Well, here it is the first official day of Southern California Genealogical Society's Genealogy Jamboree. It is off to a roaring start...The first lecture everyone is looking forward to attending is "Prostitution in the Wild West" presented by Jana Sloan Broglin, CG. While it looks like it might be a rippen good time I have elected to go the more sedate route and attend Warren Bittner's (another CG) "European Case Studies in 'Exhaustive Research' (For those who are unfamiliar: CG = Certified Genealogist)
Yesterday I volunteered at the Kids Camp. Wow, that was amazing. We had between 40 and 50 kids and about 20 - 25 parents. They participated in all kinds of great events from interviewing to being interviewed. (by Lisa Louise Cooke for her Podcast "Genealogy Gems") The kids also got to earn credits for their merit badges if they were Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts. They made "journaling jars" and played Genealogy Bingo. I know I'll be volunteering again.
My friend Elyse Doerflinger is over the top excited. She is threatning to burst into confetti at any momemt. She is young. I'm too tired (read too old) to get THAT excited but I have to admit...I'm pretty jazzed. This conference, more than any of the others I attend, has that kind of affect. It is the most friendly, most energetic...I don't know what it is exactly, but I want more of it. It's almost as good as caffine.
Haven't made it into the vendor booth yet, and class is about to start. So I'll be tweeting about that a little later (blogging about those things tomorrow too.) For now let me tell you about the I Pad give away....
Susan Kitchens got a huge laugh when she gave away an "I Pad" it was a EYE PAD. It's kind of a visual joke so you may have had to have been there....
And why aren't you? Next Year...Promise yourself...Next Year.
Friday, June 10, 2011
Thursday, June 9, 2011
The Picture
I know I’ve made mention of “The Picture” before. I’m talking about the picture my cousin gave me, you know the one, the one that made me cry. This is also the photo I used for the Geneabloggers cry to arms. (See post "I Am The Face of Genealogy" posted on 5 June 2011)
To refresh your memories this is a picture of my great grandmother, Felicie Romero and all of her siblings taken in 1890.
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| Felicie Romero aka Mrs. Henry Landry (standing on left) and her siblings |
What a gem, on so many levels. First off, of course, there is the fact that it was taken in 1890. 1890, that ominous year where there is no census to tell you the members of a family. But here it is. I have all her siblings, how great is that, and as you can see they are all of an age where any of them or maybe all of them are out of the house. So, without this photo I might not have ever been sure of how many siblings she had.
On another level this is the only picture I know of for Felicie, maybe the only picture for any of the Romero clan.
The family photos that so many people take for granted or cherish dearly were sadly lacking in my family photo albums. I have many 20th century photos of my immediate family, (my adopted family that raised me,my son and husband) but I have almost no photos of grandparents, great grand parents or older family members. No family reunion photos or civil war photos. (Deep sigh) No founding family members or first immigrants hang on my walls.
But with the gifting of this one photo there has been a shift. I now can be counted as one of the lucky ones who has a very old photo of an ancestor.
The photo is in pretty good shape, (as you can see) except for some disintegration at the edges and a tear down the middle. But I consulted a photographer at NGS who specializes in repair of damaged photos and he assures me (for a fee) the photo can be helped. The fee wasn’t as bad as I had thought it might be either, (less then $300) so I am going to send it off to him and let him work his magic.
I have a plan. Shhhhhh, don’t tell my cousins…but after I get the photo repaired I plan on making copies and sending the photo to all the cousins I know that are descended from this group. These are good Catholic families with lots of children for each family group for the last three generations. I don’t know all the descendents (yet) but a rough conservative estimate could be in the neighborhood of (let’s see, if 6 siblings each have 4 children how many children would be in the first generation?) Oh, my gosh….I could have more than 300 cousins who would want a copy of this photo. Maybe I want to rethink this plan. Ok, this is a limited offer…only cousins who have contacted me and can show me their relationship to anyone of the Romero clan (pictured) can have a copy. There that should bring the number down. But how fabulous would it be if I had more than 300 cousins from this one line contact me. The cost of copying the photo 300 times would be well worth it to me.
