Special Conference Events, Part 3

Thursday, 10 May 2012: National Underground Railroad Freedom Center

FamilySearch and the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center invite you to spend a memorable evening on Thursday from 6 to 9 pm at this museum located in downtown Cincinnati on the banks of the Ohio River. The Freedom Center will be open exclusively for NGS Conference attendees to view the exhibits without charge.

A Smithsonian Institution affiliate, the Freedom Center tells the story of the enslaved crossing over the Ohio River on the journey to freedom. They were assisted by men and women of all backgrounds who had created a secret network of escape routes that came to be called the Underground Railroad. The mission of the Freedom Center is to reveal stories about freedom's heroes, from the era of the Underground Railroad to contemporary times, challenging and inspiring people to take courageous steps for freedom today.

The Freedom Center has five major permanent exhibitions, including the world's first museum-quality, permanent exhibition on the subjects of modern-day slavery and human trafficking, as well as a full calendar of changing exhibits, programs and activities. A FamilySearch Center is onsite, in the John Parker Library, to assist people searching for their ancestors. For more information about the Freedom Center, visit http://www.freedomcenter.org.

Conference attendees may walk, take a taxi or drive to the Freedom Center. Walking from the Duke Energy Convention Center or the conference hotels takes less than 15 minutes.

Special Conference Events, Part 3

Special Conference Events, Part 2

Wednesday, 9 May 2012: Cincinnati History Museum Tour, Dinner and Union Terminal Program

An exclusive tour of the Cincinnati History Museum, one of the largest and most significant urban history museums in the country, has been reserved especially for NGS Conference attendees. Experience the tremendous Art Deco rotunda of the Union Terminal train station, and see a model of the City of Cincinnati from 1900 to the 1940s with working trains and inclines. Sit in an antique Cincinnati streetcar, and explore a large homefront exhibit on World War II. Immerse yourself in a re-creation of the Cincinnati waterfront in the 1850s, including a steamboat ninety-four feet long. Learn about the “Brown Water” navy and how the western rivers were of strategic and logistical importance to the Union during the Civil War. The Cincinnati History Museum features exhibits on transportation, industry and many facets of the American experience that go beyond local interest.

The tour will last about one hour with easy walking including some up and down ramps. Following the tour, enjoy a private reception complete with cash bar and a delectable buffet dinner. The evening will end with a short program by a museum docent on the building of the magnificent Art Deco Union Terminal rotunda and train station.

Buses will leave from the Duke Energy Convention Center at 4:45 pm (subsequent buses will leave when loaded) for the short ride to the Cincinnati Museum Center. This tour will accommodate most individuals who can enter a bus with limited assistance. Following the program, buses will begin loading (about 8 pm) to return to the Convention Center. The price of $65.00 includes bus transportation, a ticket to the Cincinnati History Museum, a buffet dinner and the program. Seating is limited to 220 participants. For more information about the Cincinnati Museum Center, visit http://www.cincymuseum.org/. To make reservations for this event, use the online registration system.

Special Conference Events, Part 2

Special Conference Events

Four unique events have been planned to enhance your participation in the NGS 2012 Family History Conference in Cincinnati. Each event will be described over the next few days.

Tuesday, 8 May 2012: Tour of Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky

See why Cincinnati is called the “Queen City” on a special tour created just for NGS Conference attendees and hosted by trained Cincinnati Historical Society docents. Learn some of the interesting history of Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky on a three-and-a-half-hour tour aboard comfortable motor coaches.

The tour begins with a short ride to the Cincinnati Museum Center, one of Cincinnati’s iconic National Historic Landmarks. Originally built in 1933 as the Union Terminal train station, the Museum Center was recently named one of the top 50 architecturally significant buildings in America by the American Institute of Architects. Disembark from the coach to briefly view the interior of the breathtaking, ten-story grand rotunda that will take you back in time to an earlier day of rail transportation. (This will also be the site of a Thursday night museum visit, dinner and program.)

Board the coach and continue to the Kentucky side of the Ohio River along historic Riverside Drive in Covington, featuring wonderful 19th century mansions and the perfect view of the Cincinnati skyline. See the Notre Dame-inspired St. Mary’s Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption, with the world’s largest church stained glass window, before heading back to Ohio. Tour the highlights of downtown Cincinnati including Over-the-Rhine, an area containing the largest collection of Italianate architecture in the United States. Continue through the narrow hillside streets of Mount Adams, into Mount Auburn and on to Clifton, home of the University of Cincinnati. By the end of your tour through Avondale and other Cincinnati suburbs, you’ll understand why Cincinnati is truly one of the great unknown cities of America.

This special tour has been arranged for 12:30 to 4 pm on Tuesday, 8 May 2012, embarking in front of the Duke Energy Convention Center which is within easy walking distance from all conference hotels. The tour features limited walking and will accommodate most individuals who can enter a motor coach with limited assistance. The price is $21.00 per person. Three coaches have been reserved for a limit of 168 people. To make reservations, use the online registration system.

