National Genealogical Society (NGS)
Delegate Council
Zoom Meeting
24 August 2023
Kate Townsend, NGS Delegate Council chair, welcomed everyone. She thanked the council members who were leaving at the end of their term (on 1 October 2023). An election was held for the Vice Chair position. Matt Weismantle was elected unanimously.
David Rencher presented the Preserve the War of 1812 Pensions II. Societies are looking for unique ways to raise funds for the national project. In the first phase of the project, NGS requested $1 per society member per year. Fold3.com paid for half of the project, but during this second phase, NGS will have to pay the whole $2.5 million in quarterly payments (about $156,000 per quarter) because of the contractual agreement with the National Archives and
Records Administration (NARA). The second phase will be digitizing Veteran Bounty Land Warrants which include indigenous persons, rejected payments for the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, veteran applications, and family bible records. Family members are included in these veteran bounty land warrants. Quarterly payments will begin in 2024. NGS is asking member societies to spread the word about the pension projects to friends and colleagues. NGS
is asking each society’s board to pledge money each year. Fundraising ideas include raising the local society’s dues $1 for the 4-year project which would go to the project. Another idea was to add a notation on the society’s annual conference so people could donate. One society sent their profits from their annual conference to NGS for the first project. Once the NGS website is set up for the project (soon!), donors will be highlighted. For now, if a society wants to donate, just write a check with a notation that the money goes to the Preserve the Veteran Bounty Land Warrant project. In the future, NGS will provide PowerPoint slides for societies to use for fundraising. PDF articles will also be downloadable for cutting and pasting in society’s newsletters. NARA website will house the Veteran Bounty Land Warrants database, and will be available for free. Third party vendors (FamilySearch, Ancestry.com, etc.) are invited to download the images. FamilySearch will provide these for free; Ancestry may charge. If societies have individuals who would be willing to donate significant amounts of money for the project, contact NGS. Mike Hall of FamilySearch has made toy soldiers like he did for phase one
which he will be selling for the project. Soldiers will include African Americans.
NGS Updates
ConferenceKeepers.com is now a part of NGS. Tami will continue to add classes, conferences and seminars.
Family Matters Tool Box for scanning photos and writing books was rolled out at the May NGS conference Sponsored by Vivid-Pix.
PBS: Finding Your Roots will debut January 2024. This time it will include non-celebrities as well as celebrities. This would be an opportunity for societies to sponsor watch parties at libraries or homes to encourage family history research.
America250: PBS will have programs leading up to the celebration of America’s 250th anniversary in 2026. Ken Burns will have a special in 2024 on the American Buffalo which will include indigenous people. He also is working on a Gospel Hymns special which will include African Americans. In 2025, the American Revolution will be highlighted by Burns ending in 2026. PBS wants to engage more people in the community with history and family history. A
great way to get people excited about their ancestors’ places in American history!
Family History Guide: NGS has constructed a booklet on researching family history at www.thefhguide.com. This is a free download that can be used in classes or as a handout at society functions.
October is Family History Month: NGS will be putting together a tool kit of items to enhance the research experience. This will be a PDF that can be shared. It will be on the NGS
website. Ideas that have worked for other societies include scanning photos for people, writing stories about one’s family, interviewing techniques when talking with family members, and organizing a family history month cookbook of ancestor recipes.
The NGS annual conference will be held virtually, 16-18 May 2024.
Townsend then concluded the meeting.
Linda Caldwell McCleary
NGS Delegate
Partner with the National Genealogical Society for Preserve the Pensions Phase II: Veteran Bounty Land Records Project (PDF document to read more about the project)