This information might be a little bit dated, but as long as the govt. is providing a useful service it might as well be publicized.
In August of 2008 the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, formerly INS, established a Genealogy Program. Genealogists can request records of genealogical interest to be searched for and copied. The service is dedicated to genealogists, historians and other researchers seeking records that generally do not require FOIA expertise. This is a fee for service program. A genealogy index search is $20, copy of a file on microfilm is $20 and a copy of a textual file is $35.
The USCIS Genealogy Program offers two services:
Index Search: Using biographical information provided by the researcher, USCIS searches its historical immigration and naturalization record indices for citations related to a specific immigrant. Search results (record citations) are returned to the researcher, along with instructions on how to request the file(s) from USCIS or the National Archives. Fee: $20.00.
Record Copy Request: Researchers with valid record citations (USCIS file numbers), gained through a USCIS Genealogy Program index search or through independent research, may request copies of historical immigration and naturalization records. Fee: $20.00/$35.00 (depending on the record type).
Records available through the USCIS Genealogy Program:
Naturalization Certificate Files (C-files) from September 27, 1906 to April 1, 1956
Alien Registration Forms from August 1, 1940 to March 31, 1944
Visa files from July 1, 1924 to March 31, 1944
Registry Files from March 2, 1929 to March 31, 1944
Alien Files (A-files) numbered below 8 million (A8000000) and documents therein dated prior to May 1, 1951
When their website was last updated on 30 Oct 2009 they were answering requests from early Oct 2009. With the current events in Haiti there might be a greater delay.
If you are interested in seeing what they have available the main website is at www.uscis.gov. On their Home page the link for Genealogy is at the bottom of the left hand column. If you are not interested in seeing what else USCIS has to offer use this link to go directly to Genealogy.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Wednesday at the Library
From the mailbag:
‘Wednesday at the Library,’ a new series of ongoing genealogy classes, begin February 3rd ( 10 am -12 pm ) at the San Diego Genealogical Society Library, 7343 Ronson Road , Suite O. All members are invited to attend. There is no charge for any of the classes. Donations to help cover the cost of handouts will be accepted.
The following lists of topics are tentative. The SDGS Newsletter and online calendar will have the up-to-date list of class topics.
1st Wednesday of each month – genealogy research topics
1. Making a plan (Feb 3)
2. Record keeping / Organizing (Mar)
3. Bibliographies / Indexes (Apr)
4. Church records / cemeteries (May)
5. Passenger lists (June)
6. County History books (July)
7. Land / Homestead Act (Aug)
8. Probate records (Sept)
9. Military records (Oct)
10. Newspaper research (Nov)
Other possible topics: Genealogy research libraries, PERSI / Periodicals, timelines, Patriotic Societies
2nd Wednesday of each month – general computer use topics (led by Dave Tooley, assisted by Lance Dohe )
1. Computer file management (Feb 10)
2. Scanner help
3. Moving data to CDs
4. Backup systems
5. Browser basics / e-mail
6. Printer controls
7. Mac users
8. Image keeping
9. Understanding Microsoft basics
10. How to deal with Tech help
3rd Wednesday of each month – location specific genealogy research (how to get started with genealogical research in this area)
1. Germanic peoples (Feb 17)
2. English / Wales
3. Canada
4. America Indian
5. Czech-Slovakia
6. Spain / Mexico / Hispanic
7. Denmark / Sweden / Norway
8. Ireland/Scotland
9. San Diego County
10. Poland / Russia / Hungry
4th Wednesday of each month – tearing down ‘brick walls’ together
Attendees are encouraged to bring one ‘brick wall’ they want help with. After a ‘round robin’ of describing the research problems, a facilitator will lead a discussion, with suggestions for solving specific problems. Time for using the SDGS library materials will be available. People with similar problems can work together. Hopefully, some problems will be on their way to being solved.
Input from members about other desired class topics is welcome and solicited.
To sign up for any class, call the SDGS library, (858) 279-7347, or e-mail sdgs@att.net . Please include your name, telephone number, e-mail, and the class you are interested in attending. Enrollment is limited to 15 people per class.
Members with expertise in any of the subject areas are encouraged to share their knowledge by teaching one of the classes. Please contact me about this if you are interested.
We encourage your participation in these ‘Wednesday at the Library’ classes. Please feel free to sign up for all of the classes that interest you, bring a friend, make use of the San Diego Genealogical Society ’s wonderful library and resources, and have fun!
See you on ‘Wednesday at the Library.’
Sincerely,
Pam Journey
Library Director
‘Wednesday at the Library,’ a new series of ongoing genealogy classes, begin February 3rd ( 10 am -12 pm ) at the San Diego Genealogical Society Library, 7343 Ronson Road , Suite O. All members are invited to attend. There is no charge for any of the classes. Donations to help cover the cost of handouts will be accepted.
