82nd Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy Posted!

The 82nd edition of the Carnival of Genealogy has been posted! You can read it here. The topic for the next edition will be on:

"Musical Instruments! Do you play a musical instrument or did one of your family members? What instrument did you or they play? If no one in the family played an instrument, tell what is your favorite instrument or band and what is your least favorite one. The deadline for submissions is November 1st. This edition of the COG will be guest hosted by Janet Iles who authors the blog, Janet the Researcher."

Enjoy!

Genealogy Societies - My Thoughts

For this upcoming edition of the Carnival of Genealogy, I am supposed to write about my favorite genealogy society (or societies), or why I would or would not join a genealogy society.

I did write about my thoughts in regards to membership in genealogy societies over a year ago, but it is probably time for me to update my thoughts on the subject. At that time of that writing, I wasn't a member of a genealogy society, and I am still not a member over a year later. (Thus, I cannot list my favorite genealogy societies because I'm not a member of any society.) I'm not against or adverse to joining a society; it's just that I haven't joined a society yet for several different reasons.

My primary reason for not joining a genealogy society yet is that I am attending school. Over a year ago, when I first posted my thoughts, I was an undergraduate, and now I am a graduate student. My main focus, of course, is on my school work, so I really do not have much very spare time to go to genealogy meetings. If I were to become a member of a genealogy society, I would feel obligated to try to make as many meetings as I could, and at the moment, I would not be able to do so. Even though, I do have a job as a graduate assistant and could probably afford to join a genealogy society, I would not feel like I am getting my money's worth by not attending very many meetings (if I could even attend a meeting). Of course, I probably do not have to attend meetings to be a member; I just feel as though I should be active in any group or society that I join.

Secondly, I still do not have my own car, and thus, my ability to travel to a society's meeting is limited. If I were to attend a meeting, I would probably have to have a family member take me to the meeting because I don't have a car. Additionally, I am living out of the state of Michigan now, and once I am at school, I am pretty much stuck in the city. (The city does have mass transportation, but it is only for the city and is limited compared to the mass transportation of the area of my undergraduate university. There are also shuttles for the campus.) Again, though, unless the society met on campus of the university, it would be inconvenience for me to make a meeting away from campus.

So, as you can see, I would like to join a genealogy society, but as you can see, I either don't have the time or would have difficulty attending meetings. So, what do you think? As always, you can leave a comment. Thanks!

Summer Reading Challenge Book Review 2

I have finished reading another book for this summer's reading challenge, and like the previous review, the book I read was also on the reading list for my fall history classes. And like the previous book, this book is a social history of Early American history, but it focuses on the south only.

Southern Cross: The Beginnings of the Bible Belt by Christine Leigh Heyrman (Chapel Hill, NC: The University of North Carolina Press, 1997), focuses on the early Evangelical churches in the Southern United States and how the South became to be the center of Evangelical Christianity in the U.S. The time period of the book stretches from 1740 to 1840, but the primary focus of the book is on the years between 1790 and 1830. The Evangelical churches explored in this book are the Methodist, Baptist and Presbyterian churches, but most of the book focuses only on the Methodists and Baptists. For me, the most interesting thing to learn about was that prior to the American Revolution, the Evangelical churches were rejected by Southerners, and thus, the author's exploration into why that was so, was the most interesting part of the book for me. As for the later and greater acceptance of the Evangelical churches. Although, I disagreed with some of the author's conclusions in the epilogue, I would still recommend this book for others to read as I found it to be quite interesting, so much so, that I would like to read about the Evangelical movement occurring in the Northern part of America in the same time period. I hope that other people will find this book as interesting as I did. Enjoy!

Summer Reading Challenge Book Review 1

As I mentioned yesterday, I have decided to join a reading challenge, and I have already finished reading my first book for this challenge!

