NEXT MEETING: Electronic Genealogy

We will hear all about electronic genealogy in Tallahassee on Saturday, May 3. Deanna Ramsey, vice president of programs for the Tallahassee Genealogical Society, will give the presentation, "Gadgets for the Family [and Professional] Genealogist," at 10 a.m. in the Arts Learning Gallery (1st flooor) at the Florida State Library and Archives building.

Chapter Vice President Jack V. Butler, who will lead the meeting, says that this is the Chapter's first meeting in Tallahassee and hopes distant members will car pool to the event.

Jack will encourage Chapter members to join the Florida State Genealogical Society for its publications and annual meeting registration discount as well as interesting FSGS members in APG. If you would like to tour the Florida State Library and Archives, please let Jack know in advance so he can arrange a tour.

If you need more details about the meeting, contact Jack. He encourages meeting attendees to research at the facility and visit the Museum of Florida History on the ground floor. The state library and archives are open from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and the museum from 10 a.m. to 4:40 p.m. on Saturdays.

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Who's got a program and site idea for the next meeting?

President Alvie L. Davidson, CG, is taking ideas for a program and site for the next meeting, usually held the first Saturday in August.

Here are the 2008 meeting locations and dates: Bartow (central Florida), Feb. 2; Tallahassee (north Florida), May 3; open, possible Aug. 2; and the Chapter annual meeting during the Florida State Genealogical Society annual conference in Maitland (north of Orlando), Nov. 14-15.

At the last meeting on Feb. 2 at the Polk County Historical and Genealogical Library in Bartow, our Jack Butler reprised his FSGS Annual Conference presentation, "Read All About It! Finding Kin in Early Newspapers." He told us what information we can find in early newspapers and where we can find the newspapers, including a growing number of digitized newspapers on websites. He provided a handout listing resources and sites.

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Chapter's shining project debuts: A national position paper on records access and ID theft

After months of work and review, the Florida Chapter's showcase position paper, "The Case for Open Public Records," was released on March 21. APG headquarters issued a press release, "Genealogists Push for Open Records," and the complete text of the paper. APG asserted, "There is no proof that open records significantly contribute to ID theft or terrorism."

The document was covered by major genealogical media, approved by the Records Preservation and Access Committee (of the National Genealogical Society and Federation of Genealogical Societies), and praised by APG President Jake Gehring.

Writing in the March issue of the APG Quarterly, Gehring said, "... let me congratulate and thank the members of the 'Keep Genealogical Records Open Workgroup' (KGROW) and the Florida Chapter of APG for their significant and speedy work this last year to draft a position paper on open public records. Their work has really improved our ability to respond effectively to legislative issues as they arise." The position paper was posted on the APG website and RPAC website.

The position paper was prepared by KGROW, made up of three Florida Chapter members and two other experts. They are: Jean Foster Kelley, CG, co-chair; Richard F. Robinson, co-chair; Alvie L. Davidson, CG, information officer; Melinde Lutz Sanborn, FASG, Greater Boston Area Chapter; and Fred E. Moss, JD, LL.M., a legal advisor to FGS. KGROW disbanded when its position paper was made publicly available.

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About our members....

Alvie Davidson, CG, and Ann Staley, CG, and others will attend the 30th NGS Conference in the States and Family History Fair in Kansas City, Missouri on May 14-17. Who else is going? Please post on the Chapter mailing list....

Member profiles will resume in the newsletter's next issue... Chapter members agreed at the Feb. 2 meeting to write a letter of support on behalf of the Polk County Historical Genealogical Society Library to Polk County commissioners. Librarian Joe Spann, a new member of the Chapter, reported that the library is in serious financial trouble. It is one of the largest regional research libraries on the East coast and has hosted several Chapter meetings.

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NEXT MEETING: Hear all about it

Jack Butler

You won’t “read all about it” here. Instead, you’ll have to come to our next meeting in Bartow on Feb. 2 to “hear all about it.” Vice President Jack Butler's presentation is “Read All About It! Finding Kin in Early Newspapers.”

The Saturday will start with our board meeting at 9 a.m., Jack’s talk at the general meeting at 10, followed by an option lunch with colleagues at a nearby restaurant. Members and guests are welcome to attend all three events. President Alvie Davidson asks members to bring ideas for programs and other chapter activities to the general meeting.

The board meeting and program will be held at the Polk County Historical and Genealogical Library, 100 East Main Street, Bartow (Phone: 863- 534-4380). The Library promotes its genealogical and historical collections as one of the largest in the Southeast U.S. After lunch, you may want to do some research or looking around in the library. It is open until 5 p.m.

One of the little used sources in genealogy research is early American newspapers. "They not only tell us where our ancestors were born, married, and died, but also how they lived," said Butler.

Jack will tell us what we can find in the early newspapers and where to find the newspapers. As more old newspapers are digitized, they are much easier to search. He was selected to deliver a similar talk at the Florida State Genealogical Society annual conference in Orlando last November.

A former college instructor, Jack is publications coordinator and board member of the Tallahassee Genealogical Society and editor of its quarterly magazine, The Tallahassee Genealogist.

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Our president says: 'I want everyone to feel that our meetings are worthwhile'

By Alvie L. Davidson, CG


I first want to say that I deeply appreciate the membership electing me president of APG Florida. I promise I will do my very best to maintain the chapter as one of the best in APG and provide members with valuable networking and learning opportunities.

Everyone should try to attend our first meeting of the year on Feb. 2 at the Polk County Historical and Genealogical Library, 100 East Main Street, Bartow. Our new vice president, Jack Butler, will reprise his FSGS conference talk, “Read All About It.” This will give our members an opportunity to hear a very fine talk that they may have missed and to get to know Jack better. Bring any ideas you have for meetings or to improve our Chapter. Please see a previous article in this edition for more details on this meeting.

Secondly, I want to keep our meetings interesting so everyone will feel they were very worthwhile. I would also like to vary the locales of our meetings more. We have not had a meeting in Tallahassee, so I would like to have one there at the Florida State Library, possibly on 3 May. This might seem a bit far for some to travel, but we can arrange car pooling. What better way is there to network with colleagues, attend an informative meeting, and maybe do some research?

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Members hold annual meeting, Road Show consultations at FSGS conference in Orlando

Amy Giroux and Donna Moughty run our vendor booth while Dick Robinson and Yolanda Campbell Lifter (distant cousins) operate the desk at the Road Show
[Photos by Melody K. Porter (booth) and Ken Macomber (Road Show)]

You could find Chapter members everywhere at the Florida State Genealogical Society conference in Orlando last November. They were organizers, officers, speakers, attendees -- and even door prize donors. The Chapter also held its annual meeting during the conference and ran its APG Florida information booth.

But one of the most appreciated events was the Chapter's second annual Road Show, where 11 members helped attendees one-on-one with genealogical problems for free.

The four-hour show was another great success, according to its chairman, Ken Macomber, CG. He said the feedback was "extremely positive." All participants who completed feedback forms indicated they would like to attend the event again in the future. One person commented, "...this is a great thing to offer." Members who provided advice were: Jack Butler; Pam Cooper; Alvie Davidson, CG; Sherril Erfurth; Amy Giroux, CG, CGL; Debbe Hagner, AG; Yolanda Campbell Lifter; Ken Macomber, CG; Donna M. Moughty; Gladys Friedman Paulin, CG; and Richard Robinson.

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