Special Conference Events

Registration Begins Tomorrow

Registration begins on 1 December 2011 for the National Genealogical Society's thirty-fourth annual Family History Conference, The Ohio River: Gateway to the Western Frontier, which will be held 9–12 May 2012 in Cincinnati, Ohio. NGS chose Cincinnati, a major terminus for travelers and goods since the eighteenth century, as the location of its annual conference because of the rich historical and cultural diversity of the area. Immigrants, pioneers, frontiersmen, and explorers created an abundance of family history in the "Queen City of the West" that is waiting to be discovered by the thousands of genealogists who annually attend the NGS conference.

The conference will open with an overview of the of the spectacular Cincinnati Panorama of 1848 by Patricia Moseley Van Skaik, manager of the History and Genealogy Collection of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County.

A few of the NGS 2012 Family History Conference sessions include "Focusing on Pathways 'cross the Ohio River," "Fugitive Slave Act and the Underground Railroad," "Military Bounty Lands," "Migration Patterns into the Midwest" "Spring Grove: Eternal Rest in the Midwest," "Researching in Ohio," "Researching on the 'Southern Side' of Cincinnati," "Ohio's Common Pleas Court," and "Trails West to the Ohio and Beyond."

Registration begins Thursday, 1 December 2011. To register online, complete the registration form on the NGS website.

Click here for the online searchable program. The PDF brochure includes an overview of the sessions, workshops, tours, pre-conference events, registration times, and rates as well as general conference and Duke Energy Convention Center details.

Registration Begins Tomorrow

Car Rental Discount

The National Genealogical Society has partnered with Enterprise Rent-A-Car to give conference attendees a 5% discount off the lowest price available for car rentals during their stay in Cincinnati. To take advantage of the discount, please follow the directions below.

To book with Enterprise Rent-A-Car:
1. Go to http://www.enterprise.com/car_rental/deeplinkmap.do?bid=002&cust=38A7007
2. Input all travel details and hit select.
3. If prompted for a pin, type in: NAT

The discount information can also be found on the NGS website at http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/cs/travel_discounts

Car Rental Discount

National Genealogical Society Releases Full 2012 Family History Conference Program Online

(Arlington, VA) -- The National Genealogical Society has released the full 2012 Family History Conference Program. It is available online and is fully searchable here. The theme of the thirty-fourth NGS Family History Conference is The Ohio River: Gateway to the Western Frontier and it will be held 9–12 May 2012 in Cincinnati, Ohio. NGS varies the theme and geographic location of its conference annually and brings together thousands of genealogists and family historians to learn the latest in genealogical research. The online searchable program allows prospective conference attendees to review the full scope of more than forty lecture topics offered daily during the four-day conference in Cincinnati. An exhibit area with over one hundred exhibitors will be open and free to the public Wednesday through Saturday and will include the latest in genealogical software, online research providers, and DNA testing sources.

Registration will begin Thursday, 1 December 2011. To register online, visit the conference page on the NGS website.

The PDF version of the registration brochure is available here. The brochure includes information about workshops, lectures, sessions, speakers, luncheons, tours, pre-conference events, registration times and rates, and accessibility as well as general conference and exhibit hall specifics. Some examples of the diverse offerings of the NGS 2012 Family History Conference include methodology and research, ethnic research, repositories and records, migration, Skillbuilding, GenTech, military records, photos, and writing. E-mail Veronica Tran to request that a registration brochure be mailed to you.

Founded in 1903, the National Genealogical Society is dedicated to genealogy education, high research standards, and the preservation of genealogical records. The Arlington, VA-based nonprofit is the premier national society for everyone, from the beginner to the most advanced family historian, seeking excellence in publications, educational offerings, research guidance, and opportunities to interact with other genealogists. Please visit the NGS Pressroom for further information.

National Genealogical Society Releases Full 2012 Family History Conference Program Online

Research Opportunities Near the NGS 2012 Family History Conference: Part 3, Kentucky

Three major Kentucky historical societies and archives are located within one and a half hours from the conference site in Cincinnati:

97 miles: Kentucky Historical Society, 100 W. Broadway, Frankfort, Kentucky. The Martin F. Schmidt Research Library, located on the second floor of the Thomas D. Clark Center for Kentucky History, houses over 90,000 published works, dealing primarily with history and genealogy, as well as more than 16,000 reels of microfilm and over 30,000 vertical files of collected and contributed research. Hours: 10-4 W, 10-8 Th, 10-5 F-Sa.

97 miles: Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives, 300 Coffee Tree Road, Frankfort, Kentucky. Public record holdings include: birth and death records, 1852 through 1910 (1852-1862, 1874-1879, 1891-1910); birth and death city registers for four Kentucky cities: Covington, Lexington, Louisville, and Newport; death certificates, 1911-1959; marriage records, census and military records, judicial records (civil, criminal and court of appeals), wills and deeds, and state agency records. Hours: 10-4 M-F.

100 miles: Filson Historical Society, 1310 South Third Street, Louisville, Kentucky. Over 1.8 million documents, 50,000 books, 3,500 family histories, nearly 4,000 genealogy files on Kentucky families, and thousands of historic photographs and prints of Louisville and Kentucky. Non-members are charged a $10 daily research fee. 9-5 M-F.

Contributed by Don Rightmyer, Editor, Kentucky Ancestors, Kentucky Historical Society.

If you would like to contribute information about libraries and archives within a short drive from Cincinnati, please send it to conferenceblog@ngsgenealogy.org.

Research Opportunities Near the NGS 2012 Family History Conference: Part 3, Kentucky