Let’s face it. It’s been a challenging year. It's been difficult for individuals and families, but it's also been difficult for businesses, organizations, and societies.

Genealogy societies are an important part of the family history community. They are the place where researchers gather to learn and share. They are the purveyors of education through programming, Special Interest Groups (SIGS), seminars, and conferences. Members are kept up-to-date on the society and other genealogical interests via a periodical (magazine, journal, or newsletter), blog, or social media account.

Individuals volunteer their time, talent, and experience to make societies a place that benefits the community. It’s a lot of work, and it takes a team of volunteers to ensure everything runs smoothly.

Starting in March, many societies were forced to cancel meetings. It seemed at first that this was a momentary inconvenience. Soon, however, when reality dictated that groups would not be meeting in person for some time, societies had to make some tough decisions, including whether to meet online or not meet at all. Many societies met the challenge. They learned how to hold a virtual meeting. They trained their volunteers and, in some cases, their speakers how to use this new technology. They figured out how to provide programming differently. Some societies even provided all-day seminars to their members and the larger genealogy community.

While many societies have adapted to the new reality, that's not a possibility for all societies due to technological know-how and cost. I've had societies tell me, "we are barely surviving," "we aren't sure whether our members will renew their membership." It is a tough time, and it helps to know you're not alone. There are other organizations in the same boat who have ideas that may help.

As we conclude 2020 and look towards possibly not gathering together in person until later in 2021, what are your genealogy society plans? Too often, even in "normal" times, society board members may feel isolated from other societies. We all benefit when we can share ideas and our experiences, whether they worked or not.

Let's help each other and share ideas about making the most of society management in these unusual times. Tell us about your society in this time of COVID and what changes you've made. Not sure what to write? Consider addressing some of the questions in the comments below :

• What did your society do differently during the pandemic?
• Are you holding meetings? If so, how?
• If you are holding meetings, aside from being online, how else are they different?
• Is there anything that is NOT working for your society?
• Is there anything your society is NOT doing that you did pre-pandemic?
• Have you tried something new that you plan on continuing?
• What has your genealogy society done to reach out to non-members?
• What are your plans for 2021?
• What recommendations do you have for other societies?

I look forward to hearing from you and what you have experienced.

Gena Philibert-Ortega is an author, instructor, and researcher. She blogs at Gena's Genealogy and Food.Family.Ephemera. You can find her presentations on the Legacy Family Tree Webinars website.

Every Friday we're pleased to offer Legacy Family Tree Webinar members a new, short ten minute or less TechZone video just for them! This Friday enjoy "Use Two-Factor Authentication for Added Security" by Thomas MacEntee.

Use Two-Factor Authentication for Added Security

More and more genealogy apps and websites, like Ancestry, are moving to Two-Factor Authentication to prevent account hacking and secure user privacy. Learn how this added layer of security works.

About the Presenter

The year 2020 marks the 100^th anniversary of the 19^th amendment, granting American women the right to vote. However, some women already had the right to vote and had been doing so for decades prior to the 1920 federal amendment. One of those groups of women were the women of Wyoming.

Wyoming’s state motto is “Equal Rights,” reflecting their early granting of equal suffrage rights to women. (Some women in New Jersey voted much earlier in 1776 and continued to do so until 1807 when they were disenfranchised, and women in Utah were granted suffrage in 1870 but beat Wyoming women to the polls).

Food might seem irrelevant when we study suffrage, but actually, nothing could be further from the truth. Suffragists used food, cookbooks, and restaurants to spread their message of equal rights for women. Several cookbooks published by suffragists were used to spread the word and raise funds for the cause. One of these cookbooks, The Woman Suffrage Cookbook edited by Hattie A. Burr can be read for free on Google Books.

For Thanksgiving, I thought I would spotlight a suffrage cookbook published originally in 1965 to commemorate the centennial of suffrage in Wyoming. Cooking in Wyoming was published in multiple editions (I’m using the 3^rd edition, published in 1969). The Wyoming State Archives’ blog Wyoming Postscripts writes of the original edition,

In 1965, First Lady Martha Close Hansen helped to compile a cookbook full of Wyoming family recipes for the 75th anniversary of statehood. This was a special anniversary for Wyoming as there were still many people living who had either seen the original statehood celebration or had heard about it from those who had lived it.[1]

What I love about this community cookbook is that it not only includes recipes but, many times, provides comments about those recipes. The following are a few Thanksgiving favorites for your recipe collection.

Looking for an appetizer idea? Here are some ideas for stuffed celery.

A roasted turkey is the star of the Thanksgiving show.

And my favorite pie ( and the best pie) is pumpkin.

I have to show you one more recipe that made me laugh when I saw it. This is a great provenance for the evolution of this recipe.

Happy Thanksgiving!

[1] “Friday Foodie: Governor’s Mansion Hollandaise Sauce,” Wyoming Postscripts (https://wyostatearchives.wordpress.com/2013/12/06/friday-foodie-governors-mansion-hollandaise-sauce/: accessed 18 November 2020).

Gena Philibert-Ortega is an author, instructor, and researcher. She blogs at Gena's Genealogy and Food.Family.Ephemera. You can find her presentations on the Legacy Family Tree Webinars website.

Every Friday we're pleased to offer Legacy Family Tree Webinar subscribers a new short ten minute or less TechZone video just for them! This Friday enjoy "3 Kinds of DNA Tests" by Diahan Southard.

3 Kinds of DNA Tests

What are the three different types of DNA tests? And what do they tell you? Find out in this video by Diahan Southard.