The following lists of topics are tentative. The SDGS Newsletter and online calendar will have the up-to-date list of class topics.
1st Wednesday of each month – genealogy research topics
1. Making a plan (Feb 3)
2. Record keeping / Organizing (Mar)
3. Bibliographies / Indexes (Apr)
4. Church records / cemeteries (May)
5. Passenger lists (June)
6. County History books (July)
7. Land / Homestead Act (Aug)
8. Probate records (Sept)
9. Military records (Oct)
10. Newspaper research (Nov)
Other possible topics: Genealogy research libraries, PERSI / Periodicals, timelines, Patriotic Societies
2nd Wednesday of each month – general computer use topics (led by Dave Tooley, assisted by Lance Dohe )
1. Computer file management (Feb 10)
2. Scanner help
3. Moving data to CDs
4. Backup systems
5. Browser basics / e-mail
6. Printer controls
7. Mac users
8. Image keeping
9. Understanding Microsoft basics
10. How to deal with Tech help
3rd Wednesday of each month – location specific genealogy research (how to get started with genealogical research in this area)
1. Germanic peoples (Feb 17)
2. English / Wales
3. Canada
4. America Indian
5. Czech-Slovakia
6. Spain / Mexico / Hispanic
7. Denmark / Sweden / Norway
8. Ireland/Scotland
9. San Diego County
10. Poland / Russia / Hungry
4th Wednesday of each month – tearing down ‘brick walls’ together
Attendees are encouraged to bring one ‘brick wall’ they want help with. After a ‘round robin’ of describing the research problems, a facilitator will lead a discussion, with suggestions for solving specific problems. Time for using the SDGS library materials will be available. People with similar problems can work together. Hopefully, some problems will be on their way to being solved.
Input from members about other desired class topics is welcome and solicited.
To sign up for any class, call the SDGS library, (858) 279-7347, or e-mail sdgs@att.net . Please include your name, telephone number, e-mail, and the class you are interested in attending. Enrollment is limited to 15 people per class.
Members with expertise in any of the subject areas are encouraged to share their knowledge by teaching one of the classes. Please contact me about this if you are interested.
We encourage your participation in these ‘Wednesday at the Library’ classes. Please feel free to sign up for all of the classes that interest you, bring a friend, make use of the San Diego Genealogical Society ’s wonderful library and resources, and have fun!
See you on ‘Wednesday at the Library.’
Sincerely,
Pam Journey
Library Director
Monday, January 25, 2010
William R. Kinney, R.I.P.
William R. Kinney, a life member since 1991, passed away on 20 Jan 2010. Graveside services will be on Thursday 28 Jan 2010, 2:30 p.m. at Glen Abbey, 3838 Bonita Rd., Bonita, CA.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Special Events News for February 2010
Coming in March:
Los Angeles Public Library Research Bus Trip
We will be revisiting the Los Angeles Public Library on Saturday, March 20, 2010 (previously scheduled for March 6) If you could not make the December 2009 trip or want to return for more research see the flyer that came with this newsletter or our website to sign up.
San Diego History Mystery Tours Update
January: Since the deadline date for the February newsletter came before the date of our January tour, we will review our January adventure in the next newsletter.
February: We will be visiting a location in the South Central area of San Diego (not to be confused with the infamous South Central L.A.!), followed by lunch at a local American-style restaurant. The event will be from 10:30am until end of lunch (approximately 1pm).To sign up or make any questions/suggestions email Special Events Director Kristeen McCollough at kristeenealogy@cox.net or call 619.820.2552.
Jamboree and Salt Lake City in 2010: Now On-Line
Information about the Southern California Genealogical Society’s Jamboree at the Los Angeles Marriott Burbank Airport Hotel, June 11- 13, can be viewed at www.scgsgenealogy.com. Like past years, the San Diego Genealogical Society will be travelling as a group by train and staying at the hotel. Be sure to mark your calendars and look for the sign-up flyers in the March newsletter and on our website.
Family History Library in Salt Lake City Research Trip: New Dates
The SDGS Research trip to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, previously scheduled for Oct. 10-17, has been moved to Oct. 17-24. Please make a note on your calendars.
Check the SDGS website, library and future newsletters for more information.
Los Angeles Public Library Research Bus Trip
We will be revisiting the Los Angeles Public Library on Saturday, March 20, 2010 (previously scheduled for March 6) If you could not make the December 2009 trip or want to return for more research see the flyer that came with this newsletter or our website to sign up.
San Diego History Mystery Tours Update
January: Since the deadline date for the February newsletter came before the date of our January tour, we will review our January adventure in the next newsletter.
