National Family Health History Day

Submitted by Janeice Crossen, KCGS President
Just a note to alert you that several of the larger genealogy information repositories in the country are going together to make their data available online, such libraries as the Midwest Genealogy Research Center in Independence, and Ft. Wayne in Indianapolis, plus the Family History Center in Salt Lake City and others. It is an exciting time for us. You know also that the National Archives is working in tandem with Ancestry.com to digitize their records.

What I wanted to talk about today however:

Thanksgiving Day has been designated as National Family Health History Day, by the U.S. Surgeon General. What that means is you are asked to take the opportunity to create a health history for your family as you get together to visit and have a good time. Americans know that family history is important to health.

Such diseases as Macular Degeneration, Alzheimer’s, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Autism, Brain, colon, endometrial and skin cancers, breast, ovarian and prostate cancers, clotting disorders, diabetes, heart disease, Huntington’s, Muscular dystrophy, Parkinson’s, Sickle-cell disease, Tay-Sachs, are health issues with ties to genetics. Early detection may help alleviate problems later on.

If you will go to The website that is highlighted on the page https://familyhistory.hhs.gov/

You will find the Access the My family Health Portrait Web tool.

There is a questionnaire for you to complete right on the computer, asking for your personal profile, name, age, height, weight, diseases, when diagnosed, etc. Then you are asked to number your siblings, uncles, aunts, parents, grandparents.

On the next section you are asked to fill out the questionnaire for each of the people you have listed. There is a pull down menu that lists possible diseases and a place to add any that are not there. If you aren’t sure what Grandpa died of, perhaps somebody else at your gathering will know.

When you have completed the answers, the computer will print out a nice chart for you that graphically illustrates your family’s health history. Why do we need this? Make a copy for each of your children and give it to them. They will be able to take them to their health care providers when next they go. Doctors will be delighted to see such a history as it will help them formulate treatments and preventive measures to prescribe for their patients.

Those of you who are reluctant to have your health data “out there” can be assured that if you don’t save your work it will disappear from the computer. All you will have is the printed copy which you can revise and edit if need be.

If you are not a computer user yourself, enlist the help of a grandchild and make a nice Thanksgiving activity for you both.

Then the latest I have found is this genetic problem. A UCI study has turned up evidence that bad driving may have a genetic basis. UCI neurologist Dr. Steven Cramer, who studies brain repair after stroke and brain remodeling, published a study suggesting that bad driving may in part be genetically based. People with a particular gene variant performed more than 20 percent worse on a driving test than people without it. About 30 % of Americans have the variant.

The study was published in the journal Cerebral Cortex. You might want to google it.

Message from KCGS President

Dear members,

I have been thinking about how we can make your state society more useful to you. Your KCGS board is always open to ideas that will help us become more viable.

Do your societies post or publish or both the obituaries from your area? Do you use your websites to post indices of your publications? Do you solicit queries for research? Do you take advantage of the free websites Helen will help you set up?

We have this KCGS website with this blog for members to use. Helen, our webmaster asks us to send her our contributions so that she can get them posted correctly. Responses are welcomed as well. We would like to post obits and other news of our members, for example. Here is an opportunity for idea exchange and so on. Not only would we like everyone to read it, but also to contribute to it.

We also have a space on Facebook that we encourage members to join. We are encouraging all societies to go digital as much as possible. Newsletters can be sent that way and websites can be used for soliciting research requests and for advertising the publications we have for sale. I am not comfortable with journals going digital because there are still genealogists who do not use computers or who have slow internet connections and who would rather have a hard copy to read that they do not have to download and print, but the increasing cost of postage and printing may make that necessary, too.

As president I would like to attend some society meetings for feedback and to bring communications. I need dates and places ahead of time so I can plan my trips.

I put out the newsletter whenever there is something to communicate and we are publishing the Review as well. Both Ruth and I would welcome contributions to those publications from our readership. My supply of society newsletters from which I can draw information, has diminished severely. I do not know if that is because fewer are being published or perhaps just not being sent to us. What I receive come mostly from the same societies located here in the eastern part of the state. Our newsletter should be a place where members can get the word out about new publications, special programs, and projects, etc. Putting out newsletters electronically is cost free and can be done as often as we need to. If you would like to email me yours, my address is jcrosson@wamego.net

We have learned that we cannot continue to advertise in the national journals as our funds are limited. We would like all member societies to help us advertise our Forgotten Settlers project in their own publications. A camera ready ad can be had for the asking. This project is not so much for earning income for the state society as it is for advertising to the world our Kansas heritage, for encouraging those with Kansas ancestors to be able to give them recognition.

Please feel free to give us any feedback and most of all ideas of how we can become more of a helpful entity.

