Here is the link for an article in Genealogy Insider announcing that the Library of Congress has added 25,000 Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps to its free online collection. This is an incredible boon for historians and genealogists!
To go directly to the Sanborn Map Collection: https://www.loc.gov/collections/sanborn-maps/about-this-collection/
Martin Davis, a longtime reference librarian at Alderman Library, died on Monday the 29th. He was active in CVGA for many years, and at one time was the coordinator of the Computer Interest Group of CVGA.
Here’s the link to the obituary in the Daily Progress:
On May 13, 2017 CVGA enjoyed a field trip to the Virginia Historical Society. We carpooled to Richmond. Several individuals enjoyed the self-guided tour “The Story of Virginia” while several members conducted research at the library located at the Historical Society. We also had lunch at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts which is next door to the Historical Society.
The self-guided tour was very informative with facts regarding Virginia from early exploration in the 1600s to information about the 20thcentury. There were maps, photos, paintings, and artifacts. There were also interactive exhibits that encouraged you to test your knowledge of Virginia.
The library has a collection of published genealogical materials and manuscript collections. The material can be requested and reviewed in the reading room. A valid ID is required and only pencils are allowed in the reading room. If you plan to go for research, be sure to check out the VHS website and “Getting Access and What to Bring.”
Access to the Virginia Historical Society, including the library, is free; however, there are exhibits that require a ticket which can be purchased.
OLLI at UVa Special Presentation
free and open to everyone
The Great Influenza Epidemic in
Charlottesville and
Albemarle County
Date and Time: Friday, May 19 from 1:30-3:00 p.m.
Location: Unity of Charlottesville, 2825 Hydraulic Road
From the summer of 1918 to the spring of 1919 a worldwide epidemic of deadly influenza killed millions. In those few months millions of Americans caught the flu and almost 700,000 died, more than all who died in America’s wars combined (except the Civil War). The medical system was overwhelmed, and government at all levels struggled to respond. The epidemic left few families, rich or poor, untouched. When it arrived in Charlottesville-Albemarle in September 1918, the community faced a crisis as hospitals filled, doctors and nurses worked virtually around the clock, and volunteers stepped forward to care for the sick and dying. This presentation and discussion will focus on an overview of what happened nationally and on events in Charlottesville and Albemarle County. Participants whose families preserved stories about the epidemic are encouraged to bring them to the discussion.
Addeane Caelleigh is a historian with special interests in social and cultural aspects of extreme events such as epidemics and natural disasters. She worked in academic publishing for many years, including serving as editor in chief of Academic Medicine. Recently retired from the faculty of the University of Virginia School of Medicine, and still serving as a visiting scholar, she is currently researching the 1918-1919 Influenza Epidemic in central Virginia.
Reservations requested but not required
434-923-3600 or olliuva@virginia.edu
The monthly meeting on May 13 for CVGA will be a road trip to the Virginia Historical Society in Richmond. We will be doing a self-guided tour of the Story of Virginia. This will involve walking for approximately an hour. VHS also has a library available for research. A photo id is required to check out material for review. There is no admission charge.
If you would like to come along, contact Patricia Lukas or Linda Gore–you should have already received a private email with phone numbers today. If you have not, please email the Webmaster for a copy of the email. Let us know if you are willing to drive or if you need a ride. Linda Gore has volunteered to drive from the Zion Crossroads location.
If you are driving in from somewhere other than Albemarle/Charlottesville area, let us know so we can look forward to meeting you there.
We will have two meeting places: the parking lot at Pantops Shopping Center near Food Lion and the parking lot at Zion Crossroads Shopping Center near McDonalds. We will leave from Pantops at 9:00 am and 9:30 am from Zion Crossroads.
The Virginia Historical Society is located at 428 North Boulevard, Richmond, VA. It will take about 1 hour 15 minutes to get there from Charlottesville. The museum is open from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. We will have lunch on our own. The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts is next door and they have two good restaurants.
Note: If you plan to use the VHS library, you can prepare by searching the VHS Library catalog from home, so you have an idea which documents you will want to see.
http://www.vahistorical.org/collections-and-resources/search-collections
We also suggest that you bring a couple of research problems, since you can be working on one while the Library staff is retrieving materials for the other.
Every year, Fluvanna County holds Old Farm Day as sort of a county fair. This year, CVGA will participate with a table in the pole barn, where we will offer back issues of the Central Virginia Heritage for sale, along with a number of other books and research handouts. Please come out and join us.
Old Farm Day is held at Pleasant Grove Park, and entrance is free for children under twelve, and $5 for all others. Proceeds benefit the Fluvanna Historical Society and the fund to create a permanent Farm Heritage Museum in Pleasant Grove Park. Sorry, no pets allowed on grounds. For more information, check the website above.
If you are unable to attend RootsTech in Salt Lake City, Utah, from Feb. 8-11, 2017, you can participate and expand your genealogy and family history education by watching the sessions live online for free. Here are some links and resources to get you ready for live streaming:
Click here for detail and help on getting set up. Live streaming will appear on the main website at http://www.rootstech.org.
To see a synopsis of the schedule and how to access more resources, go to GeneaBloggers by clicking on the photo below:
http://www.geneabloggers.com/rootstech-2017-live-streaming-schedule-announced/
A snippet from Sam Towler’s article, “Albemarle County Chancery Cases Preservation Project”:
In the 1970s, Albemarle County sent most of the chancery cases in its files which ended before 1912 to the Library of Virginia. The Library of Virginia preserved all the cases they received and put them in acid-free folders to prevent deterioration. With the Albemarle County Clerk’s approval, I have been working on a project to preserve the post-1900 cases that Albemarle still had at the Courthouse in Charlottesville by unfolding the documents and putting the papers in acid-free folders provided by the Clerk’s Office.
For the rest of this article, and several others, go to “Members Only” on the menu bar above, and choose “Central Virginia Heritage — Current Issue.” (Note: You have to be logged in to this website in order to see “Members Only.”)
For those who are not members, we offer the opportunity to purchase a printed copy of each issue. The Winter 2016 issue is available from CreateSpace.com/6782694 for $6.50. Click on the CreateSpace.com link above or search for “Central Virginia Heritage” on the Createspace.com Store site.
If you have trouble logging in to the site to download your copy, or if you have trouble with the CreateSpace.com site, please contact me at the webmaster link at the bottom of this page.
Table of Contents for the Winter 2016 issue:
P.S. Wouldn’t you like to see your research published in this beautiful magazine? Send it to any of the CVGA officers on the About CVGA page.
On December 6th, Alison Barnes, the Corresponding Secretary of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society (AAHGS), sent the following email to members of that organization who have been transcribing the records of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands (the Freedmen’s Bureau) for the past 18 months.
Thank you for all your hard work on the Freedmen’s Bureau Project. Together, AAHGS members were part of making history and contributed to the 100% completion of indexing the Freedmen’s Bureau Project.
The database is now a permanent part of the Genealogy Exhibit at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) in Washington, D.C.
Tomorrow, December 6th, 2016, marks the culmination of the project. At 9AM EST the indexed Freedmen’s Bureau Records was formally presented to NMAAHC. Go to http://www.discoverfreedmen.or
The members of CVGA congratulate the members of the AAHGS on the successful completion of this project. It is a noteworthy achievement and will make these records available to genealogists and historians alike.