February: We will be visiting a location in the South Central area of San Diego (not to be confused with the infamous South Central L.A.!), followed by lunch at a local American-style restaurant. The event will be from 10:30am until end of lunch (approximately 1pm).To sign up or make any questions/suggestions email Special Events Director Kristeen McCollough at kristeenealogy@cox.net or call 619.820.2552.
Jamboree and Salt Lake City in 2010: Now On-Line
Information about the Southern California Genealogical Society’s Jamboree at the Los Angeles Marriott Burbank Airport Hotel, June 11- 13, can be viewed at www.scgsgenealogy.com. Like past years, the San Diego Genealogical Society will be travelling as a group by train and staying at the hotel. Be sure to mark your calendars and look for the sign-up flyers in the March newsletter and on our website.
Family History Library in Salt Lake City Research Trip: New Dates
The SDGS Research trip to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, previously scheduled for Oct. 10-17, has been moved to Oct. 17-24. Please make a note on your calendars.
Check the SDGS website, library and future newsletters for more information.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Photocopying at SDGS
The SDGS has our photo-copying easel assembled and the software installed on a computer. Now we need a solid list of volunteers for copying duties.
To refresh your memory, Ancestry.com loaned us a photo-copying easel, camera and software after their seminar in November. The SDGS is to scan items that can be used for genealogical research for Ancestry to make available on the net. If we can come up with enough suitable documents we can keep the equipment. If we don't produce, we will have to return the easel and camera.
To familiarize myself with using the equipment I have scanned a book of mortuary records and one of two books of burial permits. These items are part of the library's collection. We will send the images to Ancestry and they will index them and make the images and index part of their online databases. I am not familiar with the partnership agreement but I think Ancestry will also provide us with a copy of the index when it is done. Of course we also have all of the images.
If all of the people who scanned images at the Ancestry.com seminar will send an email to the SDGS blog email I would appreciate it. If you want to volunteer to help with scanning let us know. I will schedule some equipment and software familiarization before we get to work.
If you know of any databases we can create we need to know. The easiest information to scan is card file information. If we can access large card file databases we can get a lot of ground covered. I've only used the device for a few hours and photographed over 2500 documents.
To refresh your memory, Ancestry.com loaned us a photo-copying easel, camera and software after their seminar in November. The SDGS is to scan items that can be used for genealogical research for Ancestry to make available on the net. If we can come up with enough suitable documents we can keep the equipment. If we don't produce, we will have to return the easel and camera.
To familiarize myself with using the equipment I have scanned a book of mortuary records and one of two books of burial permits. These items are part of the library's collection. We will send the images to Ancestry and they will index them and make the images and index part of their online databases. I am not familiar with the partnership agreement but I think Ancestry will also provide us with a copy of the index when it is done. Of course we also have all of the images.
If all of the people who scanned images at the Ancestry.com seminar will send an email to the SDGS blog email I would appreciate it. If you want to volunteer to help with scanning let us know. I will schedule some equipment and software familiarization before we get to work.
If you know of any databases we can create we need to know. The easiest information to scan is card file information. If we can access large card file databases we can get a lot of ground covered. I've only used the device for a few hours and photographed over 2500 documents.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Presentation by Jean Wilcox Hibben
Our annual seminar and meeting had a very interesting daylong presentation. The speaker was Jean Wilcox Hibben a board-certified genealogist who has recently earned her Ph.D. in Folklore. Her dissertation project on "Family Folklore" can be found on her website at circlemending.org.
The first of the four sessions led us through various stages of her research in "Tracking a Family over Time and Miles". Jean walked us through the steps of working from what we know of our families back to our unknowns. She described the various libraries and websites that might prove usefull in our research. From several lesser known locations she found genealogical gems that are found nowhere else.
Which brings me to a personal comment - I grind my teeth when I hear "newbies" to genealogy bemoaning that they cannot find everything on the net. Jean told about smaller genealogical societies that have only one or two volunteers available who have collected local information for decades. These small repositories don't have the money, time or expertise to put it on the web. Pardon me, "newbies" is a derogatory term. I meant "less experienced".
Her second session was an interesting description of "Deliveries in the Rear! Getting Family History Information through the Back Door." It is amazing the seemingly minor tidbits of family information that is stumbled upon in unrelated research. A search of a pension application can contain facts concerning a different family member. Wills and probates will often mention children and spouses that were previously unknown. Census records might have a surprising relative living in the research targets home. Jean described several of the backdoor items that significantly aided her research.
After lunch we had a discussion on "Communicating in Your Ancestors' Homeland: Understanding Other Cultures can Make or Break Overseas Research". The audience discussed the various definitions of Culture, Intercultural communication and Ethnocentrism. There were numerous examples by the audience of verbal and nonverbal communications and examples of how a person can unconsciously offend someone from a different culture.
