Virginia Repositories—Richmond Region

Chesterfield Historical Society of Virginia
10111 Iron Bridge Road
Chesterfield, Va. 23832

Phone: 804-796-7121
Web: http://www.chesterfieldhistory.com/
E-mail:  admin@chesterfieldhistory.com


Distance from Convention Center:  18.6 miles (24 minutes).  We are located at the intersection of Krause Road and Route 10 (Ironbridge Road) in Chesterfield, VA.  From the I-95 exit onto Route 10, proceed west for 6.5 miles, turn right at Krause Road.  Turn left into the School Board parking lot and follow blue signs.

Be Prepared

The Library of the Chesterfield Historical Society is a reference facility open to the public Monday through Friday, 10:00 a.m.‒4:00 p.m.  Use of the library is free. A fee is charged for photocopies (10‒25 cents depending on size).  Microfilm readers are available but no printers.

Holdings

You are certain to find information on your family if they lived in Chesterfield County.  Published county and family histories are here, as are abstracts of marriages, wills, deeds, and census records.  There’s a comprehensive collection of maps, 1607‒1991, and a picture collection of over 1,000 images.  The manuscript collection includes church minute books, Bible records, genealogical charts, and records of the Health Department.

Collection

Carefully collected by volunteers are records of over 12,000 known burials in Chesterfield County. See the link to county cemeteries on the CHSV website.  There are individual files on each cemetery, many with photographs and family information.  A collection of vertical files includes family history files, group sheets, and pedigree charts.

Chesterfield Historical  Society of Virginia

Services

Write-in research requests, a minimum of $25 for focused, limited research.  Copies are extra.

Gift shop, publications for sale

The Museum Gift Shop, located inside the Magnolia Grange Historic House Museum, offers many Chesterfield-oriented gift items. Reproductions of 18th century tavern ware, reprint maps and a fine selection of local history books are available.  Open Tuesday through Friday from 10:00 a.m.‒4:00 p.m. and Saturday from 10:00 a.m.‒2:00 p.m.

Virginia Repositories—Richmond Region

Richmond Discoveries' Tours

Virginia State Capitol 

Tour Registration Ends 1 April  2014!

Tuesday, 1 April  is the official deadline to sign up for pre-conference tours in historic and beautiful Richmond, Virginia! Registration will remain open after that date ONLY for the tours that have met the required minimum number of attendees.

At this point, these tours are in serious danger of being canceled.

Colonial Williamsburg and Swem Library Research Trip, 5 May (7:30 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.)

Cost per Person: $78    (minimum 30, maximum 55 attendees)
Note: Includes round-trip transportation from Richmond to Williamsburg and an expert local guide to provide driving tour and be a “go to” person for attendees. This does NOT include admission to Colonial Williamsburg's attractions.

Richmond’s Black Heritage Tour, 5 May (1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.)

Cost per Person: $48    (minimum 30, maximum 100 attendees TOTAL)
Note: Transportation, guide, and attractions included. The upper story of the Maggie Walker House, NPS, is not accessible for those with mobility restrictions.

Richmond Discoveries Tour 6 May (8:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.) 

Cost per Person: $59    (minimum 30, maximum 55 attendees per tour)
Note: Transportation, guide, and attractions included. The upper story of the Dabbs House Museum is not accessible for those with mobility restrictions.

Patriots and Presidents Tour 6 May (8:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.)

Cost per Person: $51    (minimum 25, maximum 32 attendees per tour)
Note: Transportation, guide, and attractions included. This tour requires some moderate walking at the Capitol Square and at Hollywood Cemetery.

Register TODAY by visiting the tour registration page on our website and using the passcode NGS2014 (case sensitive).

http://www.richmonddiscoveries.com/ngs.php

Feel free to contact us at (804) 222-8595 or at richmonddiscoveries@cavtel.net. We are often out doing programs, but leave a message and we will respond.

Thank you and we look forward to seeing your registrations so we may share Richmond’s long and fascinating history with you!

Richmond Discoveries' Tours

New York Conference Track

The New York Genealogical and Biographical Society 

36 West 44th St., 7th Floor

New York, NY 10036-8105

Web: http://www.newyorkfamilyhistory.org

E-mail: jane@4gtetmenotancestry.com

Thursday, 8 May 2014, NYG&B features five conference lectures and a luncheon. For details about the Thursday program at the NGS 2014 Family History Conference, hear Jane E. Wilcox, host of the Forget-Me-Not-Hour radio show, interview each speaker about their upcoming lectures at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/janeewilcox/2014/03/20/ny-track-at-ngs-richmond-2014. 

