A Valuable New Resource for Illinois Researchers!

The Pima County Genealogy Society received the following announcement:

Are you researching your Illinois roots, and seeking more resources? Look no further than the Illinois Newspaper Project! 

INP is an initiative of the History, Philosophy, and Newspaper Library, and the Department of Preservation Services, at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The INP contains an inventory and catalog of Illinois newspaper collections held by libraries and repositories, private organizations, and individuals across the state. The holding information is readily available in an easy to use database that allows the user to locate newspapers based on title, county, or year. Contact information for each holding institution is available with the returned search results. 

Some of the newspaper titles have been digitized, and are easily accessible via the Illinois Digital Newspaper Collections. IDNC contains over 111 titles, which are searchable by title, year, and date. We hope you enjoy utilizing these resources as much as we do here at the HPNL! Please contact us if you have any questions, comments, or concerns at hpnl@library.illinois.edu or at (217)-333-1509.

Charles Henry Alston, Artist, [Public domain] via Wikimedia Commons

Family History Discovery Day November 11, 2017

The Tucson Arizona South Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is hosting a Family History Discovery Day on Saturday, November 11, from 8:30 am until 12:30 pm, at the Corona building, 700 E. Sahuarita Rd., located at the intersection of Sahuarita Road and Melpomene in Corona de Tucson. Activities include:

• Instructor-led FamilySearch classes for starting your 4 generations & adding sources to your family tree.
• Videos from the 2017 RootsTech conference. 
• Topics include FamilySearch, Ancestry, FindMyPast, and MyHeritage websites (comparing the Big 4) and two DNA classes, Mexican and British research and Censational Census Strategies.
• How to make your home a Family History Center.
• A computer lab with knowledgeable Temple & Family History Consultants to help you get started and answer your questions. There will be several computers in the lab available for use by participants, or you may bring your own devices.
• The youth will complete their Merit Badge and personal progress Family History requirements and have opportunities for service.
• FUN activities for children ages 3-11. A nursery area is provided, but not staffed!

See the flyer and schedule below for more details.

Happy Birthday To Us!

© Aalok Thakur, Wikimedia Commons,
CC BY-SA 3.0 

We are 5 years old! Come to our birthday party on Saturday, October 21, 2017, to help us blow out the candles. Cupcakes and refreshments will be served.

Our featured speaker's topic is NARA in a Day. PCGS member Laurie Desmarias has more than 20 years of genealogical research experience. She is a regular conference attendee, volunteer, blogger, and participant in many Facebook user groups. She is a life member of the American-French Genealogical Society and is the Arizona Genealogical Advisory Board membership officer. In addition to being a member of the Pima County Genealogy Society, she is a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists, the New England Historical and Genealogical Society, and the Southern California Genealogical Society. Laurie specializes in New England research. Her blog is confusethedead.com.


Come celebrate with us on our special day. You do not have to be a PCGS member to attend.

PLEASE NOTE THE CHANGE IN LOCATION

DATE:	Saturday, October 21, 2017
TIME:	1:00pm – 3:00pm
PLACE:	Donna R. Liggins Center 2160 N. 6th Ave. Tucson, AZ

Update 10/20/17: Changed speaker's topic.

RootsTech 2018 Registration is Open!

Registration for the most popular genealogy conference is now open. Early bird pricing of $169 for a full conference pass is available until October 13, at which time the price goes up to $279. The conference will be held from February 28 to March 3, 2018, at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Four nearby hotels are offering special discounted conference pricing for out of town visitors. See the list and prices at their Hotels Near RootsTech webpage.

If you have never been to RootsTech, and don't know if it's worth it, visit their blog post 8 Reasons to Attend RootsTech 2018 to see what you've been missing. 

Bridging Generations–October 21, 2017 Family History Conference in Tempe

Registration begins soon for the FREE Family History Conference sponsored by the Mesa FamilySearch Library. We received the following press release from them:

ANNOUNCING THE 2017 Family History Conference sponsored by the Mesa FamilySearch Library on Saturday, October 21, 2017, at the Tempe Institute of Religion on the ASU Campus, 1000 South McAllister Avenue in Tempe, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:20 p.m.

This year’s conference will feature a keynote address by Lisa McBride of FamilySearch, an Accredited Genealogist, who works with area family history centers and serves on the FamilySearch Wiki Governance Council.

Our theme is “Bridging Generations” and provides a wide variety of over 50 class choices for all types of learners, from beginners to the most advanced genealogists.  Come and learn how to be more effective and efficient when doing your research.  Learn to trace your roots with DNA.  Learn to find and document your sources.  Get specific information on various ways to research in specific states and countries.  If you are new to family history, come learn the basics.  Some of the most popular classes are repeated in an effort to accommodate everyone.   Spend all day or come for a single class or two; you may attend a maximum of five classes.

Detailed conference information will become available and registration will begin online at www.mesafsl.org on Thursday, September 21, 2017.  At the time of registration, registrants will be given the opportunity to purchase lunch from Jason’s Deli.  Otherwise, the conference is FREE.  Parking is also free and convenient but registrants are reminded that cars are parked in a public facility and are urged to be cautious with their valuables. See you in October! 

