NORTHERN ARIZONA
           GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY    
   (NAGS)

      P.O. Box 695
                 Prescott, AZ 86302       
 
Monthly Programs

Programs during the Pandemic are online Zoom meetings, on the fourth Saturday of the month at 1:30 p.m.   The meeting is free and open to the public.   
Email: AskNagsPrescottAZ@gmail.com for meeting information
2021 Program Schedule
Sat. - 20 February : Open Forum for Member Sharing, especially Brick Walls. 
 
Thurs-Sat. - 25-27 February : “RootsTech.”  You must register to take advantage of this 
conference.  In addition, with your registration, all recordings and videos will be available 
        to you on demand throughout the year.
 
Sat. - 27 March : “Family History Society of Arizona (FHSA) Virtual Seminar” with five speakers
Sunny Morton: "How Social Security Can Help Your Family History Research."
Peggy Ash: "The GLO Website: A Federal/Public Land and Military Bounty Goldmine."
James Tanner: "Genealogy Is A Life and Death Matter—Moving Beyond the Obvious Records."
Thomas MacEntee: "Brick Wall Breakthroughs: Want to see first-hand how to break through that persistent “brick wall” in genealogy?"
Sara Cochran: "What’s in a Name?"
 
Sat.  24 April : Peggy Ash - “Power Searches for FamilySearch & Ancestry.” with a puzzling homework to use these sites more effectively . . .
 
Sat.  22 May : Peggy Ash - Review of the Homework - oh the research paths in genealogy!
 
Sat.  26 June : Thomas MacEntee - “How Do I Know What I Don’t Know.”

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GETTING STARTED WITH ZOOM - You may connect by using a desktop computer, laptop, tablet or mobile telephone.  Each type of device will participate in the meeting a little differently.  For tablet and mobile you may want to download the Zoom App. You can download the Zoom Client app.  For iOS devices look in the app store for “Zoom Cloud Meetings” and for Android it’s in Google Play.  Alternately you can get the download at https://ZOOM.us/download#client_4meeting
 
Here is a link to a 1 minute YouTube Video "How to Join a Zoom Meeting."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIkCmbvAHQQ
If you just want to sit in on a Zoom meeting all you need is the ability to watch a video on your computer. If you want to participate you need a microphone. Many computers have a speaker and a microphone built in. If yours does not, you can obtain a headset with a boom microphone. External speakers will improve your experience. If you want to be seen by others you need a web camera. If your computer does not have a camera you can purchase one.
There is a good video tutorial at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_8vQDfSzdY
And zoom.us has some demonstrations.
To run a test of your setup type zoom.us/test into your search bar.

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28 May 2020 - canceled due to the Coronavirus Pandemic.
25 April 2020 -  canceled due to the Coronavirus Pandemic.
28 March 2020​ - From Lee Campbell, President, the NAGS General Meeting scheduled for 28 March is canceled due to the Coronavirus Pandemic.
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22 February 2020 @2pm
Rosemary Medrano will present "Local History Resources for Genealogy."
Come learn about local history resources available at the Prescott Public Library or online that can help you build context for your genealogical research. Local history focuses on the lives of the people within a community; their work and home lives are put into the context of the national events that shaped their time. Gain a more in-depth understanding of your ancestors as you build on your genealogical research with local history resources such as digitized newspapers, city directories, historic map collections, and more. Learn how to use digitized collections from national and state repositories, as well as collections at historical societies and public libraries. While this program does focus on the tools available in Prescott, the local history research strategies can be transferred to anywhere your ancestors lived.
Rosemary Medrano is an Adult Services Librarian at the Prescott Public Library. She is currently working toward achieving a Master’s degree in Library and Information Science at the University of Missouri. Her B.A. is in Theater from Loyola University Chicago. Before moving to Prescott, she was the Community Outreach Coordinator at The Museum of Casa Grande. She is a 'Grow with Google' partner and brings digital literacy resources into the community through technology training programs at the library. In her free time, she volunteers at the Sharlot Hall Museum, facilitating programs for student groups and families.

