Brave New World of Technology

Dave Schroeder and Leeann McNabb Speak at Irish Program

Ever since our society started a Facebook page, we have had more and more requests for some of our programs to go online. The HCGS Tech Team has struggled with exactly how to do this. We think we are getting closer and closer to that reality.

Yesterday Dave Schroeder and Lee Ann McNabb gave wonderful presentations at the library. Click on this link for a description of their topics. With no forewarning, both speakers agreed to be part of an experiment on using Google+ Hangouts on Air which allows you to record the talk live using YouTube and then saves the program for all to see.

OK -- bear with me for a moment. To learn to do these things, we've had to explore Google Hangouts, YouTube channels, Youtube for Non-profits, technology for recording, etc., not to mention the technical difficulties of sound, lighting, and possible editing. Non-techies -- keep reading, please (just ignore this last paragraph).

Well, take it from me, it's been exciting. Jenny Davis, Gail Burkholz, John Tholking and I have been hard at work on these issues. But, WE NEEDED GUINEA PIGS!!!

Patricia Van Skaik aka DigiGenie is always willing to play along. What's so great is that so were both speakers. So we've learned lessons. It's obviously going to be awhile before we get this down. David Schroeder's talk had pretty good sound, but we did not pick up any of his slides because they were washed out. The video is a little dark and his voice is slightly out of sync. Not bad, though, since we used a webcam.

After the break, we re-positioned the camera, hoping to be able to capture Lee Ann's wonderful slides. This attempt was not much better, and the lighting was still bad. So we may not be able to share this video in it's current configuration.

So what did we learn? We learned we have lighting and sound issues. We may need to use a better video camera. Some editing skills may be in order -- but, we're making progress.

Now this is where YOU come in. If you go to the latest copy of the Tracer that just came out, you'll see a plea from our Director of Digital Resources, Jenny Davis, for more volunteers. She has a survey where you can let her know just what kinds of things you might be interested in doing. You don't have to be an "expert," (obviously none of us is), but if we're going to do more and more of this kind of thing, we're going to need additional hands. The motto of the HCGS Tech Committee is, "If we don't know how, we'll find out."

So here is our first attempt. Let us know what you think. Better yet, let us know how you want to contribute.

  

P.S. If you are already on Facebook, "like" the HCGSOhio page using the link in the first sentence. We're trying to get to 200 "likes" this month.

Submitted by Kathy Reed

Chapter Presentation Reminder

Linda Dietrich, Program Director, submitted this additional information for publication in The Tracer.

I’M GOING TO AMERICA, MY FORTUNE FOR TO TRY

So, adieu, my dear father, adieu, my dear mother,      

Farewell to my sister, farewell to my brother;   

I’m going to America, my fortune for to try.             

[The Streams of Bunclody,  Anonymous]

From the Act of Union on 1 January 1801 until 6 December 1922, the island of Ireland was part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. During the Great Famine, from 1845 to 1849, the island's population of over 8 million fell by 30%. One million Irish died of starvation and/or disease and another 1.5 million emigrated, particularly to the United States. This set the pattern of emigration for the century to come.

The Plantation of Ulster in Northern Ireland resulted from the organized colonization (or plantation) of Ulster by people from Great Britain, especially by Presbyterians from Scotland. Private colonization by wealthy landowners began in 1606, while the official plantation controlled by King James I of England (who was also King James VI of Scots) began in 1609. All land owned by Irish chieftains, the Ó Neills and Ó Donnells along with those of their supporters, who fought against the English Crown in the Nine Years War, were confiscated and used to settle the newly arrived colonists. Considerable numbers of Ulster-Scots emigrated to the North American colonies throughout the 18th century, 160,000 settled in what would become the United States between 1717 and 1770 alone.

When these citizens of Southern Ireland and from Ulster emigrated to North America, they often disdained, or were forced out of,  the heavily English regions on the Atlantic coast.  Most groups of Ulster-Scots settlers crossed into the "western mountains," where their descendants populated the Appalachian regions and the Ohio Valley. Here they lived on the frontiers of America, carving their own world out of the wilderness. The Scotch-Irish soon became the dominant culture of the Appalachians from Pennsylvania to Georgia, many settling  in Cincinnati and have helped to shape our region for more than 300 years. 

Dave Schroeder, MSLS, will explore the conditions that drove many Irish from their homeland and what their lives were like in mid-century America, for the Hamilton County Genealogy Society’s Irish-focus program on March 9, 2013.  Mr. Schroeder, a nationally known speaker on Irish Research, is the director of the Kenton County Kentucky Library and is president of the Friends of the Kentucky Public Archives Association.

Following Mr. Schroeder’s presentation, Lee Ann McNabb will present a program focusing on important web sites for genealogists who are searching for their Irish roots. 

The program is co-sponsored by the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County and will take place at 1:30 pm on Saturday, March 9, 2013, in the third floor Huenefeld Tower Room at the Main Library at 800 Vine St., Cincinnati, OH.  Anyone interested in genealogy research, especially for Irish ancestors, is invited to attend this free event.  For further information about this or any program of the HCGS, contact Program Director, Linda Dietrich at lindabelle@lcs.net