FGS 2011: Official bloggers named for conference

Tracing the Tribe is an official blogger for the Federation of Genealogical Societies upcoming FGS 2011 event to be held September 7-10, Springfield, Illinois).

We are looking forward to two firsts: our first FGS event and the first time visiting Springfield!

Here's the official press release:

FGS Names Official Bloggers for FGS 2011 Conference
National Genealogy Conference Continues to Tap into Social Media

May 31, 2011 – Austin, TX. The Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS), along with local host Illinois State Genealogical Society (ISGS), announce the Official Bloggers for the upcoming FGS 2011 Conference - Pathways to the Heartland – in Springfield, Illinois, September 7-10, 2011.

The Official Bloggers are:

• Amy Coffin - We Tree
• Schelly Talalay Dardashti - MyHeritage Genealogy Blog and Tracing the Tribe: The Jewish Genealogy Blog
• Dick Eastman - Eastman’s Online Genealogical Newsletter
• Jen Holik-Urban - Chicago Family History and GenerationsBiz
• Linda McCauley - Documenting the Details 
• Gena Philibert Ortega - Gena’s Genealogy and Food.Family.Ephemera 
• Carolyn Pointer - Family Stories and For Your Family Story
• Ol’ Myrt - DearMYRTLE
• Randy Seaver - Genea-Musings
• Ginger Smith - Genealogy by Ginger

With less than 100 days left before the start of FGS 2011, be sure to follow each of the Official Bloggers for their perspective on the upcoming conference. Many will be posting about research resources in the Springfield, Illinois area, what to pack for the conference and more. In addition, during the conference look to the Official Bloggers for live reporting via blog posts, Facebook and Twitter. Complete conference information can be found on the conference website. We look forward to seeing you in Springfield in September!

Learn More and Stay Connected

-- Subscribe via email to Conference eUpdates: (place “Subscribe” in Subject line).
-- Visit the Conference News Blog.
-- Follow the Conference on Facebook and on Twitter.
-- Discover Springfield.

About the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS)

The Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) was founded in 1976 and represents the members of hundreds of genealogical societies. FGS links the genealogical community by helping genealogical societies strengthen and grow through resources available online, FGS Forum magazine (filled with articles pertaining to society management and genealogical news), and Society Strategy Series papers, covering topics about effectively operating a genealogical society. FGS also links the genealogical community through its annual conference -- four days of excellent lectures, including one full day devoted to society management topics. To learn more, click here.

Tracing the Tribe looks forward to attending FGS 2011.

LOC: New preservation blog launched

The Library of Congress digital preservation program is now part of the blogosphere, according to an LOC announcement today.

Part of the potential audience for the new blog are genealogists and family history researchers:

"The audience for us to interact with is potentially vast, as we are very interested in personal digital archiving: helping individuals and families preserve their digital photographs and other digital files that document their lives."

The new blog - The Signal - authored by digital initiatives manager Bill LeFurgy, who writes in the initial post that the official program name is the National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program, or NDIIPP (say N-DIP).

In 2000, Congress directed the LOC to undertake a national digital preservation program to address the large-scale challenge of digital preservation. Huge amounts of digital content were being created with no print equal, and that some content was needed to create records of the times we live in.

However, the amount of information was larger than what could made accessible. Because so much data could be lost, Congress created NDIIPP to lessen that risk.

Over the last 10 years we have built a national network of collaborative partnerships to help preserve important digital content, build new tools and develop best practices. The partnerships span different communities, including universities, federal and state government agencies and the commercial creative content industry.  This is a new approach. Libraries, archives and other memory institutions traditionally have worked separately to acquire and manage their collections. But digital is different—it calls for a new kind of capacity that is difficult for a single institution to build on its own. The only practicable way forward is collaboration: in building technical infrastructure, in sharing knowledge, in developing best practices and in assigning roles and responsibilities for stewarding digital collections.

Concerning preservation, he writes that technology is the easy part of digital preservation programs, but that social is the harder part. He talks about collaboration and the Internet, and mentions the LOC website digitalpreservation.gov which provides a rich collection of information and resources.

