More Items of Interest for You

 As previously mentioned . . . NARA Virtual Genealogy Fair

28–30 October

A bit more information:

If you live near Jefferson City, Missouri, the Missouri State Archives plans to live-stream this event in the Archives Conference Room on the first floor of the James C. Kirkpatrick State Information Center. Sessions are open to the public and will begin at 9 a.m. each day.

     Regardless of where you live, you can still attend online. Archivist of the U.S., David S. Ferriero, will provide opening remarks. Other speakers include experts from National Archives facilities, the historian from the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services, and representatives from Ancestry and FamilySearch. Lectures will feature tips and techniques for using federal records at the National Archives for genealogy research. For a full list of topics and presenters, visit www.archives.gov/calendar/genealogy-fair/2014/schedule.html/. 

*

Help Save the War of 1812 Pension Files!

We've written about this worthwhile effort before in News 'n Notes, but now there is a new twist. Up through 31 January 2015, the Illinois State Genealogical Society and Ancestry are making matching donations. The ISGS will match your donations dollar for dollar up to $10,000. The Federation of Genealogical Societies and Ancestry will match the total as well, so that any contribution you make in the next few months will be eight times larger than what you contribute!

     If you donate $100, your donation will pay for digitizing almost 1,800 pages of these valuable military records. There are more than 7.2 million pages that need to be preserved, and ISGS is only halfway to spending their $10,000.  Here is your chance to be a hero!

     Go to http://ilgensoc.org/cpage.php?pt=444 for more information and/or to make a donation online.

*

 And Two More Upcoming Talks . . . St. Louis Mercantile Library at UMSL

St. Louis in its Golden Age, 1840–1880 Lecture Series

Sunday, 2 November, 2:00 p.m.–4:00 p.m.

"Cultures of Capital: Entrepreneurial Elites and the Art Worlds of the Gilded Age"

John Ott, art history professor at James Madison University

This lecture requires pre-registration and a fee of $10 for Mercantile Library members; $12 for non-members. Light refreshments will be served. Free parking in the West Drive Garage on campus. For tickets or information, please contact Amanda Schneider at 314-516-7248 or send her an e-mail at amandaschneider@umsl.edu/.

 

*

St. Clair County, Illinois Monthly Meeting of the St. Clair Genealogical Society

Thursday, 6 November at 7:30 p.m.

St. Luke's Parish Hall, 226 N. Church St., Belleville

Fred Held, a librarian at the Family History Center in Hazelwood, Missouri, will discuss how different spellings for the same German surname came about and how several family members sharing the same given name can add to the confusion in researching German ancestors.