Day four of the conference came and I just could not get up in time for the 8 o'clock session. I think the last month caught up with me and I needed an extra hour of sleep. I felt so much better when I arrived at DeVos Place for the 9:30 session.
Private Archives: What They Are and How to Use Them with John Philip Colletta was filled with information on using manuscripts for your research. Lots of unique collections were shared.
New York seemed to be on my mind during this conference and I attended Three Keys to New York: Censuses, NY Public Library, and NYG&B's Vast Collection with Susan Miller. I decided to join New York Genealogical and Biographical Society (NYG&B) during the conference in order to tap into their resource materials and databases. The information that was provided on the New York State Census and New York Public Library was great, but long and I was hoping I would learn more about their vast collection. I will be checking out their website guides and webinars soon.
The afternoon sessions started with Nothing in Life is Free... Unless You are Talking about NDNP... Chronicling America 1690-1963 with Kimberly Hagerty. NDNP is National Digital Newspaper Program, a joint program with the Library of Congress, Central Michigan University Clarke Library (in Michigan) and the National Endowment for the Humanities. This amazing project hosts over 13.2 million newspaper pages, digitized and available for free. Since CMU's Clarke library has been involved they created the Digital Michigan Newspaper Portal. The states who participate in this program and their newspapers can be found on Chronicling America.
The conference started with the Erie Canal and I thought it was fitting to end it that way as well. Afloat or Ashore: Tracing and Tracking Erie Canal Workers, 1817-1918 with Pamela Vittorio provided information on the records that are available for those who worked on the Erie Canal. 21 resources for more information were provided as well as the types of jobs available.
Overall, I had an excellent conference experience. This was my first NGS conference and I was happy to have experienced it. Michigan was a great place to have a conference. The attendance was about 2200 and over 600 of those who registered were from Michigan. I knew many of the attendees. The DeVos Place was vast and there were a couple of people I had hoped to connect with, but never saw. The Western Michigan Genealogical Society, National Genealogical Society, all the volunteers, vendors, and attendees made it a successful conference. Thank you to all.