Events

Smithsonian’s Black History Museum to Get $10 Million Gift

~ Georgia Gen

Associated Press- Washington- January 20 2016

The National Museum of African American History and Culture is getting a $10 million gift.

The Smithsonian announced Wednesday that philanthropist David Rubenstein is making the donation to the capital campaign for the museum, set to open in September. He also is loaning the museum two documents signed by President Abraham Lincoln: the 13th Amendment and the Emancipation Proclamation.

Rubenstein, co-founder of the Carlyle Group, is a Smithsonian Board of Regents’ executive committee member and co-chair of the institution’s $1.5 billion national fundraising campaign. He now has contributed a total of $44.7 million to the institution.

With the gift, the museum’s fundraising has reached $252 million of its $270 million goal. The Smithsonian is raising half of the construction and exhibition funds, and Congress funded the other half.

 

CAFG- 2016 Forensic Institute

~ Georgia Gen

Council for the Advancement of Forensic Genealogy

The 2016 Forensic Institute has moved! It will be held from Thursday – Saturday, 10-12 March 2016 at the historic Menger Hotel in San Antonio, Texas. The hotel is adjacent to the Alamo, the River Walk, excellent restaurants, and many other exciting and unique San Antonio attractions.

The Institute starts with a two special courses on Thursday, 10 March 2016:

** In the morning, a four-hour marketing workshop presented
by Marian Pierre-Louis
** In the afternoon, a four-hour forensic genealogy business
workshop presented by Michael S. Ramage, J.D., CG

The Advanced DNA Practicum for Unknown Parentage course will be taught by CeCe Moore and Bethany Waterbury, DVM.  The two-day course, Friday-Saturday, 11-12 March 2016, will be a hands-on two-day workshop especially designed for those who have had experience with DNA analysis and are looking to add to their skills. Please see our website for the prerequisites for this course.

If you know anyone that wishes to advance their forensic genealogy skills and are not yet qualified to take an advanced DNA Course, there is an alternate track offered on Friday and Saturday, 11-12 March 2016:

** Friday: a hands-on forensic genealogy practicum by
Michael S. Ramage, J.D., CG
** Saturday: a beginning DNA Course taught by
Debbie Parker Wayne, CG

Both tracks have limited seating. For more information about FGI 2016, registration, the courses, and the Menger Hotel, visit the CAFG website at http://www.forensicgenealogists.org/institute/. Questions about the 2016 Forensic Genealogy Institute may be sent to FGI Director Helen Haldeman Daglas at institute@forensicgenealogists.org.

Southern Historical Press

~ Georgia Gen

Did you know –

Southern Historical Press has a bargain basement!

Southern Historical Press Bargain Basement

You may find a great deal for a book on your wish list –

Here’s a couple of the bargains listed:

Georgia Salzburger and Allied Families – $65.00  marked down to $32.50

Huguenot Emigration to America (2 volumes in 1) $75.00 marked down t0 $45.00

Supplies are limited!!

 

 

No more burials at Rest Haven- Alpharetta

~ Georgia Gen

Actual Factual Georgia: No more burials at Rest Haven

Andy Johnston for the AJC – 18 January 2016

 

Q: No one seems to know who owns the burial plots in the cemetery in downtown Alpharetta. I want to know if I can buy one. Who has the plot list of owners and are there any plots available for sale?

—Steve Beecham, Milton

A: There appears to be room for additional graves in Alpharetta’s historic Rest Haven Cemetery, but no plots are for sale.

Simply put, city officials and historians don’t know where all of the bodies are buried.

The cemetery dates to the 1860s, the Alpharetta Historical Society’s Connie Mashburn said, and many records have been lost or destroyed through the years.

Other graves are unmarked, which means any digging could disturb someone’s final resting place.

“Plots are not available for purchase for a number of reasons, most important of which, being that we cannot say for certain that our burial records are exhaustive and we would not want to re-sell an occupied plot,” city clerk Coty Thigpen said.

