Saturday, September 15, 2018

What Was the First Genealogical Society You Joined? -- Saturday Night Genealogy Fun

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans: 

 It's Saturday Night again - 

time for some more Genealogy Fun!!



Here is your assignment if you choose to play along (cue the Mission Impossible music, please!):

1) 
What was the first genealogical society you joined?  Why did you join that one?  What other societies are you a member of?


2)  Share your response in a comment on this blog post, in your own blog post (and provide a link in a comment on this post), or on Facebook or Google+.

NOTE:  Thank you to Jacquie Schattner for suggesting this topic in 2016.


Here's mine:


I started my genealogy research in 1988, and was finding lots of published material and was using the microfilms at the Family History Center in San Diego.  By 1992, I had a family tree pretty well fleshed out - probably 75% of what I have now), but it was all on paper and I was awash in paper (I still have it, but that's another post!).

In 1992, I was visiting the Chula Vista Library once a week and ran into Joy Voss, a Chula Vista Genealogical Society volunteer, and she listened and tried to help me.  She suggested that I join the Chula Vista Genealogical Society for $10 a year.  They had meetings on a weekday morning where they sat around the conference room table sharing their surnames and localities and helping each other, and occasionally one of them made a presentation.  I was working on those weekday mornings, but once in awhile I played hookie.  At one of the meetings, I said I was working on the Prodigy computer system and they had wonderful genealogy boards.  They talked me into doing a presentation on Prodigy.  I think I gave the first overhead presentation (handwritten!) to CVGS in the summer of 1993.  I still have the overhead slides!

Why did I join?  For the help, discussion and support of the membership - there were some veteran researchers who had decades of experience, and they liked having a male at the meetings. I probably had the most computer experience of anyone there when I started and was able to help folks with PAF and then Family Tree Maker.   I didn't attend every month - perhaps 2-3 times a year until I retired in 2002.  I always found a way to make at least one presentation each year before I retired.

I didn't stop with CVGS - I joined the San Diego Genealogical Society in 1994, and the Computer Genealogy Society of San Diego in 2002 (now defunct).  I also joined the New England Historic Genealogical Society in 1992, the National Genealogical Society in 1994, the Wiltshire Family History Society (no longer a member), the Society of Essex Genealogists (no longer a member), the Cape Cod Genealogical Society (no longer a member),  and the Southern California Genealogical Society in 2008.

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Copyright (c) 2018, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post.  Share it on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.

4 comments:

Yvonne Demoskoff said...

I joined my first society in 1986. I can hardly believe it was that long ago.
https://yvonnesgenealogyblog.blogspot.com/2018/09/saturday-night-genealogy-fun-what-was.html

Janice M. Sellers said...

I feel like such a piker! I didn't join a society until 2005!

http://www.ancestraldiscoveries.com/2018/09/saturday-night-genealogy-fun-what-was.html

Linda Stufflebean said...

I first joined NEHGS in 1980! Here's my post: https://emptybranchesonthefamilytree.com/2018/09/saturday-night-genealogy-fun-7/

Seeds to Tree said...

Thanks for using my question Randy. My post can be read at: http://seedstotree.blogspot.com/2018/09/saturday-night-question-when-and-why-i.html