MGS News A PUBLICATION OF THE MOBILE GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY, INC. P.O. Box 6224 ∙ Mobile, Alabama 36660-6224 ∙ (251) 414-1995 [email protected] ∙ www.MobileRoots.org Volume XXVIII Number 5

ISSN 1061-012X

May 2015

Anne Ruisi, Editor

Navigating Ancestry.com While genealogists still need fundamental research techniques to find records, more and more of the information we seek can be found on the Internet. The Mobile Genealogical Society’s own Michelle Woodham will present “Navigating Ancestry.com" at the General Membership Meeting on May 16th at 10:30 a.m. Mrs. Woodham will focus on search optimization techniques - strategies to help you sift through Ancestry’s massive online repository and limit the number of quality search matches, saving you time (and sanity). Given the growing presence of Ancestry.com and their subsidiary websites, e.g. Fold3.com, understanding basics of search optimization will provide benefits which can be used on more than just their core site. Additionally, Ancestry.com has new changes on the horizon for their Family Tree pages. Prior to its formal release later this year, Mrs. Woodham will show us a sneak peek of the test version. An Air Force “brat,” Mrs. Woodham grew up in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree from Auburn University and continues to be an avid supporter of Auburn athletics. With ancestral roots in Michigan, Canada and England, she has been a serious genealogical researcher for the past 19 years. Mrs. Woodham has attended several national genealogy conferences and is fortunate to spend one week each February doing research at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah. (https://familysearch.org/locations/saltlakecity-library). Michelle has volunteered a great deal of her time in schools, libraries and genealogical organizations. An MGS Board Member, she presents "How-To" sessions on the 4th Thursday of each month at 11:00 a.m. in the MGS Library. Programs and meetings are held the third Saturday of each month at 10:30 a.m. in the building located immediately behind Holy Family Catholic Church, 1400 Joyce Road, off of Overlook Road, east of University Blvd. Parking is near the building, and VISITORS ARE ALWAYS WELCOME!

From the President’s Desk Spring is a time of renewal and new beginnings. Perhaps we should relate our genealogical research and records to this season. If you take a look at your extended pedigree chart, you will likely find a surname you have not yet researched at all. Working on something new should motivate you to spend more time with your genealogy. As Geoff Rasmussen of Legacy Family Tree says, “Time is short; do genealogy first.” No doubt you have come to a “brick wall” in your research and probably put that line aside for a while. Why not renew your pursuit of that elusive relative? Redo searches you have already done online. New information is posted there daily. Look back over some of your notes from seminars for ideas you have not tried yet. Allow the genealogy detective in you to have a renewed determination to succeed in finding that next generation. Renewals and new beginnings are not just for genealogy. They can be considered in your personal life, as well. Why not identify any areas in your life that need

renewal or a new start and let this season be the time for it. You will want to join us for the May meeting and program this Saturday, if possible. MGS Publications Officer and Abstract Chairperson Michelle Woodham will be the presenter. She will share information to help us use Ancestry.com more effectively for research and will let us in on some new things that are coming to the site. I hope to see you on Saturday.

Marta Pierce, President

MAY Anniversaries Ann Byrd ● Carol & William Daniel Willie & Mary Frances Dunning Gail Gruetzman ● Susan Hedrick Larry Savell ● Arlin Sellers ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ If you have already renewed your membership, thank you very much! If you haven’t yet, we hope you consider another year with us. We look forward to sharing the next year with you as we continue forward delving into the past! Dues were updated 1/1/15, so please see new dues information on page 6 before sending your renewal application and payment.

Irish Genealogy Resource with 400,000 Catholic Parish Records to go Online From Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter By Dick Eastman May 3, 2015 The entire collection of Catholic parish register microfilms held by the National Library of Ireland – 400,000 films amounting to the most important source of Irish family history – is to be made available online this July. The National Library of Ireland (NLI) has been working to digitize the microfilms for more than three years under its most ambitious digitization program to date. Announced in December (see my earlier article with the announcement at http://goo.gl/i1QNfI, the National Library of Ireland has now announced an exact date: the archive of parish register microfilms now is expected to go live on 8 July 2015. You can read the details in an article in the Silicon Republic at : http://www.siliconrepublic.com/digital-life/item/41819-irish-genealogy-resource-wi.

MGS MEMBERSHIP CATEGORIES AND ANNUAL DUES – 1 JANUARY 2015 1-YEAR INDIVIDUAL OR JOINT* MEMBERSHIP Individual / Joint* Members – publications sent digitally by email…………………$ 30. Individual / Joint* Members – publications printed and mailed…………………….$ 40. 1-YEAR ORGANIZATIONAL MEMBERSHIP Societies, Libraries, Organizations – publications printed and mailed……………...$ 40. INDIVIDUAL LIFE MEMBER Lifetime Members (Age 60+) - publications sent digitally by email………………..$ 400. Lifetime Members (Age 60+) - publications printed and mailed……………..…….$ 500. HONORARY MEMBERS……………………………………….……………..No Dues

This & That REMINDER: If you plan to be away from your home on vacation, etc. temporarily, please notify MGS to hold your newsletter and/or quarterly. When these publications are returned to MGS, the return postage is costly for our society.

