Month In Review: My last 30 days

Way back in February I posted a monthly goals agenda. Ironically, one of those goals was to write a monthly goal list for every month. Don’t bother to look for March – it’s not there. As you can see, I didn’t get very far in that endeavor.

I have decided to change the objective. Certainly a list of goals to work towards during the course of a month is a nice thing to have, but I already have a lot of lists. My husband calls me, “the lister”. It’s a kind of illness, actually. So, I’m not sure that I really need another list. What I need is obtainable goals that are fluid, because you have to be able to adapt in this world. Change happens fast.

This then, is my first “month in review.” I do think that one of these roughly every thirty days would be beneficial, but I’m not going to choke on it. If it doesn’t get done, then it doesn’t get done. It’s my blog; I can do what I want, right?

Here’s what happened in late April and early May. It was actually a very exciting month for me, certainly the best I’ve had as an aspiring genealogist and personal historian. Really, it was a very busy last ten days or so. Either way, it was a great month for me, and for Ancestral Journeys.

On the 23^rd, it was officially announced by the editors at The In-Depth Genealogist, a new and exciting digi-mag, that I would be a regular contributor. I will be authoring a monthly column, entitled Family Atlas, along with two guest blog posts each month. My first column will appear in the June 2012 issue. Family Atlas will be focusing on research opportunities on a state-by-state basis, highlighting resources and the “unknown” genea-bloggers. Alongside this endeavor, I will also maintain the Featured Genealogist column, which will coincide geographically. 


(If you have a resource or genealogist you would like me to feature, please feel free to comment or email me.)

http://www.indepthgenealogist.com/

I started writing as the Breckenridge Genealogy Examiner, and my first article went up on the 26^th. Writing about anything history or genealogy related in, around, near, or related to Summit County, Colorado. This might be challenging as time goes on, but I’m game.

For the first time, I was invited to be a guest blogger on someone else’s site, and my first post on Michelle Nahom’s The Power of Photos, entitled “Telling Your Family Story” went up on 1 May.  Michelle is a training specialist for the Association of Personal Photo Organizers, or APPO. We met on Twitter, and she has been incredibly interesting to get to know. Please make sure to visit her blog. She also posted a guest blog for me, Making A Case For Printing Your Photos was published on 10 May.

My second chance at a guest blog happened the next day, when The In-Depth Genealogist published my Quick Source: JSTOR. A review of the amazing research opportunities available through the JSTOR site, much of which you can access for free. Apparently, it was one of the top blog posts of the week for them. *Insert pat on the back here.*

I got a job. Yep, a real life, out of the house, paying me a check job. I’m really very excited about it, though. Over the summer, I will be working for the Breckenridge Heritage Alliance, and for the first time I feel like the work I will be doing will actually be contributing something to society. I will be helping to expose others to the vast history of the Town of Breckenridge. There is also excitement for me in that this may lead to other opportunities with the organization, which would be wonderful. Be sure to check out their website, and if you decide to visit Summit County, Colorado any time of year, make sure you save yourself time for a walking tour, historic snowshoe hike, or the one I'm hoping to lead: the cemetery tour.

To top it all off, this was the last month of “The Puzzle of Your Past”, a family history research project I have been leading with the Leadville Brownie and Junior Girl Scouts of troop 840. (You can read about this project throughout my blog, as I have posted updates along the way, but also here.) It has been a wonderful year of discovery, and the girls are just putting the finishing touches on their projects for their May 20 “Court of Awards” annual ceremony. In the next few days, I will be working on finishing my end of the project, conducting as much research as possible in the time allowed and presenting a pedigree chart and CD-ROM to each participant for them to take home to their families. I hope they have enjoyed it as much as I have.(By the way, its the 100th Anniversary of Girl Scouting this year. You should check it out. No cookies without Girl Scouts!)

Along the way, I have been mentioned, retweeted, and linked by numerous “Big Names” in the genealogy field. That is always such a great moment for me; to have someone I respect so much recognize my work as useful and valuable enough to promote. It’s really mind blowing. I have never thought of myself as a writer, and yet, here I sit, eagerly committing to a steady stream of writing projects. It’s quite a surprise. Oh, and my blog? Yes. I am now up to 42 followers, so thank you so very much for supporting me. I greatly appreciate you as an audience, and value your feedback and commentary.