They have spoken to experts, list tools and services and shared global information. Future plans include looking at the spectrum of data, from large scientific databases to modest personal digital collections of documents. Interviews are planned with people from many fields.

Check out the new blog and provide feedback.

GeneaSpeak: New resource for geneabloggers

Tracing the Tribe had advance notice of the creation of GeneaSpeak.

Now that Thomas MacEntee of GeneaBloggers.com has announced this resource, here's the official announcement:

GeneaSpeak is a community-driven resource that allows genealogy speakers to post their own profiles and speaking engagements in order to publicize their presentations.

It replaces the GeneaBloggers Speakers Bureau, which was located at Geneabloggers.com, since 2009. 

Additionally, it will provide news and insights valuable to the genealogy speaking community.

Speakers and presenters currently on the genealogy speaking circuit and who have a familiarity with blogging and using Google Calendars, can request author access by emailing geneabloggers@gmail.com.

Visit Geneabloggers.com and GeneaSpeak.com for more information.

Russia: Lenin's Jewish roots on display

A letter by Lenin's sister claiming their maternal grandfather was a Ukrainian Jew is on display in Russia's State History Museum.

The Jerusalem Post - reporting on the AP story on May 24 - indicated that Stalin told the sister to keep quiet.

Among newly released documents displayed at the museum is a letter written by Lenin’s sister, Anna Ulyanova, claiming that their maternal grandfather was a Jew from the Ukraine who converted to Christianity to escape persecution in the Pale of Settlement and have access to higher education, the report said.

"He came from a poor Jewish family and was, according to his baptismal certificate, the son of Moses Blank, a native of [the western Ukrainian city of] Zhitomir,” Ulyanova wrote in 1932 in a letter cited by AP.

In the letter written to Josef Stalin, who replaced Lenin after his death in 1924, Ulyanova wrote, “Vladimir Ilych had always thought of Jews highly. I am very sorry that the fact of our origin – which I had suspected before – was not known during his lifetime.”

Lenin, born Vladimir Ilych Ulyanov in 1870, adopted the name Lenin while in Siberian exile in 1901. Under Czarist anti-Semitism, he identified only as Russian.

According to the AP, he oversaw a brief period of promotion of Jewish culture ending in the early 1930s when Stalin encouraged anti-Semitic purges and planned to relocate Soviet Jews. Lenin's sister requested that her brother's Jewish background be made public to combat anti-Semitism.

Stalin ignored the request, telling her to “keep absolute silence," according to exhibit curator Tatyana Koloskova. Lenin's official biography (written by his niece Oga Ulyanova) refers to the family's Russian, German and Swedish roots.

In the early 1900s, Russian historians found the sister's letter, but questioned its authenticity.

Read the complete article at the link above.

Geneabloggers: 6 new blogs located

Tracing the Tribe doesn't know when Thomas MacEntee of Geneabloggers.com gets the time to search out these new blogs every week, but we are happy that he does!

He's discovered another six genealogy and family-history related blogs, bringing the total number of genealogy blogs at Geneabloggers.com to 1,935.

This week's topics include: a society blog, Midwest, Ohio, individual family histories, UK and cemetery.

Hamilton County Genealogical Society
Genealogical society, Midwest, Ohio

Share genealogical or other articles with those researching in Hamilton County, Ohio. The society encourages readers to post local family history or start their own blogs. All contributions are welcome. To become a contributing member, email Kathy Reed (put HCGS in the subject line).

Leaves & Branches
Individual family history

Primarily Southwestern Ohio. Families: BALLEIN, DAVIS, DONALDSON, DUDLEY, WARDLOW, OGDEN, LAMB, SHAPER.

Misadventures of a Genealogist
Individual family history (GUNTER, NC -> CA)

Sleeping Gardens
Cemetery blog, UK genealogy

Strawberry Shortcake
Individual family history

The Wiltsey Way
Individual family history (WILTSEY)

Read more about each blog here, in the original post.

Remember that writers of blogs for specific geographical areas may well be able to assist others with the same locations of interest, even if the families of interest are different.