25 January 2020 @2pm     Raylene Hiatt will present her talk “The Answer is in the Land”.   Learn how to go about researching Land Records, where they are found, and discover all the wonderful genealogical clues, that you can uncover.  Raylene is a long time NAGS member and has given many talks to the Society and others.  This is her favorite subject.
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2019 Program Schedule
   14 December 2019 @1:30pm  Sue McDonald as Mrs. Fannie Bashford - of the Prescott Bashfords - invites you to join her at her new enterprise, "Fannie Bashford's Prescott School of Needlework" on December 14th, 1880. She would love to tell you about what her girls do at this new place of business, and her reasons for setting it up. As you are aware, options for gainful employment are very few for a young woman not of the upper class, and Fannie is hoping to broaden some of our young ladies horizons a bit. All are welcome to attend. 
If you need something about the "real" me - I spent my career with IBM and then Hewlett Packard, retiring here in Prescott after working for a local company as a technical writer. I am a long-time seamstress and costumer, sewing for myself as well as other people who dress in period attire in Prescott and elsewhere. I also teach at Costume College each year in Woodland Hills, California. I am currently a member of the Elks Opera House Guild, where members have put in over 5,000 hours in 2019, working as docents, ushers, ticket sellers, and security for guests of the Opera House. I am one of a dozen Guild members who also do "Living Histories" - mostly of people who lived in and around Prescott in the 1800's.
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23 November 2019 @2pm. This meeting is  to share their various stories of discoveries; frustrations (i.e. those witness protection ancestors hidden behind brick walls); research gold nuggets; odd historical facts all of us should know about; new sources for mining data, etc.  In addition, your board would like you to share your vision(s) of where our society should be investing in education, programs, and projects as we move forward in our goal "to foster the education of the public in areas of genealogical and family history research."

26 October 2019 @2pm. Michelle Goodrum will discuss "Cluster Research Using the FAN Principle (Friends, Associates, and Neighbors). Our ancestors did not exist in a vacuum.  They interacted with the people around them.  To tell the stories of our ancestors and solve challenging genealogical questions, we need to investigate the lives of their friends, associates, and neighbors (FAN).  Michelle Roos Goodrum's talk will cover research tools and strategies utilizing the FAN principle.
Michelle became involved in genealogy in 1994 when she discovered her family's stash of old documents and photographs.  She is now the caretaker of 140 years of her family's history.  Some of these documents revealed information about her ancestors' homes which sparked her interest in land records.  She is also passionate about genetic genealogy.  Michelle is an Instructor and Teaching Assistant for Boston University's Genealogical Research Program and the Genealogy Principles course.  She regularly attends genealogy institutes and conferences.  

September 28, 2019 @ 2pm. Duane Roen will discuss " Using Cultural History to Enrich Family Stories."
 Sometimes family historians have only names, dates, and places for ancestors. But the more we gather names, dates, and other genealogical facts, the more we yearn for more personal connections to and understanding of those who came before us, found in stories about their lives and accounts of their daily struggles, hopes, and dreams. How can we enrich the stories that we write about our ancestors if we have relatively few details about their lives? Duane Roen will talk about how to start writing about your family history by using cultural/social history to flesh out the stories that we write about ancestors. Such history can give us a better understanding of what our ancestors experienced. He will also offer some suggestions for organizing family history writing.
Duane Roen is Professor of English and Dean in the College of Integrative Sciences and Arts at Arizona State University, where he also serves as Vice Provost for ASU Polytechnic campus, Coordinator of the Project for Writing and Recording Family History, and Dean of University College. He previously served as Head of Humanities and Arts. Prior to that, he directed the Writing Program at Syracuse University, as well as the graduate program in Rhetoric, Composition, and the Teaching of English at the University of Arizona. Early in his career, he taught high school English in New Richmond, Wisconsin, before deciding to complete a doctorate at the University of Minnesota.  In addition to more than 280 articles, chapters, and conference papers, Duane has published ten books on writing and the teaching of writing.
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August  24, 2019 @2pm.  Sharon Atkins will discuss "Writing Family Stories."  
After all your carefully documented research to discover and verify the who, what, and where of your ancestor -- what next?  Enter the collected data into a computer genealogy program not quite knowing what to do with it?  Stuff the various paper documents in folders somewhere to reference in the future?  Try to figure out what might be missing by using a timeline?  Lots of data -- most of the questions revealed through diligent research.  NOW?  Come hear researcher and published author Sharon Atkins discuss how she moves from her research to actually writing those family stories so all the hard work you've done does not end up in a dumpster but can be shared with the family in a coherent story.  HANDOUT  LINK 

