MGC Sentinel

After two days of sponsored activities, Saturday gives MGC officers and directors a chance to spend time in the exhibit hall booth and to attend lectures. The exhibit hall is open 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. MGC is in booth 101. As you walk in the main entrance, we are in the first aisle of booths. The booth is filled with take-aways. Don't miss information about our upcoming Annual Meeting and Seminar on July 20th in Worcester. The seminar features the dynamic speaker Judy Russell, CG, CGL. Friday needs a bit of recapping. Laura Prescott did a fantastic job as our luncheon speaker yesterday. She delighted us with stories of records access from Massachusetts and from throughout the U.S. She gave us many ideas for approaching the "gatekeepers" of repositories and government offices. She closed by rallying us to work for access and preservation. MGC also hosted a Special Interest Group...

You heard it from us first! The Fall issue of the MGC Newsletter is hot off the presses! We have a date and speaker announcment for next year's MGC Annual Meeting and Seminar. You can follow this link to read it: http://bit.ly/TQ2EXa.  If you are a member and require a paper copy, please send an email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ....

We Need Your Support Now More Than Ever! In these days of tight budgets, more and more institutions are choosing or being forced to reduce hours of operation, close outright, and even dispose of records to free up valuable storage space. The result is that the public has ever more restricted access to records. Massachusetts, thanks in large part to the efforts of MGC over the past thirty years, has notclosed records, and the law that was first enacted in Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1641 to keep our records open and accessible to all citizens remains in effect.  Imagine a World With Closed Records Many states in the nation have chosen to close access to civil records such as birth, marriage and death records to all but proven family members. But how do you prove you are related without providing these same certificates? We need vital records to make any progress whatsoever in...

In a happy turn of events, Georgia's Governor Nathan Deal and Secretary of State Brian Kemp announced yesterday that the Georgia State Archives will remain open at least through June 20, 2013. It is slated to be transferred to the University System of Georgia after that, so this opens up more questions. This new budgetary commitment allows the archives to remain open under current hours. http://gov.georgia.gov/press-releases/2012-10-18/deal-kemp-keep-georgia’s-archives-open...

ATLANTA, GA -- Official statement from the state: "The Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget has instructed the Office of the Secretary of State to further reduce its budget for AFY13 and FY14 by 3% ($732,626). As it has been for the past two years, these cuts do not eliminate excess in the agency, but require the agency to further reduce services to the citizens of Georgia. As an agency that returns over three times what is appropriated back to the general fund, budget cuts present very challenging decisions. We have tried to protect the services that the agency provides in support of putting people to work, starting small businesses, and providing public safety. To meet the required cuts, it is with great remorse that I have to announce, effective November 1, 2012, the Georgia State Archives located in Morrow, GA will be closed to the public. The decision to reduce...

As we've seen, everal pieces of legislation propose to restrict or deny access to the public (including genealogists) to the Death Master File (DMF), also known as the Social Security Death Index (SSDI). Jan Meisels Allen, Chairperson of the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies (IAJGS) Public Records Access Monitoring Committee, is a fountain of knowledge about how Congress is reacting to identity theft and accusations that  the DMF/SSDI is being used as a vehicle for identity theft. Recently, Congress has also taken steps regarding identity theft and addressing the IRS due to fraudulent tax filings without directly mentioning the DMF/SSDI.  There are several steps they have taken that you might find of interest: 1.  The House has passed HR 4362, which may be cited as the "Stopping Tax Offenders and Prosecuting Identity Theft Act of 2012" or the "STOP Identity Theft Act of 2012". Visit http://tinyurl.com/8ou2nxq. The bill addresses tax-return identity theft and the author is Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman...

Jan Meisels Allen of the International Association of Jewish Genealogy Societies, and member of the Records Preservation Access Committee (RPAC) keeps abreast of developments that interest anyone concerned with access to public records. She sent out this update and we thought we should republish, with Jan's permission, of course. The US Congress is starting on their "summer vacation" and your elected US Senator and Congressperson will be home.  Getting to know your elected representative is very important--and if you are concerned about continued records access including the Social Security Death Index and that genealogists are NOT the cause of identity theft, there is no better time to make an appointment to meet with your representative and their staff.  2012 is an election year--the entire House of Representatives and 1/3 of the US Senate -- your society is made up of their constituents -- use this time wisely to get to know your elected officials...

By now most people who attended the MGC Annual Meeting and Seminar on July 21st have filled out the evaulation survey we sent around. One of the most requested items was an update to the MGC newsletter. Despite all of the conveniences (bells and whistles?) of modern technology, with blogs, email, Twitter, Facebook, LInkedIn, etc., it appears that most of us just like to have a printed copy we can pick up when we feel like it, without having to turn on the computer. We've had a pause in production for quite a while, but I'm happy to say that at the seminar we announced the Summer 2012 issue of the MGC Newsletter. In case you missed the seminar, you can find the newsletter on our website at www.massgencouncil.org under the Newsletters tab by selecting the Current Newsletter button. Give it some time to load, then save it to your computer and...

The Massachusetts Genealogical Council is happy to announce that we will continue accepting registrations for our 2012 Annual Meeting and Seminar until midnight on July 10th.  Please note that the Early Bird deadline has passed, so all fees will be at the full rate.  Can't wait to see you there!...

Did you know that this month marks the 200th anniversary of the start of the War of 1812? If you are like most Americans you have very little knowledge of the circumstances of that war, but as genealogists it behooves us to learn more! We can be especially appreciative of the efforts of the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) to digitize and provide free access to the 1812 pension files. In conjunction with the National Archives & Records Administration (NARA), fold3, and Ancestry.com, FGS is helping to digitize 180,000 pension applications representing an estimated 7.2 million pages of War of 1812 Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application Files. The collection will be available for free on fold3's website, here.  FGS has targeted the War of 1812 Pension Applications as a high priority project based on the value of the content for genealogists as well as the importance of preserving the fragile records. FGS is...

REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN!! ~ ETHNICITY AND GENEALOGY ~ Massachusetts has been a landing point for immigrants since 1620, and though the predominant nationalities of immigrants have varied in different eras, the challenge of locating those newly arrived, impoverished and disenfranchised ancestors has remained equally challenging through the centuries. See the blue menu on the top right of the MGC homepage at www.massgencouncil.org for more details on how to register. Save money by becoming a member of MGC first! Members pay $60 before July 1st, non-members pay $75. Everyone, regardless of membership status, pays $85 after midnight on July 1st. July 1st is also the day that online registration closes. ~ Massachusetts Genealogical Council ~Safeguarding researchers' access to Public Records in Massachusetts andproviding educational programs for the genealogical community. Register Now! Schedule Speakers Programs Vendors Sponsors ...

At 3:00 pm Thursday afternoon, 10 May 2012, in Cincinnati, Ohio, RPAC met at the National Genealogical Society’s annual convention. On behalf of MGC, I attended as a Massachusetts liaison. What is RPAC? The Records Preservation and Access Committee is a three-person panel with an advisory board. The three panelists are delegates from the Federation of Genealogical Societies, the National Genealogical Society, and the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies. About a dozen people sit as advisors, but the bulk of the work and the bulk of the strategy comes from the three panelists: David Rencher, AG, CG, the Genealogist at FamilySearch in Utah; Fred Moss from Texas; and Jan Meisels Allen from California. Together for many years they have provided advice to state genealogical societies whenever access or preservation issues arise. Last year they supported our efforts to stop a bill that would have closed records back to 1840. This...

Today Dick Roberts, president of NERGC, announced a call for nominations for the Donna Holt Siemiatkoski Award. The Donna Holt Siemiatkoski Genealogy Volunteer of the Year Award is presented at each NERGC conference to an individual who has provided outstanding volunteer service to the New England Regional Genealogical Consortium, Inc. or its member societies, and as such to the field of genealogy, over and above the job to which they were elected or appointed to do. This could include leadership, special projects, sharing expertise, raising standards, and so many other ways of improving our field. The 2013 award consists of a free registration for the 2013 NERGC conference, one night in a conference hotel, one banquet, and a recognition certificate read at the banquet. Everyone, please take a few moments to think about those in our community who dedicate themselves to volunteering their time to the field of genealogy and submit your...

Jan Miesels Allen of RPAC shared the following in a Forensic Genealogy discussion on LinkedInyesterday. House Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Charles Boustany, Jr., MD (R-LA) and Social Security Subcommittee Chairman Sam Johnson (R-TX) announced that the Subcommittees on Oversight and Social Security will hold a hearing on tax fraud involving identity theft. The hearing will take place on Tuesday, May 8, 2012, in 1100 Longworth House Office Building, beginning at 10:00 A.M EDT. Oral testimony at this hearing will be from invited witnesses only. However, any individual or organization not scheduled for an oral appearance may submit a written statement for consideration by the Committee and for inclusion in the printed record of the hearing. We have been advised that the only invited presenters will be from government agencies. See: http://tinyurl.com/7qnot8h. The use of the Death Master File (DMF) also known as the Social Security Death Index (SSDI) has been purchased by other government agencies, financial institutions, life insurance companies, credit reporting organizations,...

Since our last board meeting in January, national legislative concerns have been at the forefront of our activity as threats to the Social Security Administration's (SSA) Death Master File (DMF) have been introduced by several pieces of legislation. The US House Ways and Means Committee's Subcommittee on Social Security convened two invitation-only panels to discuss closure of the DMF in early February. The tone was discouragingly dismissive of genealogists, but this insult served as a catalyst for activists across the country wanting to keep public records open. MGC submitted written testimony to the subcommittee which is now posted on our website. This is a wonderful opportunity for MGC to assist the genealogical community by demonstrating how to band together, extend our reach, contact congressmen, and sign petitions like the RPAC-sponsored one at WeThePeople.com. People have a much clearer idea of what MGC does when they are faced with the panic of...

What follows is the text of the letter I sent to the subcommittee whose hearing two weeks ago did not permit genealogists to testify in person. This is my personal letter which I submitted as a result of my work and my life. It does not represent the Mass. Gen. Council's opinion and was not pre-approved in any way. Today was the last day to submit testimony online. Did you submit testimony? Have you contacted your own Congressman or Senator about this? Now is the time to do that! Please let us know in the comments what you've been doing to make your own opinions and your voice heard. Barbara Jean Mathews Certified Genealogist*Post Office Box 399Lexington, MA 02420 February 16, 2012 Testimony Submitted to theHearing on Accuracy and Uses of the Social Security Administration’s Death Master File    Dear Mr. Johnson and Subcommittee Members,  I am offering this testimony as...

We are pleased to have a guest posting from Trish Hackett Nicola, CG, of Seattle, Washington. She posted this information on the Members Only list of the Association of Professional Genealogists and has given us permission to republish it. Trish writes: This is what the FTC says about identity theft. It doesn't mention the SSDI. http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft//consumers/about-identity-theft.html "How do thieves steal an identity? Identity theft starts with the misuse of your personally identifying information such as your name and Social Security number, credit card numbers, or other financial account information. For identity thieves, this information is as good as gold. Skilled identity thieves may use a variety of methods to get hold of your information, including: Dumpster Diving. They rummage through trash looking for bills or other paper with your personal information on it. Skimming. They steal credit/debit card numbers by using a special storage device when processing your card. Phishing....