I’m so looking forward to seeing what the coming 30 days has to offer me, though I cannot imagine it will bring the changes and deadlines that the last 30 did. I guess we’ll find out soon. 


Hopefully it will be less snowy and filled with more lovely wild mountain flowers. 

Photo copyright Jen Baldwin,
Ancestral Journeys, 2011.

Youth In Cemetery

Leadville Girl Scouts

 Are kids, our next generation, interested in genealogy?

Well, maybe not. But I think we can do something about that. For the past year, I have been working with a local Girl Scout Troop in Leadville, Colorado. I have three nieces in the group, and my sister is one of the leaders, so it was a pretty easy and natural thing for me to be involved, and to be excited about the chance to pass my passion on to someone else. Someone young.

Author and family with the
Cose family marker.

We started last summer by taking the girls to the Evergreen Cemetery in Leadville. We had a local history buff tour us through the headstones, and she was wonderful and full of information. She showed them different kinds of graves, different areas of the cemetery (i.e. The Elks, I.O.O.F.), and told a lot of entertaining stories. About half way through though, she lost her audience. The girls just stopped listening. They wanted to either be entertained or entertain themselves.

After the "official" tour, I stepped in. I talked to the group about headstone rubbings, and we practiced on a few newer graves. They had over sized paper and a crayon. They were pretty happy for about ten minutes. Most of the kids started to filter home at this point, and that was okay. They were done.

I had something else completely in mind for my nieces however. There was a headstone I needed to find. At the time, they were 7 and 9 years, so I told them we were going on a scavenger hunt. That perked them right up! I gave them a general area of the cemetery, which we found using the map I brought along, and set them loose. They were excited because they were in charge, and they had a goal. We'd been at the cemetery for over two hours at this point, and no other goal had been established for the group. I think that was mistake #1.

We did find who I was looking for, even though I ended up actually finding her, and not the girls. Catherine J. (Daniels) Cose, 1858-1941. She was the sister of my 2nd great aunt, and I had just recently made the connection to the Leadville area.  I could not believe how excited they were to find her and her family! To them, it was real. It wasn't just names on paper with dates and random stories about a person they'll never meet, it was there, in front of them. For the first time, we had evidence that someone else in our family had lived in Leadville; we had always thought that my sister's family were the first to be in the area. And here was someone that was in their town. 


The question is, "is the next generation interested in genealogy"? Yes, I think they are. You just have to make it real. Leading the group through the genealogy project this year, I started bringing a picture of the same guy every time; Oscar F. Brown, my 2nd great grandfather. Every time I met with them, we would start with holding him up, and saying "hello" to Oscar. We would repeat what we knew about him...  he lived in Nebraska, he fought in the Civil War... they were engaged. That brings them to being interested about the topic of the day, whether its different kinds of records, geography, or family crests.

Jennifer Holik, genealogist and author, will be releasing Branching Out: Genealogy for 1st-3rd Grade Students very soon. I'm excited. Very excited. You can see her other publications and blog at http://www.generationsbiz.com/. You should also check out her blog post on Archives.com, "Connecting Children With Their Past" for great tips on getting started: http://www.archives.com/experts/holik-urban-jennifer/kids-genealogy.html.

February Goals

Deciding to document my genealogical goals on this blog is no small deal. This means I have to actually commit! Argh! Scary!

Ok, really. Here they are.

