More than 2,000 genealogists and exhibitors attended the National Genealogical Society's annual conference, held May 11-14 in North Charleston, S.C., and more than 150 lectures were given.
The NGS also had available for the first time newly published state guides in its Research in the States Series, including those for South Carolina (by Janis Walker Gilmore) and Georgia (by Linda Woodward Geiger and Paul K. Graham).
The Georgia volume is 38 pages and covers places to go for research; various types of records found in Georgia, such as newspapers, religious records, and military sources; and a lot more. This is a good guide to help anyone getting started in Georgia research. Each of the volumes in this series is $17.50 plus postage from www.ngsgenealogy.org or in e-book format. They now have 15 states covered.
At the opening session, the archivist of the United States, David Ferriero, gave more details about the opening of the 1940 census, indicating it will be released April 2, 2012, only on the National Archives and Records Administration website and afterward will be available to be indexed by commercial firms such as Ancestry.com.
Another highlight was a presentation by Buzzy Jackson of Boulder, Colo., about her book "Shaking the Family Tree," in which she recounts how she got into genealogy and the ups and downs of her research path.
Most of the lectures had detailed handouts and were taped. For availability of the syllabus on CD, check the NGS website. CDs of the lectures can be ordered from JAMB Inc., P. O. Box 2885, St. Louis, MO 63111. www.jamb-inc.com, 1-800-809-9284.
Charleston records
Nicholas Butler, archivist for Charleston, is in charge of the city's historic records housed at the Charleston County Public Library (68 Calhoun St., Charleston, SC 29401).
These records start with the city's incorporation in 1783 and cover only the city, not the records for the county of Charleston. The city archives include death and burial records (1819-1926) for Charleston, as well as post-Civil War city records. Butler can be reached at butlern@ccpl.org and descriptions of the collection are at http://charlestonarchive.org/collections.
The county records are found at the courthouse as well as on microfilm at the State Archives in Columbia, via the Mormon Family History Centers, and now online at www.familysearch.org.
Huguenot Society
The Huguenot Society of South Carolina, formed in 1885, is headquartered at 138 Logan St., Charleston, SC 29401 and its website is www.huguenotsociety.org.
The society has published a journal, Transactions, since 1889. It can be found in many libraries. To be eligible to join, you have to prove your lineage back to one of the approved ancestors found on the society's website. For researching Huguenot ancestry, the society recommends checking resources through other similar societies and via Cyndi's List.
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