Category: NARA

Follow-up on Virtual Gen-Fed 2021 & Announcement for 2022

October 13, 2021

Hello! Thank you all for your patience in this year of change and innovation for Gen-Fed.  We’d like to share some highlights from our first virtual Gen-Fed. There have been many questions asked of us, some we could not answer right away but we would like to now.

This year we focused on offering as much education as possible to prepare students for future visits to the National Archives in Washington, D.C.  Speakers included archivists Trevor Plante and Claire Kluskens, and genealogists including Angela Packer McGhie, CG, FUGA, Rick Sayre, CG, CGL, FUGA, Pamela Sayre, CG, FUGA, LaBrenda Garrett-Nelson, JD, LLM, CG, CGL, [now FASG!], Judy Russell, JD, CG, CGL, Timothy Pinnick, Jonathan Deiss, Marian L. Smith, Debra Hoffman, Kenneth W. Heger, Ph.D, and myself. Ahmed Johnson joined us to discuss the Library of Congress and Elizabeth Ernst gave us a virtual tour of the Daughters of the American Revolution Library.

Classes started before the week of Gen-Fed with pre-recorded lectures on a history of the Archives and how to navigate NARA and request records.  Gen-Fed’s official week covered federal military records, federal land records, congressional records, African Americans and Native Americans in federal records, immigration, using the NARA catalog online, and more. To broaden the experience, archivists & subject matter experts from Archives II (College Park, MD), NARA Kansas City, and NARA St. Louis gave presentations on their repository holdings as well.  Trevor Plante also made special arrangements for each student to have a one-on-one chat with a NARA subject matter expert during the week at our Learning Lunches breaks. Additionally, students were offered three hands-on practical exercises to help familiarize them with the records they had just learned about.

We are happy to announce that if the National Archives is open for in-person research, we will hold Gen-Fed in Washington, D.C., the week of August 8–13, 2022.  If the National Archives is not open or not fully open for a conference-level event, we will repeat the virtual schedule in 2022.

Here are some FAQs to answer questions we have received:

  • Q: When will NARA open?
    • A: I wish we knew!  They are doing the best they can under the circumstances.  The last official word was at this page https://www.archives.gov/press/press-releases/2021/nr21-50, however the public is not currently able to make appointments.
  • Q: When will registration happen and how will it take place?
    • Registration will be in February and the specific date will be announced mid-January.  Registration will be a lottery-based system; prospective students will submit applications over a one-week period.  Those names will be put into a random drawing and chosen by an automated system.
  • Q: How many students may attend Gen-Fed each year?
    • Due to the size of the room at the National Archives, we are limited to taking 50 students (including seats set aside for sponsored scholarship students).  If the program is virtual, we may consider adding more seats.
  • Q: Is there a waiting list?  Can I be on it for next year?
    • We will choose a number of people from the 2022 registration and notify them that they are on the waiting list, should any of the students need to cancel their registration.  We do not hold any waiting lists over until the next year (the only exception was when the 2020 program was unexpectedly cancelled).  People who held over their 2020 registration will be already registered, if they can attend. They will be contacted before the 2022 registration begins.
  • Q: What are the costs and related fees for the program?
    • The program cost for Gen-Fed is currently $575.  There are no additional fees for a printed and digital syllabus, those are included.  Attendees pay their own travel and accommodations.  Gen-Fed does make arrangements with a nearby hotel for a block of rooms for students at a reduced rate.
  • Q: Do I get a certificate for being at Gen-Fed?
    • Yes, each student receives a certificate of participation.  This is not the same as a certificate of merit from a program that tested skills, and not the same as being “certified” in genealogical research.
  • Q: How about holding an in-person Gen-Fed and a Zoom Gen-Fed every year!?!
    • Well…. as the new director who hasn’t had an in-person event yet, let’s hold off on that decision just yet.

Thank you and we hope to see you join us in August!

Rebecca Whitman Koford, CG, CGL
Director, Genealogical Institute on Federal Records

info@gen-fed.org

Limited Seats Open for Virtual Gen-Fed 2021

March 15, 2021

Gen-Fed is going to be virtual in 2021! Although we will miss the in-person experience of researching at NARA, the virtual schedule may interest you.  Typical years at Gen-Fed include about 18 lectures, plus tours to the Library of Congress and Archives II, plus research time at the repository.  There will also be cameos from satellite NARA archives! Archivists will be available to talk to students at lunchtimes during the week, and some instructors will be introducing hands-on exercises to give students a feel for working in the records. Topics will range from military records, immigration records, federal land records, to African American records – all available at the National Archives.