Many thanks to each of you who supports your Society by paying your dues in a timely manner.

OPPORTUNITIES TO SERVE ~~~~~~~~ VACANT MGS POSITIONS 2nd Vice President / Membership Director Newsletter Co-Editor (to format pages)

Please consider accepting a position!

---------------------------------------------------SURRENDER OAK FESTIVAL Many thanks to MGS Board member Kathy Richardson for inviting MGS to attend the Surrender Oak Festival in Citronelle on Saturday, April 18th and to set up a booth for genealogical outreach. The Surrender Oak in Citronelle, Alabama, was the location of the signing of the surrender of Confederate General Richard Taylor to Federal General Canby 150 years ago. Volunteers David Ditto, Edly Johns and Rick and Judy Culp attended the celebration as representatives of MGS. They manned three tables in the Citronelle Depot Museum, giving out 48 information packets and talking with people about genealogy and our Society. All were invited to visit a 3rd Saturday monthly meeting, were told about our good speakers and the 4th Thursday classes taught by Michelle Woodham, and were encouraged to visit the MGS Library to use our resources and receive research help. Our volunteers reported talking to so many people that their throats became dry. Said Judy Culp, “The experience was something really special. We met so many nice people and even took turns leaving our tables to sample what the Festival had to offer. We met McGruff, the Crime Dog, visited the petting zoo (Yes, I had to pet them!), received balloon necklaces and did several other things. We were donating our Saturday to MGS, but we had a lot of fun, too.” The special events MGS volunteers help with are fun for the volunteers as well.

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National Endowment for the Humanities announces new “Common Heritage” grant program COMMUNITY-BASED PROGRAM WILL SAVE TREASURES OF FAMILY AND LOCAL HISTORY WASHINGTON (April 20, 2015) — The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) today announced a new grant program, called “Common Heritage,” that will bring to light historical records and artifacts currently hidden in family attics and basements across the country and make them digitally available to the wider public and for posterity. NEH invites historical societies, libraries, archives, museums, colleges and other local institutions to apply for the Common Heritage grant program, the first federal grant program of its kind. Grants will support day-long events, organized by community cultural institutions, in which members of the public

will be invited to share materials important to their family or community histories, such as photographs, artifacts, family letters, and works of art. These items will be digitized, along with descriptive information and context provided by the community attendees. With the owner’s permission, the digitized materials will be made publicly available through the institution’s online collections. Contributors will receive a free digital copy of their items to take home, along with the original materials. Grants will also be used for public programming – including lectures, exhibits, discussion programs, and film screenings – that celebrates and expands knowledge of the community’s past and the diverse histories of its members. “We know that America’s cultural heritage isn’t found only in libraries and museums,” said NEH Chairman William Adams, “but in our homes, in our family histories, and the stories and objects we pass down to our children. NEH’s new Common Heritage grant program aims to capture this vitally important part of our country’s heritage and preserve it for future generations.” Application guidelines and a list of FAQs for the Common Heritage program are available at www.neh.gov. The application deadline for the initial cycle of Common Heritage grants is June 25, 2015. The first round of Common Heritage digitization days is expected to take place in early 2016. The new Common Heritage grant program is part of the National Endowment for the Humanities’ agency-wide initiative The Common Good: The Humanities in the Public Square, which seeks to demonstrate and enhance the role and significance of the humanities and humanities scholarship in public life. NEH’s Common Heritage program will award grants of up to $12,000 to community cultural organizations to coordinate community events and ensure that a wide range of historical materials can be digitized and contextualized through public programming. NEH program staff from the Divisions of Preservation & Access and Public Programs will conduct webinars for interested applicants on Tuesday, May 5 at 4 PM (EST). NEH Common Heritage grants webinar information: May 5, 4-4:30 PM (EST) https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/1908409504486414082 May 12, 4-4:30 PM (EST) https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6791456092165741569 From the NEH website: http://www.neh.gov/news/press-release/2015-04-20 Photo Credit: © Karimala | Dreamstime.com - Family Photographs Photo

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DEEP SOUTH GENEALOGICAL QUARTERLY Editor Kathy L. Richardson Co-Editor Dot Thompson MGS GOVERNING BOARD President Marta Pierce st 1 VP / Programs Jeff Krause 2nd VP / Membership Open Recording Officer Kathy Richardson Corresponding Officer Dot Thompson Treasurer Don Culberson Librarian Judy Culp Publications Officer Michelle Woodham Directors David Ditto Gordon Cook Coll’ette King Open

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