THE GENEALOGICAL FORUM’s

Thursday Evening

E-News, Edition

1 February 2018

For a complete GFO CALENDAR click here.

Also, if you missed your free copy of our monthly Insider for February 2018, you’re in luck because we saved you a copy HERE. NOTE: The Insider issues are now located under the “Learn” > “Our Publications” menu at www.gfo.org.

Curious about the status of your GFO Membership?? We’d love to have you as a GFO Member!

Don’t Miss GFO’s Open House, March 3rd – 11th

GFO’s Illinois SIG is back on, starting Feb 10th, 9:30 – 11:30am

This group, which has not met officially for some time, is resurrected!

We need your help to decide the geographic focus for the group: Upper Mid-West? Great Lake States? Click the survey link above.

If you would like more information about this group, or have questions, you may contact Lynn at larossing@gmail.com.

Survey results requested by February 15th.

GFO’s 2018 Elections Call for Candidates!

The following positions are available for new candidates this coming fiscal year:

Interested in taking on one of these roles! Please email president@gfo.org today! We need candidates candidates candidates. And there is on-the-job training available for all of these positions.

These people help keep the GFO going in so many ways. Just curious?? Send a note to Laurel Smith at president@gfo.org for more information!

Insider Editors Needed

We also need two or three people to help take over editing and publication of the Insider this summer.

This is our monthly newsletter and our fearless editor is stepping down this summer. Interested in helping out? Email Jackie Olson at insider@gfo.org.

Genealogical Problem Solvers (GPS), Feb 17th, 9:30 – 11:30am

The keys to breaking through one person’s brick wall might provide YOU with the very clues you need to break through yours.

February’s GSP meeting is all about finding the elusive Irish Cullens ancestors of GFO member Vince Patton. Vince is searching for his great-great-grandfather Terence Cullen’s origin and family in Ireland before immigrating around 1850 to Massachusetts.

Want to submit your own problem to our experts? Send a brief description of the problem to gps@gfo.org. The team will follow-up with you to start the search!

This meeting is OPEN & FREE TO THE PUBLIC. Held at the GFO Library.

Nominations Requested for GFO Hall of Fame

The Genealogical Forum of Oregon has established the Hall of Fame Award as a way to honor members who have performed outstanding service to the Forum.

The award is limited to one person per year, except in the case where a pair of members has worked together. A nomination may be made by any Forum member and the recipient will be selected from the panel of nominations by a majority vote of the Board of Directors.

The recipient must have a well-documented history of service, leadership, and accomplishment in more than one facet of the Forum over a significant period of time.

Procedure:

Any member may nominate another
member for the award in writing. A
nomination must be submitted to the
Forum President and should include:

1) Name and member number;
2) List of services, activities, positions and accomplishments;
3) A narrative describing the nature of their work in terms of its importance to the success of the Forum; and
4) A short biography.

More information is available on PAGE 5 of February’s Insider available HERE.

Sizzling Hot Links in Genealogy…

​​How We Got Here: A Family Tree Workshop – at Multnomah County Central Library

Engage in some genealogical detective work. Learn more about your family’s history and why people emigrate. Come with your questions and we’ll provide one-on-one research help from librarians, the Genealogical Forum of Oregon, and the Oregon Genealogical Society.

When? Sunday, March 4th, 1 – 4pm
Where? Central Library, U.S. Bank Room, 801 SW 10th Ave, Portland, OR 97205
How? First come, first serve! This is a free event, open to the public.

Genealogists Need a Code Of Conduct Too – Blog Article for Awareness

As genealogical research involves peoples from all around the globe, inclusiveness and respect for diversity are a central part of our professional cornerstone. Nicka Smith’s recent article “Home Training – Why Genealogy Needs a Code of Conduct” gives some very good insights to this topic, calling for awareness from her fellow genealogical researchers.

Last year, GFO adopted an inclusiveness sign (shown above) that we’ve posted on the front door of our research library. We also adopted the following Diversity Statement:

The Genealogical Forum of Oregon does not and shall not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion (creed), gender, gender expression, age, national origin (ancestry), disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or military status, in any of its activities or operations. These activities include, but are not limited to the hiring and firing of staff, selection of volunteers and vendors, and provision of services. We are committed to providing an inclusive and welcoming environment for all members of our staff, volunteers, patrons, and vendors.

This Week at the GFO…

SATURDAY, February 3rd

Virginia Group 10am – noon

The library will close early to researchers on this date to accommodate Special Interest Group scheduling. This 12:45pm closure will occur four times per year, on the fourth Saturday of January, March, May and September. Leaders include Judi Scott, available at judiscot@gmail.com, and Carol Surrency, contact at lcsurr@gmail.com.

German Field Trip 11:30am – 3pm

Instead of meeting at GFO on Sat. Feb. 3rd, we will be at Concordia University to spend the day researching in the German from Volga library section, which is upstairs. NE Liberty St., behind the campus which is at 2811 NE Holman St., Portland. If you send us general questions, eg. book on a location/city, time period, map, the volunteers might be able to pull documents, books, etc. beforehand. You might want to look at this site before coming to Concordia: Germans from Russia Settlement Locations & Maps.

SUNDAY, February 4th

Manuscripts Work Party 9am – noon

Explore our manuscript, personal papers and Bible collection while we organize, scan and create finding aids. Drop by at the time that works for you. Questions?

Send a note to manuscripts@gfo.org.

MONDAY, February 5th

First Free Monday!! 9:30am – 5pm

Not a member of the GFO, but desperate to find out what’s in our holdings and to use all our wonderful online database subscriptions (Newspapers.com, World Library Ancestry.com, HistoryGeo, and more)? No problem! Every first Monday of every month GFO’s library is absolutely free and open to the public! Hope to see you there.

WEDNESDAY, February 7th

Learn & Chat 10am – noon

Storytelling -preparation for Open House – 1 hr.
Gerry – City compared to Rural Research – Approaches most effective for each – 1 hr.

At Learn & Chat some of the learning comes from speakers with particular expertise but most of it comes from the sharing of experiences and knowledge of attendees who have developed methods that work for them. And if you have been doing genealogy for any length time you have likely experienced the wonderful moments of exhilaration, the successes that you then share with others and that drive you to continue researching. Unfortunately those times can be few and far between. Join us to talk about your genealogy questions and help provide support to others. Facilitated by Jean Quan.

DNA Q&A 1 – 3pm

Lisa McCullough will be available to help answer your DNA questions, whether you are new and just getting started or have more involved questions.