Society Saturday - "Preserve the Pensions War of 1812" Project

I suppose you heard Root Cellar SGS (RC) is participating with the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS),  Ancestry.com,  fold3, FamilySearch and many other societies and individuals around the country and the world to financially help support the
"Preserve the Pensions War of 1812 "Project

We announced our participation in this project through our blog, and then spoke directly to you about it at our April Meeting. You have embraced it and made your donations. Thank You So Much.


 ........  want to know how we are doing already? 

As you can see  from the graphic below we have ALREADY reached our goal.......
 

$300 in donations from our membership

this will be matched dollar for dollar from Root Cellar SGS organization....

 giving us $600 total donation, but WAIT

with additional matching funds from Ancestry.com

Root Cellar members now will be donating $1200

  

WOW!! I am so impressed and you should be just as impressed with your generosity and support. 

Maybe we should continue to collect and see how much more we can collect. What do you say? We were going to collect through the June Meeting and that is still almost two months. Let's do it!!!

Root Cellar Sacramento Genealogical Society would like to challenge all the societies in Northern California to get involved with the "Preserve the Pensions War of 1812" digitizing project. Let the country know that Northern California cares and wants to support and be a part of this huge effort.

special thank you for the wonderful graphic created by Rick Hanson
...............and posted by Sandra Gardner Benward on behalf of our membership - Thank You!

Military Monday- Digitizing of the Pension Records of 1812? What???

Root Cellar Sacramento Genealogical Society has decided to participate in

            "Preserve the Pensions-  War of 1812" Project.

The Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) is spearheading this project.   There is a $3.7 million nationwide fundraising initiative going on to digitize the long-neglected War of 1812 pension records.

These orginal documents are extremely fragile and they need to be digitized quickly to preserve the best possible image of each page. This is the first time in history that the entire genealogical community is coming together to see a project of this magnitude to completion... from the National Archives to fold3 to individual states and local genealogical societies (Root Cellar SGS).

This IS where Root Cellar SGS fits in............ We are going to have our own "money raiser" in support of this project.  Root Cellar SGS will match donations up to $300. We will be collecting from now through the June Meeting. So in the end we hope to be donating $600 (your money plus RC matched funds) to the project. In June our donation of $600 will be sent to FGS.

But wait it gets so much better....... FGS reports the donation to Ancestry.com and Ancestry.com will match our donation.  So now we have acutally donated $1200. Isn't that amazing.

If you would like to help and donate any amount please send your checks to:

Root Cellar SGS
P O Box 265
Citrus Heights, CA 95611

(make checks payable to Root Cellar & indicate on the check it is for War of 1812)

......we will also be collecting at each general meeting through the June Meeting.

Thank you so much for your support .......  we will keep you informed.

Interesting Facts: (taken from FGS flyer and website)
* Ancestry.com has generously stepped up and agreed to cover costs to digitize HALF of the War of 1812 pension records. So every dollar donated will actually go twice as far.
  example: at a cost of $.45 per digitized page, your tax-deductible gift of $45 would normally digitize 100 pages. But with the help of Ancestry.com it will digitize 200 pages.

* All of the War of 1812 Pension Records digitized with your donation will be made available to the public on  fold3

* The Federation of Genealogical Societies is pleased to partner with Ancestry.com, fold3, and FamilySearch, as well as numerous individual state and local genealogical societies (that's us -Root Cellar SGS) and leaders in the genealogical community.

* There are 180,000 pension records from the War of 1812 housed at the National Archives, a total of 7,200,000 pages.  From 2012-2015 we commomorate the 200th anniversaries of the War of 1812 battles - batttle of a war some hail as our second Revolutionary War.

posted with excitment and anticipation by Sandra Gardner Benward

Federation of Genealogical Societies Urges Changes to Technology and Privacy Laws for Records Access

The following is an excerpt from Thomas MacEntee's posting on the FGS Voice blog. It deals with an issue that all genealogists should be aware of. These technology and privacy laws threaten future use of records for family historians. Please go to http://voice.fgs.org/2013/03/fgs-joins-records-coalition-senator-orrin-hatch.html for the complete article.


March 18, 2013 – Austin, TX. The Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) has joined the American Library Association, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Center for Democracy and Technology, as well as other organizations, in an effort to ensure continued access to records for the genealogy and family history communities.

The coalition, in a letter dated March 19, 2013, is urging Senator Orrin Hatch (Utah) to take a leadership role on important issues involving technology, privacy and genealogy records access. These include:
updating the laws and regulations governing the use of the "Death Master File" of the Social Security Administration and its commercially available Social Security Death Index (SSDI); and
updating the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA).
FGS and other coalition members have called upon Hatch to take action due to his “contributions to facilitating genealogical research . . . commitment to both law enforcement and privacy, and . . . interest in promoting development of the technology sector.”

