Index to Collections at the Museum of Springfield History

The Lyman & Merrie Museum of Springfield History is what I would call "The Best Kept Genealogical Secret in Western

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="75"] Lyman & Merrie Wood Museum Of Springfield History (Photo credit: pecooper98362)[/caption]

Massachusetts."  It is a facility that is part of the Springfield Library system and is situated across the street from the Quadrangle of museums: the George Walter Vincent Smith Museum, the Springfield Science Museum, the Michelle and Donald D'Amour Museum of Fine Arts and the Connecticut Valley Historical Museum (currently under an extensive remodeling program). The Museum of Springfield History houses the History Library & Archives, the subject of the PVHN blog linked here: Index to Collections.

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="75"] The Connecticut River and Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts. Looking south from Mt. Sugarloaf in Deerfield, toward the towns of Sunderland, Amherst and Whately. The buildings of the University of Massachusetts Amherst can be seen in the distance to the left, and farther off, the Holyoke range of mountains. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)[/caption]

The PVHN (Pioneer Valley Historical Network) is coordinated by one of the the archivists, Cliff McCarthy. Cliff posts e-mails of historical and genealogical activities throughout the Pioneer Valley by maintaining a large e-mail contact list. What I want everyone to be aware of is the PVHN Research Finding Aids Project.  To quote the blog :

Many of the Pioneer Valley’s museums and archives, both large and small, have printed “finding aids” for certain collections, or for their entire holdings.  These finding aids, once a standard practice for museums and archives, are used by museum staff to locate specific items from those collections.  For the researcher, they provide insight into the holdings of that museum or archives.  Frequently, these finding aids are not digitized and are nowhere to be found on the world wide web.

This project will enable researchers and the general public to utilize archival resources of the Pioneer Valley that are currently languishing because finding aids for many important collections have not been made available on the Internet.

It's another site that's well worth the look for anyone researching in Western Massachusetts.

Related articles

• Wednesday Night at the Springfield Archives


• JFK items on display in Springfield


• Motocycle History in the Pioneer Valley


• Springfield Museums: Sargeant, Seuss and Snow

Western Mass Genealogical Society

Although WMGS is a relatively small, local society, we have an exciting group of speakers lined up for this season. We're reaching out nationally with new technology that allows us to hear from experts from just about any location with internet access! We meet the first Wednesday of each month from September to June. The meetings are open to the public so members, bring your friends. Membership is only $20 per year.

Our first speaker when our season opened last month was Cliff McCarthy. Cliff is the Archivist at the Museum of Springfield History. He gave a very understandable presentation on DNA and how it relates to family research.

Our next meeting is October 2nd (which happens to be my sister's birthday...Happy Birthday Diane!!) we'll hear Lisa Dougherty, an expert in Irish research. You can visit her web site by clicking here: Upstate New York Genealogy. I've heard her speak at other venues. She is very knowledgeable, highly experienced and offers a variety of genealogical services. And she has a very interesting presentation. Bring a notepad...I think it would be handy!!

Soon, we'll be hearing from Maureen Taylor. Maureen is an internationally known photo expert. While that in and of itself doesn't sound all that relevant to family research, a quick visit to her website will tell the full story. Click the name here Maureen Taylor where you can read about here books, such as 3 volumes of PHOTOGRAPHS of REVOLUTIONARY WAR PATRIOTS!! These are Americans who were involved in the war and who survived into the age of photography, sometime after 1839. Speaking of "ages", Maureen will be with in a virtual environment; she'll be at home and we'll be at the Agawam Senior Center!!

D. Barry Sheldon has also agreed to speak to us in another "virtual environment" in the spring. He has many subjects to discuss but I felt that "Breaking Down Brick Walls" might be a good one. I'm open to suggestions!

Denise Martinez of the Chicopee City Clerk's office is a returning speaker who will give us insights into what a clerk's office can do to aid our research, what records are open to the public and other issues that are specific to Chicopee such as hours, fees, etc.

Yours truly will present a research "lesson" titled "Strategies You Never Thought of...Search Sites you never heard of!" That will be the same program that I'll be presenting in a webinar with dates to be announced.

All in all, it's a great year for WMGS. We've added quite a few members, we have some great presentations coming up, our Thursday evening computer research coaching group has had every seat filled for one week in a row!! We're on a roll! By the way, don't be discouraged about the full room for the Thursday research coaching group. Just get in touch with the group at westmassgen@gmail.com or with me at dave@oldbones.info to check on availability. We meet the 3rd and 4th Thursday each month from September to July at 6 PM in the computer lab at the Agawam Senior Center. These sessions are free to the membership and a token charge of $10 to non-members.