StLGS Family Tree Maker Users Group

At this time, there are no further meetings scheduled for the StLGS Family Tree Maker Users Group. The meeting that was scheduled for January has been cancelled. We thank those of you who attended the meetings for your interest and support.

St. Louis Public Library Tour

To those of you signed up for Saturday's tour of the St. Louis Public Library ...
     1. We will meet at 10:30 a.m. on the 3rd floor in the Carnegie Room.
     2. As far as we know, this is a tour of just the genealogy/history areas.
     3. The tour Saturday and the one in January are for StLGS members only, please, and not appropriate for children unless they are older teens interested in genealogy.

Street parking in the downtown area is free on Saturdays. There are several parking areas nearby, if you prefer to leave your car in a lot or garage. The closest MetroLink station is at the ScotTrade Center. The central library is about a two-block walk north of that station.

Holiday Closings for our Office

The StLGS office will be closed on Saturday, 15 December, as many of our office volunteers will be touring the beautifully renovated St. Louis Public Library downtown branch. There is still some space left on the January tour (Saturday, 19 January). If you are interested, call the office (314-647-8547).

In addition, the office will be closed on Tuesday, 25 December and Tuesday, 1 January for Christmas and New Year's Day. We wish all of you a very happy Chanukah, Kwanzaa, and/or Christmas, and a happy, healthy new year.

Don't forget to put Sunday, 27 January on your calendar so you don't miss our annual Open House. More information online at our website <www.stlgs.org> and coming in January's News 'n Notes. Look for a 2013 events schedule and calendar as well as registration for winter classes in there too.

Brodsky Library Holding Book Sale

For those of you celebrating Chanukah (or those with just an interest in Jewish history and traditions), the Brodsky Library at the Jewish Community Center is holding a used book sale from Sunday, the 9th of December through Sunday, the 16th of December. The sale features cookbooks, fiction, books on Israel and the Holocaust, children's books, toys and games, books on Hebrew and biblical studies, and many books on both Judaism and other religions. The sale begins on the 9th at 10 a.m. and remains open until 2 p.m. On Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday, hours are 9 a.m. till 5 p.m. On Tuesday, the library is open from 9 a.m. until 8 p.m. and on Friday from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. On the 16th, hours are from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.

The Brodsky Library is on the campus of the Jewish Community Center in the Jewish Federation Kopolow Building, 12 Millstone Campus Drive. Once you enter the complex from Schuetz Road, the building is on your right. For more information on the book sale, you can call 314-442-3720 or e-mail brodsky-library@jfedstl.org .

Washington Park Cemetery in St. Louis Needs You!

Washington Park Cemetery is the largest African-American cemetery in St. Louis. Founded in 1920, at a time when segregation was the norm, it quickly became a popular spot for African-American burials. Unfortunately, over time, the cemetery became neglected. By the late 1990s, because of airport expansion and other construction, the City of St. Louis took ownership of the cemetery and moved many of the bodies. The graves that remained were generally overgrown; many of the stones toppled.

Recently, the cemetery's new owners have begun a massive cleanup of the site, and here is where your help is needed. On the first weekend of every month (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday), as long as the weather is good, volunteers will be working at the cemetery to restore it to its former dignity. Work will be ongoing each day from 8 a.m. until dusk.The owners hope you will bring any tools that might be helpful such as lawnmowers, weed eaters, chain saws, and hedge trimmers, and that you will come whenever you can and stay for as long as you can. Obviously, the more people who show up, the better, so please pass this information on to others.

For more information on Washington Park Cemetery, go to: http://www.stlouiscityrecorder.org/archives/cemetery/washingtonparkcemetery.html . If you have questions, please contact Calvin Whitaker at 314-406-0518 or Chris Whitaker at 314-387-0345.

StLGS on TV, Monday, 26 November

On Monday, 26 November, incoming StLGS president, Fran Behrman, and projects manager, Ann Fleming, will be interviewed on STL TV LIVE!, a production of the television network of the City of St. Louis. The actual broadcast will be on late Monday afternoon at 5 p.m. If you have cable, the show airs on channel 992 or channel 99 on U-Verse. For those of you without cable or who may not have access to those channels, the interview will be on YouTube sometime Monday night or Tuesday.

Fran and Ann will be talking about the Book Jamboree (Sunday afternoon, 2 December), the Open House (Sunday afternoon, 27 January), and other society goings-on. You can learn more about STL TV on their website: www.stltv.net .

