2011 FGS Awards - Archives Award: Roscoe Hastings

Archives Award: Roscoe Hastings

Roscoe Hasting is a Warren County, New York native. Among his many digitizing and indexing projects for placement on the Warren county website are the New York State Censuses, Warren County Civil War Registrations and the 1827 Surrogate Court Minutes Book and the Surrogate Court Index Book 1813-1940. Held by the Town Clerk of Warrensburg are Roscoe’s digitized and indexed Warrensburg Birth Records 1883-1945, Death Records 1882-1966 and the Marriage Records 1883-1973. Housed at the Warrensburg , New York Historian’s office are the indexed Warrensburg Funeral Home Records 1881-1966 (3,958 images on-line), four indexed Warrensville Cemetery Records and the indexed Warrensburg 1790-1930 census records which was done by Roscoe. For Chestertown, New York Roscoe has indexed the 1790-1905 census records, 1865 deaths and marriages and the Civil War deaths. Roscoe also participates in the Rochester Genealogical Society Church Record Preservation Project. Every county would be fortunate to have such a volunteer.

Have You Put Off Pre-Registering for Knoxville? Time's Almost Up!

If you've been procrastinating about pre-registering for the annual FGS Conference, the clock is ticking down to the last possible moments.  There's still a little time left to go to the online registration (at http://fgs.org/2010conference/) and register.  But Sunday, August 8 is the last day for pre-registration.

If you don't pre-register, you can still register at the door, but pre-registration means not only that you can skip the walk-in registration lines, but also that you can immediately view the online syllabus and print out any handouts for the sessions you plan to attend!  (Pre-registration also gives you a better chance at buying any remaining tickets to meals and other special events, which may not be available by the time you get to Knoxville.)

FGS Conference Syllabus Is Online

The syllabus for the FGS 2010 Conference is now available online for registered attendees. The syllabus contains each of the presenters' handouts, by session number, in PDF format. To access these materials, go to https://www.fgs.org/2010conference/registration, sign in with your email address and the PIN you received when you registered. You'll see the full list of sessions, and you can download and print the individual handouts before you head to the conference.

Every registered attendee will receive a CD syllabus at registration. You can also order a full paper copy of the syllabus for $30 online through the registration area of the website. A few paper copies may be available for sale at the conference, but copies are limited.

There's still time to register for the FGS Conference in Knoxville, Tennessee, on August 18-21! This year's conference again has something for all levels of genealogists. Lectures, luncheons, a huge exhibit hall, and a bunch of special events. Check out the Conference Website at http://fgs.org/2010conference and the Conference Blog at http://www.fgsconferenceblog.org.

We're going to have a tremendous conference! Please join us in Knoxville in August!

FGS 2010 Conference Door Prizes (Don't Miss Out!)

Pat Oxley, President of FGS (and who is also doing more volunteer duty as co-chair of this conference) sent more information on door prizes. Pat said "we are brimming not only with a plethora of educational lecture and workshops, but with fabulous door prizes at our 2010 FGS Conference".

As in past years, each PAID CONFERENCE ATTENDEE will receive 30 door prize tickets. These are special perforated sheets and you will need to fill out each of the tickets. You might consider making up some labels with your name, address, phone number, and email address as it will speed up the process and keep you from getting writer’s cramp! Throughout the Exhibit Hall hours you may put these tickets in the door prize boxes at the vendor booths where you hope to win the prize they offer. For the majority of these ticket winners, you do NOT need to be present to win a door prize from these vendors. During regular Exhibit Hall hours, door prizes winners will be announced, and the names of the winners will also be posted on a bulletin board at the back of the hall. Be sure to check the board often to see if you are a prize winner. If you are, please visit that vendor booth to claim your prize.

On Friday evening, we will be giving away several large prizes during our extended hours from 5 p.m. – 7 p.m.  During those two hours YOU MUST BE PRESENT TO WIN THESE LARGE PRIZES. Food will be for sale in the Exhibit Hall so you can have a bite for supper. The genealogy and history-related vendors will be open for browsing, questions, and, of course, for purchasing. What genealogist goes home from these conferences without purchasing a membership, CD, book, map, or other item?

So if you are present during those two hours on Friday evening what might you win?  A few hints  about some of the prizes:  A five-night genealogy cruise for two people, three World Deluxe memberships to Ancestry.com, a week at the Salt Lake Plaza hotel, and many more. You will want to be present for this big event.

At 7:00 p.m. the Exhibit Hall closes and we will have a parade to another area in the convention center to kick off the reception for the War of 1812 Preserve the Pensions Project. Click here and here to learn more about the reception. You will receive one special color raffle ticket with your PAID conference registration. That gives you ONE chance to win the BIGGEST door prize of the night which is generously being given by our friends at FamilySearch. This is a trip to Salt Lake City complete with 2 Delta plane tickets, a week at the Salt Lake Plaza Hotel, two $200 food cards, and two $50 copy cards. You will receive additional chances to win this prize by donating to the War of 1812 Project up until the time of the drawing. For every $10 you donate you will receive another ticket. If you donated with your conference registration, those tickets will be included in your registration packet. The drawing will be held at the reception and again, YOU MUST BE PRESENT TO WIN. Before the reception begins, donations can be made at the Federation of Genealogical Societies' booth.

We look forward to seeing you at the conference and we want it to not only be an educational experience for you, but one filled with fun, prizes, new friends, seeing your old friends, and many happy memories.

Archivist of the U.S. to Speak at FGS Luncheon at Conference in Knoxville

FGS is pleased to announce that the Archivist of the United States, David Ferriero, will be speaking at our FGS Focus on Societies Luncheon on Wednesday, August 18th. If you have already registered, you can still purchase a ticket -- this luncheon is open to everyone! Mr. Ferriero will be speaking on the Citizen-Archivist and about the War of 1812 Digitization Project and will also have a question and answer period. We wish to thank Mr. Ransom H. Love and the FamilySearch team for graciously welcoming the Archivist to speak in their place at this luncheon. To register for the conference and to add this luncheon, click here.

Following the FGS Luncheon, the Archivist will be joining Librarians Day to speak with the Librarians and Archivists who have gathered for that event. Spots in Librarians Day are filling very quickly. ProQuest, our Librarians Day sponsor, has graciously opened that event to a larger audience, but once these reservations are filled we will need to start a wait list. To register for the Wednesday Librarians Day and to see the program, click here.

David S. Ferriero Biography

David S. Ferriero was sworn in as 10th Archivist of the United States on November 13, 2009.

Previously, Mr. Ferriero served as the Andrew W. Mellon Director of the New York Public Libraries (NYPL).  In this position he was part of the leadership team responsible for integrating the four research libraries and 87 branch libraries into one seamless service for users; and he was in charge of collection strategy; conservation; digital experience and strategy; reference and research services; and education, programming, and exhibitions.

Before joining the NYPL in 2004, Mr. Ferriero served in top positions at two of the nation's major academic libraries, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, MA, and Duke University in Durham, NC. 

Mr. Ferriero earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in English literature from Northeastern University in Boston and a master's degree from the Simmons College of Library and Information Science, also in Boston. He served in the Navy during the Vietnam War.