Gen-Fed 2021 will take place from 19-24 July and the cost of the virtual institute is $575, the same as the in-person program in 2020.

With such wide-ranging content, Gen-Fed is going to open 8 additional seats.

Registrants for those 8 seats will be chosen through a randomly drawn lottery.  

Enter your name for a chance at registration on or before Monday, March 22nd by midnight, Eastern Standard Time.

  • Email to info@gen-fed.org
  • Include in the subject: Gen-Fed 2021 Registration Lottery
  • In the email include your name, address, email address and phone number.  Indicate that by entering the lottery you are willing to pay the institute registration fee of $575 and will be available from 19-24 July for the program.
  • All entrants will be notified on March 23rd.  If chosen, payment will be expected within 30 business days.

Thank you and we hope to see you join us in July!

Rebecca Whitman Koford, CG, CGL
Director, Genealogical Institute on Federal Records

Gen-Fed 2021

February 9, 2021

 

The Genealogical Institute of Federal Records 2020 session was cancelled due to travel restrictions and the closing of the National Archives (NARA) in Washington, D.C., last year.  This year, unfortunately, in the wake of continuing travel restrictions and repository shutdowns, it is unlikely that NARA will be open, or not open to full capacity.  We sincerely appreciate the concerns and precautions that the Archives has to make in these difficult circumstances.

We now announce that the 2021 Genealogical Institute on Federal Records will be held virtually this year.  We are grateful to have the full support of the instructors and NARA staff. Because we will take less time in travelling to other repositories, we are taking the opportunity to add lectures and new topics to the program this year.  Gen-Fed will take a total of 50 students this year.

However, it is unlikely that formal registration will be held for this event. The students originally registered for 2020 have first priority.  They have the option to defer to 2022. Gen-Fed waitlists do not carry over from year-to-year, but there is a already a waitlist that is still part of the 2020 registration cycle, which will be given next priority until the session fills.  If there is capacity after that, an announcement will be made at least 10 days prior to the opening of registration.

Thank you – stay safe and well,

 

Rebecca Whitman Koford, CG®, CGLSM, Director                                                                              Darcie Hind Posz, CG®, Assistant Director

Photo credit R. Koford

Gen-Fed Alumni Announces 2022 Scholarship

September 27, 2019

The Genealogical Institute on Federal Records (Gen-Fed) Alumni Association is sponsoring the Richard S. Lackey Scholarship in 2022. The Gen-Fed Alumni Association’s purpose is to promote, conduct, and foster education, research, study, and analysis related to genealogy and to disseminate information and support other similar undertakings.

Richard S. Lackey (1921–1983) of Mississippi was a leader in the drive to improve the professionalization of the genealogical community. In addition to lecturing and teaching, he was an author/compiler of standards for genealogical writing, and of Mississippi source material. His work exemplified the highest standards of competent research and scholarly citation of sources. His books Cite Your Sources: A Manual for Documenting Family Histories and Genealogical Records (1980) and Write it Right (1983), co-authored with Donald R. Barnes, promote proper documentation of sources within family histories and genealogical papers. At the time of his death, Richard was President of the Board for Certification of Genealogists®.

The scholarship is awarded annually to an experienced researcher active in a paid or volunteer position which directly benefits the genealogical community. This year the scholarship will award $1000, which covers full tuition for the Genealogical Institute on Federal Records (Gen-Fed), and partly defrays hotel and/or meal costs. Provided the public health situation allows it, the Gen-Fed Alumni Association will also provide dinner at the Gen-Fed Alumni Banquet on Friday night, Aug 12, 2022, where a check for the amount less tuition will be presented to the recipient.

Nancy Calhoun, our 2017 scholarship recipient says, “Receiving the Lackey Scholarship has not only benefited me but also the genealogy and local history staff at Muskogee Public Library and the patrons we assist. We never know what people are going to request. The training received will assist us in being better equipped to search out that information in the vast collections of National Archives.”

For more information about the Institute, visit www.gen-fed.org. The application can be downloaded from the Scholarships page.

All applications and additional attachments must be submitted in PDF format, combined in one file. The completed application form and attachments should be emailed to Jonathan

  1. Deiss at jdeiss@soldiersource.com with “Lackey Scholarship 2022” in the subject line. The PDF file name should include your last name and first initial, such as “DoeJ Lackey Scholarship 2022 Application.”

 A complete application must be received by midnight, (EST) 31 December 2021. The winner will be notified by 15 February 2022. Other applicants will be notified shortly after that date. The scholarship winner will automatically be accepted for the Genealogical Institute on Federal Records to be held at the National Archives in Washington, D.C., from Aug 8–13, 2022.