Creating Our Church Archives, Part II: Sorting & Inventorying

After accumulating documents, photos, ledger books and files for over 100 years, the small town church I belong to decided it was time to get organized, and take steps to preserve its heritage. Toward this goal, the call went out for volunteers to form a “Historical Committee.” Evidently not everyone was as excited about this project as I was, because we ended up with just a two-person committee. This has turned out not to be a bad thing – because with just the two of us, it doesn’t take us long to reach a consensus!

Your Mission, Should You Choose to Accept it...
Our mission was to take the cabinets full of boxes and files and from them create a Church Archives. We initially had two main goals: the first was to organize the contents in such a way that someone looking for a specific item could find it, and the second was to take the necessary measures to preserve the various documents, photographs, books, and more.

Neither my partner nor I had any archival experience – just a love of our church, its history and respect for the people who came before us. So I started doing some online research, to see if there were any websites that could provide us with guidance. One of the best that I found was the website for the Southern Baptist Library & Archives. Although we are not a Baptist church, the principles in creating a church archive are the same, regardless of the denomination. Another resource that I found helpful is Sally Jacob’s blog, The Practical Archivist.

Phase One:
To begin with, we just started sorting. We opened the boxes, and laid the contents out in piles on the floor, sorting them by broad categories such as: Membership, Christian Education, Photos, Correspondence, Church Council, etc. Eventually, we ended up with about 25 of these "categories." For me, this was one of the best parts of the project. Every time we opened up a new box, we never knew what we might find! Sometimes it would be full of hardbound "ledger" books, used for keeping the handwritten minutes of council meetings (the earliest ones written in German). Some boxes had copies of church service bulletins, going back forty years or more. Other boxes had photo albums and newspaper clippings. But no matter what, the boxes all contained glimpses back in time and mentions of familiar names….often the parents and grandparents of the people who are currently the oldest members of our church today.

Phase Two:
The next step was creating a database inventory. Although I’m sure there are software programs out there that are designed for recording archival information, we needed to be frugal – so we just created our own using an Excel spreadsheet. The inventory process has been the slowest part of the project. We’ve been working on it weekly for more than a year and half, and are not yet quite done!

One category at a time, we’ve been going through all the boxes and files, adding the items to the database. We offer a general description of the name of the item or file, relevant dates, the category that it’s filed under, the location in which we’ve filed it, and any miscellaneous notes that seem applicable. The first thing we noticed was that many of the items lent themselves to more than one category! So while we filed the item under the category that we thought was the most appropriate, we also cross-referenced it in the database under its second category.

In all honesty, this part of the project could have been completed more quickly if my partner and I weren’t so fascinated by all of these historical items! It takes a lot longer to sort and file items if you feel the need to stop and read the minutes of the meeting from 1945 because you recognize the name of the recording secretary at the bottom of the page!

After working on the cataloging part of this project for more than a year, my partner and I are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. One of the nice things is that we’ve already found that our database inventory system is working. More than once, we’ve come across a file or document, only to recognize that we’ve seen something similar a few weeks ago. A quick trip to the database and a search on a likely keyword has led us right to the proper storage box or file cabinet drawer!

Phase Three:
Once this portion of our project is complete, we are excited to look to the future. The next phase will include finding ways to make the information in the archives available to our congregation, while still protecting these fragile documents. We may transcribe some of the records, and make digital images of others. If you have been involved in a similar project, I welcome your comments and advice!

Creating Our Church Archives, Part I: In The Beginning...

My husband's family has been attending Peace United Church of Christ in Hartsburg, Missouri for more than one hundred years. In fact, one of hubby's ACKMANN ancestors was among the "Seven Founding Fathers" of the church in 1894 (originally called Friedens Evangelische Gemeinde). So two years ago, when an announcement was made during the service that they were looking for volunteers to help form a "Historical Committee" -- my genealogical ears perked right up!

I learned that the church was looking for a group of people to help organize and create an archive of the church's documents, photos, and other items. Over the years, these items have just been packed away in boxes and kept in storage cabinets in a little used room of the church. Although the church council was almost apologetic about asking us to take on such a task, I couldn't wait to see what was in those boxes. I have to say, I was *not* disappointed. It was a treasure trove of church history!

