OCTOBER 2020

Still time to attend

IGS Fall Conference - Don't Zoom? Are you busy that day? Great news for you!

We are so excited because the 2020 Virtual Fall Conference is only days away - Oct 2nd and 3rd. And to add to the excitement, we have some great news for you.

First we want to remind you that the sessions will be recorded and available to registrants through the end of October. So if you can't watch the live presentations on Oct 2 and 3, you have the opportunity to watch them at your leisure through October 31. All registrants will be given links to the videos within a few days of the end of the conference.

Second, for those of you who haven't quite yet joined the Zoom bandwagon, we have arranged for the conference to be shown live in the West Wing of the IGS building. There are a few restrictions that you will need to work with:

1) Masks are mandatory as long as you are in the West Wing.

2) Seating will be limited to allow for social distancing at the tables.

3) You will need to call the office and reserve your seat because of these limitations.

4) After the office confirms there is space for you, you need to complete the online registration form and pay the fee.

5) Lunch will not be provided; you may bring your own, leave to pick up it up or order it in.

6) The West Wing does not have air conditioning, so if it's a warm day, dress appropriately. We do have fans.

7) The furnace in the West Wing is quite loud so we try to restrict the times it is running to break times So if it's a cold day, dress warm.

For more information including the list of the classes and registration, go to our web site www.iowagenealogy.org

IOWA GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY 628 E Grand Ave Des Moines IA 50309-1924

Phone: (515) 276-0287

Email: igs@iowagenealogy.org

Website: www.iowagenealogy.org

LIBRARY HOURS

Monday, Wednesday, Friday & Saturday 10 a.m.— 4 p.m.

Tuesday & Thursday 10 a.m.— 9 p.m.

Iowa

Genealogical

Society President’s Message 2

Cont of pg 2 & pg 5 3

Reclaim the Records 4

New York Death Index 5

FamilySearch Feedback 6

Amazon Smile 7

IGS Interest Groups 8

Membership application 9

IGS Events 10

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

Continued on page 3

Hello everyone!

Fall has arrived, which brings us closer to the end of 2020—finally! It feels like this has been a terrible year for nearly everyone I know, and that its lasted for about four years instead of one. I can’t wait for this pandemic to end, and I’m sure all of you are ready for it to be gone too. At our house, Ivy is attending school online, but many of her friends have returned to in-person classes. I’m thankful that she isn’t around all of the other students, as there have already been several cases of exposure, but it’s always an adventure when a Zoom class is interrupted by someone’s loud dog, or a student brushing their teeth with the computer camera as their mirror.

Curt, Ivy, and I are working on planning a different kind of Christkindlmarket Des Moines event this year, with social distancing and safety in mind. As always, we look forward to this event with as much enthusiasm as our IGS Fall Conference, but it’s definitely going to be a different experience, and in an abbreviated format, due to social distancing needs. Fall Conference is just around the corner! We’re excited to welcome Fall Conference speaker Paula Stuart-Warren to our virtual event: “Discover New Resources – Expand Your Hunt” on October 2nd and 3rd (our previous newsletter said October 9th & 10th, so for those of you who now have other plans for October 2nd and 3rd, I apologize for the mix-up). Visit our website or Facebook page for more details and to sign up!

With the IGS Fall Conference comes our annual meeting, and our annual re-election of some officers. Some of you may have already heard, but I’ve decided to take some time away from the board. I am not up for re-election in October, but I will continue to see some of you in the library, as I intend to remain part of the Education and Cataloging Committees. I hope that our next President will continue to carry IGS forward into the future with growth, longevity, and transparency in mind, so that we can keep providing classes, resources, and conferences far into the future.

I’m excited to report that the additional fundraising letter we sent out in July has already raised more than $11,000, and I want to personally thank everyone who has offered their money, supplies, and/or their time to help us make IGS a great experience for our patrons. We also welcome help with cleaning and dusting, in addition to assistance with our volunteer projects around the library. Maybe your area of expertise is in grant writing, or long-term planning—reach out to us via email—you don’t have to be close enough to meet in person to be a great help! Advice and suggestions are always welcome!

