Society News and Notes

We had another great turnout of members for our July 9, 2011 meeting! There were 21 people present, including 17 members, 2 guests and 2 others.

After the business meeting, I shared details of the records transcription project that is already underway. Samples of the records were shown and data entry into spreadsheets was demonstrated.

Ruth Lambert shared an outline of the upcoming Pioneer Genealogy Project. About four pioneer families will be selected for research. Genealogical charts will be created and given to the museum archives. These pedigrees will enhance the existing knowledge of these families and give a concrete diagram of their family relationships.

Ruth also gave an overview of how to obtain an oral history of some of our community's elderly descendants of early pioneers. The upcoming Oral History Project is another way for members to help preserve our community's heritage.

The next meeting is scheduled for Saturday, September 10, 2011 at 10:30 a.m. at the San Juan Public Lands Center in the Durango Tech Center. Hope to see you there!

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Our first official meeting was held Saturday, May 14, 2011 at the Animas Museum. 26 people were in attendance, that number not including two curious 10 year old girls who joined us!

Ruth Lambert brought the attendees up to speed with the progress of setting up the organization. She also announced that she volunteered to be the first president of the organization. Julie Pickett volunteered to be the vice president. The secretary-treasurer position is still vacant. Chris Brussat has agreed to be the newsletter editor. The first annual election of officers will be in the fall.

Two trainings were presented by Julie Pickett. "Analyzing Genealogical Evidence: Classifying Sources and Information" focused on understanding the 'weight' of genealogical resources. For the second training, Julie used a live connection to the Internet to teach "How to Utilize the Family History Library and FamilySearch.org." She showed attendees how to search the Family History Library's extensive online catalog to request microfilms through our local Family History Center. She also gave an overview of Familysearch.org and their multitude of research helps and online records. At the conclusion of the meeting, quite a few members took advantage of the opportunity to visit the local Family History Center. Margot Armstrong graciously opened up the Center and gave a tour.

We're off to a great start! The next meeting is on July 9th at 10:30 a.m. at the Animas Museum.

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I will be providing the trainings at our May 14, 2011 meeting. "Analyzing Genealogical Evidence: Classifying Sources and Information" will focus on understanding the weight of genealogical resources. In the second training, "How to Utitlize the Family History Library," I will show researchers how to use the Family History Library's extensive online resource, FamilySearch.org, to locate family records that might contain a gold mine of family history information. At the conclusion of the meeting, members will have the option of taking a tour of the local Family History Library.

Beginning through advanced genealogists are sure to benefit from these trainings. See you on Saturday!

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I'm thrilled to announce that we have our first Records Project underway! Kathy Gibson, a SWCoGen member in Michigan, is transcribing records from a La Plata County Pauper ledger. These records date from 1896 to 1919 and contain wonderful information that is sure to help family researchers. Although we are just getting started you can track the project by clicking this link. Kathy also contributed some of her own research, "Durango Photographers." Her efforts are greatly appreciated!

There are more record projects just waiting for volunteers! Contact me if you would like to participate. You can do as much or as little as your schedule permits. It all adds up to a great work!

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I hope you can join us on May 14th as we kick off our first official meeting with a great training on the incredible resource of the Family History Library and Familysearch.org. Immediately following the training, you will have the option to drive to the local branch of the Family History Library to see what resources are available. Margot, one of the faithful volunteers at the center, recently informed me that they now have an Ancestry.com and Footnote.com subscription for patrons to use on site!

Also at the next meeting, we hope to have a couple of record transcription projects underway on which volunteers can get started. If you have ever benefitted from somebody else's labor of making their community's records available for your own personal research, this will be a great way to pay them back!

See you soon!

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