Look for the interview on the Web at any of these locations:
www.facebook/com/stltvchannel
www.twitter.com/stltvchannel
www.youtube.com/saintlouistv

Please Ignore Strange E-mails

During the past few days, we have been made aware that there is spam going out to StLGS members, probably because of an old RootsWeb mailing list that we have been trying to shut down. If you receive any e-mails that invite you to look at strange websites, please just delete them. If you click on the link, you spread the spam further because the worm invades your contact list and sends more e-mails. It's not a deadly virus; just an annoying hassle. We truly apologize for the inconvenience and ask you to just be patient while this runs its course. If any of the e-mails seem to have gone out from your address, you may want to change your e-mail password so your address doesn't get hijacked again.

StLGS Annual Book Jamboree Coming Soon

One of our favorite annual society events is just around the corner, and we hope you have marked your calendars. On Sunday, 2 December, from 1 p.m. until 3 p.m., we will host more than a dozen local authors, plus representatives from societies and book vendors in our office at 4 Sunnen Drive, Maplewood, Missouri.

This free event is a wonderful way to begin your holiday shopping for family and friends who love books with a local historical/ genealogical twist. The books run the gamut from the St. Louis Arch, to the the city/county park system, local radio legends, and Germans in St. Louis. For a complete list of all the authors and some of the books they will have available, click here.

You can purchase your books with cash, check, or Visa/MasterCard, and the authors will be happy to sign your books. Of course, we will have lots of StLGS CDs, books, and other merchandise for sale that day as well.

Hope to see you there!

Speaker Series CDs Now Available for Sale

J. Mark Lowe spent Saturday, 27 October with us at the annual Fall Speaker Series, talking about "Looking for Family in Court Records." In his four talks, Mark covered the basics of using court records, what you are likely to find in them, the various kinds of records that might be available, and how you can mine those records for clues about your ancestors' lives. He took us through an actual court case and answered many questions on those interesting but under-utilized treasures.

Mark's four lectures were professionally recorded, and the CDs are now on sale. The cost is $65, which includes a copy of the syllabus and shipping. You can purchase the CDs from our website <www.stlgs.org> by clicking on the button on the home page.

Chance to Tour Lemp Brewery Caves

Our friends at Landmarks Association in St. Louis are holding a fundraising raffle for chances to tour the caves under the Lemp Brewery. This is a rare opportunity to see the caves that played an important role in the success of this once-active St. Louis brewery. The caves are not open to the public at any time, so this may be the only way that you can ever get to see them. In addition to the caves, the tour will visit other features in the building, such as the remains of the Lemp family's private theater and their heated swimming pool.

You can buy as many raffle tickets as you like, but only 1,000 will be sold. Each ticket costs $20 and the lucky winners will get two places on the tour. The drawing will be on Friday, 2 November. The tour will take place on the afternoon of the 16th of November.

Winners will be notified by Landmarks Association by phone or by e-mail. You can purchase your tickets by calling Landmarks at 314-421-6474 or send an e-mail to <lempcavetour@landmarks-stl.org>.

The Landmarks Association of St. Louis is dedicated to preserving the history of architecture and building in St. Louis City and County. You can learn more about this important organization at their website: www.landmarks-stl.org .

Speaker Series Reminder

Have you registered for the October Speaker Series yet? Today is the last day to save a little money on early registration. You won't want to miss J. Mark Lowe's all-day workshop on "Looking for Family in Court Records" on Saturday, 27 October at the Orlando Gardens in Webster Groves. Registration includes all four lectures plus a box lunch. You can register online at <www.stlgs.org>. Hope to see you there.

StLGS Website Update, Part 3

We've saved the biggest update for the end. Our busy webmaster, Jim Bresnahan, has finished uploading all of the cemetery data from the third of our cemetery burial CDs to the members only area of the website. Jim had posted the contents of the first two burial CDs online previously.

Each known cemetery has a page of information and we are adding photos, when possible. Remaining cemeteries are on burial CD4, which is still for sale. Jewish cemeteries are on the site and open to all in the public area.

To access the cemetery data, you will need to log in as a member. Then go to <www.stlgs.org>.  On the home page, choose the Research tab, go to Life and Death and then Cemeteries. Hope you find "good stuff"!