The process of creating this archive has been long and rewarding. Since even writing about the process is lengthy, I’ll divide my posting about it into two parts. If you are thinking about embarking on a similar project, whether it’s for your church, your town, or even your own family’s historical papers and artifacts, stay tuned! I’m by no means a professional archivist, but there appears to be lots of good resources out there to help us amateurs, and I’ll be happy to share what I learn!

Coming soon: Creating our Church Archives, Part II: Sorting and Inventorying. Sounds riveting, doesn’t it? **grin**

Illinois Online Databases

If you've been trying to search the online databases on the Illinois State Archives website over the last couple days, you've probably seen the dreaded HTTP 404 page: Web Page Cannot Be Found.

I called the Illinois State Archives this morning to see if anyone could tell me what was going on, and found out that they are in the process of changing servers, and have experienced problems making the switch. I was assured that they are actively working on it, and that the databases should be available as early as this afternoon....but if not, then for sure in the next day or so.

Illinois has some great information in their online databases. I use the marriage and death indexes the most, but they have a very comprehensive list of military databases as well. I have been so appreciative of them making this information so accessible that I'm more than willing to be patient while they solver their server problems.

Extra! Extra! Check out a Newspaper Library Near You

One of my favorite resources is my state's Newspaper Library. It's part of the State Historical Society of Missouri, located in Columbia, Missouri. They have over 41 million pages of Missouri newspapers on microfilm! These are available to be viewed at the library, or can be borrowed through Interlibrary Loan Service.

Nowadays we live in a very transient society -- but my husband's ancestors came to Boone County, Missouri anywhere from 100 to 185 years ago. So much of their history happened in one place. I can go to the Newspaper Library, and pick up any microfilm reel of the local Boone County newspaper, and probably find some mention of one of his ancestors in it. Sometimes it mentions the "big news," like births, deaths or marriages -- but often I'll find mentions of horses for sale, or out of town visitors, or local activities that they were involved in. If the vital statistics of our ancestors are the "bones" of our genealogy, then the information in these little day-to-day articles "put meat on the bones."

In doing a quick Google search on "Newspaper Library" or "Newspaper Collection" I found that many U.S. states have similar collections. There are also digital newspaper collections available online. Missouri has the Missouri Historical Newspaper Project that is free, but Ancestry.com and NewspaperARCHIVE.com both have subscription sites, with large digital collections available. With a little research, you may be able to find access to the newspapers your ancestors read. What a treat!

Happy Hunting!

Substantial Increase in NARA Photocopying Fees

I saw in Dick Eastman's Blog today that the National Archives has proposed a major increase in their fees for photocopies of their records. Although many of the increases are substantial, most of them are reasonable, in my opinion. However, they are proposing to increase the fee for a Full Pension File copy (over 75 years old, from the Civil War Period) from $37.00 to $125.00 -- a 338% increase!

I've looked at this from a variety of viewpoints, and I just can't convince myself that this is justified. I realize that some of the Full Pension Files are lengthy, and that the postage costs alone are substantial, but to charge $125 for a Civil War era file regardless of whether it contains a dozen pages or 100 is bad policy.

I'd feel much better if the costs were more closely tied to what you received. Why not charge a reasonable flat fee for the research and then charge so much per page for copies and pass on the actual postage costs?

I understand that NARA is accepting public comment on this proposed change until April 27, 2007. Let's be sure that our voices are heard on this!

Happy Hunting!

The Frugal Genealogist

“I didn’t know that genealogy was going to be such an expensive hobby!” If you’ve frequented any genealogy message boards or mailing lists over the last few years, you’ve heard something similar. It’s an understandable refrain…the genealogy websites that get the most press (Ancestry.com, most frequently) often do come with some pretty hefty price tags. Not to mention the costs involved in ordering birth, marriage and death certificates from various local entities…or pension records from the National Archives. The list goes on and on.

But two thoughts come to mind. The first is that most hobbies (obsessions?) require a financial investment, as well as an investment in time/effort. I have a golfer in my family who always needs to “upgrade” his equipment…all for the sake of improving his game. Scrap booking is one of the newer hobbies on the scene today, and having purchased scrap booking supplies as Christmas gifts, I can attest to the fact that they aren’t inexpensive either! The point is that if you are going to get serious about any hobby/activity – it’s probably going to cost some money….and after a while, it will probably cost some more.