The broadcast was announced on this blog 18 March 2014. 

Jane E. Wilcox

Also read Jane's recent blog post at http://www.4getmenotancestry.com/new-york-track-at-ngs-richmond/. 

New York Conference Track

Official Conference Social Media

Ancestry Insider 

The Ancestry Insider blog is the unofficial, unauthorized view of Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org. The Ancestry Insider reports on, defends, and constructively criticizes these two websites and associated topics. The author attempts to fairly and evenly support both. The Ancestry Insider blog is a readers’ choice news and resources blog, honored as part of Family Tree Magazine’s “40 Best Genealogy Blogs.” It was named a “25 Most Popular Genealogy Blogs” by ProGenealogists, and Family Tree Magazine’s “101 Best Web Sites” award.

The Ancestry Insider is  genealogical technologist. He has been an insider at both Ancestry.com and FamilySearch. He has a post-graduate technology degree and holds a dozen technology patents in the United States and abroad. He has done genealogy since 1972 and has worked in the computer industry since 1978. He was Time Magazine Man of the Year in both 1966 and 2006. Conference attendees are among the few nationwide to learn his secret identity. And he really is descended from an Indian princess.

Web Page: http://www.ancestryinsider.org/

Official Conference Social Media

Virginia Repositories—Richmond

James Branch Cabell Library

Special Collections and Archives
James Branch Cabell Library
Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries
901 Park Ave.
Richmond, VA 23284-2033

Phone:  804-828-1108
E-mail:  libjbcsca@vcu.edu 





Web:  http://www.library.vcu.edu/about/special-collections/cabell/


Open Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m.‒5:00 p.m. All other times are by appointment.

Located approximately one mile from the Greater Richmond Convention Center:  We are located on the Monroe Park campus of Virginia Commonwealth University just one mile west of the Library of Virginia.

Be Prepared

We have a free digital scanner and a free photocopier.

Repository

Located on the fourth floor of the James Branch Cabell Library, Special Collections and Archives houses books, journals, manuscript collections, university archives, photographs, and other materials that support the academic programs of the Monroe Park Campus of Virginia Commonwealth University.

The department contains over 50,000 volumes in special subject areas, including Virginia and Richmond history and literature, popular culture and graphic arts, comic arts, artist books, and much more. In addition, Special Collections and Archives has one of the largest university collections of comic books – numbering over 40,000. The department also houses the official records and archives of VCU and its predecessor institutions.

Holdings

Materials related to genealogy are primarily university records of VCU and its predecessor institution, Richmond Professional Institute. Those records include student yearbooks, newspapers, and other materials. We have over 400 manuscript collections related to Central Virginia history and the finding aids for many of these collections are available from the Virginia Heritage website at http://vaheritage.org/.

Photograph of the library exterior provided by Jeff Auth.

Ray Bonis
Archives Coordinator
Special Collections and Archives
James Branch Cabell Library
VCU Libraries

Virginia Repositories—Richmond

National Genealogical Society Luncheon

Patricia W. Potrzebowski

Vital Statistics Registrars and Genealogists: 

We Need to Talk!

S431, Saturday, 10 May 2014, at 12:15 p.m.

Patricia W. Potrzebowski, PhD, Executive Director of the National Association for Public Health Statistics and Information, will be the featured speaker at the National Genealogical Society luncheon. The title of her talk is "Vital Statistics Registrars and Genealogists: We Need to Talk!" NGS has selected this topic to emphasis the importance of access to vital records for genealogists. Ms. Potrzeboski's talk will cover the following key points:

• What do state registrars of vital records and genealogists have in common?

• How can state registrars and genealogists work together more effectively to achieve mutual goals?

• Why privacy, confidentiality, and security of vital records matter to all of us.

Patricia W. Potrzebowski, Ph.D. has been the Executive Director of the National Association for Public Health Statistics and Information Systems since January, 2011.  Information about NAPHSIS can be found at http://www.naphsis.org.

Previously, Trish served as the Director, Bureau of Health Statistics and Research at the Pennsylvania Department of Health, where she worked for more than 35 years.  