We’ve been working on scheduling some additional classes, with more announcements to

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

2

IGS Library

Hours

Monday, Wednesday, Friday & Saturday

9 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Tuesday & Thursday

9 a.m. - 9 p.m.

IGS staff

Librarian

Billie Murano

Administrative As-

sistant Debra

Chase

Assistant Librari-

ans Sondra Car-

nahan Debra

IGS EXECUTIVE BOARD

President

Tasha Jackson

1st Vice President

2nd Vice President

Nancy Kirchner

Secretary

Debbie Jorgenson

Treasurer

Sheri Snodgrass

IGS STAFF

Administrative Assistant Debi Iseminger Chase Librarian Debi Iseminger Chase Assistant Librarian Susan Claman Assistant Librarian Tony Cupp Assistant Librarian Karen Voss

IGS EDITORIAL STAFF

Hawkeye Heritage Susan Claman IGS Newsletter Debi Iseminger Chase

Continued on page 3

come. Remember that you can help IGS by ordering your Amazon items from smile.amazon.com, their non-profit giving arm, instead of the regular Amazon.com address. You can enter ‘Iowa Genealogical Society’ in the box designating who they should make their donation to each time you purchase something on their site. Keep hanging in there, stay in touch with your family and friends via email, letters, phone calls, and video conferencing if you can, and I hope that you and all of your friends and family members stay healthy and continue to avoid catching this virus. I’ve really enjoyed serving as your President for the past 2 years, and hopefully someday I will be able to do it again. Can’t wait to see you at Fall Conference—we miss you!

Sincerely,

Tasha Jackson

October 2020 Iowa Genealogical Society 3

President’s Message continued from page 2

…and so on. You get the idea, just change the year at the end of the URL to any year between 1880 and 1956.

The best way to see the WHOLE LIST of the items in the New York State Death Index collec-tion is through this direct link: https://archive.org/details/nydeathindex

These records are available because of Reclaim the Records

Do you miss when people couldn’t call you unless you were at home? I do

Continued from page 5

RECLAIM THE RECORDS

4 Iowa Genealogical Society October 2020

I don’t know if you have heard of Reclaim the Records. Records are being lost every day. From natural disasters, poor preservation and from being deliberately thrown out and destroyed. Some records are being preserved by FamilySearch, Ancestry and local genealogical and historical societies. But many records are being held hostage by the county and state governments that are in charge of them. Reclaim the Records is trying to make those records available now, not in 100 years . Or not having to spend large amounts of money to access them. To find out more about this organization and to learn about their success and where they are continuing to work just go here https://www.reclaimtherecords.org/ Library of Congress has launched a new tool to search Historical Newspaper Images.

The public can now explore more than 1.5 million historical newspaper images online and free of charge. The latest machine learning experience from Library of Congress Labs, Newspaper Navigator allows users to search visual content in American newspapers dating 1789-1963.

The user begins by entering a keyword that returns a selection of photos. Then the user can choose photos to search against, allowing the discovery of related images that were previously undetectable by search engines.

For decades, partners across the United States have collaborated to digitize newspapers through the

Library’s Chronicling America website, a database of historical U.S. newspapers. The text of the newspapers is

made searchable by character recognition technology, but users looking for specific images were required to page

through the individual issues. Through the creative ingenuity of Innovator in Residence Benjamin Lee and

advances in machine learning, Newspaper Navigator now makes images in the newspapers searchable by enabling

users to search by visual similarity.

To read more about this go to https://www.loc.gov/item/prn-20-060/library-of-congress-launches-new-tool-to-

search-historical-newspaper-images/2020-09-15/

Give it a try since your stuck at home anyway.

October 2020 Iowa Genealogical Society 5

NEW YORK STATE DEATH INDEX

THE NEW YORK STATE DEATH INDEX IS NOW ONLINE! You can now view all of the scanned images of the New York State Death Index, from 1880-1956, online for free at the Internet Archive.

Please note that this index does not include deaths in New York City (with a few rare excep-tions) and does not include deaths in Albany, Buffalo, or Yonkers until 1915.

