FamilySearch Makes Historic Announcement Regarding Historical Records of African American Families

Bank Record

SALT LAKE CITY – On Friday, June 19^th Elder D. Todd Christofferson, leader in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, made an historic announcement  regarding the release of Civil War-era free slave records at a press event in Los Angeles.

FamilySearch, the largest genealogy organization in the world, in partnership with the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, the Afro-American Historical & Genealogical Society and the California African American Museum, are working together to make these records available and accessible on-line for those interested in their ancestry.

ABOUT FREEDMEN’S BUREAU RECORDS:

·         The Freedmen’s Bureau was organized following the passage of the 13^th Amendment to assist newly-freed slaves in 15 states and the District of Columbia. 
·         From 1862-1872, the Bureau gathered handwritten, personal information on freed men, women and children, including marriage and family information, military service, banking, school, hospital and property records.
·         In 2001, the FamilySearch Freedman’s Bank project provided more than 460,000 historical records and, at the time, were the largest bank of Civil War-era slave records.
·         Records, histories and stories will be available on DiscoverFreedmen.org.
·         To engage on social media use #DiscoverFreemen

# # #

ABOUT FAMILYSEARCH

FamilySearch is the largest genealogical organization in the world providing billions of ancestral records. FamilySearch is a nonprofit organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Our commitment to helping people connect with their ancestors is rooted in our beliefs—that families are meant to be central to our lives and that family relationships are intended to continue beyond this life. Learn more at FamilySearch.org.

The next meeting of the Utah Valley Technology and Genealogy Group - UVTAGG

The next meeting will be on Saturday, 13 June 2015, from 9 am to noon in the LDS "Red Chapel", 4050 North Timpview Drive (650 East), Provo.   This is the regular second-Saturday-of-the-month meeting.  Information about the Group, meeting location, main presentations, classes, and class notes are available on their website  http://uvtagg.org.  

NOTE: This month on Saturday morning 13 June will be the Provo Marathon down University Avenue so there will be delayed crossing of University Avenue.  The police at each intersection will probably let you cross University Avenue when there is a break in runners, but you might have to wait several minutes.  Or you can go down to 3rd South in Provo and get around the block offs.  

The main presentation this month at UVTAGG will be by Amy Archibald on FINDING THE LIVING AMONG THE DEAD:  USING THE INTERNET TO FIND YOUR LIVING COUSINS.  The missing link in your family history may be one phone call or email away.  She will explore clues available in family trees, obituaries, online tools, and the resources available to identify your cousin's contact information.  Come and discover your living cousins online.  Amy Archibald is a family historian and reunion organizer with a passion for teaching others.  She has spent 30 years researching her own family and 20 years teaching others.  She lives in Clearfield, Utah with her husband and two children and blogs on family history topics at  http://revealingrootsandbranches.blogspot.com/  .  Amy's earlier version of this topic was streamed live at RootsTech 2015, was very well-received, and is still available to watch online.  Go to  http://rootstech.org/?lang=eng  > About > Video Archive. 

After the main presentation the following classes are scheduled.  See our website for last minute changes.

(1)   Q&A: Using the Internet to Find Your Living Cousins, by Amy Archibald

(2)   Using DNA in Family History, by Rick Klemetson

(3)   WHAT! My Temple Reservations Have Disappeared?, by Marilyn Thomsen

(4)   Video of last month's main presentation:  Robert Raymond discussing A Genealogically Correct FamilySearch Family Tree

(5)   Ask An Expert (Personal Help), Don Engstrom and Finn Hansen

(6)   RootsMagic, by Renee Zamora 

(The Ancestral Quest classes will start again in July.)    

Notice that there is something for everyone no matter what their level of family history expertise.  This includes youth, those just getting interested in genealogy, long-time genealogists, and Family History Consultants.  All meetings of UVTAGG are open to the public, whether members of the Group or not.  The Group has the goal of helping individuals use technology to further their family history and there are usually about 100 attending the monthly meetings.   

Many members don't live close enough to participate in the monthly meetings, but pay the $10 per year online dues to belong so they can receive the monthly newsletter via email and purchase the inexpensive DVDs of the presentations and classes.  Gift memberships make great presents for family history-minded relatives, friends, and Family History Consultants, and membership is on a calendar year basis.  See more information about the presentations, classes, class notes, and how to join the Group on at http://uvtagg.org/.