2023 Individual Membership Form
Please consider renewing your membership or joining MGC!
Vibrant participation by individuals, libraries and organizations contributes to successful fulfillment of our mission of access • education • preservation. MGC provides ongoing monitoring of state and federal legislation pertinent to records access and preservation and provides exciting educational opportunities. Your support made it possible for MGC to provide innovative genealogy education in 2022. We welcome and need your participation to continue to serve the genealogy community. Each membership is a donation to our future programs.
We did it! Our virtual seminar, MGC CONNECTIONS 2022 was a success. The event opened on Saturday, April 2, with a keynote by Dr. John Warner of the Massachusetts Archives. Later in the month, Steve Morse gave a live talk on the just-released 1950 census. The seminar featured 2 live talks and 20 recorded talks, supported by 4 interactive workshops, 5 chat sessions, door prizes, and a weekly newsletter. Live events ran through the month of April; 20 talks were available to stream through the end of May. We implemented two new features in 2022: Interactive workshops based on presentations and an online society showcase iving member societies an opportunity to exhibit their offerings. The showcase is now a long-term fixture on the website. To everyone who made this seminar possible--volunteers, presenters, donors, sponsors--we can only say "Thank You."
We implemented MGC: Open Records and Education (M:O.R.E.) in 2021, our quarterly virtual educational opportunity for genealogists. M:O.R.E is designed to happen in the fifth week of a month so that it won’t conflict with events put on by our member organizations. Three programs were offered in 2022: Paul Fronczak, author of The Foundling; Kenvi Phillips spoke on the importance of oral tradition for family history research; and, Kate Kelley, "The Photo Angel."
Advocating for records preservation and accessible records is a key mission for MGC. In 2022 MGC worked closely with the Records Preservation and Access Coalition (RPAC) to advocate for the return of an open fact-of-death database for genealogists. After years of work, we saw the Massachusetts Legislature pass laws eliminating the 34-year closure window for adoptees to original cerificates of birth. We are continuing to work on two Massachusetts records issues: mandating that records in the Massachusetts state archives be accessible after a set period and being able to obtain non-certified vitalrecords as a lower cost than certified records.
MGC continues to work hard to provide MGC members with access to new content and a vital genealogical community. Our creative efforts reflect our wish for our membership and their families to be safe and well during these trying but historic times. It requires a vibrant and active membership to do so!
We’d love to chat with you about the opportunity to volunteer your time and participate. MGC also accepts in-kind or monetary donations from individuals or organizations for educational programs throughout the year, and for the biannual MGC Seminar.
Questions? Contact Susan M. O'Connor, President, president@massgencouncil.