DIGITIZATION SOON TO FOLLOW
The
Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) is pleased to announce National
Archives staff have recently resumed document conservation of the War of 1812
Pension files covering surnames M(Moore)-Q. Document conservation is the
essential first step in digitizing these files. Our digitization partner,
Ancestry.com, has scheduled image capture of these newly conserved documents to
begin the second week of September 2017. As capture resumes, new images will be
added to Fold3.com on a rolling basis. The Federation and the dedicated
volunteers of the Preserve the Pensions project have worked tirelessly for well
over a year to negotiate a resolution to the work stoppage. This portion of the
project plan is expected to be completed by third quarter 2018.
The War of 1812 pensions are among the most frequently requested
set of materials within the holdings of the National Archives and Records
Administration (NARA), yet had never been microfilmed or digitized. Through a
fundraising effort unprecedented in the genealogical community, more than 4,000
individuals, 115 genealogical and lineage societies, and industry leaders such
as FamilySearch helped FGS secure the funds, matched by Ancestry.com, to
preserve and share this invaluable genealogical resource. The images already
captured, as well as those soon to be, are hosted at Fold3.com for free,
forever.
“We are grateful to our
partners Ancestry.com and NARA for their support and willingness to continue
working with us towards this successful outcome. We appreciate their recognition
of the unique nature of this project and the community who worked so hard to
fund it.” – Rorey Cathcart, FGS President
The
Federation is committed to seeing the entire collection conserved, digitized
and freely online at the earliest possible date. We will continue work with our
partners to secure a timeline for the remaining portion of the War of 1812
Pension files.
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