Here are some things to keep in mind:

1. 1880 and 1881 have very limited data, as the state law requiring reporting deaths to the state didn’t have great compliance at first.

2. 1943 is, unfortunately, extremely hard to read, and we don’t know if any better copy exists. If there is, we’ll go after it with a new FOIL request and scan it.

3. New York City deaths are, for the most part, not included in this statewide death index. That’s because New York City and New York State are completely different vital records juris-dictions. However, some deaths that were in neighborhoods that are part of modern-day New York City — such as Flushing (Queens) or Canarsie (Brooklyn) — do show up in the pre-1897/1898 statewide death index! That’s because they weren’t incorporated as part of the city yet at the time they were recorded.

Three major cities are not included in this statewide death index until 1914 or 1915: Yonkers, Buffalo, and Albany. Reclaim The Records has made three new and separate FOIL requests to those city clerks for the first-ever public copies of their 1880-1914 death indices, in order to complete the missing data.

Here’s what the sample URL structure looks like:

https://archive.org/details/New_York_State_Death_Index_1880 https://archive.org/details/New_York_State_Death_Index_1881 https://archive.org/details/New_York_State_Death_Index_1882

Continued on page 3

6 Iowa Genealogical Society October 2020

FAMILYSEARCH

Share Your Ideas and Feedback with FamilySearch

FamilySearch Blog September 25, 2020 - by Mitch Wasden

Have you ever had an idea that you think would make your FamilySearch experience better? Or maybe you

have had a fantastic experience and wanted to let somebody know about it. FamilySearch wants to hear from

you!

At the bottom of most pages on FamilySearch.org is a feedback link. When you click it, you will be able to

share your feedback by going to a related discussion board in the FamilySearch Community.

Changes to Submitting Feedback

Those who have shared feedback in the past will see some changes to the experience. The “Get Satisfaction”

software FamilySearch has been using for feedback has been discontinued by the provider and will not

be available after September 30, 2020.

Here is the good news—a permanent solution for feedback is in the works. In the interim, starting September

28, 2020, FamilySearch will route the feedback to an area of the FamilySearch Community called “Ideas.”

With this service, you will be able to submit your ideas and give other feedback. Other members of the group

will be able to comment on your ideas. FamilySearch representatives will participate in the Ideas area of the

community to receive and respond to your feedback. This will be a fun and engaging community!

Future Feedback Submissions

When a more permanent feedback solution in available, the feedback link at the bottom of the page will take

you to the new place. We look forward to hearing what you have to say!

I often contact FamilySearch. I give them complements when they do something I like. I send suggtestions that

often get used. I also let them know if something isn’t working or if I don’t like how something works.

AmazonSmile

October 2020 Iowa Genealogical Society 7

Everyone is buying more and more online. With Christmas approaching we will all be ordering

more, especially with Covid still around. Why not earn money for IGS at the same time?

If you order from Amazon.com order from AmazonSmile instead and let them know you

want to give money to the Iowa Genealogical Society.

The prices are the same but it’s a painless way to donate to IGS.

About AmazonSmile

AmazonSmile is a website operated by Amazon with the same products, prices, and shopping features as Amazon.com. The difference is that when you shop on AmazonSmile, the AmazonSmile Foundation will donate 0.5% of the purchase price of eligible products to the charitable organization of your choice.

Every item available for purchase on www.amazon.com is also available on AmazonSmile (smile.amazon.com) at the same price. You will see eligible products marked "Eligible for AmazonSmile donation" on their product detail pages.

For those of you with Amazon Prime , Prime Day is a great way to save money and get a start on your holiday shopping. While you’re saving money help make some money for IGS.

RootsMagic SIG will be on Zoom for the rest of the year.

September 26

October 24

For info on connecting to the Zoom meeting contact Nicole at acgttree@gmail.com

Ancestry SIG will be on Zoom also

Back to the original schedule of the 2nd Saturday

beginning in September

1 p.m. Ancestry

3 p.m. Family Tree Maker

For info contact Sheri at sheri@snodgrasses.com

German SIG will meet in the IGS west wing.