You know what else would be amazing about that. Felicie is not just my great grandmother, she is also my first cousin four times removed; her father was also the brother to my third great grandmother.
Let’s see if I can make that a little less confusing.
Antonio Romero married Marie Therese Segura sometime before 1804. They had at least three children, (I know of three because I am related to two of them) Sylvestre, Marie Rosalie, and Balthazar. Sylvestre married Marguerite “Irma” Dominque, and Marie Rosalie married Hubert Theriot. Sylvestre and Marguerite Irma had Felicie Romero (the grandmother pictured in the photo) and Marie Rosalie and Hubert had a daughter named Marguerite Orelia Theriot.
Marguerite Orelia’s line is one I have not done much work on but I know that she married Jean Therville Landry and that they had a son Henry Landry. Henry Landry married….wait for it…Felicie Romero his first cousin once removed.
So that is how Felicie ends up being my cousin and my grandmother.
So, I could potentially end up learning about the Theriot line too; all because of that one photo…you know, the one that made me cry.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Spanish Lake
The story goes that Great Great Grandpa Romero lost his share of Spanish Lake and the property adjoining it in a card game. I don't doubt this story to be true (or was it Grandpa Segura, or Grandpa Landry....I'm a little fuzzy on the details.)
Do you have a family story that sounds interesting but you don't know for sure that it's true? Have you ever tried to find out? Some of your family might be delighted they have an outlaw in the family and embellish just a bit and others might be mortified and even though they know the truth of the matter won't breath a word of it. So we end up trying to reason out the "facts" of the story, based on history and other sources. Here's mine and it's a doozy.
I'd like to be clearer as to who it was that lost the property and just which property it was. (Guess that's my research focus) That the land would be lost in a card game is not surprising. Apparently, according to family and accounts of horse racing in the area, gambling was a concept my family and many others were well acquainted with long before the casinos moved into Louisiana.
If you've never been to South West Louisiana my ancestors helped settle the area, and I've been there several times, so let me tell you a little about it. The area is much the same as it has been for at least the last hundred years. Oh, some of the buildings are newer and new houses have replaced some of the older ones, but life still moves at a slow, friendly pace. The towns for the most part are still small and are more of "old town" or Mayberry kind of feel with a Bayou twist to it. While the new "town" area is more likely to be along the highway and aimed at not really serving the residents (with the exception of the warehouse hardware stores and Walmarts) but more like fast food places designed to catch the passer through. You can still drive for miles and see nothing but sugar cane fields and farm houses. One can drive from Iberia Parish through St. Martin Parish, and into Lafayette Parish with nothing to note the change except for a sign. (maybe)
There are no large race tracks like I am familiar with living in California (we have dog racing and horse racing both at Cal Expo and there are several large race tracks in the Bay Area) so when I discovered that horse racing was big in S. W. Louisiana prior to and after the civil war I was floored. Where were the tracks? Ok, I get that it's been 150 years, but there are still houses and remnants of burned plantation homes that date back that far; why, if there were several tracks in the area, is there no sign of them and very little mention?
I don't have an answer to that yet. But I'm investigating.
The story goes that Grandpa lost the farm (hence the term "betting the farm" ??) and the next day, mad as a wet hen, Grandma went and bought back the house so as to keep a roof over the heads of her babies. (You go Grandma!)
This is one of those family stories that I may never be able to prove or disprove. For any of my cousins reading this please, clear up any details you can...do you remember which Grandpa it was??
According to the book "La Maison Duchamp" written by Amy Chatham in 2000, "Court records show that during these years (1876-1885) the Duchamp family seemed to have undergone some financial difficulties. For example, in June of 1885 the Sheriff seized property owned by Eugene A. Duchamp, (my second great grandfather) property which included his house on Main street as well as a sugar plantation called LaMartiniere...."
Could it be that the story is really about Grandpa Duchamp and somehow just moved to Spanish Lake?
