Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness.

August 8, 2011 8:59 AM

Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness is a global organisation that matches people in need of distant genealogical research with remote volunteer researchers. Volunteer services range from help with searching physical records and obtaining documents to the discovery and photography of graves.

Their "Thankyou" pages are a touching introduction to what they do.

posted by Ahab (13 comments total)

Thanks for posting! I hope a lot of mefites will, like me, volunteer for this.
posted by mareli at 9:17 AM on August 8, 2011 [1 favorite]

People don't realize that when they travel to do their own genealogical research, just documenting some other pages or gravestones and putting it on the web can be so valuable.
posted by smackfu at 9:28 AM on August 8, 2011 [3 favorites]

This is very cool and interesting. Thanks for posting this!
posted by zarq at 9:29 AM on August 8, 2011 [1 favorite]

Thanks for posting this. I just sent the link to my Dad, who has traveled all over Georgia and South Carolina visiting county and state archives to find our family roots. He might enjoy doing the same for someone else who is looking for people in his part of the country.
posted by ralan at 9:34 AM on August 8, 2011 [1 favorite]

So rocking! I love this! (I am convinced that Ancestry.com is just Facebook for dead people. Seriously. It has been hilarious finding people we're related to!)
posted by jeanmari at 1:24 PM on August 8, 2011 [1 favorite]

Did anyone else do a knee-jerk doubletake when they misread this post as "Random Acts of Gynecological Kindness"?

No? Just me, then? At least I'm honest enough with myself to not be surprised by these kind of misreadings any more.
posted by item at 1:55 PM on August 8, 2011 [1 favorite]

This is awesome and I will definitely volunteer!
posted by jdl at 2:08 PM on August 8, 2011

I'm feeling inspired to go out and take photos in our local old cemetery this weekend.
posted by smackfu at 2:20 PM on August 8, 2011

(Although on second thought I'm not sure that the oldest ones are even legible in photos.)
posted by smackfu at 2:21 PM on August 8, 2011

Oh, neat. I'm sending this to my mom. She followed our family tree back really, really far, then hit a wall. So then she started on my dad's family (despite having been divorced for 15 years or so). She just loves doing it.
posted by brundlefly at 4:03 PM on August 8, 2011

Not sure I want to risk the safety of strangers by sending them into the rough part of town to photograph the grave markers of distant+ cousins.
posted by datawrangler at 4:07 PM on August 8, 2011

But thanks forever, Ahab.

So now could you tell me how do I favorite you in thanks? Because this is link just deleted some stress from my life and may fill in some frustrating blanks.
posted by datawrangler at 4:15 PM on August 8, 2011

Aw, drag. No Westmeath or Tullig, Ireland here. Or anything for Yarmouth, Nova Scotia outside of cematery records. Guess I'll have to spring for those plane tickets after all.
posted by jeanmari at 3:13 AM on August 9, 2011