Sharing the Results of the Genealogical Hunt!

We love tracking down our ancestors through online databases, in courthouses, and at county clerks’ offices and can easily spend hours and hours in the pursuit. In the process we uncover the details of our forebears’ lives—birth and death dates that tie them to a place, marriage records that tell us who some of their closest friends or family were, and census records that show us the makeup of their families. Digging a little deeper, we can also discover fascinating details about their occupations, their brushes with the law, whether they left their homeland to start over in a new location, and much more. DNA has taken genealogical research to a whole new level and provides another tool to break through those brick walls we all seem to have. We learn so much as we are pursuing our ancestors, it's wonderful to pay it forward to others. Jane Theissen, our StLGS Quarterly editor, hopes to inspire you to take the plunge into writing for our journal. Jane writes . . .

Many of us expend hours of research time and money on the hunt. Wouldn’t it be a shame if these discoveries about our predecessors never saw the light of day after all that effort? Many genealogists love the pursuit, but not so much putting their findings down in writing. Or we think no one else would be interested in “my” ancestors because they didn’t do anything extraordinary. I daresay every one of our predecessors was special in his or her own way, and just because someone spent a whole life farming and working to provide for their family does not mean they did nothing memorable. 

Did you learn about a new record set while on the hunt or a new way to use an “old” set? Did you figure out a new search technique after trying twenty-five other ways that didn't work? Did you puzzle out how to work with those DNA matches? Are you excited about finally breaking through a brick wall that you've been banging your head against for the last fifteen years?

We have so many things to share about our genealogical quests. I am asking you today to consider doing just that. Believe it or not, there are a lot of folks who would benefit from what you have learned. Maybe you have been transferring old media to new formats. I have never done that and would like to know what is involved. Maybe you learned something new about the history of the “old country” and how it affected your ancestor. That might benefit another researcher who is just beginning their research in that country. 

Whether you have been at this for forty-plus years or you just started two months ago, each of us has acquired knowledge and expertise in this endeavor we call genealogical research. You can share some of that by writing an article for the St. Louis Genealogical Society Quarterly. Putting pen to paper may feel like stepping out of your comfort zone, but let me reassure you of several things:

1. Submitting an article for publication in the Quarterly is not as difficult as you might suspect. My task is to work with the author—you—and I do what I can to make it as painless as possible. Really!
2. What you submit does not need to be a polished piece of writing. Nothing that I receive is ever ready for publication when it first arrives. One of my favorite things to do is help a writer get their submission prepared to publish. Together, we tweak the text and format the citations until the item is ready for print. 
3. Yes, you will need to include citations for the statements of fact you write, but honestly, in the past seven years that I have been co-editor of this periodical, I have received only two articles that had near-perfect citations. I don’t expect that they will be perfect. It’s my job to help the author get them into shape, so please don't be afraid of them. 
4. You will experience a wonderful sense of accomplishment and satisfaction when you see your name and article in print in the Quarterly! (And did you know that the StLGS Quarterly is not only sent to StLGS members, but it also goes to many other genealogy societies and libraries across the U.S. and Europe? Your article will be read and appreciated by many!)

Guidelines for writing for the Quarterly can be found on the StLGS website at https://stlgs.org/media/pdf/quarterlyguidelines2018.pdf/, and I am more than happy to answer any question you may have, if you send me a note at quarterly@stlgs.org/.

(Thanks to Jane Theissen, StLGS Quarterly co-editor, for writing this week's post.)