Thousands of genealogy enthusiasts filled the Conference Center Thursday, 29 April 2010, to enjoy an evening of music, stirring speeches and moving video presentations as part of the National Genealogical Society 2010 Family History Conference.
The event,
entitled “A Celebration of Family History,” was organized by
FamilySearch
, a division of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints, and served as an inspirational compliment to the
lectures, presentations and other learning and networking
opportunities offered at the conference.
President Henry
B. Eyring, first counselor in the First Presidency, spoke to
those assembled. In his remarks he acknowledged the unique
support family history researchers offer one another. “You
have built and preserved a community where the mentor that
helps those less skilled is revered,” President Eyring said.
“It is rare in history for such a community to emerge. It is
rarer still for such a community to sustain itself.”
“There had never
been anything like this before — a production-quality event
celebrating family history with thousands of enthusiasts in
attendance,” said Jay Verkler, president and CEO of
FamilySearch. “The personal family history stories depicted
and the musical numbers by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir were
absolutely amazing, and we are so grateful that President
Eyring and David McCullough were able to join us and share
their remarks.”
Throughout the
program, video segments projected on giant screens depicted
the personal journeys and dramatic discoveries of a handful
of individuals in pursuit of their family history.
“In telling these
stories, we want to show what growing numbers of people are
discovering — how family history research fulfills a need to
belong or feel connected,” said Verkler. “Each new discovery
into our family history provides immense satisfaction. What
we learn can expand family relationships in the present and
helps us better understand ourselves as we realize our
ancestors struggled with similar or greater challenges.”
One video
depicted the journey of Mailie Mossman, a Hawaiian woman who
found uncommon inner strength that helped her survive her
own breast cancer. Though her research, she learned of the
remarkable life of her great-grandmother Emma Lyons Waimau,
who suffered from Hansen’s disease (leprosy).
Emma had been
forced to leave her family on Christmas day 1894 to live in
Kalaupapa, a quarantined colony inhabited by others who had
the disease. While there, she fell in love, married, and
went on to give birth to six surviving children. By law, she
was forced to send each child away from Kalaupapa within the
first year of life to ensure the children did not contract
the disease.
“As I speak about
it, I feel sadness in my heart,” said Mailie. “I find her
story so interesting because whatever she has in her, I
would hope to have in me.”
After searching
through thousands of grave sites twice, Mailie finally found
the resting place of her great-grandmother Emma. The
experience was very emotional for Mailie, as years of her
searching, pain, loneliness and joy finally came together.
“As a result of
my having breast cancer, I have been able to look at what
happened to Emma and how she dealt with her illness. I’ve
learned so much about life — my life — through Emma’s life,”
Mailie continued.
To the delight of
the audience, two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author and
historian David McCullough returned to the Conference Center
for the second time in six months to participate in the
program. In December 2009, he worked with the Mormon
Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square for their
annual
Christmas concert.
During his
remarks, McCullough spoke about the nature of history and
how we must come to understand those who came before us.
“The more we know, the more we want to know. Curiosity is
accelerative,” he said.
“There really is
no such thing as the past. No one really lived in the past.
They lived in the present, their present,” McCullough later
added.
In addition to
the celebration, representatives of FamilySearch are
contributing to other aspects of the conference. Over 30 of
the conference workshops are provided by FamilySearch
employees, and even more employees are staffing FamilySearch
booths in the exhibit hall each day, answering the public’s
family history questions and demonstrating free online
resources. The conference runs through 1 May 2010.
“It’s been very
exciting to have the National Genealogical Society
conference in Salt Lake City,” said David Rencher, chief
genealogical officer for the Church. “This is the first time
since 1985 that the conference came here, and we are
absolutely thrilled to have so many people come.”
Home to the
world’s largest genealogical library, Salt Lake City has
much to offer genealogy aficionados. The library’s
collection includes over 2.4 million rolls of microfilmed
genealogical records; 727,000 microfiche; 356,000 books,
serials and other formats; over 4,500 periodicals; and 3,725
electronic resources.
The Family
History Library was founded in 1894. Today, it is open to
the public at no charge and is visited by an estimated 1,900
patrons or more each day. The library offers
free classes
and is staffed by knowledgeable volunteers eager to
assist researchers.
In addition to
the Salt Lake City branch, another 4,600 smaller family
history centers dot the globe. These centers, combined with
the Web site
www.familysearch.org
, receive millions of visitors a month.
FamilySearch is
working diligently to make more of its records available
online and benefits from a small army of
volunteers
that prepare records for online access. “Right now,
over 300,000 people are currently helping create free online
indexes that anyone can access,” said Verkler. “There are
also several other ways that people interested in family
history can help in this effort.”
No comments:
Post a Comment