November Meeting: WWI and WWII Research

Happy reminder of our next EWGS meeting, this next Saturday, November 2nd. 

EWGS member Sue Richart is coming down from Colville to teach us about doing World War I and World War II research. 

Her handout is available on our EWGS website; please print it out for yourself to bring along as there will be very limited copies that day.

Hope you'll come and learn about doing some military history research taught by a really knowledgeable presenter.

Boxes Of Books: Goodbye To Our Books

Soon, very soon, we bit goodbye to our EWGS Genealogy Collection housed for over 80 years (since 1935 when EWGS was formed) at the downtown Spokane Public Library.

As you may or may not know, SPL is closing for a major remodel that will take two years. When reopened, the downtown SPL will be a Community Resource Center and not a "book library" like we oldsters remember and love. 

Some 85% of the books in all areas will be removed. Imagine that... of 100 books on the shelf, only 15 will be left. That, of course, includes the Genealogy Section. What few of our book SPL wants will be merged into the Northwest Room.

The rest of our genealogy resource library have been distributed to various places. The LARC Center on Whidbey Island took some 500 books. Members will be/have been invited to come pick. And the bulk of the collection will be happily given to the Family History Library in Salt Lake at their invitation. They are sending a truck on Monday, November 4th.

Now you know the rest of the story; rumors are true. Somewhat. 

Good News & Bad News

Good news and bad news for today. This "news" came up in the discussions of your EWGS Program Committee at our follow-up-to-the-Fall-Workshop meeting. 

While we all realize there is no Magic Pill to swallow to help you find all your genealogy answers

but there are Magic Pearls!!! 

And where do you find or obtain or get Magic Pearls?? By looking for them, duh. 

Think of this oyster. First you had to deep dive in cold water to find the rascal, then risk your fingernails to pry it open, but VIOLA, look at the pearls! Each colored pearl represents a fact about your ancestor for which you've been seeking. 

The point of this silly post, and of our recent EWGS Fall Workshop, are that answers ARE, indeed, out there. We have but to go looking.

It's October! Leaf Peeping Time!

I love the changing colors of fall; I think everybody does. Do you think your ancestor "loved" it too or felt gloomy at the obviously approach of cold weather??

As a third grader, I read this in my folks' Readers Digest:  "Nature blushes before she disrobes." Or more recently, "In the fall, Mother Nature puts on her party colors." Or this: "Anyone who thinks fallen leaves are dead has never watched them dancing on a windy day."  (Shira Tamir)

I snapped this photo at our MAC museum. Go down to Browne's Addition and walk about for yourself to see our glorious colors.

GRF (Genealogy Refocus Group) has a new beginning!

Yesterday, Wednesday, October 16th, marked the day of the new beginning for GRF. Founded and honcho'd for so long by Sonji Rutan, and wonderfully so, the reins have been turned over to Lynda Keenan. 

Still working with Sonji, Lynda announced, proposed and we discussed changes in the modus operandi of the classes. "From now on," she said, "I want you to share what you know and how you have learned it with others. Each of us has specialized knowledge and we each can help others!" 

Lynda wants to get away from formal presentations and have more group interaction. Several ideas for how to accomplish this were discussed. One thing Lynda did was pass out yellow cards on which each of the 18 in attendance were to write information about themselves "so I can get to know you," Lynda explained. She also had everybody sign up with WHERE and WHO we each are researching, saying she'll create a spreadsheet for all of us to use and benefit from. 

The air was electric with ideas; it was a wonderful afternoon. 

You're on her email list so expect to hear from her sooner than later and, of course, do plan to come to GRF and learn how to "refocus your genealogy."

Online Archival Resources (for WA) from Anna Harbine

Today is a follow-up post to Anna Harbine's September 7th presentation to EWGS at our regular meeting. 

Besides explaining how "her" archives work, and how to come and access the materials and information in "her" archives, she shared a list of recommended Online Archival Resources, mostly (but not all) for Washington.

