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.

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Great news! Well, for me anyway..

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="75"] Western Massachusetts (Photo credit: Wikipedia)[/caption]

Great news or just good news, you be the judge.  In my efforts to get my name "out there" I've been teaching genealogy classes, lecturing, conducting workshops all on the local level.  I've participated in "panel discussions" on Google Hangouts where people from literally all over the world listen in.  And lately, I've been pursuing other nationally prominent genealogist to speak to our Western Massachusetts Genealogy Society where I'm Treasurer.  In addition, other than memberships in a fair number of genealogy associations, I've become the Vice President of the New England Chapter of the Association of Professional Genealogists.  So things are starting to roll.

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="75"] Five Corners, Granby MA (Photo credit: Wikipedia)[/caption]

So, what's the great/good news?  The local newspaper, the Springfield Republican in Springfield, Massachusetts has been running a column by a locally "infamous" genealogist for the past dozen years or so.  It seems they picked up a story of a recent presentation I gave at the Granby Free Public Library

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="75"] Belchertown common (Photo credit: Wikipedia)[/caption]

in Granby, Mass out of the Belchertown Sentinel from the small rural town of Belchertown, Mass.  So the managing editor at the Republican e-mailed me today.  We've corresponded plenty of times before but not for anything that had to do with me personally or professionally.  But she asked me for a "shoulders up head shot" and my schedule of events for the next several months!  She's putting together an article about me and my little research company, Old Bones Genealogy of New England.

I'm sure that this is more of a "brag" than a "blog" but so be it!  I have to admit that to me, it's a sign that I'm getting "out there" more and more.  It's a good feeling inasmuch as I had some degree of notoriety in my last career but this is different because it's something that I've been working on by myself, for myself.

Am I bragging?  You bet!  To me, this is even better than when I was stopped in a grocery store the other day by someone who said, "Say, aren't you the genealogy guy?"

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Western Mass Genealogical Society

Live in Western Mass? Interested in Irish Genealogy and Research? Mark your calendar for October 2, 2013. Lisa Dougherty, a professional genealogist from Castelton, NY, will speak to our group regarding one of her specialties, researching Irish origins. View her website at Family Research by Lisa Dougherty by clicking the link.

The public is invited to this event at no charge. But we encourage everyone to become a member of the Western Massachusetts Genealogical Society, or WMGS. We meet 10 times a year on the first Wednesday of the month from September through the following July. Dues are only $20/year.

In the coming months, we'll have a variety of programs including a "field trip" to the Museum of Springfield History, a repository of an amazing collection of published and unpublished genealogical resource material. Also, Maureen Taylor will give us a remote presentation via SKYPE on photographic genealogy. She is currently publishing her 3rd volume of Revolutionary War Patriot photographs! Yes!! These are photographs of the soldiers of the Revolution who fought at some period between 1776 and 1783 who sat for the new technology in the mid 19th century. Her website can be seen at Maureen Taylor Genealogy by clicking this link.

We meet at the Agawam Senior Center in their Community Room, a modern, comfortable facility. It is located at 954 Main Street, Agawam, MA. You can contact me directly with questions at dave@oldbones.info.

See you in October!