GeneaBloggers Radio – Episode 18

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/geneabloggers/2011/05/28/military-records-and-genealogy

Friday, May 27, 2011
10pm-12:00am Eastern US
9-11pm Central US
8-10pm Mountain US
7-9pm Pacific US
3am London UK
12pm Saturday Sydney AUS

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Military Records and Genealogy

Our special guests will include Curt Witcher of the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana discussing the War of 1812 pension files and the Preserve the Pensions campaign to digitize all 7.2 million images. We’ll also talk with Jeffrey Vaillant who will help us understand the various Civil War records available to researchers.

Guests

Curt Witcher

Curt B. Witcher, Senior Manager for Special Collections at the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, IN where he manages The Genealogy Center, serves as general curator for that institution’s Rare and Fine Book Collection as well as the institutional archives, and is the Supervisor for the newly acquired Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection.  Curt is the project lead on the library’s digitization initiatives–initiatives that include partnerships with the Internet Archive, ProQuest, Footnote, and WeRelate as well as growing a site of free, searchable data files at GenealogyCenter.org. He is a former president of both the Federation of Genealogical Societies and the National Genealogical Society, and the founding president of the Indiana Genealogical Society.

Curt was distinguished in 1995 as a fellow of the Utah Genealogical Association (FUGA) and received the Federation of Genealogical Societies’ Rabbi Malcolm H. Stern Humanitarian Award, in 1997.  Curt was recognized in 2006 by being named the first fellow of the Indiana Genealogical Society.  He was honored in May of 2007 with the National Genealogical Society’s P. William Filby award for outstanding, life-time contributions to genealogical librarianship.

Links

• Preserve the Pensions
  http://www.fgs.org/1812/

• National Black Genealogy Summit
  http://www.blackgenealogyconference.info/

• Our Military Heritage
  http://www.genealogycenter.info/military/

• Genealogy Center
  http://www.genealogycenter.org

Jeffrey Vaillant

Jeffrey Vaillant is a as a professional genealogist who states, “for me there are two important goals:  (1) is to the extent practical, to support genealogical societies and (2) to continue to hone my skills via education and participation.”

He is currently Vice President, California Genealogical Society and Library, Vice President, Marin County Genealogical Society, Director, Sonoma County Genealogical Society, and is involved with both the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War and the Friends of the Civil War Alcatraz.

Jeff’s recent projects include a trip to the recent NGS Annual Conferences in Charleston, SC, participating in the ProGen Study Group in the First Test Group, helping to lead the upcoming CGSL trip to the Allen County Public Library August 21-28, 2011, and hoping one day to get his BCG certification!

Links:

• California Genealogical Society and Library
  http://www.californiaancestors.org

• Marin County Genealogical Society
  http://www.maringensoc.org

• Sonoma County Genealogical Society
  http://www.scgs.org

Door Prizes

Thanks to Family Tree Magazine and ShopFamilyTree.com, we’ll be giving away a copy of the Family Tree Magazine Military Research Guide CD during the show! And don’t forget to use your special GeneaBloggers discount code for the ShopFamilyTree.com website: GBLOG and you’ll receive a special 15% discount!

Genealogy News

• GeneaPress – http://www.geneapress.com
• GeneaWebinars – http://www.geneawebinars.com
• Genealogy Blogging Events May 27 – June 3, 2011
  http://www.geneabloggers.com/genealogy-blogging-events-week-27-june-3-2011/
  

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Disclosure:  Please see Disclosure Statements for more information on my material connection with genealogy vendors and organizations.

©2011, copyright Thomas MacEntee