Ask an Archivist Day, June 9

Ever heard of Ask Archivists Day? On June 9, readers around the world can ask questions of worldwide archivists via Twitter.

Readers will need a Twitter account to participate, and then remember #AskArchivists, the hashtag for the event. Already have a Twitter account? Then follow @AskArchivists.

Click here for the list of participating archives in North America (some 36 and growing). This list - at the AskArchivists Blog - also offers all the Twitter addresses for those archives.

Here's how it will work: Tweet a question, including the #AskArchivists hashtag, on June 9. Point your question to any archivist participating or to one archive (by including their Twitter address, such as the US National Archives @USNatArchives. Follow @AskArchivists and look for the answer.

Read more about the event at the AskArchivists Blog (link above). [Note: Be aware that there is another Archivists blog (International Institute on Archives) mostly in French, with some posts in English.]

What questions do you want to ask?

Boston: Upcoming NEHGS programs, tours

The New England Historic Genealogical Society has several upcoming events on its calendar. Readers in Boston, or those who may be visiting, may be interested in these programs.

Events are at the NEHGS building, 99-101 Newbury Street, Boston, unless otherwise noted.

June New Visitor and Welcome Tour: Wednesday, June 1, 10-11am

Kick start your research with a 30-minute lecture and tour of the library and its holdings.

Come Home to New England: June 13-18, 9am-5pm

One of NEHGS’s most popular programs, “Come Home to New England,” is a fun-filled week of family history discovery and education. It features research, individual consultations, interesting lectures, group meal, and other activities.

Talking Back to Your Ancestors: Reweaving the Family History: June 22, 6-7pm

Dr. Barbara B. Reitt will describe what she learned in a four-year search for truths long hidden by the family and what compelled her to respond to her late father’s memoirs by researching and writing a biography of his grandmother.

Other locations:

A Tour Through Ireland and Irish History: July 5-15
Join NEHGS as it explores Irish immigrant ancestors’ native land, the rolling hills of Ireland. Discover scenery and enjoy Irish hospitality in famed hotels, restaurants and private homes. Email for more information.

Weekend Research Trip to Albany, New York: July 13-17

Join NEHGS to explore the vast resources of the New York State Archives. The weekend includes individual consultations, lectures and a group dinner.

English Research Tour: September 25-October 2

Discover the wealth of information available in London's repositories as NEHGS returns to London. Participants take part in two group dinners, consultations and guided research tours through the Society of Genealogists (SOG) and the National Archives (UK).

For more information about these events and tours, click AmericanAncestors.org for the registration form and instructions, call 1-888-296-3447, or send an e-mail.

Southern California: Ron Arons to speak, June 5

Author Ron Arons will be making his sixth visit to the Jewish Genealogical Society of the Conejo Valley and Ventura County, on Sunday, June 5.

The program begins at 1.30pm at Temple Adat Elohim 2420 E. Hillcrest Drive, Thousand Oaks. There is no admission fee.

Ron will speak on “Wrongful [Jewish] Wrascals of the West.”

And you thought Jewish criminals were just on the East Coast (mainly New York), the Midwest (Chicago, Cleveland, and Detroit) and Las Vegas!

Well, Jewish criminals have made their mark in the state of California for nearly 150 years. Above and beyond Bugsy Siegel and Meyer Lansky, Ron has found them – in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and elsewhere in the Golden State.

Along the way, he shows the large variety of genealogical sources available to research these characters. Ron will show you how to track down your black sheep ancestors! Sale of books and  'Black Sheep' products after the presentation.

Ron has researched his roots for more than a dozen years. In the process, he learned that one of his ancestors served time “up the river” at Sing Sing Prison. Along the way, he's become an expert on how to research historical criminals.

Ron has given numerous presentations across the country and internationally on conducting genealogical research, especially research on criminals.

In January 2008, he appeared on the PBS TV series, "The Jewish Americans," discussing criminals who operated on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. His book, "The Jews of Sing Sing," was published in June, 2008. In 2009, Ron published "WANTED! U.S. Criminal Records," a reference book listing where criminal records are located across the US.

For more information, click here or send an email.