In the past, you were required to select the specific classes you plan to attend during the registration. Seats for each class is limited and registration closes for that class when it is full. This conference usually fills up very quickly so don't delay in reserving seats for the classes you really wish to attend.

Clooz and Findmypast–September 16, 2017

The September PCGS meeting promises to be entertaining and educational, as usual.

First up will be Jodi Lynn Strait presenting Do You Have Any Clooz? Clooz is a software program that helps you manage and organize your source documents and provides unique analysis tools. The program works with any filing system. Jodi will show us how she uses it with her research.

Jodi has been doing genealogical research for over 20 years. She has been a PCGS member since it was founded in 2012 and currently serves as our 2nd Vice President, editor of the PCGS Researcher, and sits on the program and social media committees. She is also a member of the National Genealogy Society (NGS), the Chinkchewunska (NJ) chapter of the D.A.R., is a certificate holder of the Boston University Genealogical Research Program, and has completed the NGS home study course.

Ken Castle will follow the class with his presentation: Findmypast Website. In addition to having the largest collection of Irish records anywhere online, Findmypast has exclusive records including British newspaper archives, passenger lists of ships leaving the UK, British army records, workhouse registers, and Irish court records. Ken will give us tips on how to maximize the resources found on Findmypast in your research.

Ken is an optical engineer, and president and co-owner of an optics company called Ruda-Cardinal, Inc. He has been in this line of work for 32 years, and has found it to be an enjoyable profession, with the opportunity to work on many varied projects. his interest in genealogy began around 1999, when his father passed away. Records his mother had created (she had passed in 1989), were passed to him, and he became intrigued because there were some names on the pedigree chart that he had no knowledge of, and wondered who these people were. So, for the last 17 years, he has been checking her accuracy (it was very good!), and then as the "bug" had bit, extending the family tree even further. He has identified two English lines (CASTLE and RODEN) who came separately to this country in the mid-1800s, but later found each other in 1889 in New Jersey. He has identified all 16 of his 3 x great-grandparents, and 80% of his 4 x great-grandparents. He serves on the PCGS Steering Committee and is responsible for setting up library presenters for October Family History Month.

Non-members are welcome to attend up to two of our meetings as a guest.

Handouts will be available to PCGS members under Secure Download in the Members Only section of our website : https://azpimagensoc.org/.

DATE:	Saturday, September 16, 2017
TIME:	1:00pm – 3:00pm
PLACE:	Banner-University Medical Center Duval Auditorium (Room 2600) 1501 N. Campbell Rd. Tucson, AZ
	Parking is free

Provide Aide to Harvey Victims and Get a Day of Genealogy Education–September 23, 2017

The Humble Area Genealogical Society (THAGS) is hosting an eConference and donating proceeds to Hurricane Harvey relief.

THAGS eConference: Back to Research
SATURDAY, 23 SEPTEMBER 2017 FROM 8:30AM - 4PM CDT

Registration costs $15 and you can watch the live webinar presentations or see the replay on your own schedule for up to 30 days after the eConference. During the eConference you’ll be able to ask questions through the webinar program’s chat features. After these four hours of instructions, the speakers will convene for a final panel discussion to answer questions not finished during the webinars or any additional questions you have.

It will be a great day of education and entertainment.

Participate and Provide Relief Members of The Humble Area Genealogical Society had the flood waters from Hurricane Harvey damage or destroy their homes. Proceeds from the conference was originally going to be used to help the chapter's preservation efforts. However, their board feels the funds donated will best serve the community by helping the impacted society members recover. As such, this eConference will give 50% of each registration to the relief of those members.

HOW TO REGISTER:

Go to the conference page on their website http://www.humblegen.org/conference and click on the "Register Now" button.

TOPICS:

Desperately Seeking Susan: Finding Female Ancestors - Amy Johnson Crow

How do you find female ancestors when they lived in a world where most of the records were written by and about men? Explore sources and strategies to help you fill in the female half of the family tree.

Which Charles is Which? Separating Same Name Individuals - Melissa Finlay

Some individuals with similar names have been combined, crossed and muddled over time. Learn how to differentiate between same-named people using a composite of time, place, family members, occupation and other unique identifiers.

Using FamilySearch More Effectively - Devon Noel Lee

FamilySearch.org has billions of names in the family tree and millions of records for genealogical research. This class discusses how to use this collaborative tree more effectively using indexed and unindexed records and leaving a trail of your research decisions along the way.

Bankruptcy to Equity: Using Federal Court Records - Michael L. Strauss

Was Grandma a bootlegger? Did Grandpa pay his taxes? Records of the Federal courts are among the National Archives’ largest holdings-and yet some of the least used records. Open a new chapter of your family history and discover little-known branches in your family tree as the records of the Federal Court system are discussed in detail.

Visit their website at http://www.humblegen.org/conference for more details and to register.