Updates to the StLGS Website, Part 2

Another new set of data on our website is coordinated with the articles on steamboats that appeared in the summer 2012 Quarterly. Due to space limitations, we were unable to print a long list of steamboat workers in the 1860 census and another set of databases of men who were masters, pilots, and engineers based in St. Louis in 1854, 1857, and 1915. Our webmaster, Jim Bresnahan, has created a new category for us under the Research tab on the home page. Go to Life and Death and then Occupations. You will find the new databases on the page that opens.

We also need to correct one sentence from our last blog. We did not clearly state that the issue of the St. John Nepomuk Messenger that is online is a special anniversary issue of the Young Men's and Young Women's Sodalities. This is not the church's anniversary issue but that of the two young people's groups. We are sorry for any confusion this might have caused.

Exciting New Data at StLGS.org, Part 1

During the past few weeks, your technology team has been hard at work on our website. We have added thousands of names to our expanding list of databases, and we'll share the information with you in a set of blog posts. Those of you who are members will be receiving more details in the October issue of News 'n Notes, which should arrive in your inbox tomorrow. We'll start our series with the smallest of the databases and work our way up to the largest. 

St. John Nepomuk Messenger

If you have Czech or Bohemian ancestors who were involved in the Sodality clubs at St. John Nepomuk church in St. Louis in the mid-twentieth century, you will want to look at this new database and set of PDFs. The current deacon of the church donated a copy of the anniversary issue of the St. John Nepomuk Messenger (October 1931) to StLGS. Two volunteers, Carolyn Finnigan and Susan Stauder, indexed the magazine, and StLGS Publications Director, Ilene Murray, scanned the pages and created PDFs of them. Webmaster, Jim Bresnahan, has posted the index and all of the scanned pages on the Czech page of our website. You can get there by going to the Research tab, then Community, then Ethnic, or go directly to <http://tinyurl.com/cx5vj4z>. You will find photos of many of the young people, lists of members, and some wonderful ads and historical tidbits.

"Ask Your Questions Day" Helps Members

Kudos to Publicity Team, Fran Behrman and Viki Fagyal, for organizing, scheduling, and hosting our first "Ask Your Questions Day" on Saturday, 15 September. With the help of some of our experienced office volunteers, about thirty StLGS members were able to get one-on-one assistance for a variety of brick-wall questions. Because members submitted their questions ahead of time via e-mail, the "experts" were able to do some research before their scheduled meetings. That meant people could receive individualized plans, specific websites or books to look at, and fresh eyes to help them solve difficult problems. Virtually everyone came away with new paths to follow for their research. Both members and "experts" agreed that the day was a rousing success. Most members asked for Fran and Viki to do this again, and they most likely will add this to our calendar for 2013. Watch for the next date so you can sign up, if you missed this opportunity.

Above, StLGS archivist, Dan Kerckhoff, helps two members with questions about Irish research.

September German SIG Meeting

The next German SIG meeting is on Wednesday, 19 September at 7:00 p.m. in the auditorium at St. Louis County Library Headquarters. The meeting features Carol Whitton, CG, who will discuss "Reading German Church Records."

The original date was to have been 12 September but was changed due to a scheduling conflict at the library. We apologize for inadvertently printing that original date in the last News 'n Notes. We know you will want to hear Carol's talk on this important topic, so be sure to make note of the correct date.

A Labor Day Present from Ancestry.com

Here's a bit of good news for your upcoming holiday weekend (besides the very welcome "threat" of rain headed for St. Louis) ...

Ancestry.com is celebrating Labor Day weekend by opening up, at no charge, all their United States census records from Wednesday, 29 August until the end of Monday, 3 September. You can search, save, and print as much as you like. To take advantage of this generous weekend gift, go to www.ancestry.com/census . Have fun!

Family Tree Maker Users Group

Many of you already know that we have had to cancel both the Family Tree Maker Users group and the class that was scheduled for Wednesday, 29 August, due to Stephen Comfort-Mason's recent surgery. You will be delighted to know that Stephen continues to do well, and we look forward to his returning to the StLGS office before too long. Until that time, no further meetings or classes for Family Tree users are on the calendar. Once Stephen is able to be up and about, he will get the group going again. In the meantime, if you have any questions or just want to wish him well, you can contact Stephen at <technology@stlgs.org>.

Jefferson County Library Places Historical Photographs Online

The Jefferson County (Missouri) Library seeks to spark interest in Jefferson County history by sharing its historical photographs on Flickr, a popular photo-sharing service. The wide range of photographs offers a compelling look at how Jefferson County residents lived and worked in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Currently, the collection features more than 300 photographs. They are arranged in sixty-eight sets. The images showcase the rich legacy of Jefferson County towns, schools, churches, organizations, and agricultural heritage.