About the Presenter

The recording of today's webinar by Mags Gaulden, "Surname Projects and DNA Projects" is now available to view at www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com for free for a limited time.

Webinar Description

If you could not make it to the live event or just want to watch it again, the 1 hour 28 minute recording of "Surname Projects and DNA Projects" is now available to view in our webinar library for free for a limited time. If you have a webinar membership, it is available anytime.

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The recording of today's webinar by Shannon Green, CG, "Separating and Merging Identities of Same-named Men" is now available to view at www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com for free for a limited time.

Webinar Description

If you could not make it to the live event or just want to watch it again, the 1 hour 19 minute recording of "Separating and Merging Identities of Same-named Men" is now available to view in our webinar library for free for a limited time. If you have a webinar membership, it is available anytime.

Webinar Memberships/Subscriptions

Webinar Members get:

• On-demand access to the entire webinar archives (now 1,394 classes of genealogy education)
• On-demand access to the instructor handouts (now 5,389 pages)
• On-demand access to the live webinars' chat logs
• 5% off all products at www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com (must be logged in at checkout)
• Access to all future recordings for the duration of their membership
• Chance for a members-only door prize during each live webinar
• Access to register for bonus members-only webinars
• Ability to view which webinars you are registered for
• Use of the playlist, resume watching, and jump-to features

Introductory pricing:

• Annual membership: $49.95/year

Register for our upcoming webinars (free)

Print the 2020 webinar brochure here.

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Catalogs. Have you used these publications for your family history research? While we may think of “old” catalogs as those from the later 19^th or early 20^th centuries, the history of retail catalogs extends ever farther back. Publishing company Publitas writes that the year 1498 saw the first catalog published in Venice, Italy for The Aldine Press. Catalogs for seed companies began in the 17^th century when English gardener William Lucas published one with seed prices. It’s not until the later 19^th century that we see catalogs for companies like Montgomery Ward (1872) and Sears (1894).[1]

Catalogs provide a unique glimpse into our ancestor’s lives. They not only help us understand what was available to them but they may help us answer questions such as the approximate year a photograph was taken according to when the clothing and jewelry were available, the history behind an heirloom, or help us identify an object. I’ve used catalogs to search for the name of a specific vintage kitchen tool, identify when a serving dish was available, and explore fraternal order jewelry as well as to answer questions about beauty products our ancestors used.[2]

Where can you find older catalogs? One place to search is Internet Archive. Their Catalogs collection includes over 16,000 catalogs.

A Few Examples

For those of us in the United States, when we think of catalogs, we think of the Sears catalog. Internet Archive has a collection of Sears catalogs (though not all) and you can find everything from the general catalog, to speciality catalogs focusing on wallpaper, tools, homes and farm buildings, stoves from 1904 and my favorite, Tombstones and Monuments (1902 and 1906 ) Yes, your family could order their deceased loved one’s tombstone from Sears. They could even pick out the appropriate sentiment to be etched on the stone.

Oh, and just so you know, Montgomery Wards also sold tombstones.

Once you find the catalog of interest you can search or browse it page by page. I would recommend finding the section you are interested in and then studying each page. Also, keep in mind that you might find catalogs on Internet Archive outside of the official Catalog collection. So make sure to conduct searches on their eBooks and Text collection as well.

Catalogs exist on other websites including Google Books , Hathi Trust, and Flickr. Vintage catalogs can be found for sale online via online auction website eBay.

Have you solved a family history question using a catalog? I'd love to hear about it in the comments below.

[1] “A Visual History of the Category,” Publitas (https://www.publitas.com/blog/a-visual-history-of-the-catalog/#:~:text=The%20first%20Montgomery%20Ward%20catalog,on%20the%20catalog%20mailing%20list.: accessed 13 November 2020).

[2] Special thanks to Cathy Martin Naborowski who posted about Sears Wallpaper Catalogs on Internet Archive.

Gena Philibert-Ortega is an author, instructor, and researcher. She blogs at Gena's Genealogy and Food.Family.Ephemera. You can find her presentations on the Legacy Family Tree Webinars website.

Every Friday we're pleased to offer Legacy Family Tree Webinar members a new, short ten minute or less TechZone video just for them! This Friday enjoy "Have PDF, Will Upload: Print Your Book on Lulu.com" by Diane Boumenot.

Have PDF, Will Upload: Print Your Book on Lulu.com

Have you written a book and saved it as a pdf document? Now it's time to get that book printed. This video will show you how to print your book on the print-on-demand website lulu.com.

About the Presenter

The recording of today's webinar by Michael L. Strauss, AG, "Deeds Not Words: Finding Your Merchant Marine Ancestors" is now available to view at www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com for free for a limited time.

Webinar Description

If you could not make it to the live event or just want to watch it again, the 1 hour 42 minute recording of "Deeds Not Words: Finding Your Merchant Marine Ancestors" is now available to view in our webinar library for free for a limited time. If you have a webinar membership, it is available anytime.

Webinar Memberships/Subscriptions

Webinar Members get:

• On-demand access to the entire webinar archives (now 1,392 classes of genealogy education)
• On-demand access to the instructor handouts (now 5,381 pages)
• On-demand access to the live webinars' chat logs
• 5% off all products at www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com (must be logged in at checkout)
• Access to all future recordings for the duration of their membership
• Chance for a members-only door prize during each live webinar
• Access to register for bonus members-only webinars
• Ability to view which webinars you are registered for
• Use of the playlist, resume watching, and jump-to features

Introductory pricing:

• Annual membership: $49.95/year

Register for our upcoming webinars (free)

Print the 2020 webinar brochure here.