Or could it be Grandpa Romero? (Sylvester Romero was another second great grandfather) According the the book, "New Iberia" compiled by Glenn R. Conrad, Grandpa Romero was one of the townsfolk who would follow a favorite horse to out of town events to see it race. " In early June, 1873, Bernard Suberbielle, L. Fontelieu, Theogene Viator, Martial Bonin, T. A. Babin, Louis Miguez, Derelle Romero, Sylvester Romero, and Lacroix Hebert travelled to Breaux Bridge to watch a challenge race between horses owned by Louis Delcambre, a New Iberian, and Emile Babin of Pont Breaux." (this bit of information was taken from the weekly newspaper Louisiana Sugar Bowl, May 1, 1873)
But it was Grandpa Segura who settled in the Spanish Lake area. (one of my fourth great grandfathers) Could it have been one of his descendants who lost the land?
Then there is Grandpa Landry (reportedly a "mean man") who I am told liked to gamble. Grandpa Theaux was also from the area, it could have been him the story was about as he was married a very strong woman.
About the area itself...that is almost as much a mystery.
I'll tell more of the story of my Segura and Romero families and the settlement of this part of Louisiana in a later post. For now let me say that I can find a small amount of information on Spanish Lake during the time of its settlement but not much after that. (See below)
From the book "New Iberia" compiled by Glenn R. Conrad, "...most of the remaining Malagueño families moved away from the original area of settlement and secured tracts of virgin land, particularly in the area of Lake Flammand, which now came to be known as Spanish Lake."
That (and various versions of that kind) and the information below (found online) has been just about all I could find on Spanish Lake. I find this strange as it is a Louisiana Historical Site and the site of a fort.
Where's all the information?
So I have a research problem that will take some untangling and a whole lot of work. Want to help? See what you can find out about Spanish Lake. Consider it this weeks challenge.
According to Wikipedia:
Spanish Lake (French: Lac Espagnol) is located in the Bluff Swamp on the Iberville - Ascension Parish line. It is fed into by Alligator Bayou, Brand Bayou, Bayou Braud, and Bayou Paul. Spanish Lake is a part of the Bluff Swamp Wildlife Refuge and Botanical Gardens, a national non-profit organization which has preserved 901 acres (3.65 km2) of Bluff Swamp.
According to a 1936 Works Project paper
Spanish Lake had a population of 200 in 1936. (Figures can't be much higher now.)
According to Stopping Points.com
First known as Lake Flamand for Jean B. Grevenberg, one of the earliest settlers in this area; called Lake Tasse by the French because of its round cup shape, later known as Spanish Lake for the Seguras, Romeros, Villatoros and others who lived by its shores.
Do you have a family story that sounds interesting but you don't know for sure that it's true? Have you ever tried to find out? Some of your family might be delighted they have an outlaw in the family and embellish just a bit and others might be mortified and even though they know the truth of the matter won't breath a word of it. So we end up trying to reason out the "facts" of the story, based on history and other sources. Here's mine and it's a doozy.
I'd like to be clearer as to who it was that lost the property and just which property it was. (Guess that's my research focus) That the land would be lost in a card game is not surprising. Apparently, according to family and accounts of horse racing in the area, gambling was a concept my family and many others were well acquainted with long before the casinos moved into Louisiana.
If you've never been to South West Louisiana my ancestors helped settle the area, and I've been there several times, so let me tell you a little about it. The area is much the same as it has been for at least the last hundred years. Oh, some of the buildings are newer and new houses have replaced some of the older ones, but life still moves at a slow, friendly pace. The towns for the most part are still small and are more of "old town" or Mayberry kind of feel with a Bayou twist to it. While the new "town" area is more likely to be along the highway and aimed at not really serving the residents (with the exception of the warehouse hardware stores and Walmarts) but more like fast food places designed to catch the passer through. You can still drive for miles and see nothing but sugar cane fields and farm houses. One can drive from Iberia Parish through St. Martin Parish, and into Lafayette Parish with nothing to note the change except for a sign. (maybe)
There are no large race tracks like I am familiar with living in California (we have dog racing and horse racing both at Cal Expo and there are several large race tracks in the Bay Area) so when I discovered that horse racing was big in S. W. Louisiana prior to and after the civil war I was floored. Where were the tracks? Ok, I get that it's been 150 years, but there are still houses and remnants of burned plantation homes that date back that far; why, if there were several tracks in the area, is there no sign of them and very little mention? I don't have an answer to that yet. But I'm investigating.
