Best of the Periodicals Take Their Boughs

Periodicals--newsletters and quarterlies--published by genealogical and historical societies and family associations are so valuable to the family history researcher they are worth all the effort it takes to locate them.

Winners of the 1986 Newsletter Competition were announced at the National Genealogical Society’s Conference on May 14 in Raleigh, N.C.

They were the German Genealogical Society of America, Box 291818, Los Angeles 90029 in Class I, edited by Kevin Tvedt; International Society for British Genealogy and Family History, Box 20425, Cleveland, Ohio 44120 in Class II, edited by Joy Wade Moulton, and in Class III, the winner was Ohio Genealogical Society, Box 2625, Mansfield, Ohio 44906, edited by Sunda Anderson Peters. Classes are determined by size of membership of each organization.

The German Genealogical Society publication features articles on research sources for German genealogy. It offers research (at $8 per surname for members) in its indexed records and additional private research is available at a cost of $10 per hour (two-hour minimum). Members receive the monthly bulletin plus GGSA’s quarterly, which contains in-depth and original articles on German genealogy and history. Membership costs $15 per year.

ISBGFH, a British/American publication, uses articles on genealogical events and research repositories in the British Isles. Its newsletter also features queries (by surnames) and information about British one-name societies. It is an outstanding source from which to obtain British genealogical books, through its arrangement with Phillimore Bookshop in England. Membership is $10 annually.

Ohio Genealogical Society, with a membership of more than 1,000, publishes news about its society and chapters and has a large queries sections. Membership fee is $16 per year.

Most genealogical and historical societies publish quarterlies and/or newsletters focusing on records of genealogical interest in their county and state. Ethnic, religious and hereditary societies also have publications.

Societies do not do research, though many offer some research services--usually in indexed records. If you need to locate someone who will research in a particular locale, write to a society and ask for names of researchers and their fees.

To locate the names and addresses of approximately 1,550 organizations in the United States and Canada consult Meyer’s Directory of Genealogical Societies in the U.S.A. and Canada, edited by Mary K. Meyer, 5179 Perry Road, Mt. Airy, Md. 21771. If your library does not have a copy, it’s available from the editor for $20.50 postpaid. Summit Publications, Box 222, Munroe Falls, Ohio 44262, publishes a Directory of Genealogical Periodicals ($4) and a Directory of Family One-Name Periodicals ($5). Other helpful guides from Summit are its List of 118 Hereditary Organizations and List of 82 Ethnic and 60 Religious Genealogical and Historical Societies and Archives. They are available for $2 each.

By using Meyer’s directory you look first under the state and then by county to learn the names of societies. Addresses, as well as information pertaining to membership costs and publications, are included for many societies.

For example, membership in the Central Florida Genealogical and Historical Society in Orlando costs $15 per year. It publishes a quarterly, Buried Treasures, and a monthly, Treasure Chest News. Under its entry is the notation that this society collects members’ pedigree charts for a future publication, has abstracted all Orange County, Fla., cemeteries and has available for sale Marriage Records of Orange County, Fla., 1869-1899.

Be sure to see Section III of Meyer’s directory. This is an alphabetical arrangement of independent genealogical periodicals. They range from Appalachian Roots, Bushwhackers and Rockthumpers to Computer Pioneer, The Second Boat and Swedish American Genealogist.

Genealogical books are wonderful, but you are more likely to find references to your families in periodicals.