1. Blog more. There were many reasons I began this project, but the two that are most important to me were to improve my writing skills and to maintain a routine examination of my own research projects. During the past several months my blogging has been inconsistent at best, especially in terms of frequency. My goal for February is to blog about something twice a week. I have started a list of possible topics, and of course, I am open to suggestions. If there is something you are interested in learning more about, let me know. 
2. Create two new pages for both of my TTTP sites: Summit County, Colorado and Colfax County, Nebraska.  I have very much enjoyed the Trails to the Past project that began this past fall for me. Certainly it has given me the opportunity to learn a great deal more about both areas of the country. It has also forced me to be creative when it comes to finding new resources. My local library has been wonderful for the Summit County page, but being distant from Nebraska requires that I work harder to find new information for that area. Because of this, I do feel that the Nebraska page has suffered some, so to define my goal even further, I will create the Colfax County pages first. 
3. Girl Scout Project. This particular venture has truly given me a chance to go back to the basics in my own work and reevaluate some of the technical sides of the process that I have developed bad habits for or taken short cuts with. So, I'm grateful for it. February's meeting topic is yet to be determined, so I will need to develop my lesson for the girls for the month, prepare examples, and provide them with their homework. 
4. Continue the Social Media campaign.  My current efforts with creating an online presence and developing a reputation in the genealogical community appears to be making an impact. So, that focus will continue until my "audience" has grown and I feel confident that the name of "Ancestral Journeys" is out there, and known. Of course, this may take years. I think I can handle that.
5. Continue to develop standardized forms/information for Ancestral Breezes.  The necessary communication tools for new clients should be in place before I take on clients, yes?  I've been working on this as I am able, and have developed two to three very solid documents, all with the objective of providing the client with information.  February should see two to three more, including a tracking log (time and research), standardized invoice form, copyright information, and a release for publication purposes (so I can use other people's families to write about). 
6. Historical Document Preservation. Being the proud owner of a rather extensive library of photographs, letters, newspapers, certificates and other documents is a task I will gladly accept. It does, however, come with some responsibility. There is quite a bit more to digitally preserve in my collection, and they deserve some quality time with me. I now have the tools necessary to do this, and do it right, so there are no more excuses. My goal is to scan and save at least 200 new items this month. Storage is a whole different beast. Maybe next month... 

Six is a good number, right? 

Guess I'll be checking back around 1 March 2012 to see how I did.... and sadly, I don't think this counts as one of this week's blog posts, since it's not technically February yet. 

D.A.R.

When I hear that, DAR, my mind goes crazy. I think of all the things I could do, if only I could prove a connection to the original military struggle of our country. It would be amazing.

Tonight, I get to tell two nine year olds - and their parents - that they could indeed join the DAR with a little extra research and a few dollars. The benefits to these kids could be unimaginable... volunteer opportunities, networking with their future counterparts in education and business, scholarships, grants... the list goes on. Just having the prestigious organization on your college application is a huge boost. For children in rural areas like Lake County, Colorado, it could mean a significant difference in financial aid and grants for college. This is a BIG DEAL.

Founded in 1890, they currently have 170,000 members and 3,000 chapters, including all fifty states and some international chapters as well. (Source: http://www.dar.org/natsociety/whoweare.cfm).

A truly incredible opportunity for these girls. I hope they jump on it.

My Education

Over the past year, my focus has been on expanding my research abilities, gaining experience in web page design and upkeep and teaching. Using the resources available to me, I have managed to learn quite a bit about all three of those goals, and the learning continues.

Lesson One: It is not easy to maintain a website in which the goal is to continually add more information and new sources with new ideas - all for free. How I would love someone to pay me just $1 per hour for the work that goes into the Summit County, Colorado and Colfax County, Nebraska Trails to the Past sites! It is truly difficult, and Colfax County is the more frustrating of the two. Since I am not in Nebraska, and have no access to Nebraska's libraries or countless resources, I am dependent on my own library system to supply me with information, the already existing websites that I do not want to copy, and my wallet - which is pretty much empty.  An ever expanding level of respect is being developed in me for all those that came before, especially those site administrators at Rootsweb who really started the county-by-county genealogy website concept.

Lesson Two: Social networking is a must. Let's face it: Twitter is not going anywhere (to quote my dear brother), and I either have to play or get off the 'net.  You can follow me on Twitter... @ancestryjourney, Facebook and Google +.

Lesson Three: Teaching girls about genealogical records when some don't even know what a phone book is has been a bit more challenging than originally anticipated. Keep your fingers crossed; on Thursday we will be talking about maps. Hopefully I am more successful there than I was with the phone book idea. I hope no one pulls out a GPS on me...

Although I will agree that my research skills have grown in 2011, I do have to say that I really wish archives offices, courthouses, cemeteries and LDS Family History Centers all came equipped with babysitters. Two year old's do not like walking around cemeteries so Mommy can take pictures of anything with words on it. Two year old's do not like waiting for a volunteer to make copies of ten select pages from a record file, one page at a time. (Bless her heart, she was so patient with us!)  Other researchers do not necessarily think its cute when said two year old starts "reading" aloud from her Elmo book in the middle of a very quiet room. At one point this year, I said to my father that his granddaughter had, "probably been to more cemeteries than you have." Over Thanksgiving, we made a list, and sure enough, she has.