The story goes that Grandpa lost the farm (hence the term "betting the farm" ??) and the next day, mad as a wet hen, Grandma went and bought back the house so as to keep a roof over the heads of her babies. (You go Grandma!)
This is one of those family stories that I may never be able to prove or disprove. For any of my cousins reading this please, clear up any details you can...do you remember which Grandpa it was??
According to the book "La Maison Duchamp" written by Amy Chatham in 2000, "Court records show that during these years (1876-1885) the Duchamp family seemed to have undergone some financial difficulties. For example, in June of 1885 the Sheriff seized property owned by Eugene A. Duchamp, (my second great grandfather) property which included his house on Main street as well as a sugar plantation called LaMartiniere...."
Could it be that the story is really about Grandpa Duchamp and somehow just moved to Spanish Lake?
Or could it be Grandpa Romero? (Sylvester Romero was another second great grandfather) According the the book, "New Iberia" compiled by Glenn R. Conrad, Grandpa Romero was one of the townsfolk who would follow a favorite horse to out of town events to see it race. " In early June, 1873, Bernard Suberbielle, L. Fontelieu, Theogene Viator, Martial Bonin, T. A. Babin, Louis Miguez, Derelle Romero, Sylvester Romero, and Lacroix Hebert travelled to Breaux Bridge to watch a challenge race between horses owned by Louis Delcambre, a New Iberian, and Emile Babin of Pont Breaux." (this bit of information was taken from the weekly newspaper Louisiana Sugar Bowl, May 1, 1873)
But it was Grandpa Segura who settled in the Spanish Lake area. (one of my fourth great grandfathers) Could it have been one of his descendants who lost the land?
Then there is Grandpa Landry (reportedly a "mean man") who I am told liked to gamble. Grandpa Theaux was also from the area, it could have been him the story was about as he was married a very strong woman.
About the area itself...that is almost as much a mystery.
I'll tell more of the story of my Segura and Romero families and the settlement of this part of Louisiana in a later post. For now let me say that I can find a small amount of information on Spanish Lake during the time of its settlement but not much after that. (See below)
From the book "New Iberia" compiled by Glenn R. Conrad, "...most of the remaining Malagueño families moved away from the original area of settlement and secured tracts of virgin land, particularly in the area of Lake Flammand, which now came to be known as Spanish Lake."
That (and various versions of that kind) and the information below (found online) has been just about all I could find on Spanish Lake. I find this strange as it is a Louisiana Historical Site and the site of a fort.
Where's all the information?
So I have a research problem that will take some untangling and a whole lot of work. Want to help? See what you can find out about Spanish Lake. Consider it this weeks challenge.
According to Wikipedia:
Spanish Lake (French: Lac Espagnol) is located in the Bluff Swamp on the Iberville - Ascension Parish line. It is fed into by Alligator Bayou, Brand Bayou, Bayou Braud, and Bayou Paul. Spanish Lake is a part of the Bluff Swamp Wildlife Refuge and Botanical Gardens, a national non-profit organization which has preserved 901 acres (3.65 km2) of Bluff Swamp.
Spanish Lake, originally called Lake Flamand and then Lake Tasse, is located off of LA Hwy 182 in Iberia Parish and St. Martin Parish,Louisiana.
According to a 1936 Works Project paper
Spanish Lake had a population of 200 in 1936. (Figures can't be much higher now.)
According to Stopping Points.com
First known as Lake Flamand for Jean B. Grevenberg, one of the earliest settlers in this area; called Lake Tasse by the French because of its round cup shape, later known as Spanish Lake for the Seguras, Romeros, Villatoros and others who lived by its shores.
Sunday, June 5, 2011
I Am The Face of Genealogy
This is the Face of Genealogy
My great grandmother Felice Romero and her siblings
Thomas M. asked the genealogical bloggers to post a "This is the Face of Genealogy" blog post as a call to arms. He along with many other bloggers have risen up in protest against a terrible photo that accompanied a story in the LA Weekly. His is the most eloquent rebuttal yet (and there have been many less eloquent ones) to the awful picture printed next to a story about the Jamboree in the LA Weekly. Although the online version of the LA Weekly no longer has this photo, the damage has been done.
