Welcome

We are so excited you found us. Come join us and see why the unraveling of family history is the fastest growing hobby in the land. All members of Idaho Genealogical Society and persons interested in their family history are welcome. The Idaho Genealogical Society meets 11 months out of the year.

25 February 2012

1940 Census draws closer to the date of release!

Here is a fantastic video on the release of the 1940 census. We are excited to be a part of the indexing project through partners FamilySearch.org,  Archives.com, and Findmypast.com. Until the indexed records are released you will be able to see the images from the census by enumeration district only. To find out how to find your ancestor by enumeration district, watch this video from Archives.gov:

1940 Census video from Archives.gov

Then on April 2, you can see the digitized images from the census @ 1940census.archives.gov.

(Remember they are not indexed! That is why we are volunteering to index them.)

If you are interested in volunteering in the indexing project, please register for an indexing account at : http://the1940census.com . Once you submit your name, email, and preferred state to index, you will get instructions in an email on how to sign up. When you create your profile, remember to look for: <Group> on the <My Profile> page. Under <Group>, select <Idaho Genealogical Society>. We would be grateful if you joined our team! The sponsors are going to have some fun contests with prizes to encourage the volunteers. It's going to be a unique opportunity for all ! Please join us and be sure to send us an email when you sign up @ idgensociety@gmail.com. We can confirm that you've joined our group and if not, we can fix it so you are!!


22 February 2012

DRC 25 Feb 2012 @ 10:30 , Social Networking and Genealogy

DRC (Dead Relative Collectors) hosts
"Why Social Networks are Important in the 
World of Genealogy 
and How to Use Them for Genealogy
"

by 
Lecturer and Historian Christa Klemme
Saturday, February 25th, 10:30 am - 12 pm
Idaho State Archives
2205 Old Penitentiary Road 
Boise, ID 83712

Free & Bring a Friend


The Idaho Genealogical Society would like to inform you of a group titled, The Dead Relative Collectors (DRC). The Dead Relative Collectors hosts a variety of free classes for those interested in furthering their genealogy research. As featured in the IGS 2011 Winterly Quarterly, "DRC has no bylaws, no dues, and no membership requirements. If you come to our meetings, you are a member and all are welcome."

The DRC meetings are just prior to the IGS Board Meetings.  The DRC meets the 3rd Saturday at 10:30 a.m. at the Idaho State Archives, 2205 Old Penitentiary Road, Boise, ID 83712. Come learn from our talented lecturers and then put to practice what you've learned in the Idaho State Archives!!

This month, DRC hosts IGS Vice-President, historian, and lecturer, Christa Klemme. Christa has previously taught classes to the DRC group on topics such as Immigration and Naturalization,  Migration Patterns and British Isles research.  She is a regular lecturer at the BYU-ID Nampa Family History Conference.  Please send an email to idgensociety@gmail.com  if you'd like a copy of the class syllabus.


Future DRC scheduled classes are as follows:

March 17th, Saturday: 1940 Census 

April: No Meeting Because Of Nampa BYU-ID Spring Family History Conference

To sign up, see the following site:
Dates & Locations:  Rexburg, April 21st and  Nampa, April 28th - $11 Reg. Fee 


May 19th, Saturday: "Developing a Workable Research Plan", Gene Williams, CG, Free 

June 16th, Saturday: "Telling Our Family Stories", Jerry Cowley, Free 

Regards,

Idaho Genealogical Society

13 February 2012

The Idaho Genealogical Society joins the 1940 Census Community Indexing Project

The Idaho Genealogical Society 
joins the
1940 Census
Community
 Indexing Project
 
 
We are excited to announce that our society has joined the 1940 U.S. Census Community Project to help index the 1940 U.S. Federal Census! Indexing records from our state will be an essential part of this monumental grass-roots effort that will put one of the richest genealogical data sets in the world online, complete and free of charge forever.  

Go to http://the1940census.com/society and register to participate with our society. Simply select Idaho Genealogical Society on the profile screen when creating your account. Every new person indexing with our society gets us closer to milestones that qualify us for incentives provided by the sponsors of the project, so sign up today!

Please email: idgensociety@gmail.com if you have any difficulty in registering. Our administrators would be happy to help you register. Also, please send us an email (at the email listed above) confirming you signed up. The IGS will confirm your registration into our group was successful. After you register, you will get a confirmation email from FamilySearch with index training resources. 

Thank you in advance for your participation. We look forward to the impact this resource will have for researchers of our area and so many others.

Warm regards,

Idaho Genealogical Society


About the 1940 Census Community Project:
On April 2, 2012, images of the 1940 U.S. Federal Census will be released for the first time. Unlike previous census years, images of this census will be made available as free digital images.

Upon its release, the 1940 U.S. Census Community Project, a joint initiative between Archives.com, FamilySearch, findmypast.com, and other leading genealogy societies and organizations, will coordinate efforts to provide quick access to these digital images and immediately start indexing these records to make them searchable online with free and open access.

Interest in the 1940 U.S. Census is both significant and sentimental because it documents what is often referred to as "The Greatest Generation" of U.S. citizens. As a group, these are individuals who:

*          Survived the Great Depression
*          Fought in the Second World War
*          Innovated technology (TV, Microwave)

There are many people still alive today who will be able to find themselves in the 1940 U.S. Federal Census. Others will be able to readily connect with relatives they knew personally or through family stories. Imagine the great resource this will be to current and future society members!

03 February 2012

IGS and RootsTech - SLC - Day 1

I

Picture taken during Barbara Renick's lecture "Eleven Layers of Online Searches"

IGS is "in the house" at the RootsTech conference! We are meeting the "Who's Who" in the genealogy world. (Well, Christa is and Juvanne is meeting old friends and making new.) Saw Joshua Taylor who has jumped from NEGHS to Brightsolid- a major sponsor here at Rootstech. Saw Geneabloggers Thomas MacEntee who made mention of IGS in his luncheon talk about the IGS's progress in technology and he also gave Christa some blogger beads. We took a class to help out our Idaho genealogists join the 1940 censuss indexing group. (Got confirmation that the IGS is a group for the 1940 Census and we are getting trained to take on volunteers). Just got a demo on BillionGraves.com- a new site that'll knock the socks off of genealogists who roam cemeteries with their camera. Took a class from Barbara Renick (a fabulous and personable lecturer) on internet search techniques. A night at the library ended a great day 1 at Rootstech convention in SLC. Stay tuned for details tomorrow!