Halfway Through 2024: Genealogy Progress and Plans

Six months ago, I made a list of genealogy priorities for 2024. Now, halfway through the year, how am I doing?

• Create a family history photo book about my husband's paternal grandparents. 💙 Done! Family really liked this final grandparent photo book, which included dramatic episodes from the lives of Wood and Slatter ancestors. Now I'm working on a booklet about the 50+ military ancestors in my husband's family tree, with the goal of finishing by end of 2024.
• Continue writing and posting bite-sized bios of ancestors. 👍 Never-ending, but making excellent progress, still posting brief ancestor bios on WikiTree, Find a Grave, and more. Remember, LOCKSS (lots of copies keeps stuff safe)--including family history--so I'm spreading my ancestors around.
• Switch old photos from archival sleeves to safe, convenient photo albums, a project that fell to the back burner in 2023. 😟 Uh-oh, still on back burner. No progress at all, even though all materials are in the house. Maybe later this summer?! 
• Continue redoing research on focus ancestors, as new info becomes available and as I try different sites. 👍 Huge progress. This is partly why the photos are on the back burner: So many different sites to use for research and so much new info found! Plus I've gone down the in-law rabbit hole many times, especially for those who had no descendants so I want to be sure they're documented and remembered. More fun than a barrel of rabbits 🐰 LOL.
• Slim down and reorganize surname file folders. 👍 Real progress. Just last week as I was recycling redundant printed Census documents, I "rediscovered" photos of graves in the same file folder. Some I had never posted on Find a Grave and other sites, so I took care of that pronto. As I did, I became the "manager" of a few Find a Grave memorials that were up for grabs because original managers were no longer active. And of course I had to fill in with bite-sized bios so...🐰

One priority I hadn't listed was participating in multiple WikiTree Connect-a-Thons. The two so far have spurred me to add even more ancestors to WikiTree, as I was on Team L'Chaim, and got me deeper into categorization. The next Connect-a-Thon is in July, and I plan to participate once again. It's a fun way to focus my genealogy efforts on specific people for a specific time. 

In between, I'm adding to my WikiTree and adopting occasional ancestors' FindaGrave memorial pages that are "up for grabs." Finally, my plan for the second half of 2024 is to continue my genealogy education with webinars and genealogy meetings. 

How has your genealogy been going in 2024? 

Looking Back at 2023 Genealogy Results

As 2023 begins to fade into the history books, a look back at what I thought my priorities in genealogy would be this past year--and what they really turned out to be.

My planned genealogy priorities for 2023

One year ago, I set five priorities for my genealogy activities in 2023: (1) continue writing/posting bite-sized ancestor bios, (2) resume my photo album project, (3) redo research about ancestors of particular interest, (4) continue my genealogy presentations, and (5) further my genealogy education. Oh, and I wanted to clean out the unneeded scribbled notes in my surname files.

My actual genealogy priorities in 2023

Family-history photo books (a variation on bite-sized ancestor bios) turned out to be my absolutely top priority this past year, something that wasn't on my list at all. Why? Because in February, relatives asked questions about what our ancestors did during World War II. I wanted to provide answers that could be saved and reviewed again and again.

In response to the questions, I created my first-ever family-history photo book about ancestors in WWII. It was only 6 inches by 6 inches, with colorful front and back covers (see image above, from back cover) and 20 pages of info about my Dad (US Army), my uncles (US Army), my aunt (WAC), and my parents' cousins who served in the war (in the US Army, US Army Air Corps, US Marines, US Navy, and National Guard units). 

This tiny book was a big hit with the next generation! So I went "all in" on family-history photo books during the year, creating one about my maternal grandparents, one about my paternal grandparents, and one about my Mom and her twin sister. All were well received. Just last month, I completed a photo book about my husband's maternal grandparents, and last week I reordered copies for other relatives after previewing and editing one copy. In all, a very worthwhile priority that will continue into 2024.

In addition, I wrote many bite-sized bios of ancestors to post on WikiTree, Fold3, Find a Grave, and other sites, as I originally planned for 2023, and will continue into 2024. 

I began cleaning out handwritten notes from my surname files, saving the info as comments on my trees or otherwise consolidating for less paper clutter. This is something I usually do on the fly while looking for other info in those files. 

What slipped to 2024

When those photo books jumped onto the front burner, other priorities had to wait. Now on the back burner is my photo album project, which will show up on the "to do" list for 2024 (more on that in another blog post). 

Also slipping to 2024 was some (not all) of my in-depth research on particular focus ancestors, particularly those from Eastern Europe. I'm pursuing a couple of leads and may yet have an interesting breakthrough before the end of 2023. 

Genealogy presentations and education

I gave more than a dozen virtual presentations live in 2023, and already have dates lined up for 2024. Continuing my own genealogy education, I watched dozens of excellent webinars (both live and recorded) from a variety of sources: Legacy Family Tree Webinars, Virtual Genealogy Association, WikiTree Symposium, Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center, Center for Jewish History, Jewish Genealogy Society of CT, Kentucky Genealogical Society, and other genealogy groups around the country. I really appreciate the opportunity to learn from experts.

Tip: Always download the handouts when available! Maybe I can't use all of the info or instructions right away, but I might want to consult the handout in the future. I have one digital file where I store handouts and conference syllabi from the past decade. Thank you to the many speakers who put so much detail into their handouts! 

Mid-Year Progress on 2023 Genealogy Priorities

 

Here we are, halfway through 2023! Randy Seaver's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun prompt is to write an update on the status of our goals and priorities for the year.

At the start of my 25th year as family historian, I said my priorities would be: 

• Continue writing bite-sized ancestor bios - I'm slowly but steadily writing and posting more bios, mainly short ones, on multiple genealogy platforms. When I come across an ancestor or ancestor-in-law without a FindaGrave memorial, I jot a memo to create one, as I did for my husband's 1c1r Edward Sherman Lower and his wife, Jeanette Jenkins Lower. NOTE: I don't mention living people in bios, for privacy reasons.
• Research ancestors and FAN club members of particular interest - Yes, moving ahead with this especially in-laws. Just this week I went down the rabbit hole researching the cousins of my hubby's 2c3r Elfie Asenath Mosse. Fascinating family background--collecting colorful stories that I know will engage the next generation.
• Genealogy presentations - It was a busy first half for presentations, including my new Fold3 program, which I presented six times. The most-requested talk remains Planning A Future for Your Family's Past, which I'll be giving again in September for the folks at WHAGS (West Houston Area Genealogy Society).
• Genealogy education - I've watched a ton of informative webinars so far in 2023, including live talks hosted by various genealogy clubs. TY to the many thoughtful presenters who provide detailed handouts, which guide me in applying what I've learned even weeks after the talk. 
• Resume moving photos into archival photo albums - um, no progress yet but my Sis will be helping me in coming months. For now, old family photos are stored safely in archival boxes.

A top priority I didn't even have at the start of 2023 is to create professional photo books of specific ancestors, families, and/or events. Early this year, a young relative asked about our family's participation during World War II. Oh yes, I know a lot about that topic and created a small (6 inch x 6 inch) photo book filled with photos and stories. Currently, I'm creating my fourth photo book of the year, the longest book because I knew these ancestors personally and have lots of photos and anecdotes. 

More family history photo books to come and more genealogical adventures to come, including my second WikiTree Connect-A-Thon of 2023, beginning on July 14th.