Join us in February to prepare for the release of the 1940 Census with NARA archivist Shane Bell.

Mark your calendars for the annual COGS Genealogy and History EXPO which will be held on March 17th from 10 am to 4 pm. There will be heritage societies, genealogy related vendors, and breakout sessions.

Check the meetings page for more information.

Follow the link to see the photos of members and guests as they participate in COGS activities.

Meetings updated January 20, 2012

COGS Member Honored
for His "Outstanding Contribution
to the Field of Genealogy"

Long time COGS member Greg Crane was recently honored by the Georgia Genealogical Society for his 2011 "Outstanding Contribution to the Field of Genealogy." The award was given in recognition of his creation of the "Ask Granny"© genealogical outreach program which provides free instructional materials for those who want to make sure that the family memories of our senior citizens are not lost.

Greg has been actively involved in genealogy for 34 years. Since coming to Athens in 1995 he has served as Membership V.P. and Publications Officer in COGS. He has also taught the very popular "From Known to Unknown" classes in genealogy for Learning in Retirement / Osher Lifelong Learning Foundation (OLLI) and chaired the Genealogy Interest Group in LIR.

Greg and his "Ask Granny" co-author, Judy Russell, met at a COGS meeting and their conversation about finding a way to capture irreplaceable family details concerning names, dates, and locations led to their creation of the materials and spreading the idea by means of the internet.

Since the creation of "Ask Granny"© in 2009, Greg and Judy have visited 32 senior citizen groups in South Carolina and north Georgia and helped over 600 men and women fill in a enhanced ancestral chart titled "A Genealogical Gift to My Family." Each participant gets a free red folder in which to place the chart and other important family details in the hopes that the material will become part of a family legacy.

The "Ask Granny"© program has also been distributed at no cost to genealogical and historical societies, genealogical libraries, and family reunion groups world-wide by means of free emailed pdf files. The materias have been sent to 46 states and 4 foreign countries. There are also very active "Ask Granny"© chapters in Australia and Canada.

Greg is currently setting up 2012 sessions for local and north Georgia senior citizen groups. Let him know (ask.granny.us@gmail.com) if you'd like to get involved in the outreach to senior citizens. "Granny" sessions take about an hour and are guaranteed to bring some surprises, fun, and great satisfaction.

Mary Hoit Abbe and her volunteers are working hard abstracting the Clarke County, Georgia Tax Digests 1802 to 1810. This will be our next publication. Follow the link to see publications that are currently available.

COGS is always looking for volunteers to help with projects or to help set up for monthly meetings and special events. Please let one of the officers know or email us at the address below if you are willing to help.

COGS News cont.

NBC recently announced the celebrities who will be tracing their family trees on season three of "Who Do You Think You Are" which premiers Feb. 3 from 8 to 9 pm.

This years celebrities include: Martin Sheen, Marisa Tomei, Blair Underwood, Reba McEntire, Rob Lowe, Helen Hunt, Rita Wilson, Edie Falco, Rashida Jones, Jerome Bettis, Jason Sudeikis and Paula Deen.

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An archive of historic Athens newspapers is now available online via the Digital Library of Georgia http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/
athnewspapers

The Athens Historic Newspapers Archive provides online access to five newspaper titles published in Athens from 1827 to 1922! Consisting of more than 57,000 newspaper pages, the archive provides historical images that are both full-text searchable and can be browsed by date.

The archive includes the following Athens newspaper titles: Athenian (1827-1832), Southern Banner (1832-1882), Southern Watchman (1855-1882), Daily/Weekly Banner-Watchman (1882-1889), Daily/Weekly Athens Banner (1889-1922).

Thanks to Donnie Summerlin who shared his expertise on this database at our August 2011 meeting.

Support COGS! For an annual membership fee of just $15 you will receive a quarterly newsletter and notification about all of our programs. Your dues are also used to help pay honorariums for speakers, purchase resources for local libraries, and offset costs for special events and preservation of historical data. COGS membership provides a wonderful opportunity to talk with and learn from others who share your interest.

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last update Sunday, 22-Jan-2012 08:53:34 MST