Mass-Observation

One of the suggestions making the rounds in this time of Covid-19 is for everyone to keep a journal of what daily life is like. This could provide a much-needed context for future generations. But this is nothing new. People have been keeping daily journals as far back as there has been writing.

In 1937, a project was started in England to recruit observers and writers. They named the project Mass Observation and the project continued into the ’50s. The purpose of the project, started by an anthropologist, was to study the everyday lives of ordinary Brits. The project restarted in 1981 and continues today.

M.O archives are kept at the University of Sussex and include reports, diaries, questionnaires, and other items. Most materials are only available by visiting the archives (or if you are part of an affiliated academic institution) but there are catalogs for the collection. https://www.thekeep.info/collections/mass-observation-archive/the-mass-observation-collection/

It requires some digging to see what kind of diaries they have available. 
At https://www.sussex.ac.uk/library/special-collections/massobssearch/diaries you can search the 1939-1965 diaries by occupation or place of residence among other fields. Unfortunately, there are no names included so you can’t search to see if your family member participated but you might be able to locate a similar person.

There have also been a number of books written based on M.O materials. There’s a long list of them at http://www.massobs.org.uk/mass-observation-1937-1950s. Many of these are available in libraries or to order. (I have 4 or 5 on order.) If you are interested in families that lived in England during World War II, some of these books may give you some good details.

Currently, the project sends out three questionnaires or directives a year to participants. These questionnaires ask a variety of questions depending on current events or other topics. For example, in the Summer of 1981, they asked observers to provide details of how they spent Wednesday 29 July – from getting out of bed until going to sleep. The title of this directive was “Royal Wedding – Celebration or bore?.”  While you can’t easily access the responses online you can see what type of questions were asked on each directive. http://www.massobs.org.uk/mass-observation-project-directives. Looking through these questions gives you a really good idea of what was on the minds of ordinary Brits at various times.

Hopefully, at some point, all this great material will be made easily available to the “ordinary” researcher. It looks like it could be a genealogical gold mine.

Thanks to Erik Larson in his book The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz for his mention of the M.O. and sending me digging for more information.

SLIG 2020 - Thursday - It's about the networking!!!!

One of the best things about SLIG is the informal networking that goes on. For instance, last night several of us sat around and just chatted about how we organize our work and why we do it that way. We talked about some brick walls we had. We talked about the DNA kits we managed.

Tonight we had a Virtual Genealogical Association meet-up and we remarked about how funny it was that everyone was interested in a book I recommended - Encyclopedia of Religions in the South. (Thanks to Mark Lowe for that one.) We weren't all surprised to be discussing the laws of Virginia and how they impact the inheritance of an illegitimate son. I think my kids probably think that discussion is weird.

Throughout the week I've got some really interesting ideas for further research. I've heard some really interesting tidbits that people have learned in other courses. And I've had a lot of fun.

Many of us have a small group of people we meet up with each January in SLIG and hang out with. It's one of the benefits of coming every year. And when we're sitting around chatting, we're always happy to include others. This networking also happens at the FHL!! I suspect we sometimes get a bit noisy there. (and yes we have been reprimanded there once but I blame that totally on Cyndi Ingle).

The SLIG committee provides "formal" networking opportunities. Some of the various groups, like past classes, ProGen, VGA, etc. provide opportunities for meet-ups - at lunch or at the end of the day. I love to take advantage of these but I do have to pace myself so I am sometimes a bit selective. But frankly, I find the informal networking over a meal or a glass of something to be more rewarding. Whichever you choose, be sure to take advantage of being surround by 404 other genealogists!!!!

Disclaimer - The Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy has provided me a discount on my SLIG 2020 tuition for my participation as a SLIG Ambassador. The opinions expressed are my own.

SLIG 2020 - Wednesday

One of my favorite things about SLIG is the wonderful Syllabus we get in each course. They are chock full of information, bibliographies, glossaries, etc.

They take on a special significance by Wednesday - when I start to really drag and find it harder to concentrate. I love knowing I have all the information at my fingertips when I get home. The amount of time the course coordinators take to put these syllabi together is mind-blowing.

I still refer to each of my syllabi from past courses often. I've already circled a number of things in my Virginia book that I need to track down as soon as I get home. I can tell that my portfolio may get put on hold for a couple of weeks while I dig into Virginia resources!  The good thing is that some of what I've learned in Virginia has given me new avenues of research for other non-Virginia projects I'm working on.

Two days to go!!!

Disclaimer - The Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy has provided me a discount on my SLIG 2020 tuition for my participation as a SLIG Ambassador. The opinions expressed are my own.