“People enjoy viewing historical photos of their home town,” explained Christine Merseal, Genealogy Library Specialist of the Northwest Branch, who went on to say, “Individuals have donated these photographs over the years to the library. Local historian Della Lang has been a major contributor. She has donated wonderful images of the past. The library has also obtained photos from patrons who have one or two pictures of an ancestor in front of a one-room school house or a photograph of their family farm.”

The Special Collections department at the Northwest Branch is seeking additional photographs to add to their online collection on Flickr. A signed release of any photograph donated is required. Please contact Christine Merseal at 636-677-8186 or cmerseal@jeffcolib.org. Currently, the Jefferson County Historical Photo Collection can be found at www.flickr.com/photos/jeffersoncountylibrary/sets/ and linked to the Jefferson County Library website at www.jeffersoncountylibrary.org. 

(Thanks to Christine Mearsal for sharing this information with us!)

State Archives Praises Census Volunteers

The Missouri State Archives sent out an official press release on Wednesday, 15 August, announcing the opening of the index to the 1940 census. The press release states that the index was created "largely through the efforts of Missouri State Archives volunteers, in conjunction with FamilySearch, the largest genealogy organization in the world, as well as the St. Louis Genealogical Society, the Missouri State Genealogical Association and smaller societies from across the state." After downloading images of the actual census pages, volunteers entered information into a web-based computer application created by FamilySearch. The 218 volunteers who registered with the Missouri State Archives entered more than 1.6 million records, "earning the honor of the number one, most productive indexing group in the entire country. Incredibly, an index to the 3.8 million people living in Missouri in 1940 was created in just over three months."

Secretary of State Robin Carnahan added, “Our volunteers did an outstanding job creating this index. Thanks in large part to their efforts, Missourians and family historians around the world can now easily search for every person living in Missouri in 1940 and then view digital images of the original pages on which they are found. It is truly an amazing resource for those attempting to learn more about their family or community history.”

The 1940 census is free and now completely searchable. You can click here for direct access to the census via the Missouri Digital Heritage website: http://www.sos.mo.gov/mdh 

For an interesting page of famous Missourians in the 1940 census, you can click here: http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/resources/census1940_famousmo.asp

And, although the census indexing project is over, the Missouri State Archives still could use volunteers to help on other projects. You can call 573-526-6711 or send an e-mail to archvol@sos.mo.gov if you are interested.

 

Reminder: August Monthly Meeting, 14 August

Do you have Illinois ancestors? The August monthly general meeting features Diane Walsh, CG, who will talk about laws and record keeping practices pertaining to civil birth, marriage, death, and divorce in Illinois from 1790 to the present.

Tuesday, 14 August

7:00 p.m.

St. Louis County Library Headquarters

1640 S. Lindbergh Blvd.

All the general meetings are free and open to the public. Hope to see you there.

Announcing "Ask Your Questions Day," 15 September

What’s your roadblock? Technology? You can’t find Grandma’s maiden name? You’ve searched the passenger list indexes and still can’t find your family? Do you have a question about the society website, blog, Facebook page, Twitter feed, office research room, First Families program, or other resources? We have the perfect event to help StLGS members get answers.

      St. Louis Genealogical Society is sponsoring an Ask Your Questions Day for members only on Saturday, 15 September 2012 at the society office. We will have experts available on the following topics: researching African American, German, Irish, Italian, Jewish, and other ethnicities; genealogical computer programs including Family Tree Maker, RootsMagic, and The Master Genealogist; StLGS blog, News Flash; Facebook; Twitter; handheld scanners; the StLGS website; First Families; and the StLGS Research Room.

How do you participate?

• No later than 1 September 2012, e-mail <publicity@stlgs.org> or call the StLGS office at 314-647-8547 with a specific question and to request an appointment. You will need to be specific so we can match you to the correct expert.
• You will have twenty minutes with your expert to answer your question.
• We will schedule the time and do an e-mail or telephone confirmation.
• Please arrive at the office at least ten minutes early.

We hope that if you have research questions, you will sign up and come in so we can assist you. See you then!

