VGS News & Events: June 21 through June 27, 2020

Practice Social-Distancing

Coming Events:  Due to Covid-19, no Rec Center meetings this coming week. Some SIG's are having virtual meetings. Be on the lookout for emails announcing the meetings and how to connect to them.  That list is very fluid. Check the "Coming Events" section of the website as event news becomes available.

All remaining regular Monthly Meetings for 2020 will be virtual meetings.
Our guest speaker for our 21st Annual All-Day Seminar, 24 Feb 2021, will be Amy Johnson Crow.  More details on that as they become available.

Coming Events:

Italian Special Interest Group ZOOM Meeting

June 22, 2020 at 4:00 p.m.
The speaker will be Doug Garone a member of the Italians of Central Oklahoma and The Order Italian Sons & Daughters of American will do a presentation on San Fele and how he found his ancestors.  Contact the Coordinator for access codes.

Gen News and Announcements:

New Free Historical Records on FamilySearch: Week of 15 June 2020

FamilySearch
"FamilySearch added Paraguay, Catholic Church Records 1754-2015, and 1.3M Connecticut death records 1640-1955. More for Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, England, French Polynesia, Liberia, Micronesia, Niue, Peru, Puerto Rico, S. Africa, and  Zambia. United States included AR, CA, CT, HI, ID, IL, IA, LA, MN, MS, NY, NC, OH, PA, TX, UT, VA, and WA."
Search now...

Genographic Project Participants: Last Chance to Preserve Your Results & Advance Science – Deadline June 30th

DNAeXplained
"If you’re one of the one million+ public participants in the National Geographic Society’s Genographic Project, launched in 2005, you probably already know that testing has ceased and the website will be discontinued as of June 30th. Your results will no longer be available as of that date."
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Genealogical Reality vs. Expectations:

Genealogy's Star
"There is often a distinct divide between our personal expectations and reality. One of the most common examples among those who are involved in the millions of online family trees is the expectation that the information recorded in those family trees is accurate. However, there is an exactly opposite and equally common expectation among some genealogists that all the information in online family trees is inaccurate and not supported by sources. What is the genealogical reality?"
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The Unexpected Detail in Divorce Records Might Surprise You:

Family History Daily
"As much as we would all like to think our ancestors lived in marital bliss, as you build your family tree, you will likely find the need to dig for a divorce record or two. Many are surprised to find that divorces were relatively common in certain locations around the world – including the United States – and began being recorded earlier than expected."
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Seven Inventions from the 1920s That We Still Use Today:

FamilySearch
"As the 1920s came roaring in, the United States was experiencing a time of economic prosperity. With that prosperity came a desire for convenience and more leisure time. For this reason, many inventions in the 1920s are related to entertainment and making domestic life easier. These inventions not only drastically shaped the 1920s but shaped the world as we know it today."
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Finding a Relationship with DNA Segment Data:

Kitty Cooper
"Ancestry has spoiled us all with its tree and ancestor matching tools; so much so that I almost never look at the actual segment data any more."
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Technology:

The Best Free Microsoft Office Alternatives:

How-to Geek
"While Microsoft Office is still the ubiquitous choice for word processing, slideshow presentations, spreadsheet calculations, and many more digital tasks, there are still plenty of free alternatives. Avoid freeware full of ads and check out these free productivity suites."
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Education:

The 1880 US Federal Census: A Closer Look:

Ancestral Findings
"The 1880 US census was the first of its kind in several ways. The most important is that it was the first to ask a number of highly detailed questions about each individual person who was enumerated. This makes it a genealogical gold mine. Here is what you need to know about this valuable census."
Listen now... 7.57 minutes

Webinars:

Working with SuperSearch™ to Find the Correct Historical Record:

Legacy Family Tree
"10+ billion records... so little time. Learn to use MyHeritage's powerful search tool to quickly locate the exact historical record you're looking for."
Tuesday, June 23, 2020 at 2:00 p.m. Eastern
Presenter: Daniel Horowitz
Learn more or Register for this event...

Utilizing the HathiTrust Digital Library for Family History Research:

Legacy Family Tree
"This robust digital repository, underutilized by many genealogists, is packed with digitized publications from academic and research institutions that are relevant to your family history. This lecture walks you through HathiTrust’s discovery and access tools, showcases U.S. and international collections that are particularly relevant to genealogists, and demonstrates search strategies to help you find those valuable sources."
Wednesday, June 24, 2020 at 2:00 p.m. Eastern
Presenter: Colleen Robledo Greene, MLIS
Learn more or Register for this event...