We were at the library today (thankfully there for her this time - not me! Gotta' love story time!) and my now nearly three year old daughter pulled a book off the shelf while we were in "Mommy's section." The book was entitled Famous Last Words, compiled by Ray Robinson. It was just so appropriate for me, I had to check it out.  Maybe I should let her pick the books out every week!

(For more on the Trails to the Past organization, or to access my two sites, please visit us at: http://trailstothepast.org/.  Volunteers are needed around the country!)

Girl Scout Project continues...

Up in Leadville, they've been busy. Girls all over town are collecting names of ancestors, birth and death dates, trying to find old photos and looking up sources on the internet.

It's all my fault.

Leadville High School, built 1900.

The girls have been assigned pedigree charts, time lines for one of their parents, and now, after a lengthy discussion on sources which included many different examples, they are out searching for new information. They have a month to come up with something on their chosen ancestor.

In the meantime, I have their pedigree charts and am researching at a steady pace. Starting simply with ancestry.com, and moving on to other common websites, I've been able to put together a fairly good draft of the first four generations for each girl. One in particular already has posted research for her family, going back to the DAR, which is exciting. An unexpected benefit of this project may be membership opportunities for these girls, which may lead to scholarships and other "college bound" programs. What a treat that would be!  Hopefully, her parents, and any others we find, are encouraged and excited about the opportunities and jump on them; I'm sure they will.

Although there are a variety of geographical locations involved already, there seems to be a majority of German descent. Since the families spread through the eastern and mid-western United States fairly well, that should be an interesting trend to follow.

Research commences!  Good luck to all my girls on the other side of the hill!

Month 1: Puzzles of Your Past

This past week I had the first of many meetings with the Leadville Girl Scout Troop, in our series entitled "Puzzles of Your Past".  Leading up to this project, I have been very excited to get going, but when the day finally came, I found myself somewhat anxious and yes, even a little nervous. What right do I have to teach genealogy concepts? And at that, what right do I have to teach them to a group of 7-10 year old's; the next generation of ancestry research?  My own three nieces, sitting front and center, looking up at me to guide them into what will surely be an exciting adventure into their past. What if I am boring?  Sin of sins! That was the worst thing for me at that age - a boring instructor. What if I'm that person? What if I talk down to them? What if I talk completely over their heads and they are totally lost? The whole project depends on them understanding the vocabulary and concepts being introduced in tonight's meeting!

I was nearly in a panic.

I arrived. Things were hectic. The Daisy troop were making tye-dyed t-shirts and most of the bigger kids were on the playground showing anybody who would look their endless energy.  Oh, boy.

Armed with a glass of water, some very familiar pedigree charts, and a laptop, I started to set up. The leaders had been through my material; they assured me it was great. I had reviewed the "must" list several times over the past hour. I had pictures, cartoons, even Darth Vader in my presentation! How can it possibly go wrong? Darth Vader!?!?!? He's too cool.

We started in. I was introduced, or rather, re-introduced to most of the girls. They all sat there, mostly attentive, and you could see those that were genuinely excited about this endeavor. We'd been talking to them about this for a couple of months, getting them ready. Making sure they knew this was going to require extra work. Trying to dig out of their brains where to focus, what would motivate them, which stories to tell, which questions to answer. There were a couple parent volunteers there, not many, and some afterwards that asked questions. For the most part, though, it was just me and the girls. Probably around 15 kids in my audience that night, and after a minute or two, I settled into my knowledge base and hoped for the best.

There were questions, sure, but not as many as I expected. They had a harder time making notes than they did understanding the difference between an ancestor, a descendant, and a direct or indirect descendant. They laughed at my jokes (whew!), they were quiet when asked to be quiet, and they asked - and answered - good questions.

We ended up having a great time.  What a relief.

Nearly all of them brought their "homework"; their pedigree charts given to them at the last meeting (without me).  Most of them seemed ok with the idea of being assigned more homework... but then, they have a month to do it in.

Here is what we covered, week 1:

• What is genealogy, and why should I care?
• The difference between "family history" and genealogy.
• How did my ancestors make an impact on me?
• Where to start.
• Historical Timelines, and they created a historical timeline on themselves.
• Pedigree charts
• Vocabulary: genealogy, family tree, ancestor, descendant

Next time, we will start researching... talking about where to research, what kind of documents or sources can be helpful and how to properly document that source. We'll look up a couple people from the SSDI and show them how a phone book can help in your genealogy project. 

I am not nervous.