The holidays always get me even more reflective than usual, which is pretty hard to do for such an analytical person as myself. I was thinking the other day: in terms of my genealogy research , what would be my dream find or dream occurrence?
Of course, like all of you, you know there’s not just one. But here’s my list of what I would consider the answer to my genealogy dreams:
- To discover where and when the slaveowner Giles Holt acquired my ancestor, Malinda.
- To discover anything about the Georgia roots of my ancestor John Smith (arrgghhhh).
- To connect with any living descendants of my John Smith and Walter Springer lines (beyond the very few that I personally know.)
- To find out where, and possibly find the headstone of, my ggrandfather Daniel G. Waters.
- To find a picture of my ancestor Margaret Barnes.
- For closed record states not to exist.
- For the ability to order FHC microfilm online, instead of having to go there in person.
- For the Social Security Administration to have mercy on us po’ struggling genealogists, and cut us a discount on those SS5s.
- For me to not have to still work full-time, and be able to spend all day researching, transcribing, compiling & meeting with my genealogy buddies.
- For the fires that destroyed the 1890 census and the bulk of 20th century Army records to not have happened!
- For more interest on the part of family members in preserving our precious family history.
- For my two grandparents, Luther Holt & Pauline Waters, to magically come back to life so I could actually interview them about their families. Hey–we are dreaming right?
I also read an intriguing article in the NGS Magazine where the President called upon us to make a list of our genealogy goals for the year. So, while my dreams at the moment remain only that, I’d like to share my tangible goals for the year as well:
- Publish at least 3 articles about my family in various journals and newsletters.
- Finish adding complete source citations to my genealogy software program & my Ancestry online family trees.
- Distribute the documented family history on at least 3 of my lines to the Library of Congress, the archives of that line’s state, the public library of the county and the county’s historical society. My descendants will find my work!
- Contribute at least 3 bodies of work to the genealogical community to help others–abstracts, transcriptions, compilations, etc.
- Continue to meet and encourage others to research & especially to publish our histories.
So…what are YOUR genealogy dreams and goals?
I’ve been thinking about my own goals for 2010. Maybe if I actually list them on the blogs, I can stay on track.
Those are outstanding goals! I’ve been thinking a lot about doing several of the same things, but I’m realizing more and more that my self-training probably isn’t enough to cut it in the “real” genealogy world, so I also plan to take some kind of a class, or at least start attending genealogy workshops to get some more technical training in our field!
Great goals. I hope you accomplish as many as possible. I’d like to take some courses to help develop my skills, and maybe join a study group. I do have many more. I like the idea of making a list. That will probably help me to get organized and stay focused. Thanks for the idea.
Fantastic share here and I appreciate your take on things. One thing I’ve noticed is what we think about is 100% what we become. We create our own reality.