Summer is coming. Now could be a good time to start planning a research trip or two, a family reunion or which seminars you might want to attend.
If you want to go do research at particular facilities, always check ahead for when they are open and what their rules are. Some may have limited their hours, like the Georgia Archives. Always be aware of how they handle photocopies, either printed, downloaded to a flash drive, or emailed to you. If you will need the copies while on your trip, you should be prepared. Don’t forget that some might not have vending machines, so you may need to take your own snacks.
The South Carolina Genealogical Society (scgen.org) announced it is hosting its annual workshop July 8 and 9, with both in-person lectures at the South Carolina Archives in Columbia and other lectures online. The Augusta Genealogical Society has decided to host its annual symposium virtually on August 27, with speakers Lisa Louise Cooke (on the 1950 census) and noted DNA expert Diahan Southard with two DNA lectures. Check augustagensociety.org. There are other one-hour seminars scheduled throughout the summer as well.
And, if you are going to be adventurous and work toward reviving your family reunion, there’s lots of advice out there. Just search for “family reunion, how to organize” and a lot of great books and websites should show up.
Lecture on Irish public records fire
On June 22, 1922, the Four Courts Fire in Dublin, Ireland, was a major disaster for that country’s public records. A free webinar on that is scheduled June 22 via the New England Historic Genealogical Society. It will explore what happened and what is currently being done to re-create some of the records. Senior genealogist Rhonda McClure will be lecturing. To register, see AmericanAncestors.org and search for events. Also, check out the many other free webinars.
African American Digital Bookshelf
FamilySearch.org has, as part of its Digital Library, a subsection that is the African American Digital Bookshelf. It has information on books digitized online at FamilySearch, as well as at InternetArchive, HathiTrust, the Library of Congress, Gutenberg, Google Books, or in other places. So check familysearch.org/wiki/en/African_American_Digital_Bookshelf.
Contact Kenneth H. Thomas Jr., P.O. Box 901, Decatur, Ga., 3003 or www.kenthomasongenealogy.com.
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