Tag: Community

Faces of NextGen: Meet Becky Zoglmann

January 23, 2017

Why genealogy? I have always been interested in history–my grandad lived through World War II and has always told me stories that fascinated me. I was also lucky enough to attend a school with a long, rich history and beautiful old buildings. My interest in genealogy started in one of the history classes I took at this school. I started to research my family tree in my spare time as a teenager, but only began to take it seriously as a future career a couple of years ago. The sense of satisfaction I get when I help other people find ancestors they knew nothing about, makes it all worth it.

What are you working on this week? This week, I am working on a side project that I have been researching for the last few months entitled “The Donoghues of East London.” My great-great-grandparents were Irish immigrants living in the East End of London in the late 1800s. In an attempt to differentiate between my ancestors and other families who share the same name, I decided to research all the different Donoghue families who lived in the same area and time period. It has been fascinating discovering how they are all connected.

What’s the number one secret to your success in genealogy? Consistency and determination have been key in my genealogy journey. It can be very frustrating hitting brick walls in your research, but consistently revisiting your research and reevaluating it can uncover things you have overlooked before.

What superpower would you want to help you uncover your family history? The ability to time travel! Then I would be able to go back and see for myself how my ancestors lived, what they looked like and hear their stories.

What are we most likely to find you doing when you’re not researching family history? When I am not researching, I am taking of my two young children who are my whole world, spending time with my husband of seven years and our four cats and binge watching Netflix shows!

Anything else you’d like to share? Take advantage of social networking! There are hundreds of genealogy groups on Facebook that specialize in all different areas–DNA, photo recognition, etc. I have found so much great information from these groups.

The NextGen Genealogy Network is made up of young genealogists with diverse backgrounds, interests, and experiences. Faces of NextGen showcases a different member of our community each month. If you would like to be considered for an upcoming feature, simply complete our questionnaire and submit a selfie.

Introducing the NextGen Connection Challenge

January 14, 2017

The NextGen Genealogy Network encourages genealogists to build connections between all generations. Now, we introduce the NextGen Connection Challenge to inspire genealogists worldwide to put this idea into action.

What is the NextGen Connection Challenge? It is a opportunity for genealogists of different generations to meet one-on-one, mentor each other, and become friends. It is suggested that these meetings—led by YOU!—take place on the second Saturday of each month, but you can connect anytime, anywhere.

How can you meet another genealogist outside of your age demographic? Attend a local society meeting, conference, or workshop to become acquainted with genealogists of all ages, or search the NextGen Genealogy Network’s Community Directory to locate a young genealogist near you. Even cousins count—you never know when you might encounter another genealogist in your extended family. Consider meeting for coffee to bounce ideas off each other regarding your latest research, or get together for a research adventure. What could be better than having a genealogy buddy along as you explore a local library, archive, museum, or cemetery?

After you meet, share with us on Facebook or Twitter. Who did you meet? What did you learn from each other? What was the best part about getting to know a genealogist of a different generation? Did you take a selfie together? Feel free to share that, too.

The NextGen Connection Challenge is an initiative launched to encourage genealogists of all generations to build connections with one another. We hope you will join the NextGen Genealogy Network in making the NextGen Connection Challenge one of your most important—and fun—resolutions for the new year!

Faces of NextGen: Meet Shelby Ward

October 26, 2016

Shelby Ward, 30, Tennessee

What five words would you use to describe yourself? Creative, passionate, purpose driven, contextual

Why genealogy? My mom is a natural storyteller, so I grew up hearing family stories. My overall interest in history coupled with my upbringing contributed to my involvement in genealogy.

What’s the coolest discovery you’ve made? Professionally, I am a lawyer. In my genealogy research, I discovered that an ancestor was a plaintiff in civil litigation that went up to the federal Circuit Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in the early 20th century. I think it’s pretty cool to learn how my ancestor came to pursue his case and to explore court records older than I normally see in my everyday work.

What are you working on this week? A relative gave me a cache of funeral programs. I am scanning them and entering information from the programs into a spreadsheet for additional analysis.

What’s the number one secret to your success in genealogy? Always learning from others. I would not have grown as much as I have over the years without learning from other genealogists, reading books, etc.

What superpower would you want to help you uncover your family history? I was going to suggest an automatic interview transcriber (I’m in the process of transcribing oral history interviews). But if I want to uncover new information, I would say a device that magically presented unknown family artifacts and heirlooms.

What are we most likely to find you doing when you’re not researching family history? Listening to podcasts, reading, spending time with my family, scrapbooking, or modern quilting.

Anything else you’d like to share? Join your local genealogy societies! The local resources and information they offer are invaluable. I have joined societies based in Tennessee, Texas, Mississippi, and Arkansas.

Faces of NextGen: Meet Brandy Fulton

August 15, 2016

Brandy Fulton, 19, Canada

Why genealogy? Well, I grew up around my dad being a part of a couple different genealogy groups, eventually my mom got into it as well, and I guess it just kind of took over our family. I have always liked history and learning about weird things in my family is always interesting.

What’s the coolest discovery you’ve made? My dad was trying to find some background on some land behind a church downtown. They were trying to build there but found human bones. My dad and I, alongside Mark Cripps, spent the afternoon in the library. I was reading through a book that said the workers from the Welland Canal would often spill out of the church and into the cemetery to listen to the service on Sundays. This helped my dad prove that there was a gravesite there and that they couldn’t build.

What are you working on this week? Right now I am working on a lot of stuff that isn’t genealogy. I do a lot of work for people who are swamped with work for their organizations. But I am working on a video that will show people they might be missing messages sent to them on Facebook. It will be sent to people within the genealogical world because I have had a personal experience where my dad has missed a lot of messages from people asking about family information.

What’s the number one secret to your success in genealogy? I don’t quite know if I have a huge reason for success in genealogy. I write the articles for the Welland Canal and a lot of that information is given to me. My dad helps me a lot with those articles as well. I’m not sure if it would sound weird if I said the fact that I am driven makes me more stubborn and thus I end up finding what I need and getting the job done.

What superpower would you want to help you uncover your family history? I feel like the obvious answer here is time travel. You would be able to talk to your ancestors, see what they did, and experience life. It would make family history so much easier.

What are we most likely to find you doing when you’re not researching family history? I am a journalism student at Conestoga College in Kitchener, Ontario, so a lot of my life consists of writing and photography. I listen to a lot of music as well. Luckily I am able to do those generally all at the same time.