Genealogists from far and near are in an uproar about this photo. Why, you ask? Here is Thomas' explanation, and I can't say it any better so I will re-post it here.
Please, if you or someone you know is a genealogist, be they amateur family historian or professional, please, do your part by following the link to the LA Weekly and let them know you find this unprofessional and offensive. At the very least it inferred that the work we do is laughable.
The following is from GeneaBloggers
Is this the face of genealogy? Is this truly what the public sees in their mind’s eye when they hear the word genealogy?
The Rub
In a recent event article at the LAWeekly website, the above photo was used in a brief article about the upcoming Southern California Genealogical Society Jamboree being held in Burbank, California from June 10-12, 2011. I’ll be there as well as close to 70 other members of GeneaBloggers.
What I don’t know is whether there will be any new visitors to Jamboree this year, especially if they saw the LA Weekly article. My first thoughts are:
- What were they thinking?
- Did the author Skylaire Alfvegren actually select the photo or perhaps it was some smart-aleck editor? The way the text is written, with the byline Gene Genies, I think that this is more the work of an editor.
- What were they thinking?
A quick search of the image on Google Images shows that the photo used is not even the original work of LAWeekly. This also reinforces my suspicion that a young, inexperienced editor who believes everything is free on the Internet just lifted the image from another site and slapped it on the copy.
What You Can Do
I urge readers of GeneaBloggers to send a letter to the editor of the LAWeekly using their online form at http://www.laweekly.com/feedback/EmailAnEmployee?department=letters. I don’t often make these “calls for action” but we as genealogists and family historians have a responsibility – especially to the younger people – to show them exactly what is the face of genealogy.
I Am The Face of Genealogy
Also, I’m asking that every genealogy blogger put up their favorite ancestor photo with the simple post title “This Is The Face of Genealogy.” Together, hopefully we can turn this offensive piece into a win situation for the genealogy community.
This too is the face of genealogy....remembering those who came before us and honoring our families.
This is also the "Face of Genealogy" a letter written by a grandmother I never got to meet. How I wish I could have known her. This letter and my genealogy research helps me learn who she was.
Please, we work very hard at what we do, we love what we do, and it means a lot to us. Help the LA Weekly understand why what they did is unforgivable. Not only did they potentially damage a wonderful event (the Southern California Genealogical Society's Genealogy Jamboree) but they smeared the name of "Genealogist."
Friday, June 3, 2011
PowerPoint
Ok, for those of you who have been following me from the start or have gone back and read the posts I wrote earlier I have news.
For those of you who are new to my blog here's a short re-cap.
I AM NOT A TECHIE. I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO LEANINGS TOWARDS UNDERSTANDING TECHNOLOGY OR HOW TO APPLY IT.
That being said I have been attempting (with many failures and quite a bit a comic relief along to way) to stumble into the 21st century. (Ok, I admit it, some of it hasn't been stumbling...some of it I have been dragged kicking and screaming into.)
I now can fake my way through Twitter, can Facebook with some assurance, I skype to some small degreee, and I can now (drum roll please) do a presentation on PowerPoint.
Right now I am visualizing most of you shaking your heads and/or raising your eyebrows...what? you ask...she didn't know how to use PowerPoint? Where has she been under a rock?
Not exactly...just in Galt, CA.
But I digress.
I had no need of it. I had quit teaching. I was not working as a lecturer/teacher in Genealogy, I was doing research. But about a month ago my local Family History Center asked me if I would teach a class, so I took a deep breath, and admitting nothing, said yes.
Let me tell you something. (For those of you on the same Non-Techie cruise ship I'm on) PowerPoint was a breeze to learn. I just had to get over my fear and preconceived notions that it would be hard. (That's always the hardest part anyway, right?)
