Illinois State Genealogical Society Blog

Over the next month ISGS will be traveling to different events with the ISGS booth. Next week Jane Haldeman, Janice Fritsch and Joan Murray will be  at the Federation of Genealogical Societies National Conference , “Gone to Texas” in San Antonio, Texas. The conference will include workshops, guest speakers, an exhibitor’s hall and special events. .ISGS  will have a booth set up in the exhibitor’s hall where we will provide information about ISGS membership and our upcoming 2014 Fall Conference and free ISGS Webinars .  In addition, ISGS has also been invited to exhibit at the  taping of the PBS television series, “Genealogy Roadshow.” The show is part detective story, and part emotional journey. Participants are chosen for the show and then genealogy, history and DNA experts use family heirlooms, letters, pictures, historical documents and other clues to hunt down information about their ancestors.  The answers are then revealed on camera before a local audi...

ISGS Announces the $10,000 War of 1812 Pension Match Challenge The Illinois State Genealogical Society is proud to support the Federation of Genealogical Societies' " Preserve The Pensions " campaign, with the goal of raising $3.7 million to digitize the War of 1812 Pension Application Files held at the National Archives and make them freely accessible online. The digitized pension files will be available for free on Fold3.com - see http://go.fold3.com/1812pensions/ to view the files that are available so far. In recognition of the importance of this digitization effort, the Illinois Genealogical Society has issued the ISGS $10,000 War of 1812 Pension Match Challenge . ISGS will MATCH any donation up to the first $10,000 that is made before January 31, 2015 . This means that if you donate $100, ISGS will match your contribution for a total of $200 !  The Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) has agreed to MATCH the combined contribution (up to $20,000) for a tot...

ISGS President Jane Haldeman received FGS Award of Merit from FGS President Josh Taylor at the FGS 2013 Conference The Illinois State Genealogical Society was recently honored at the Federation of Genealogical Societies' annual conference in Fort Wayne, Indiana with the FGS Award of Merit. On August 29, 2013, FGS President Josh Taylor presented the award to ISGS President Jane Haldeman for our "tremendous leadership in paving the way towards online educational offerings." Congratulations to all the ISGS volunteers who help make the ISGS Webinar series possible. And thanks also to everyone who has contributed to the ISGS Webinar Fund and who have helped spread the word about this great educational opportunity. Click here to learn more about the upcoming webinars for 2013. And stay tuned for a HUGE announcement on Monday, October 28th about our 2014 ISGS Webinar series! © 2013, copyright Illinois State Genealogical Society

Note: This membership special is available online as well as in-person at FGS 2013! We're offering a Conference Special on ISGS Membership during the Federation of Genealogical Societies 2013 Conference , Thursday, August 22 through Saturday, August 24, 2013. The details are listed below. This special only applies to Individual and Joint memberships. New Memberships: Individual $25 (normally $30); Joint $30 (normally $35) Renewals: Individual $40; Joint $45 for 18 month renewal instead of 12 months Visit us at Booth 217 in the Expo Hall at FGS 2013 in Fort Wayne, Indiana or join online ! This is a limited time offer!

Preserve the Pensions Project to Digitize Important Pension Records and Provide Free Access to the Public December 11, 2012 – Springfield, IL . The Illinois State Genealogical Society (ISGS) is proud to announce that it has completed its recently launched $10,000 War of 1812 Pension Match Challenge with strong support from ISGS members as well as the genealogical community. On June 18, 2012, the 200th anniversary of the declaration of the War of 1812, ISGS announced its $10,000 War of 1812 Pension Match Challenge. ISGS made a commitment to match any contribution (up to the first $10,000) made to the Preserve the Pensions project before December 31, 2012. In addition, Ancestry.com announced that it would also match all monies donated during the campaign, resulting in all contributions being quadrupled. A total of $40,000 to be donated to the Preserve the Pensions project will result in 88,888 additional pages of the War of 1812 Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File...