The final session of the day drew the most interaction from the attendees. I'm speculating, but I think this was probably Jeans favorite session too. She spent the hour discussing the music and effects of the music on the lives of our ancestors. She concentrated on the music lore from our "Appalachian Ancestors: Their Lives, Legends, & Lyrics". Along with an interesting presentation, Jean and her husband Butch presented a number of songs from the Applachian areas. Many of these songs had morals and warnings incorporated into the lyrics. These songs have been passed down over generations and our audience joined in on most of them.
If you weren't able to attend the meeting, you missed a very enjoyable day! There are some photos of the meeting at SDGS Photo Albums
The first of the four sessions led us through various stages of her research in "Tracking a Family over Time and Miles". Jean walked us through the steps of working from what we know of our families back to our unknowns. She described the various libraries and websites that might prove usefull in our research. From several lesser known locations she found genealogical gems that are found nowhere else.
Which brings me to a personal comment - I grind my teeth when I hear "newbies" to genealogy bemoaning that they cannot find everything on the net. Jean told about smaller genealogical societies that have only one or two volunteers available who have collected local information for decades. These small repositories don't have the money, time or expertise to put it on the web. Pardon me, "newbies" is a derogatory term. I meant "less experienced".
Her second session was an interesting description of "Deliveries in the Rear! Getting Family History Information through the Back Door." It is amazing the seemingly minor tidbits of family information that is stumbled upon in unrelated research. A search of a pension application can contain facts concerning a different family member. Wills and probates will often mention children and spouses that were previously unknown. Census records might have a surprising relative living in the research targets home. Jean described several of the backdoor items that significantly aided her research.
After lunch we had a discussion on "Communicating in Your Ancestors' Homeland: Understanding Other Cultures can Make or Break Overseas Research". The audience discussed the various definitions of Culture, Intercultural communication and Ethnocentrism. There were numerous examples by the audience of verbal and nonverbal communications and examples of how a person can unconsciously offend someone from a different culture.
The final session of the day drew the most interaction from the attendees. I'm speculating, but I think this was probably Jeans favorite session too. She spent the hour discussing the music and effects of the music on the lives of our ancestors. She concentrated on the music lore from our "Appalachian Ancestors: Their Lives, Legends, & Lyrics". Along with an interesting presentation, Jean and her husband Butch presented a number of songs from the Applachian areas. Many of these songs had morals and warnings incorporated into the lyrics. These songs have been passed down over generations and our audience joined in on most of them.
If you weren't able to attend the meeting, you missed a very enjoyable day! There are some photos of the meeting at SDGS Photo Albums
64th Annual Seminar & Luncheon
We had our annual meeting and installation of new board and committee members yesterday, Jan 9, 2010. The day long affair was at the Crowne Plaza Hotel & Resort. I'm sure a good time was had by all. I will have another entry about the day long seminar.
President Marna Clemons presented the Societies Presidents Recognition award to Peter Steelquist. Peter is a past president, past newsletter editor, does the society taxes, and handles the genealogical queries. The queries job is one of the big "money makers" for the society. Good choice Marna and thanks Peter for all you do for the society.
The society officers and board members were announced and their new jobs began. I will list all that were on the meeting flier. Not all of the positions are listed here. There is a complete list on the SDGS Website on the About Us page.
President Marna Clemons presented the Societies Presidents Recognition award to Peter Steelquist. Peter is a past president, past newsletter editor, does the society taxes, and handles the genealogical queries. The queries job is one of the big "money makers" for the society. Good choice Marna and thanks Peter for all you do for the society.
The society officers and board members were announced and their new jobs began. I will list all that were on the meeting flier. Not all of the positions are listed here. There is a complete list on the SDGS Website on the About Us page.
Officers: |
|
President |
Marna Clemons |
1st Vice President |
Penny McBride |
2nd Vice President |
Carol Ulrey |
Secretary |
Diane McClure-Lott |
Treasurer |
Dwight Edwards |
Directors: |
|
Program Director |
Suzette Aprea |
Special Events |
Kristeen McCollough |
Membership |
Marie Boozel |
Librarian |
Pam Journey |
Director at Large |
Terry Mahaffey |
Historian |
Mary Card |
Publications and Committees |
|
Leaves & Saplings |
Marna Clemons |
Circulation |
Pat Allen |
Hospitality |
Adeline & Larry Shaw |
Queries |
Peter Steelquist |
Nominating |
Kristeen McCollough, Jean Jones, Jackie McMasters, Donna Swink (alternate) |
Honors & Recognition |
Marna Clemons |
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