Prominent citizen Arthur Camp originally donated land for the cemetery more than 150 years ago. The city was incorporated in 1858 in what was then-Milton County.

Through the years, other land owners contributed property to the Rest Haven, which increased its size, Mashburn said.

The city, which owns and maintains Rest Haven, knows of at least 1,400 people who are buried there, but he said there’s a part of the cemetery where “there are no grave markers.”

Rest Haven, which is sometimes spelled Resthaven (“I’ve used it both ways,” Mashburn said.) takes a starring role in the city’s annual “Restless in Resthaven” tours, a guided event every fall.

Former citizens played by costumed actors stroll downtown and “rise from their gravesites” to talk about Alpharetta’s history.

Those buried in Rest Haven include: Teasley Upshaw, a former mayor; B-17 pilot Isham Oliver Teasley, who was killed over Italy in World War II; Civil War veteran James M. Dodd, who owned the Dodd Hotel (which was about a block from the cemetery); Mary Camp Manning, who along with her brother sold the land that became Alpharetta; Dr. Oliver P. Skelton, who helped save Milton County records during the Civil War by carrying them to Elberton; Nannie Hayes Teasley, Alpharetta’s first postmistress; and businessman Quilley Wills, who sold the land to Fulton County that became Wills Park.

“The cemetery is a who’s who of early Alpharetta,” Mashburn said. “It’s a history lesson just to walk through it.”

Free weekend-Findmypast.com & Mocavo news

~ Georgia Gen

Free weekend at Findmypast.com- Mocavo and Findmypast merge websites- Why should Georgia researchers find that interesting?

Findmypast.com announced a free weekend for this weekend which is underway. The free weekend will expire at 7:00 am (EST) Monday morning. Findmypast has the largest collections of Irish records, British Parish records, British newspapers and a plethora of US records.

Findmypast acquired Mocavo about a year and a half ago and it was announced on January 18th that Mocavo and Findmypast will merge the two web sites.This may be good news for researchers. The transition is underway and is expected to be completed within a few months.

Findmypast has over a billion records of interest to genealogists and the company claims 18 million registered users across its family of online sites which, in addition to Findmypast.com, include Genes Reunited, The British Newspaper Archive and others.

Mocavo.com has proven to be a great research tool providing a search engine that only indexes genealogy  web sites and the site provides very clear digital images of many genealogy databases for free.

Findmypast has committed to keep Mocavo’s “free forever” promise and subscribers will continue to get free access to the same records that were previously published for free on Mocavo.

In addition to the search engine, Mocavo provides access to lots of databases of interest to Georgia researchers:

Georgia school yearbooks and alumni publications.

For example, The Medical College of Georgia’s alumni publications, Brenau College publications, Georgia Southern yearbooks, Georgia Teachers College yearbooks, North Georgia College yearbooks plus yearbooks, bulletins, and publications of many other Georgia schools.

Military histories, periodicals, and magazines.

For example, some issues from the 1940’s of The Bayonet, Fort Benning’s base newspaper.

Local histories, family histories, and biographies. 

For example,  The Tragedy of Andersonville: Trial of Captain Henry Wirz, the Prison Keeper or Robert Toombs, Statesman, Speaker, Soldier, Sage: His Career in Congress

Some newspapers

For example, Southeast News, Southeast Convention, Congregational Christian Churches, December 1957.

Books.

For example:

History of Alabama, and Incidentally of Georgia and Mississippi, From the earliest Period by Albert James Pickett, 1851

and lots more !

For example:

Reports of Cases in Law and Equity, Argued and Determined in the Supreme Court of Georgia, At Atlanta (Parts of July Term, 1873, and of January Term)

Here is the announcement from Mocavo.com’s site:

Mocavo and Findmypast are coming together

18 Jan 2016

We wanted you to be the first to know that in the coming months Mocavo will be coming together with its sister site, Findmypast. This will create a single experience for our US customers in a move that aims to deliver a morefocused, efficient and comprehensive service to US family historians.