While there, Trish established the first designated State Center for Health Statistics in the nation, implemented an award winning statewide cancer incidence registry and immunization registry, and directed the state’s vital statistics system.  In 2001 she launched the Commonwealth Universal Research Enhancement (CURE) program with funds from the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement to provide clinical, biomedical, and health services research grants each year to universities, hospitals, and other research organizations located in Pennsylvania.  

Trish earned her Ph.D. in human genetics from the Department of Biostatistics of the Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh. She is a former President of NAPHSIS and received the Halbert L. Dunn Award in 1991 for her contributions to national and state health statistics systems.  Trish chaired the Panel to Evaluate the U.S. Standard Certificates that created the 2003 revised certificates, and was also a member of the 2011 Model Law Revision Work Group. 

Luncheon tickets can be purchased for $32.00 at http://conference.ngsgenealogy.org/event-registration/ through 22 April 2014. Register now before the luncheon sells out.

Also mark your conference schedule to attend the Records Preservation and Access Committee session, Thursday, 8 May 2014, 4:00 p.m., "RPAC: Access to Vital Records is Under Attack! How Can You Help?"

http://www.ngsgenealogy.org

National Genealogical Society Luncheon

Virginia Repositories—Richmond

The Museum of the Confederacy

Eleanor S. Brockenbrough Library
The Museum of the Confederacy
1201 E. Clay Street
Richmond, VA 23219

No phone
E-mail: library@moc.org. Please e-mail a specific and detailed request.
Web: http://www.moc.org/collections-archives/eleanor-s-brockenbrough-archives?mode=general

The Museum is open daily during the conference 10:00 a.m.‒5:00 p.m. Museum web: https://www.moc.org/visit-us/hours-admission?mode=richmond

Library Hours: Sporadic hours. Not open during NGS Conference; however, we may be open one day during NGS 2014 Conference. If you want to do research while you are in Richmond, send an e-mail to library@moc.org and request an appointment to do research. Watch the Conference Blog two weeks before Conference for up-to-the-minute news on research opportunities with the Museum of the Confederacy.

Repository

The Museum of the Confederacy is in the process of merging with the American Civil War Center to form the American Civil War Museum, which will be located at Tredegar Iron Works on Richmond’s downtown waterfront. For more details see https://www.moc.org/sites/default/files/new_name_nr.pdf. The move is scheduled to be completed in 2016.

The Museum’s library collection eventually will be moved to the Virginia Historical Society. See details at https://www.moc.org/sites/default/files/the_american_civil_war_museum_and_virginia_historical_society_to_combine_forces_on_archival_resources.pdf. The long term plans include digitizing some of the collection and making it available online.

Important!

For the foreseeable future, the Museum’s library collection will be available on a very limited and sporadic basis with no library staff. As a result, we will no longer be able to answer general history reference questions. We will attempt to answer questions about documents unique to our collections and accommodate on-site research or provide copies of documents; but, because there is no specifically designated library staff, we will handle those requests as other duties allow.

Be Prepared

Research fees and photocopying fees waived for members of the Museum and NGS Conference attendees if research opportunity is offered.

If you are given the opportunity to research by appointment, be on time, follow the rules, and leave promptly when your time slot ends.

Highlights of the Collection

What we do NOT have: military service and pension records; birth, marriage, death records, etc.; comprehensive lists of soldiers, prisoners, comprehensive military unit records.

What we DO have: Records of selected Confederate military units and commands; diaries (primarily Confederate soldiers); Confederate soldiers’ letters; correspondence, official and unofficial papers of Confederate military leaders; Jefferson Davis Family Collection (the single largest collection consisting primarily letters sent to President Jefferson Davis); a limited number of family history collections (primarily correspondence among family members); letters and autograph books of Confederate prisoners held in Northern prison camps (especially Johnson’s Island, Ohio); Confederate burial records (primarily photocopies and published, but also including original burial records for Hollywood and Oakwood Cemeteries in Richmond and Woodlawn Cemetery, Elmira, New York); the records of the Southern Historical Society (1869-1894, including wartime military records that the Society collected); and the “Roll of Honour” (a 346-volume biographical project amassed, ca. 1894-1940s, consisting of 50,000+ entries, most of which offer only name, rank, and unit – often erroneous – and perhaps 1,000 autobiographical entries, some of which have been transcribed and are available on the Museum’s website) http://www.moc.org/collections-archives/eleanor-s-brockenbrough-archives?mode=general

Finding aids and Inventories

A wide variety of MS Word file inventories are available upon request.

John M. Coski, Historian
The American Civil War Museum

Virginia Repositories—Richmond