Being the procrastinator that I am, and with everyone assuring me PowerPoint was easy, I put off doing the work until after I came home from NGS, which left me about 3 days to prepare. (I see those raised eyebrows again.) Yes, putting together an hour's presentation took me about 30 hours to prepare but not because the program was hard to learn. It took me 30 hours because it was FUN. I had fun picking out the pictures I wanted to use and the design of it. Although I knew what I was going to say in the lecture I still had to put it in order (think create an outline) so my slides would follow along with what I was saying. And I needed to find examples of the ideas I was trying to get across. At the completion I ended up with 41 slides. Wow, I didn't think I had that much to say.
The lecture went well, the only problem was when I got a notification that I was about to lose power. Luckily there were people present who are more tech savvy then me and they determined that the power cord was at fault and changed out the cord. (I would have panicked but thanks to my husband and one of the organizers I was able to just keep yapping away until I could move on to the next slide. Thanks guys.)
So I guess I really learned two things...how to use PowerPoint and to always have a techie with me to fix the little glitches...glad I married one.
For those of you who are new to my blog here's a short re-cap.
I AM NOT A TECHIE. I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO LEANINGS TOWARDS UNDERSTANDING TECHNOLOGY OR HOW TO APPLY IT.
That being said I have been attempting (with many failures and quite a bit a comic relief along to way) to stumble into the 21st century. (Ok, I admit it, some of it hasn't been stumbling...some of it I have been dragged kicking and screaming into.)
I now can fake my way through Twitter, can Facebook with some assurance, I skype to some small degreee, and I can now (drum roll please) do a presentation on PowerPoint.
Right now I am visualizing most of you shaking your heads and/or raising your eyebrows...what? you ask...she didn't know how to use PowerPoint? Where has she been under a rock?
Not exactly...just in Galt, CA.
But I digress.
I had no need of it. I had quit teaching. I was not working as a lecturer/teacher in Genealogy, I was doing research. But about a month ago my local Family History Center asked me if I would teach a class, so I took a deep breath, and admitting nothing, said yes.
Let me tell you something. (For those of you on the same Non-Techie cruise ship I'm on) PowerPoint was a breeze to learn. I just had to get over my fear and preconceived notions that it would be hard. (That's always the hardest part anyway, right?)
 |
| One of my slides |
The lecture went well, the only problem was when I got a notification that I was about to lose power. Luckily there were people present who are more tech savvy then me and they determined that the power cord was at fault and changed out the cord. (I would have panicked but thanks to my husband and one of the organizers I was able to just keep yapping away until I could move on to the next slide. Thanks guys.)
So I guess I really learned two things...how to use PowerPoint and to always have a techie with me to fix the little glitches...glad I married one.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Starting June Out Right
These are all worthy chores, but they are CHORES. In addition, I need to clean house. My house looks like a cyclone hit it with all the clutter. When I came in from NGS (National Genealogical Society) I had to "hit the floor running" (as my mother used to say) and prepare a lecture for my local FHC (Family History Center.) So all the papers I had gathered at NGS ended up on the dining room table along with the books and papers I used to prepare the lecture. My suitcase remains on the bedroom floor, half unpacked; laundry is almost caught up, but sitting in sorted piles waiting for a turn at the washing machine and my to do list is slightly overwhelming.
So...what to do? Why sit down and write my blog of course.
I have given myself a challenge to write my blog every week for the month of June. That's only four posts; I should be able to meet that, right? But it seems as if every time I have a great blog idea and am moved to write I'm in the middle of one of those pesky chores, and I just can't stop in the middle of cleaning out my file cabinet, can I? Please give me permission.
So even though I had no great insight to write about and no special theme I sat down to start June off right. I considered writing about the lecture I gave last week. I considered writing about how yesterday (Memorial Day) hit me stronger than usual with memories of my dad. I considered writing about Southern California Genealogy Society's up coming Genealogical Jamboree. I even considered just picking an ancestor at random and writing about them. Then I tried signing into my blogger account and was told my blog no longer existed. SAY WHAT?
Is it like when you don't use your muscles....they atrophy? Is that what happened to my blog? I didn't write in it for more than a week and, poof, it's gone? Or did Blogger feel my last post was too controversial and wiped me out? Did some hacker pick me at random and banish all my hard work? No...just a computer glitch. All is well. Whew.