Exciting Offer for StLGS Members from Mocavo.com

At yesterday's Summer Speaker Series, guest speaker Michael Leclerc, who works for the genealogy search engine Mocavo.com, announced an exciting special offer for StLGS members. For the next sixty days only, StLGS members can sign up for a year's subscription to Mocavo Plus for a deeply discounted price. The regular subscription price is $119.40. The discount currently being advertised is $79.95, but StLGS members can subtract even more and sign up for just $59.70!
     Mocavo is a genealogy search engine. Unlike generic search engines, when you search on Mocavo, it does not offer hits on social network sites. It searches only genealogy-based websites and blogs. Although the basic search is free, Mocavo Plus offers enhanced searching ability, including an interesting twist on searching for names that might be misspelled. There is also a version of the Social Security Death Index on the site that still retains all the details that some other sites have removed because of privacy concerns, and there are family trees being posted as well.
     Start exploring Mocavo.com by clicking here to create a free account (you just provide your name and e-mail address). When you are ready to upgrade, click here. This page is just for StLGS members and will give you a secure way to sign up for your discounted year's subscription. Thanks to Michael Leclerc for making this possible for our members. Have fun and find lots of relatives!

Congratulations to Joyce Hoffman

The Missouri State Archives, which spearheaded the effort to get the 1940 federal census for the state of Missouri indexed as rapidly as possible, initiated a contest in early June, hoping to get the final counties finished in record time. All volunteers that transcribed 2,500 names or more during the month of June were entered into a drawing for three excellent prizes: a membership to the Missouri State Genealogical Society, a membership to StLGS, and a membership to the Genealogical Society of Central Missouri. 

     Joyce Hoffman was the winner of a year’s membership to StLGS. Since Joyce is already a member, her membership has been extended for a year. Joyce has been an awesome indexer and arbitrator. She says she indexed more than 9,000 names just in June and arbitrated another 20,000 more! Joyce has been an active member of our society’s Facebook page, answering questions and encouraging other volunteers, and she spent several hours at the office and was a big help during our Index-a-Thon. Look for the full article on Joyce's achievement in the August issue of News 'n Notes.

Summer Speaker Series Early Registration Ends Soon

A friendly reminder that the Summer Speaker Series early registration discount ends 14 July 2012. This year’s Summer Speaker Series will be held on Saturday, 28 July 2012.  We are excited about Michael Leclerc talking about "Online Resources for Genealogist." from 8:30 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. at Orlando Gardens, 8352 Watson Road, Webster Groves, Missouri.

Upcoming Events on Tuesday, 10 July

Tuesday evening, 10 July will be a busy evening for genealogists in St. Louis. The St. Louis Genealogical Society monthly meeting will be held that night at 7:00 p.m. at St. Louis County Library Headquarters. Pat Stamm, StLGS education director, will present some possible solutions for you to try in "Breaking Through Your Brick Walls." Before Pat's lecture, Larry Franke, reference librarian in Special Collections, will give a short talk on the international aspects of Special Collections, taking us "Around the World in Special Collections." Everyone is invited to StLGS monthly meetings!

National Archives Hosting Preservation Road Show

The National Archives in St. Louis is hosting a Preservation Road Show on Tuesday evening, 10 July followed by a workshop on Thursday, 12 July. Tuesday evening's panel discussion will run from 6:30 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. and is titled "Practical Preservation: Using Preservation Techniques in the Home." Thursday's workshop, which runs from 10:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m., offers an opportunity for visitors to bring a single object from home; preservation professionals will be on hand to offer instructions and answer questions on your treasure but will not do appraisals. No weapons will be permitted, but you may bring any paper products, artwork, or movies.

     Free parking is located at the nearby Hazelwood East Middle School, and shuttle service will run between the school and the NARA facility. You will need photo ID to enter either day. For more information and directions, click here to visit the website. For answers to specific questions on this event, please contact Keith Owens (314-801-0908) or Wanda Williams (314-801-9313).

Passing of Ed Schmidt

We are sad to report that long-time StLGS volunteer, Ed Schmidt, passed away on Monday, 2 July. Visitation will be on Wednesday, 4 July from 3 p.m. until 7 p.m. at Kutis South County Chapel, 5255 Lemay Ferry Rd. at Butler Hill. The funeral will be Thursday, 5 July at 9:30 a.m. at Kutis Chapel. Following the service will be a mass at Assumption Catholic Church with burial in the church cemetery afterward. Ed's obituary is in today's St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Some Dates for your Calendar

As you are making your summer plans, here are some new dates for upcoming StLGS meetings/events. Don't forget you can always check the calendar on our website home page <www.stlgs.org> for all our previously announced meetings.