The coalition seeks changes to recent laws and policies which threaten access to records vital to the field of genealogy as well as “genealogists who work to identify military remains, who work with coroners’ offices and medical examiners, who are forensic genealogists, heir researchers, and those researching individual genetically inherited diseases.”

To follow the latest developments involving these issues important to all genealogists, follow the Records Access and Preservation Committee blog at http://www.fgs.org/rpac/.

Posted by Ron Setzer

Call to Action - SSDI Records Access in Peril

The Federation of Genealogical Societies posted the following information on its blog regarding the need for all genealogists to take action now to fight Congressional attempts to close access to the Social Security Death Index (SSDI):

The Records Preservation and Access Committee has created a Call to Action Kit to support the Stop ID Theft NOW initiative.

Access the kit at http://www.fgs.org/rpac/sddi-call-to-action-kit/.

If you have questions concerning the Social Security Death Index and its possible loss as a resource for the genealogical community, please check all the resources available in the kit including:

• Educational videos and FAQ sheets.

• Information on the Stop Identity Theft NOW! petition via the We The People website.

• Form letters that you can use to contact Congress and let them know you do not support removal of the Social Security Death Index.

• And ways to spread the word to other members of the genealogical community.

posted b Denise Hibsch Richmond

FGS Recognizes Root Cellar Sacramento Genealogical Society for Unique Program Idea

The Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) conference in Springfield, Illinois on September 7-10 inaugurated a new feature this year called "Society Showcase". For a modest fee of $25, a genealogical society could display publications and promote activities at tables arranged along the periphery of the exhibit hall. 

Root Cellar Sacramento Genealogical Society received a kind offer from Kathryn Doyle of the California Genealogical Society in Oakland to share their table.  We accepted and displayed our Divorce, Coroners and Women Entrepreneurs publications; the publications list; the Preserves; Family History Day and Spring Seminar flyers, and membership brochures. 
 

Pictured (l-r) Kathryn Doyle, Communications Director and
Jane Hufft, Nugget Editor from California Genealogical Society and
Denise Hibsch Richmond, Publicity Chairperson for Root Cellar Sacramento Genealogical Society


Thursday, September 8th was Society Showcase night.  From 6pm to 8pm, we were at our assigned tables.  (click on photo to enlarge)  Attendees throughout the U.S. stopped by to chat and tell us about their California ancestors.  A few did not have any ancestors in California! (gasp!)  The exhibit hall was also buzzing that night because of several drawings at most exhibit booths for some pretty cool prizes.  I, alas, have yet to receive a call about my winning entry.  

During the evening, each society was asked to list their unique activities  in several categories including member benefits, programs, and fundraising.  The FGS Conference Committee reviewed all submissions and identified several "winning" ideas on the FGS Blog.  Root Cellar Sacramento Genealogical Society was recognized in the "Program" category for its Blog Instructions, FAQs, etc.  Read the complete FGS Blog article. 

Thank you again FGS, and Kathryn, we could not have achieved this without you!

posted by Denise Hibsch Richmond

Follow Friday - FGS "Pathways to the Heartlands" Springfield Illinois

The Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) "Pathways to the Heartland" with the local hosts The Illinois State Genealogical Society- September 7-10, 2011 in Springfield, Illinois

Gather with the nation's genealogists in beautiful Springfield, Illinois for the Federation of Genealogical Societies 2011 Conference, Pathways to the Heartland... 

......but if you can't be there in person FOLLOW along with our own Denise Richmond who will do some posting HERE while she is attending the conference. (she may have already done some posting before you read this).

....you can also follow the conference through                             FGS Facebook or their FGS Blog


posted by Sandra Gardner Benward for Follow Friday

FGS - Springfield Here We Come!

My husband Scott and I are winging our way to Springfield, Illinois for the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) annual conference Wednesday, September 7th.  I think we packed light, don't you agree --- his, her and ours luggage?  I'll be posting to the blog from there so stay tuned!

Tilt head to right to view (don't ask)

Posted by Denise Hibsch Richmond

How To Access FGS Radio

We wrote about FGS Radio, a new resource from the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) on April, 21, 2011.  Like me, you may be new to internet radio.  Thankfully, Thomas MacEntee has written some instructions for listening to a live broadcast, how to download archived episodes and how to access the chat room.

FGS Announces Internet Radio Shows

WOW, does this sound great!! An Internet Radio Show dedicated solely to genealogy societies sponsored by the Federation of Genealogical Societies, of which Root Cellar is a member.  It will be on at 11am on Saturday April 23rd and every Saturday after that. I remember meeting their first guest, Curt Witcher, while I was visiting the fabulous Allen County Public Library in Indiana – their genealogy section is huge and very impressive.  He is the Senior Manager of Special Collections.  If you ever get a opportunity to visit, plan to be there for days.

-- Sandra Benward, President