Our Story

We launched back in March 2011 when, only three months old, Family Tree Magazine named us as one of the best 101 genealogy websites of 2011. In 2012 we released The Free Yearbook collection and since then we’ve continue to publishhundreds of records and archives every day. We’d like to thank you, our customer, for being there with us as we’ve continued to grow.

We are now in the process of moving all Mocavo site content to Findmypast so you’ll soon be able to enjoy everything currently available on Mocavo and more. As part of our ‘Free Forever’ promise, Mocavo subscribers will continue to enjoy free access to all of the same records that were previously published for free on Mocavo. We will be transferring your account over to Findmypast soon so stay tuned for updates.

What’s next?

You don’t need to do anything just now. Before we bring the two sites together, we’ll be in touch with specific information about your account and some how-to guides that will help make the most of the new experience.

You will be invited to take advantage of an equivalent subscription package on Findmypast soon, where you can be assured that your payments will remain unchanged for your current subscription.

How does this move affect you?

  • You’ll still benefit from the same great content you’ve been enjoying on Mocavo and this will all be available on Findmypast soon. In addition, you’ll be able to take advantage of hundreds of millions of new and exclusive US records to further enhance the experience for US family historians.
  • Findmypast has more British and Irish records than anyone else and is adding new records from the US and other locales every single week, so you’ll be able to take advantage of these to help your family history search. You’ll be able to explore nearly 8 billion names now andhundreds of millions of new names coming this year alone!
  • You can easily import your family tree and we’ll start tohint against names that we find in the archives to help you discover more about your family and even find relatives you never knew existed.

About Findmypast

Currently the home to billions of names, including the largest collections of Irish records and British Parish records,military records and the British Newspaper Archive, not to mention the 1939 Register. It currently has a plethora ofUS records and will soon be home to all the Mocavo records once the two sites come together.

Findmypast has a free and easy to use family tree builder and it releases new records every week to keep your family history search alive.

 

 

Reminder: Old Governor’s Mansion Topic at Lunch & Learn

~ Georgia Gen

Reminder- MATT DAVIS to speak at GEORGIA ARCHIVES

Matt Davis, Director of the Old Governor’s Mansion in Milledgeville, Georgia, will speak at the Georgia Archives on Friday, January 29, 2016 from 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm. Davis will speak on the history of the Old Governor’s Mansion.

Historical society looks back and forward-Dawson County

~ Georgia Gen

Staff reports- editor@dawsonnews.com- 20 January 2016

Historical society looks back and forward

At the January meeting of the Dawson County Historical and Genealogical Society members reviewed the major achievements of the past year and made some decisions concerning the future.

Officers filling major positions remain the same: Peggy Hulsey, president and secretary; Pat Floyd, vice president and Faye Bruce, secretary.

New for 2016 are Colby Hunter joining Betty Love as newsletter editor; Hunter and Judy Harris joining Mildred Gaddis on the society’s board of directors.

Highlighting major events was the publication of the much-anticipated official history, with a reception and book signing, sponsored by the board of commissioners.

Hulsey reported that more than 300 copies of “DAWSON COUNTY, GEORGIA: A HISTORY” have been sold; members voted to authorize publishing up to 500 additional copies as needed.
Other books published by the society are still available, although in limited numbers.

Those include: “DAWSON COUNTY, GEORGIA, HERITAGE; 1857-1996,” “CEMETERIES OF DAWSON COUNTY” and “DAWSON COUNTY, GEORGIA, PICTORIAL: THE
FIRST HUNDRED YEARS.”

All the books can be purchased through the society office in the historic old courthouse on the square by writing to P.O. Box 1074, Dawsonville, or by calling (706) 265-3985, and leaving a message.

Your call will be returned to fill your order by mail or by making an appointment to meet at the society’s office. The books are also available for purchase at the Dawson County Library.