October 5

November 2

December 7

DNA SIG will be on Zoom

Oct 6

Nov 3

Dec 1

Irish SIG will be on Zoom

October 20

November 17

December 15

For info contact Theresa at tliewer@aol.com

Publishing & Preserving SIG will be on Zoom

October 25

November 22

Legacy SIG will be on Zoom for the rest of the year. No December meeting

October 15

November 19

Norwegian SIG will be on Zoom for the rest of the year. No December meeting

October 27

November 24

IGS SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS All groups meet at the IGS Library, 628 E Grand Ave, Des Moines:

German Interest Group meets on the first Monday of each month at 7 p.m.

DNA Interest Groups meets the first Tuesday of the month, at 1:30 p.m. and again at 6:30 p.m.

Ancestry.com User Group meets the second Sunday of the month, from 1:30 p.m.

Family Tree Maker User Group meets the second Sunday of the month, from 3 p.m.

Irish Interest Group meets on the third Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m.

Legacy User Group meets the third Thursday of the month, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Norwegian Interest Group meets on the fourth Tuesday of the month (except December) at 7 p.m.

RootsMagic User Group meets the fourth Saturday of the month, from 10 a.m. to noon.

Publishing & Preserving Family History Interest Group meets the fourth Sunday of the month, at 1:30 p.m.

IGS SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS

8 Iowa Genealogical Society October 2020

IOWA GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY NEWSLETTER

October 2020

The Iowa Genealogical Society Newsletter is a publication of the Iowa Genealogical Society. Members receive the newsletter as part of their membership.

Individual members, member chapters, regional representatives and the public are invited to submit articles, reviews, chapter news and program information for publication.

Contact IGS for more information or to submit your article:

Iowa Genealogical Society 628 E Grand Ave Des Moines IA 50309-1924 515-276-0287 igs@iowagenealogy.org

NOTE: Please check the mailing label for your membership expiration date.

October 2020 Iowa Genealogical Society 9

Iowa Genealogical Society

Membership Application

Membership Benefits:

Free access to IGS research library

Bimonthly Newsletter

Admission discounts to all IGS classes & events

Discounted hourly research rate

□ Individual: $35 □ Family: $45

□ New membership □ Renewal

I would like to make a tax–deductible gift of $_________________.

□ My company has a matching gift program. Company name:

________________________________

□ My gift is in Memory/Honor (circle one) of

______________________________________________

My gift may be best utilized for:

□ Building Fund $____________

□ General Fund $____________

Name(s):______________________________________________

Mailing Address:________________________________________

City, State, Zip: ________________________________________

Day phone:___________________________________

Email:________________________________________

□ Check enclosed.

□ Please charge my credit card in the amount of

$________________(+ $2.50 credit card handling fee)

□ Visa □ MasterCard □ Discover

Account No._________________________________________

Expiration Date: _______________ CCV: _______________

Signature:____________________________________________

Mail to: Iowa Genealogical Society,

628 E Grand Ave, Des Moines IA 50309-1924

10 Iowa Genealogical Society October 2020

PRESERVING THE PAST & ENRICHING THE FUTURE

IGS EVENTS

IGS CLASS SCHEDULE

classes will be online

October

Thursday, October 29

Beginning Genealogy 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. Instructor - Kevin Spire Preregistration required. FREE

November

Saturday, November 7

Iowa Vital Records 10:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Instructor - Theresa Liewer Preregistration required.

Thursday, November 19

Mennonite Records 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. Instructor - Renee Cue Preregistration required.

If you would prefer to receive an electronic copy

of the newsletter please send an e-mail to

igs@iowagenealogy.org. Include your name and e

-mail address that you would like it sent to.

IGS Annual Meeting

The Iowa Genealogical Society annual meeting is going to be a Zoom meeting this year.

Usually it would have been held at the fall conference but like everything else this year we have had to do things in a new way.

The meeting will be October 24 at 3 p.m.

If you wish to take part please send an email to IGS letting us know and then we can send you an email with the link to sign on.

There is still time to send in your ballots