 June 2, 2019@2pm    Follow up discussion to the DNA Kindergarten Seminar. Bring your laptop to access your information.

June 8, 2019 @9:30am-3pm   DNA Kindergarten Seminar by  Bonnie Belza. Presented at the Prescott Public Library.

May 18, 2019 @2pm                                                                                                               
 The membership will be voting on officers for the coming year as well as finalizing changes in the bylaws.
This will be a Genealogy Potpourri with members sharing their experiences, interesting findings, search tidbits, questions, etc.  Larry Neece will share his discoveries regarding ICD codes on death certificates and what that might mean for your research. 
 
April 27, 2019 @2pm.  Peggy Magee will discuss " Frauds and Forgeries in Genealogy."
Who would have thought - frauds and forgeries - in genealogy!  Has my family been scammed?  Peggy Magee, a founding member of NAGS, with international research experience beginning in the 1970s will be our presenter.  She has deep roots in family history research, and has shared her knowledge through writing, editing, guiding research tours, and teaching about her passion at Yavapai College for over thirty years.  Come join us as Peggy Magee exposes some of  these nefarious activities. ​
          
March 23, 2019  @2pm
Suzanne Young Brayer will discuss "Newspaper Research - A Glimpse into the Past."  Suzanne Young Brayer is an educator, researcher, and avid genealogist.  She graduated with degrees in history and education from ASU.  She is past President of the Family History Society of Arizona, a member of The Arizona Council of Professional Genealogists, as well as numerous local and national societies.  She is a lecturer, teacher, and genealogist with over 25 years' experience.
Tim Lambert (http://www.localhistories.org/media.html)states that newspapers began circulating in the 17th century with the first American newspaper printed in 1690 - Publick Occurrences Both Forreign and Domestick.  Early news may have been printed as broadsides or papers published weekly or monthly.  The first daily American newspaper was published in 1784.  With time, faster communication and printing technology spread news stories rapidly, both local and international, with scandal being a common theme.    Newspapers became far more common in the late 19th century. In the 18th century and the early 19th century stamp duty was charged on newspapers, which made them expensive. However in 1855 stamp duty on newspapers was abolished and they became cheaper and more common. In the mid-19th century newspaper reporters began to use the telegraph as a means to get news to their newspapers quickly. Then in 1880 The New York Graphic became the first newspaper to print a photo. 
Suzanne will discuss the use of this valuable, but occasionally somewhat unreliable, resource as one means of discovering hidden family stories.  Newspapers are also a fabulous resource for the current events surrounding an ancestor's life.
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February 23, 2019 @2pm.  Michelle Goodrum will discuss "Cluster Research Using the FAN Principle - Friends, Associates and Neighbors."  Cancelled due to winter weather. Rescheduled for Oct 26, 2019
Our ancestors did not exist in a vacuum.  They interacted with the people around them.  Often they migrated in groups or serially.  To tell the stories of our ancestors and solve challenging genealogical questions, we may need to investigate the lives of their friends, associates, and neighbors.  Michelle Goodrum's talk covers tools and strategies to widen your research in order to find your ancestors.
Michelle Roos Goodrum is a certificate holder and Teaching Assistant for Boston University's Genealogical Research Program and the Genealogy Principles course.  She also regularly attends genealogy institutes and conferences.  She became involved in genealogy in 1994 when she discovered her family's stash of old documents and photos.  She is now the caretaker of 140 years of her family's history.

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Prescott Public Library 
Genealogy Research Series




08Dec2019