But it made me realize a couple of things. Number One, how important my blog has become to me and Number Two, how irritated I become when things don't work the way they are supposed to, and Number Three, just how much I don't want to clean up my files.
But, I've started June out right...I wrote my blog.
Monday, May 16, 2011
Transition
Well, NGS is over and done with, and although I am exhausted I have a nice, warm, fuzzy feeling about it. I did a lot of things at the conference that I had not done before.
One of the things I did was for the first time was I volunteered to do some of the speakers’ introductions. I loved it. I got to speak to the lecturers for a few minutes before they got down to teaching. Some of them were very friendly and “chit chatted” while some were a little more distant. I didn’t take that personally ….even old pros can have butterflies or are just in “the zone” concentrating on what they are about to present. As a “transitional” genealogist (one who is moving from hobbyist to professional) I am trying to “rub elbows” with those who are already firmly established as professionals. I don’t do this to have some of their star shine rub off on me. I want to be around them, talk with them and pick their brains to find out what steps they took to get where they are now. I want to know how they handle certain situations. I want to be them when I grow up.
I also would like to talk to professionals because sometimes I feel as though I am a small tasty critter in a tank full of sharks. I want to know how to navigate these shark infested waters.
Make no mistake…. These are shark infested waters. Almost all of the professionals I meet are full of smiles and good wishes. They talk to me and act like they are more than happy to spend a few minutes answering my questions. But sometimes there is emptiness behind their eyes. Their smiles don’t quite reach to their hearts. Do you know what I mean? Now don’t get me wrong. Not all professionals are like this, and I do understand that sometimes, especially at national conferences, they are forced to deal with “fans” or those who want to be their “friends” for the perceived notoriety they will receive by “hanging with the cool kids.”
Beyond that there seems to be some politics involved, as there is in any group. Furthermore, sometimes I sense an almost cliquish atmosphere. You remember back in high school when everyone found the “group” they “belonged” in? There were the pretty people or cheerleaders, there were the jocks, there were the nerds, and there were the “outcasts.” Everyone forced into their “correct” social group through peer pressure and rejection or acceptance. I hate to say it but I sense a little of that same atmosphere. And here I am walking into it…not sure where I belong, wanting to be friends with everyone; knowing that if you become friends with an individual with one group of people you might be unable to become friends with an individual from another group. A cheerleader will not befriend you, no matter how much you get along or have in common if you are known to be friends with an outcast. It was the same way in high school.
I wish it wasn’t so. I wish that everyone treated everyone else with a sense of equality and respect, but that just isn’t the real world is it?
Now please understand, I am not talking about ALL PROFESSIONAL GENEALOGISTS or even ALL PROMINENT GENEALOGISTS or even ALL CERTIFIED GENEALOGISTS, I am talking about a small few. There are some prominent genealogists who greet you with open arms and make you feel welcome. There are some who include you or advise you without checking with their internal “society meter” to see if you are worthy. But, do I risk being shunned by the “others” for seeking out the “friendly genealogists” counsel?
In genealogy we constantly hear about “the proof standards,” that we are encouraged to use to bring our research up to a certain standard. The bar has been set and we are expected to try and meet or exceed that level. I would like to propose that as professionals everyone should look at their standard of how others are being treated, our professional demeanor and raise the bar a bit. Let’s ask ourselves; “Am I treating others with respect or condemnation? Am I coming off as professional or aloof and unfriendly? How can I help those who will be teaching beside me in a short time? Am I approachable? Am I giving back…willing to be a mentor…giving advice and encouragement or am I acting as if I belong to the popular kids club?”
Being a professional does not make you “better” than a hobbyist or a transitional genealogist…it makes you experienced. It means you have already swum through those shark infested waters and survived. I hate to think that we may have had an “Einstein” or another Elizabeth Shown Mills in our midst and he or she was treated badly or not encouraged and we are the poorer for it. How many really fine genealogists gave up when they were not welcomed in and nurtured? I think we as a community can do better.
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