SLIG Day 2

Day 2 is in the books - at least for me. I thought I tried to stuff a lot in my head yesterday - today was even scarier!!!. I can't wait to find time to dig through all I've learned and put it to work. I did have some momentary excitement when Vic Dunn talked about the Van Meter family which is one of the families I'm researching. Of course, he dashed my hopes by telling me how common that name really is. But I'm definitely going to dig into that line more to see what else I can find.

Lunchtime brought a fun SLIG Virtual Intermediate meet-up. There have been two of these classes - the inaugural course in the Spring and the 2nd course in the Fall - both were wonderfully coordinated by Sara Scribner. It was nice to meet people in person after only seeing and hearing them on Zoom. We all talked about how much we got out of this course and were excited to hear that SLIG will be offering it again in the Fall of 2020. I'd recommend that you look at the course description when it gets published and consider signing up. Yes, there is homework - but you have time to get it done.

Tuesday also brought the start of Class Photos. I can't think of anything to say about those... I'm sure that my eyes were closed or something equally weird. But it's also nice to see the whole group together.

Tomorrow is hump day. Hope everyone gets a good nights sleep!!!



Disclaimer - The Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy has provided me a discount on my SLIG 2020 tuition for my participation as a SLIG Ambassador. The opinions expressed are my own.

Monday at SLIG 2020

First day of class... Surprising how many people were dragging already!!!

The first day of the Virginia class provided me with some great insight into the odd pronunciations in Virginia - like Botetourt and Kanawha. I think I can pronounce them now. Listening to Barbara Vines Little and Vic Dunn was like drinking from a fire hose. My head's ready to explode. (Yes I'm mixing my metaphors.)

SLIG Central was up and running today. I've heard great reports about the selection of books at Maia's. I haven't checked them out yesterday - I'm very afraid. Ran into a lot of old friends - heard so many great things about the other courses - I wish I could be in two (or three) places at once.

Disclaimer – The Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy has provided me a discount on my SLIG 2020 tuition for my participation as a SLIG ambassador. The opinions expressed are my own.

SLIG 2020 Sunday -#SLIG2020

While classes start on Monday, Sunday is really the first day of SLIG in my mind. Many folks have been here for a couple of days, researching at the Family History Library and getting reacquainted with old friends. Many folks just arrived today. Weather in Salt Lake City has been snowy and cold (although not bad to this Minnesotan).

Registration is always fun - you can see who's in your class, start looking at the amazing syllabi put together by the amazing course coordinators. (Apparently, Tom Jones doesn't like it when we overuse the word amazing but it does seem fitting.)

Then comes Orientation (with door prizes) and a fun social hour with entertainment - it's always a mystery until they come out. We've had Island dancers, jingle dancers, and other fun and unexpected treats. Tonight we had Chinese Lion Dancers. They were energetic, kind of cheeky and a lot of fun although I did not get lettuce spit on me for good luck. We had some nice food (Chinese of course) and John Colletta very nicely shared some yummy chocolate truffles. All in all, it was a nice start to the week.

Most people have now returned to their rooms to crash. I'm looking forward to learning all about Virginia research - and hearing good things from the other courses. Don't forget to dress in layers tomorrow, wear your name tags and be prepared to learn and have fun!!!

#SLIG2020

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Disclaimer - The Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy has provided me a discount on my SLIG 2020 tuion for my participation as a SLIG ambassador. The opinions expressed are my own.

A Fresh Start

Every year, Amy Johnson Crow does the #52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks blog challenge. She provides the prompts and the goal is to write a story about an ancestor using the prompt. The stories people tell are interesting and varied – one can interpret the prompts in many different ways. Every year I swear I’m going to push myself to write at least 12 of those prompts. And every year I write at least one!

I’ve been thinking all week about  the first topic – A Fresh Start. This seems to literally apply to almost all of my relatives. My grandmother moved to Chicago from southern Illinois after my grandfather died – to get a fresh start. Many of my ancestors moved from the old country to the US – to get a fresh start. Earlier ancestors moved from North Carolina to Kentucky and Tennessee – before ending up in southern Illinois – all for a fresh start.

Each one most likely had something different in mind when making that fresh start. There was the promise of new land and better farms, working coal mines, staying one-step ahead of the law, better jobs and a new neighborhood. I imagine each relative had high hopes that this fresh start would be the right start. In some cases it was – in some cases, things didn’t change much. But that’s the chance you take when you make a fresh start!

For me, this year is somewhat of a fresh start. It’s not anywhere near as grand and scary as the fresh starts made by my ancestors. I’ve reduced most of my commitments and plan to concentrate on two things – working on my BCG certification portfolio and doing more writing. Of course it’s not that simple! Both require a ton of research and learning. But that’s what keeps me interested in genealogy and  keeps me coming back for more – the challenge of that  next new thing that’s around the corner – that fresh start!!!