1. Washington State Digital Archives - www.digitalarchives.wa.gov

2. Washington State Library - www.sos.wa.gov/library

3. Archives West - www.archiveswest.orbiscascade.org

4. Mountain West Digital Library - www.mwdl.org

5. Library of Congress' Chronicling America - www.chroniclingamerica.loc.gov

Though not on her list, and not an "archives," as such, I'm adding this link because I find it most useful:

HistoryLink.org: The Free Online Encyclopedia of Washington ...

https://www.historylink.org

The free online encyclopedia of Washington state history. 7650 HistoryLink.org articles now available. 

Spotlight On EWGS Member: Lola McCreary

Today's spotlight is on long-time EWGS member, Lola King McCreary, nickname "Diddy."

Lola was born during the Great Depression in Cascade, Valley County, Idaho, to John Walter King (born in Kansas) and Zola Anita Ames (born in Dubois, Clark County, Idaho). She was named Lola because "both parents had siblings named Lola." 

Geographically her main lines go back to Minnesota, Kansas and Ireland. She has visited Ireland and "the old Idaho homestead." 

Besides EWGS, her hobbies include sewing and stamp collecting (none of us would have guess that, right?). For genealogy, she "mostly uses Ancestry." 

Lola's favorite colors are white, pink and beige. Her favorite dessert is "pie, any kind of pie." And for many of us having been in her home, she is a consummate hostess. 

To answer the question, what one word describes you, she wrote "ordinary."  Lola King McCreary is light years away from being "ordinary." She has served EWGS for decades, especially in the capacity of nominating committee, a totally unenviable job. EWGS has benefited tremendously from Lola's membership and would not be the organization it is without her. 

Postal Forwarding Directories...... An Unique Resource for YOU?

EWGS has had in its collection in the downtown Spokane Public Library a most unique collection of books. Called Postal Forwarding Directories, they would remind you of a city directory. But they were created to help postmen deliver the mail. On the printed pages, name and addresses are listed.

What makes these volumes so unique is that every few pages there are some blank pages inserted where the postman could write in the new/forwarding address of a family on his route. 

Our collection spanned about 1903 to 1940 for Spokane but EWGS figures that other cities had such too. (Doing a Google search, I could find nothing pertinent to this topic.) EWGS has wanted for years to have these unique resources to be digitized and finally that time came and the digitization is in progress under the direction of Becky Menzel. Even with the 2-year hiatus before we get a new library, Becky will have an office at Gonzaga and (I'm told) will continue working on the project. 

Now what does this mean to YOUR genealogy? Well, imagine this: you know where your family was in 1905 and again in 1930 but where were they in between? Was there a Postal Forwarding Directory in that 1905 town that would hold a clue? The only way to know is to contact the public library, genealogy society and/or historical society in that place.

I thank Jeanne Coe for information on this project; she's been on the digitizing crew. 

EWGS Fall Workshop...... College for Genealogists!

What are YOU doing tomorrow, dear friend? 

I hope you're planning to come to the EWGS Fall Workshop where you'll have the choice of 12 classes from which to learn ideas and tips on how to better find those illusive ancestors. 

Place: Prince of Peace Lutheran Church; drive out Indian Trail Road in NW Spokane until you see the church (and cars!) on your left.

Time:  Registration opens at 8:00.

Cost:  $25 and that includes lunch!

Syllabus: There will not be a printed syllabus at the registration table; you must click to www.EWGSI.org, and print out the syllabus (or parts you want) for yourself. 

Do hope to see you then/there. Let's learn together.

A tweezer cream..... from the Crescent?

Jeanne Coe and I are working on Fridays at the MAC to index the obituaries in the 22 file drawers of biographies. We hope to finish before we die. :-)  Anyway. I do the typing on my laptop as Jeanne pulls the envelope contents out. Many times there are just folded newspaper sheets containing true biographical data on a person. BUT those old newspapers are so much fun to see! This was from the Spokesman in 1973: