy D.A. with Dean Jones and Tim Conway, The Cat From Outer Space with Sandy Duncan, and several others. He also appeared in many other films, including MGM's Girl Happy with Elvis Presley (a Palatine descendant of Valentin Pressler of 1709) and 20th Century Fox's Tora! Tora! Tora! the Academy Award winning film about Pearl Harbor.
On television, Hank Jones had recurring roles on My Three Sons with Fred MacMurray and William Frawley, and also on the Patty Duke Show. He was on many of the comedy programs of the 1960's and 1970's, including Love Boat, The Jeffersons, Mork and Mindy, The Henry Fonda Show, Love American Style, Petticoat Junction and many others. One of his most interesting roles was playing former Beatle Ringo Starr's twin brother (after five hours of make-up every day) in a tv version of Mark Twain's Prince and the Pauper.
Over the years, Hank has been featured in countless tv commercials, several of which (for MacDonald's, Hai Karate After Shave, Honda, and Dial Soap) won awards and were shown on NBC's PriWORLD'S GREATEST COMMERICALS show. A long-time songwriter and member of ASCAP, Hank's song Midnight Swinger, recorded by Mel Torme, was honored with a preliminary Grammy nomination in 1970. In 1986, Hank made three appearances as "champion" on the popular quiz-show Jeopardy! on television. Besides all the fun and money involved, it gave him a chance to talk about genealogy on national television and brought forth thousands of letters from around the country from those interested in the Palatines!
Hank retired from "on-camera acting" in 1981 to devote more time to his first love of genealogical research. He has a daughter Amanda, now in her mid 30s, and lives with his wife Bonnie in the Scripps Ranch area of San Diego.
Biography courtesy Hank Jones, used with permission
Pre-conference session:
7:00 p.m.
Friday, October 12, 2012
Hank Jones Conference
Saturday, October 13, 2012
Southeast Community College
Continuing Education Center
301 S. 84th St.
Lincoln, Nebraska
This is a cross-posting from the Lincoln-Lancaster County Genealogy Society blog, which I also manage; disclosure: I'm the publicity chair for LLCGS.
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