That brings me to my second thought. There is a world of really great resources out there that are (mostly) free! Some are online, and others are in our communities. Here are just a few:

RootsWeb: What a great resource! It’s owned by the same parent company as Ancestry.com, but is a free/user contributed resource. There are message boards and mailing lists that are wonderful. I have gotten farther in my research due to help from others on Rootsweb’s message boards than I could have ever gotten on my own. And along the way, I’ve met some “new” cousins, and made some wonderful friends. We often start with the surname boards, but I’ve gotten some of my best help from people who frequent the “county” boards. Rootsweb is also the home of some amazing user-contributed databases. These databases are sorted by country/region, and include cemetery records, deeds, newspaper indexes, church records, etc.

Heritage Quest Online: This is a subscription-based website, but is often available free to library patrons through library websites. I access it via my library’s website, after logging in with my library card number. HQO has five sections: Census, Books, PERSI, Revolutionary War, and the Freedman’s Bank. In each case you can find information and often images that can be downloaded and printed right at home. They have the complete set of U.S. Census images (1790 – 1930), with name indexes for many of the years. The images are generally very clear and easy to read.

I’ve also been impressed with the “Books” section, which includes over 20,000 family and local histories. It’s as if your local library had an additional 20,000 genealogy books on their shelves, and you can read them at home!

USGenWeb: The volunteers who produce this website are dedicated to providing free genealogy websites for every state and county in the U.S. Each of the county and state websites are maintained by volunteer coordinators – so the content is different, depending on the time, talents and expertise of the local coordinators, and how active the local genealogists are that submit data for the sites. Commonly you’ll find local history, maps. User-contributed records, links to genealogy libraries and societies, and sometimes surname lists/queries.

County Genealogical Societies: While not free, membership in county or regional genealogical societies can be very worthwhile. The society for the county in which I live has dues of only $15.00 per year – and the quarterly newsletters (often 25-30 pages in length) are worth that alone! People that live nearby also enjoy the monthly educational programs. It also allows me the chance to network with people who are researching the same area (and sometimes ancestors) that I am.

State Archives: As far as I know there is some type of a “state archives” or “state historical library for each of the states in the U.S. After you’ve gotten a start on your research, you may find that a visit to the appropriate state’s archives will provide you with many more answers (and maybe some more questions, too!). Although access to the archives will probably be free, you’ll need to bring money for photocopies of the records you wish to keep. Many states also have some of the information from their archives available online – sometimes in the form of indexes, and sometimes in the form of actual images. Well worth investigating!

Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness: What a great organization! The volunteers agree to do a research task in their local area, at least once per month. You can find volunteers who will take photographs of tombstones or do look-ups for you, depending on their resources. Although the service is free, you are expected to reimburse the volunteers expenses, such as film, photocopies, postage, and possibly parking fees. Still a bargain! Many of the volunteers signed up after being helped by RAOGK, and wanted to “pay it forward.”

There are many other great (and inexpensive) resources out there. This wasn’t meant to be a comprehensive list – just a few good options that I use regularly. And of course, no matter where you get your information, please weigh it carefully, consider the sources, and document them well. Message boards, mailing lists and user-contributed databases and family trees are only as good as the research that supports them. We all know that there is a large amount of misinformation floating around the web. While that research can’t be automatically assumed to be true, it just might point you in the right direction

Happy Hunting!

Missouri Death Certificates

Kudos to the Missouri State Archives for the Missouri Death Certificate Project they have undertaken. They have indexed the death certificates for the years 1910 - 1956, and that index is available online via the Secretary of State's website. Even better, they are in the process of adding digital images as well. Images are available (free! in .pdf format) for 1910 - 1930, and 1950 - 1956. They must have quite a team of people working on this, because I've been amazed at how quickly they have been uploading the images.

There is so much valuable information available on death certificates. I'm proud of Missouri for making this information available, at a time when so many other states are reducing the access that we have to such records.

You can access the Missouri Death Certificates database here.

Happy Hunting!