Church Record Sunday: Florida Church Archives Inventory

Form 20HR, http://www.floridamemory.com/collections/churchrecords/20hr.php

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) left us with a rich legacy. From building projects, to art to writing and even historical inventories, the WPA continues to be important.

The WPA left records of great value to genealogists including inventories of church records done as part of the Historical Records Survey. These inventories were done across the United States. Florida has made available not only information from these inventories but the actual tools used to record the interviews about the state's church records.

The Field Manual for the Church Archives Inventory states, "When the Church Archives Inventory for the United State is completed, historians will be able to analyze the churches of our country as to why they were organized , the type of records they keep and the contributions they have made to the cultural, historical and genealogical background of our country." (Emphasis mine).

Form 20HR was used for this inventory and included such information as church name, pastor name,  address, building details, location of church records and more.

The WPA Church Records Collection is found on the Florida Memory website. The collection can be searched or browsed in alphabetical order by church name.

The field manual used by WPA employees can also be found on this website as well as Form 20HR and a history of the project.

Three Reasons You Should Write for Your Society Newsletter

From http://www.freepixels.com/

Writing. It can be a chore, especially when you are writing/editing an entire society newsletter by yourself. Sure you make impassioned pleas every month to members to provide you with content (really, any content). But like the previous month that goes ignored and you find yourself faced with the prospect of writing an entire newsletter by yourself.

A Society Newsletter: Who Cares?

A society newsletter is important for many reasons. First and foremost it is the voice and face of your society. It encourages new members and keeps current and potential members informed. However, the position of newsletter editor can often be a thankless one.

You (Yes, You!) Should Submit an Article

One of the  reasons members don't submit articles is they think "I'm not a writer!" Ok, but maybe the newsletter editor was never a writer/editor  either. It really benefits you to write something, even a small something, for publication in your society newsletter.

1.  Networking. Yes, this word is used to death but a society newsletter will enhance your own research by getting the word out about your research and what surnames you are researching. If your society publishes the newsletter online, exchanges newsletters with other societies, or participates in PERSI your research is going to be seen by others.

2. PERSI. PERSI deserves to be mentioned again. Just think about it. Write an article about that brick wall ancestor and eventually when it is indexed by PRESI it will be searchable by genealogists the world over. PERSI is available on Ancestry.com and Heritage Quest. Make sure that the title of your article has the name of your ancestor and/or the place they lived in, making it easier for a researcher to find it. If you know little about PERSI, I've written about it here.

3. Karma. At the very least, if you help the newsletter editor, they may help you the next time you're elected Refreshment Chair or Field Trip Coordinator or heaven forbid, Society President.

I wrote more about the subject of finding content for your society newsletter for the FGS Forum magazine (Spring 2012). Forum is available by subscription or through a membership to FGS.