Sincerely,
Janeice Crosson
President KCGS

Explore Your Swedish Roots This October

Kathy Meade, of Genline North America, returns to Lindsborg to repeat her popular class ‘Using Online Records to Trace Your Swedish Ancestry.’ The hands-on workshop will be presented at the Salina Public Library,Sunday, October 11, from 1-4:30 pm. Ms. Meade will be joined by experienced Swedish genealogist Mr. Jan Eurenius, from Stockholm, Sweden, for this workshop. If you are ready to learn more about your family’s roots in Sweden, don’t miss this great workshop presented by experts in the field. The session is free and open to the public, but participants are asked to call 785-227-3595 or email oldmillmuseum@hotmail.com to register.
This workshop teaches participants how to access Swedish records online and how to use them to trace families back through time. The Swedish record books, which include information dating back to the 17th century, have been digitized by the Genline company, making access to information much easier than ever before. Ms. Meade and Mr. Eurenius will be in Lindsborg for the Svensk Hyllningsfest celebration October 9 and 10, but will have extended time to work with people on their family history during the workshop on Sunday the 11th.
Based in Chicago, Illinois, Kathy Meade brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the subject of Swedish immigration and tracing Swedish ancestry. Jan Eurenius is an experienced researcher from Sweden who enjoys helping people solve the puzzles of their past. This workshop is co-sponsored by Genline and the McPherson County Old Mill Museum. For more information, call 785-227-3595 or email oldmillmuseum@hotmail.com.

Volunteers Needed for the Midtown Historic Home Tour

The annual Midtown Historic Home Tour will be Saturday, Oct 10 and Sunday Oct 11. Midwest Historical & Genealogical Society intends to participate only on Sat, Oct 10 from 9am till 4pm. We need two volunteers (one for the morning and one for the afternoon). MHGS will have a table near the Tour registration table in the Fairview Christian Church, 16th and Fairview, Wichita. Beverly Arbuckle will provide a MHGS poster and MHGS brochures to the MHGS volunteers. The volunteer task is to tell Tour attendees about MHGS and invite them to stop by the MHGS Library. Please email Beverly Arbuckle.

The Lincoln Cottage

Saturday November 14, 2009
Program: “The Lincoln Cottage” by Dr. Frank Milligan
Time & Place: 1:00 pm till 2:30 pm at the Alford Branch Library
Free and open to the public

Dr. Frank Milligan, is the Director of the Lincoln Cottage, near Washington DC. The purpose of his visit is to accept an original journal authored by Albert See, a Civil War soldier that was on duty at the Lincoln Cottage during Lincoln’s residence there. Albert See’s great granddaughter, Betty Kessler, a resident of Wichita, presently has the journal. She will present the original journal to Dr. Milligan on Nov 14, along with some garments worn by Albert See at Lincoln funeral. These items are to be retained in the Lincoln Cottage archives.

Located on a picturesque hilltop in Washington, DC, President Lincoln's Cottage is the most significant historic site directly associated with Lincoln's presidency aside from the White House. During the Civil War, President Lincoln and his family resided here from June to November of 1862, 1863 and 1864. On July 7, 2000, President William J. Clinton declared the Lincoln Cottage and 2.3 acres of surrounding land the President Lincoln and Soldiers' Home National Monument in honor of the site's notable role in the presidency of Abraham Lincoln.

Midwest Historical & Genealogical Society Library

Saturday October 24, 2009
Event: MHGS Members preview of the MHGS Library Addition
Time and Place: 11:00 am till 2:30 pm at the MHGS Library
The MHGS Options Committee invites MHGS Members to come to the MHGS Library for a preview of the potential MHGS Library Addition. The development of the requirements for the Addition is still at an early state, so now is the time for Members suggestions and comments. Architectural drawings will be available for your review and we hope to have the Architect available t answer your questions. Also we intend to have an outdoor “walk through mock-up” (weather permitting) that will visually demonstrate where the addition will be located.

Kansas Genealogical Society Fall Seminar

The Kansas Genealogical Society Annual Meeting and Seminar will be held 08 October 2009, Lower Level Meeting Room of the Village Square Mall, 2601 Central, Dodge City, KS. Registration and coffee at 9:00 A.M. Lunch on your own from 12:00 – 1:15 P.M.
The featured speaker will be Alice A. Walker, Blue Mound, KS. Alice is a certified genealogist. She has conducted many workshops of various kinds including how to prove genealogical steps. Alice is an author, having written two well documented family genealogies.
“Back to New England”, will be featured at the morning session, and “New York – Impossible?” in the afternoon. Fee prior to 1 October 2009 is $15.00. At the Door is $20.00. Handouts, prizes and refreshments. Non-members are always welcome to join us.
For additional information call 620-225-1951.