The book I chose to read was Inheriting The Revolution: The First Generation of Americans by Joyce Appleby (Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2000). As the book's title implies, the book is on how the culture of the United States was formed and created by the generation of Americans after the Revolutionary War generation. The author explores how that generation changed American colonial society and recreated that society. She also describes how those Americans interpreted the legacy of the Revolutionary War, and carried on the ideals of the revolution. In short, the book is a social history of American life between 1787 and 1824.

How did I learn about this book? Well, I requested the reading lists for my fall classes from my professors, and this book was one of the books on the reading list. Although I would have had to read this book for my future history class in the fall, I still enjoyed reading it. Why? Well, for one, I enjoyed the author's writing style, and secondly, I have an interest in social history. As someone who has an interest in social history as a result of my genealogy research, I enjoyed this book for those reasons. Would I recommend this book? Yes, because this book illuminated several movements and life in America at this time period and because of this fact, I believe this book would be beneficial in giving historical social context for genealogists researching in this time period. I hope that other people might enjoy this book and find it interesting as I did.

Something To Think About ...

I just happened to notice Brenda's post on the Michigan Grange, and I thought I would mention it since the post reminded me about something I read a few years ago.

Since I had ancestors who were farmers, it is very possible that they were members of teheir local grange, and according to one of the local history books, one of my Detwiler ancestors' son was an officer in the local grange of his area. I did read somewhere a couple of years ago that old grange records might still exist, but unfortunately, I do not remember where I read about it. Either way, the article I read mentioned that records would probably be held by the state's Agriculture college (or a college originally founded to study agriculture science), and in Michigan's case that would be Michigan State University. I suppose that it is something for me to look into, but I haven't had a chance to find out whether or not that information is true. When I get a chance to investigate the possiblity, I will let everyone know what I have learned. Stay tuned ...

Genealogy Societies and Membership ...

Over the past few days, several bloggers posted on the issue of genealogical societies and membership. Jasia, Terry and Denise were just a few of the bloggers who posted on the issue. I couldn't help but add my thoughts to this debate.

I realize that one of the issues is that membership is declining in genealogy societies, but I would like to bring up briefly why members of my generation are not members. I am not a member of a genealogical society, nor have I ever been a member. I haven't been a member because I have been a student, even when I began doing genealogy research in high school. Back then, I did not consider joining because I would not have been able to afford the dues, nor would I have had the time to go as I was busy with school. Even though I am now in college, I still do not give much thought to joining a society as I am busy with school. My first priority is to getting my school work done. Joining a society is not very high on my priority list. Will that ever change? Maybe, but that won't be until after I've graduated and have a job.

Do college students join anything? Sure. Many students join clubs on the college's campus. Of course, I do not know of how many people my age are into genealogy. If they have not joined any genealogical societies, it is probably because of school and work. A college student who goes to school full-time and works, usually does not have much more time than to be involved in a college club outside of school and work. Also, if a college student is working to pay for their education, he or she probably is not going to be able to afford the dues of a genealogy society as a college education is quite expensive. (Of course, I also do not know how much genealogy societies charge in the way of dues.)

Plus, this is a time in a person's life when people are dating, getting engaged or getting married. I don't believe that many of the people my age who are into genealogy (if there are many) would be interested in joining a society as this is a time in which a person's life is rapidly changing. This is the time of a person's life when he or she is just starting to live on his or her own. Of course, this probably also explains why many people in my age group do not express an interest in genealogy. As the lives of people my age are undergoing changes, my peers are more likely to focus on the present and not think about their family's history. If you asked many of my peers about genealogy, they would probably not know what it is or not care. I hesitate to put down not caring, although that is probably true in most cases. When you are just starting to gain Independence, you probably are not going to focus on the past or on your family as you just starting out on your own. Also, some people of my age are not interested in genealogy as a result of the behavior of other family members. For most of my peers, this is a time in a person's life when one is more interested in their individuality than the identity of their family.

So, what do you think? For those of into genealogy who are in college, am I right or am I wrong? As always, you can leave a comment with your opinion.