Illinois State Genealogical Society Blog

Do you know a local "genealogy hero" that deserves special recognition? The Illinois State Genealogical Society is accepting nominations for our 2020 Honors and Awards! Nominations will be reviewed by the Honors and Awards Committee. The awards will be presented at the ISGS Virtual Fall Conference on October 24th, 2020. Award categories are: ● Community Service Award: This award may be given to an individual, company, or institution for service or contributions to genealogy. Nominations may be made by local genealogical or historical societies. ● Special Recognition Award: This award may be given to an individual for the promotion of genealogy in general or for having been a major influence toward the success of the nominating organization. Nominations may be made by local societies. ● Youth Award: Students are eligible for this award for a genealogical project. Nominations may be made on the suggestion of a teacher, advisor, or local society. ● Distinguished Service Awa

The Arlington Heights Memorial Library has some exciting virtual genealogy events coming soon! Their online programs are open to the public, but registration is required- see the links below to register and learn more about the events! Tuesday, May 26th at 7:00 pm - "Oh Where, Oh Where are my Ancestors From?" with Teresa Steinkamp McMillin. REGISTER HERE! Thursday, June 11th at 2:00 pm- Beginning Genealogy with Jacquie Schattner. REGISTER HERE! Monday, July 20th at 7:00 pm- "The 1950 Census- Are You Ready?" with Thomas MacEntee. REGISTER HERE starting July 1st! Celtic Connections has a special announcement regarding its "Virtual Journey Home" 2020 Conference! VIRTUAL JOURNEY HOME We proudly announce the virtual Celtic Connections Conference program, available beginning July 31! While the COVID-19 pandemic caused us to take a detour on our “Journey Home,” a new trail is even better.  Learn from 11 outstanding speakers, 25 pre-record

\ Anthony "Tony" Marx (1886-1978), standing, and a friend, about 1918. Anthony served in the Quartermaster Corps, Butchery Company during WWI, delivering meat to the troops on the font lines of Europe. Anthony was born in Springfield, IL and lived most of his life in Aurora, IL. From the family photo collection of Candace Marx, ISGS Marketing Chair Memorial Day is the perfect time to honor the military history of your ancestors. The links below offer a great opportunity to learn more about your Illinois ancestors' military service! Fold3  will be offering FREE access to their collection of more than 550 million military records from May 21st thru May 25! Available records cover military conflicts as early as the Revolutionary War. You can also create Memorial pages on Fold3  to honor your military ancestors. Ancestry   is providing FREE access now through June 1st to nearly 500 million records and images from the National Archives and Records Administration

SAVE THE DATE!  The Illinois State Genealogical Society is thrilled to announce our 2020 Virtual Conference! More information will be coming soon! © 2020, copyright Illinois State Genealogical Society

Don't miss our next FREE Webinar, available to ALL, on the ISGS home page through Monday May 21st! "Preserving Old Family Letters: Tips from an Archivist" was presented by Melissa Barker in June 2017. Old family letters- If you are fortunate enough to have some, they are a true family treasure. Writing letters is also a thing of the past, something that is not done anymore, all the more reason why we should collect, save and most importantly preserve the letters that we do have in our family records collections. In this presentation, Melissa will talk about the ways you can preserve your family letters so that they are protected for generations to come. ------------------------------------------------------------------- There's still time to register for tomorrow's webinar at 7pm Central, hosted by the Fox Valley Genealogical Society: "Your Next Step: Write your Family History" with Steve Szabados.  Were your ancestors royalty or members

Our friends at Celtic Connections have made the difficult decision to cancel their in-person conference, however they have an exciting announcement about their plans for a VIRTUAL conference: VIRTUAL JOURNEY HOME For health and safety reasons we have cancelled the fourth biennial Celtic Connections. The cancellation presents a detour in our “Journey Home.” However we know that you want to further your education, so we are investigating ways to provide this conference electronically. If our investigations are successful, our journey home will become a virtual experience. What will this new reality look like? At a minimum, there will be • On-demand presentations: Pre-recorded talks by many of the CCC ’20 presenters will be available to view online between July 31 and August 31. • Live “chats”: During that time period there will be moderated chats for presenters and participants to exchange information around various tracks or topics. • Electronic syllab