Augusta Public Library Local History and Genealogy

In December 2011, access to the SSDI was removed from rootsweb.com. This set off a firestorm of panic and controversy in the genealogy world.  Congress and the Social Security Administration want to limit  the accessibility of the Social Security Death Index to the public due to identity  theft concerns. As a genealogist, closing the access to the SSDI would be a huge blow to a major component of research. To read more about the controversy and to sign the Stop ID Theft Now! Petition at the White House’s website please clicking  on the following links: http://www.genealogywise.com/profiles/blogs/genealogy-community-responds-to-efforts-to-remove-access-to-socia.

http://www.fgs.org/rpac/sddi-call-to-action-kit/

by Aspasia Luster

Our second class of the month will be held on Thursday, February 16^th in the library’s computer lab. This new class, “Online Government Land Records” will show you how to search for your ancestors using the Bureau of Land Management’s website and online resources. The class starts at 2:30pm and a valid library card, PIN, and moderate computer skills are required. Space is limited to 16 participants and your spot can be reserved by calling the Georgia Room at 706-826-1511 or by sending an email to lustera@ecgrl.org.

by Aspasia Luster

The Georgia Room will be hosting a new class on Thursday, February 2^nd at 2pm. This class, “Research in Richmond County” will, as the name implies, educate you on all the local resources and organizations available to help you in your search of your Richmond County ancestors. Please RSVP by calling the Georgia Room at 706-826-1511 or by sending an email to lustera@ecgrl.org.

by Aspasia Luster

The Friends of the National Archives-Southeast Region will be hosting a webinar this Monday, January 9^th at 7pm. The topic will be “The 1940 Census” and the webinar will be hosted by Constance Potter, Staff Archivist and Genealogy Specialist of the National Archives of Atlanta.

The webinar will cover the new questions that make this census unique along with the supplemental schedules. You can sign up for the webinar here: http://www.friendsnas.org/webinarSch.htm.

by Aspasia Luster

Mark your calendars! Brad Cunningham will speak on January 23rd at the Friends of the Library meeting about the extremely interesting history of the Appleby Branch Library, which was once a private home. How did it become a library? Here’s your chance to find out. The program will begin at 6:30 at the Main Library, corner of Telfair and James Brown Boulevard.

Many of you may know Brad from his work on restoring a Greene Street house or from his research work on the Coleman Leigh Warren Cemtery, or even from the Reid Memorial Presbyterian Church where he plays the organ. If you do, you’ll know that he is a meticulous researcher and a very entertaining speaker. Please plan to join us at the Friends meeting!

We’ll be having several new classes in February. The first will be about Researching in Richmond County. It will be at 2:00 on February 2nd. The other class will be in the computer classroom on February 16th at 2:30. It will be about the online Government Land Office. Mark your calendars!

Hello Augustans!

The Georgia Room needs your help! We would like to add some photographs to our historic photographs collection. We already have pictures of the 1888 and 1908 floods. We are in desperate need of historic photographs of old houses and buildings, especially along Broad Street and Greene Street.

We also accept donations of your vintage, well-loved yearbooks!

by Aspasia Luster

Lots of new books in this week! We have early Virginia census books, South Carolina books (including a Union County Deed Abstracts book by Brent H. Holcomb), and a very interesting book about Aftrican American Creeks. They are on display this week.