It was an early start this morning. The Plenary Session started at 8 am. It opened with the Old Fort Color Guard trooping in the colours. They also escorted us to the Marketplace after the Plenary. The session started with awards and news from FGS. FGS and Rootstech will be presented concurrently in March 2015 in Salt Lake City. FGS will also have a smaller conference in the Fall.
We got a four minute sneak peak of the new PBS production Genealogy Roadshow. It looks great and I can’t wait until it starts on September 23rd.
After the announcements it was time for the lecture called “Happy Birthday, Sweet Sixty: The Roots of Rock & Roll and 1950s America” and the speaker was Richard Aquilla, PhD. He looked at the messages that were found in Rock & Roll music in the first ten years. Rock & Roll was born sixty years ago this year. He showed a record label for Neil Sedaka’s “Happy Birthday, Sweet Sixteen” and it got a cheer from the audience. It was interesting because some of the topics he pointed out in early Rock & Roll, such as, objectifying women, is a criticism heard about today’s rap songs. I will never listen to the music in the same way again.
FGS is raising money for the War of 1812 Pension Records Project. They are raising money to digitize the documents and make them free online at Fold3. Between now and the end of the conference they hope to raise $20,000 and $9,000 had already be raised by donations at the time of registration. Ancestry will match dollar for dollar any money raised between now and FGS 2014 in San Antonio Texas.
Over 800,000 images are available online and that represents 10% of the documents. They have raised 30% of the fund raising goal to date.
On Thursday I attended two lectures. The first was “DNA Testing for Genealogy: The Basics” presented by Robert D. McLaren and “Going Nuclear: DNA Discoveries to Trace All Lines of Descent” presented by Debbie Parker Wayne, CG. I now feel I know a little bit more about DNA.
At lunch time I attended a lunch sponsored by the International Society for British Genealogy and Family History (ISBGFH). Audrey Collins from the National Archives in England presented “There and Back Again: Your British Ancestors on the Move.” Audrey is a great speaker and if you get a chance to attend one of her lectures you won’t be disappointed.
The rest of the day I spent in the Marketplace going around to all the different vendors and seeing what they had on offer. I checked out some societies and asked a question at the Indiana Historical Society. They were extremely helpful and I am hopeful they will help me solve a mystery with a Scottish ancestor.
It was late opening at the Marketplace and there were many draws held during 6:30 and 7:30. Congratulations to all the lucky winners.
Now it is time to get my things together for tomorrow.
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