The recently published history books are also on sale at the Dawson County Chamber of Commerce office. The price is $38, with $5 additional if the book is to be mailed.

Society members expressed concern about the current state of a number of old cemeteries, especially small, private, non-church-connected ones, and the need to have them restored and preserved. The possibility of working on that project was discussed.

Residents interested in activities of the Dawson County Historical and Genealogical Society are invited to attend the quarterly meetings scheduled for 5 p.m. the third Tuesdays in April, July, October and January at the Dawson County Library.

 

Newman Coweta Historical Society event 23 Jan. 7:30 pm

~ Georgia Gen
  Celebration of  Hank Williams aims to bring history to life
Clay Neely for the Newnan Times-Herald, 18 Jan 2016
 For many, music is the universal language that transcends the most common social barriers – harnessing the ability to bypass our complicated filters and drive directly to our soul.
The short and complicated life of Hank Williams not only produced a stunning amount of beloved music, but seemingly set the blueprint for the “live fast, die young” tortured musician.Since his mysterious death in 1953, his influence on music and culture would only grow larger with each passing year – spawning tales as tall as the man himself.Dr. Steve Goodson is the co-editor of The Hank Williams Reader. As the professor and chair of the History Department at the University of West Georgia, he’s also the author of Highbrows, Hillbillies, and Hellfire: Public Entertainment in Atlanta, 1880-1930 (2002), which won the Georgia Historical Society’s Malcolm Bell, Jr. and Muriel Barrow Bell Award.

In Goodson’s latest book, the extraordinary life of Williams is chronicled through a series of excerpts and memories written by journalists, family and friends, musical contemporaries, biographers, historians and scholars, ordinary fans and novelists.

Through his work, Goodson encountered fans from all walks of life – all connected by their love for Williams. One afternoon, he was greeted by an elderly man who tracked him down to his office at the University of West Georgia in Carrollton.

In his arms was a stack of old magazines and worn records, all about Williams. He presented the treasure trove of memorabilia to Goodson, claiming that no one else in his family would appreciate it.

“It’s fascinating how music connects people,” Goodson said. “We’ve been trying to do the same thing, which is connecting our school and community together with this kind of program.”

Goodson hopes to bring the legend of Williams even closer by hosting “The Life and Times of Hank Williams” – an evening of readings and songs celebrating Williams – at the Wadsworth Auditorium.

Along with a collection of vintage recordings and videos of Williams, excerpts from the book will be read along with a live performance by Daniel Williams and his Driftin’ Poboys Band.

Last September, a similar event was held in Carrollton with more than 230 people attending, according to Goodson. The success spurred the idea of creating an annual series – “Icons of Southern Music” – which will chronicle the life of Johnny Cash in 2017.

“We’re really excited to bring this to Newnan and can’t think of a better way to celebrate the legacy of Hank Williams,” Goodson said. “And we’re still getting compliments on the Driftin’ Poboys Band…”

The Newnan Coweta Historical Society will host the event at the Wadsworth Auditorium on Jan. 23 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $5 and can be purchased at several downtown Newnan locations including the Male Academy Museum, The McRitchie-Hollis Museum, Let Them Eat Toffee and Grannie Fannie’s Antiques.

Coastal Georgia Historical Society Annual Meeting

~ Georgia Gen

Coastal Georgia Historical Society’s annual meeting January 24 from 3 – 4 p.m. at the Cloister Ballroom will feature Dr. Libby O’Connell speaking about the historical figures and cultures that influence the way we eat.

With a Ph.D. in American History, Dr. O’Connell has been a historical advisor at A+E Network and, eventually, the Chief Historian for the History Channel. Her focus was social history and everyday life. Dr. O’Connell has also produced short films for several historical organization.

Dr. O’Connell will share interesting facts about America’s culinary history, including some exploration into Coastal Georgia’s eating traditions.