     1. Family Tree Maker Users Group––After a very successful first meeting, FTM Users Group Leader, Stephen Comfort-Mason, has scheduled the next meeting for Wednesday evening, 25 July, at the StLGS office from 6:30 to 9:00 p.m. Anyone who uses FTM software is invited to attend. For more information, you can contact Stephen at <technology@stlgs.org> or look at Stephen's meeting summary posted on our Facebook page <www.facebook.com/groups/76633518155>.


     2. We don't yet have a catchy title for our second event, since it's in its earliest planning stages, but if you are in town, you will want to save some time on Saturday, 15 September, for a visit to our office. During a scheduled appointment that day, you will get the chance to meet with an "expert" to help solve a brick-wall problem, introduce you to (or help you with) genealogy software, assist you in using our website (or any other you may be having some trouble with), or just help you brainstorm your genealogy to-do list. We will ask you to pre-register for a time slot so everyone can be matched to someone who can help. There will be no charge for this members-only event. Stay tuned for more information in the very near future.

1940 Census Broadcast on KWMU

StLGS Research Projects Director, Ann Carter Fleming, and John Dougan, Missouri State Archivist, were interviewed by Don Marsh, host of "St. Louis on the Air," on St. Louis Public Radio station KWMU Thursday morning,
21 June. The hour-long broadcast was repeated during the evening, but it's also available for all of us to listen to on the KWMU website. Ann and John answered many questions on the importance of the 1940 census and took phone calls and answered e-mails on the topic as well. You can listen to Ann and John in either Windows Media Player or MP3 format by clicking here.

StLGS Forming Users Group for Family Tree Maker

The first meeting of the St. Louis Genealogical Society's Family Tree Maker Users Group will be held at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, 27 June at the StLGS office, 4 Sunnen Drive, Suite 140, Maplewood, Missouri. You can find a map and directions to the office by clicking here.

StLGS Technology Director, Stephen Comfort-Mason, will be the group's leader. Stephen says, "This will be primarily an organizational meeting but some time will be spent on product issues, including upgrades to FTM 2012, how to better 'tune' your computer to more effectively support FTM, and how FTM uses computer resources as it organizes your data and stores files." If you are interested in this popular genealogy software and would like to be on Stephen's e-mail list (so you can receive an agenda and notices of future meetings) or if you have some particular issue you would like for him to address, send him an e-mail at <technology@stlgs.org>.

Huge progress on the 1940 Indexing Project

As of this morning, Missouri is 83% indexed! Hundreds of volunteers are working on finishing the state by the end of the month. You can still help. Go to our website www.stlgs.org and follow the directions at the top of the home page. To see the progress being made, go to the FamilySearch site for Missouri: https://familysearch.org/1940census/1940-census-missouri/ .

Reminder about the June Monthly Meeting

Please join us for our monthly meeting tonight, Tuesday, 12 June, at 7:00 p.m. in the auditorium at St. Louis County Library Headquarters. Special Collections librarian, Larry Franke, will be talking about  "Immigration and Naturalization." Have you ever thought about why your ancestors immigrated to the U.S.? Do you know if your ancestors became American citizens? If so, What were the laws regarding naturalization at that time and what records still exist? Come and learn about the resources available for immigration and naturalization research. The meeting starts promptly at 7; see you there.

1940 Census Update

News from the FamilySearch Indexing Project ... As of this morning, the 1940 U.S. census is more than 50% indexed, a month ahead of schedule. According to the press release sent out today, 75 million records are now indexed and eighteen states and territories are searchable by name on the FamilySearch website <https://familysearch.org>. If you are an indexer or an arbitrator, the whole genealogical community thanks you for your efforts! If you aren't but you have some time, it's not too late to sign up. Go to the StLGS website <www.stlgs.org> and look for the instructions on the top of the home page.

StLGS now has a blog

Welcome to the St. Louis Genealogical Society's brand new blog! We hope you will continue to follow us as we bring you all the latest society news and keep you up to date with what's happening in the broader genealogical world. We will be posting regularly and encourage you to read our blog for the society's most up-to-date announcements.

To that end, our first announcement is that this Saturday, 9 June, our office will be closed to visitors, as the St. Louis Susan G. Komen workers will be on site for the Race for the Cure pre-registration. We hope you will join us in supporting this worthwhile cause.