Congratulations to the 2022 ISGS Honors & Awards Winners!

The ISGS 2022 Honors & Awards Winners were announced at our Annual Meeting on Sunday, October 16th. A BIG CONGRATULATIONS to this year's honorees!

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.

This year's Community Service Award winners are Jim Mitchell, Fr. Dan Hall CSV, and Maureen Henning Martin of St. Viator High School in Arlington Heights!

Jim, Fr. Dan, and Maureen established a veterans’ stories project for their students, where their students connect with local veterans, learn best practices for oral history interviews and writing, and publish those veteran stories in books. Over 80 students have participated and four books have been published:

- Arlington Heights’ Greatest Generation (2009)
- Lest We Forget : Arlington Heights' Korean War Veterans (2011)
- Welcome Home : Arlington Heights' Vietnam War Veterans (2013)
- Arlington Heights’ War on Terror (2021)

Learn more about St. Viator's veterans' project HERE and HERE!

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.

This year's Special Recognition goes to Richard Anderson, former editor of the ISGS Quarterly. Richard was nominated by ISGS President Vicki Mattson, and Past Presidents Candace Marx and Laura Kovarik, for his outstanding work with the Quarterly from 2018-2022. Some of Richard's many accomplishments include:

- Updating the Quarterly’s appearance giving it a sleek, modernized layout throughout the journal

- Adding a host of new, exciting content honoring Illinois Ancestors.
- Recognizing the importance of maps to convey information to the readers, Richard recruited David Jahntz, a map-maker from the Chicago Tribune, to create maps to accompany Quarterly articles.
- Built on the relationship between ISGS and the Quarterly’s publisher, smoothing out the overall process and improving the print quality of the journal.
- Richard always looked for new ways to promote the Quarterly. For example, he partnered with a local Chicago newsstand to sell Quarterly issues, with at least one edition selling out all copies. 

- In April 2022, Richard gave an interview about the 1950 Census release on WTTW’s Chicago Tonight TV program, which
helped inform listeners about this important genealogical milestone- watch the interview HERE!

Volkel Medal of Honor

The Volkel Medal of Honor may be awarded during even-numbered years to a living person who has made significant contributions in the field of Illinois genealogy, and is the Society's highest honor.  The nominee must have made (or continue to be making) a contribution to the field of genealogy in Illinois that is judged to be significant in a way that is either unique, pioneering, or exemplary.

ISGS is proud to announce the 2022 Volkel Medal of Honor recipient, Gary K. Hargis, PhD, nominated by Gail Ryan, President of the Fox Valley Genealogical Society. Gary has dedicated countless hours to promoting Illinois genealogy education, and here are just a few of his many achievements:

- 40-45 years of experience with genealogy
- Held leadership positions within the Fox Valley Genealogical Society, Illinois State Genealogical Society, and Genealogical Institute of Mid-America.
- Within ISGS, he established and chaired the Liaison committee.
- Established an annual “Illinois State Archives Tour” which became a two-day workshop to assist attendees in searching records at the Archives.
- Launched the ISGS Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Book Project to assist in growth of the collection for use by all researchers
- As ISGS Past President, formed the ISGS Foundation to acquire funds to use for support of the genealogical community, and established not-for-profit status for the Foundation.
- As President of the Fox Valley Genealogical Society, provided leadership to establish not-for-profit status, and expanded projects and research groups.
- Served a two year term as Director at the Genealogical Institute of Mid America and promoted learning genealogy.
- Has published many articles and led many lectures.
- Dr. Hargis provided an atmosphere and energy that encouraged people to learn, to be accurate with research findings, and to include citations. He also recruited people to join genealogy societies, both state and local.

Would you like to nominate someone in your genealogy community for their accomplishments? Be on the lookout for the 2023 Honors & Awards next spring!

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