Orphanages, Newspapers, and Congregations: Some Updates

As we mentioned to you a few weeks ago, we are in the process of reviewing many outdated blog posts in preparation for moving to our new website. Although many of the oldest posts were short and restricted to events occurring at specific times and places, some are still quite relevant, and we want to share some of those this week.

Officer Election Results, Exciting Website News, and Thank You to Our Supporters!

Thanks to all of you who voted in the election for our 2025–2026 officers. With unanimous votes, we will have co-presidents for the next two years as Kathy Franke and Jeani Ward share that position. Jim Yochim has been reelected as vice president for membership, and Debbie Benoit will take over as secretary beginning in January. We’d like to say a huge thank you to both Karen Goode and Cindy Finnegan, our current president and our society's secretary, who are ready to step down and hand the reins to our newly elected officers. Cindy has prepared board meeting notes, tackled dozens of thank you letters, scanned years' worth of old documents, and assisted at many of our events. As president for the past four years, Karen has managed to guide us successfully through one disaster after another. Her tenure began with a complete shutdown due to the pandemic, which led us to learning from scratch how to set up Zoom and hybrid meetings. After the office opened again, and we settled back into a more normal routine, it was time for a massive cleanup so we could get new carpet and a much-needed paint job. When all was finally sparkling clean and everything in place, we were faced with water damage due to a badly leaking roof, which shut us down for weeks again, and now, Karen is leading us through a complete redesign of our website. (More on that in just a bit.) Her leadership skills and her determination and perseverance in the face of one obstacle after another have kept our society on a steady course during some incredibly difficult times. We thank both Cindy and Karen for their hard work and look forward to seeing both of them enjoying some new adventures in the coming year.

And now for some exciting news about our StLGS website  . . .

Updated Congregations Maps Added to the StLGS Website!

Suppose you had a female ancestor who lived in St. Louis in the 1860s, but you couldn’t discover her birth date. There are no statewide birth records in Missouri prior to 1910, and, although the City of St. Louis kept a birth register, compliance was not compulsory; hence, it is incomplete. Religious records would be very helpful, as births, baptisms, confirmations, and other life events were usually recorded by religious leaders and kept on site. You know where your ancestor lived and what religion her family practiced, but how do you know what congregations were active at the time she was born? A new set of congregations maps is now live on our website, and an exciting feature of the maps is the ability to see exactly which churches and synagogues were open in the city and county at any given time. Let’s take a look!

More Free Interactive Maps for Genealogy and a Big Thank You!

After almost three years of pandemic uncertainty, the one thing that St. Louis Genealogical Society can be sure of is the loyalty and generosity of our members and friends. If you have been a regular reader of our blog, you know that like many non-profits, we have struggled to stay active and vital during a very difficult time. Because we have been so limited in what we can do to raise funds, we have relied more than usual on donations, and we are just overwhelmed by how incredibly generous so many of you have been.

May Brings Both Good and Sad News to StLGS

As with life in general, this week brings us some very pleasant, some bittersweet, and some very sad news to report to you. St. Louis Genealogical Society is the recipient of a lovely honor and an award from the National Genealogical Society (NGS). We will be featured in a special segment of the NGS's virtual annual family history conference coming up this month. In addition, we recently celebrated the accomplishments and the retirement of one of our dedicated and hard-working office volunteers, and, sadly, we have to report the deaths of two of our colleagues.