Beverly Przybylski, National Chairman
Committee History and Overview
The Genealogical Research Committee was established in 1913 and its name was changed to the Genealogical Records Committee (GRC) in 1932. In 1986, the committee was placed under the direction of the Librarian General because its work directly benefits the DAR Library. The purpose of this committee is two-fold: to collect, preserve, and increase the holdings of unpublished genealogical source materials in the DAR Library; and to make those same records available world wide through an online, every-name index.
Two Projects
Whether you are a get-out-and-go person or a do-it-at-home person, there is a GRC volunteer opportunity for you to Preserve the Past, Enhance the Present, and Invest in the Future.
Project #1 - Collect and Index Unpublished Records
Members at the chapter level copy or make abstracts of certain types of records in the chapter's geographic area. The work may be done by computer or with a typewriter. The chapter chairman sends these records to the state chairman, who in turn compiles the collected materials into an indexed volume or volumes, for mailing to the GRC office at the DAR Library. Detailed directions for gathering and transcribing source records can be found in the publication, Instructions for Copying Source Records and Preparing Them for Library Use (Form LG-GRC-2000). Particular emphasis continues to be on records of the 1880s and 1890s to help fill in the void left by the loss of the 1890 federal census, but older historical records, particularly Bible records and cemetery transcriptions, are always wanted.
The wide variety of genealogical records which are acceptable for copying includes: county and town deeds; marriages; probates; court orders and minute books; town council minutes; parish registers of marriages, births, and deaths; vestry minutes or session books; Bible records; church records; funeral home records; school censuses; newspaper accounts of vital records published prior to 1910; tombstone inscriptions and cemetery records; and documented family histories, diaries, papers, and letters found in manuscript collections of libraries, historical societies, state archives, and private collections.
If you love roaming cemeteries and transcribing tombstones, hunting through dusty volumes in your local county building, or collecting precious family Bible records, this project is for you. Your contribution of primary source records will be a priceless addition to the vast Genealogical Record collection housed in the DAR Library.
Project #2 - GRC Every-Name Indexing Project
The other exciting project of this committee is the ongoing indexing of every name in the nearly 20,000 GRC volumes currently in the DAR Library collection. The indexing is done entirely online, from digitized images of pages in the GRC volumes, using the GRC Indexing website and the new Phase II Indexing Program. As each GRC volume is indexed, the names, along with the volume and page number, are uploaded to the larger DAR Genealogical Research System. The DAR Genealogical Research System is the result of efforts from the DAR Genealogical Preservation Committee (includes databases for members, ancestors and descendants), the Genealogical Records Committee, and the DAR Library Catalog. The database grows every day, as a result of hundreds of member volunteers. The GRC Every-Name Index is one more research tool for prospective members, genealogists, and lineage researchers and is available on a restricted basis to the public, from the DAR public website, and is unrestricted to the members.
Detailed instructions for the GRC Every-Name Indexing Project are available in the PDF document, NSDAR Master Every Name Index (Form LG-GRC-2001.PDF).
Volunteer
To become a volunteer, please click on the Volunteer Now link in the navigation bar on the left of this web page. Volunteers should keep a record of the number of names and/or volumes indexed to be included on the Master Questionnaire and for Chapter Achievement credit.
Members are eligible to earn the Bookworm pin after 2,300 entries or the VIS pin after 100 hours and the opportunity to add colored bars to the Bookworm pin for additional entries or bars and stars to the VIS pin for additional hours.
Instructions for Chapter Regents and Chairmen:
Chapter Regents
Ask chapter members to inform you of their volunteer service in both projects; abstracted or unpublished source material sent to the Genealogical Records collection at the DAR Library and the number of entries completed for the GRC Every-Name Indexing project for the Master Questionnaire. Credit is given in Section 8 of the Chapter Achievement Award form for contributing to either project.
Chapter and State Chairmen
Chapter chairmen should understand and promote both projects to their chapter members and are encouraged to participate in one or both projects. Chapter chairmen should assist the chapter regent each year with statistical information for the Master Questionnaire. State chairmen will prepare an annual report from information on the Master Questionnaire and send a copy of their report, to include the statistical information, to the division vice chairman. State chairmen may wish to consider presenting certificates to participants for outstanding service and this information should also be included in the annual reporting.
Chapter and state chairmen should maintain a list of the records sent to the national office.
Division Vice Chairmen
Chairmen serving at the division level provide the state chairmen with a vehicle for smooth communication and accurate information. State chairmen submit an annual report to the division vice chairmen who then compile an annual report to the national chairman. Division vice chairmen will include a list of certificates presented to participants.
Awards
The national chairman presents Genealogical Records Awards at Continental Congress to the state in each of six membership categories which contributes the largest number of pages of original source records. There is also a single award for the chapter in the nation submitting the most pages of original source records.
The national chairman also presents certificates of award at Continental Congress for the top three GRC Every-Name Indexers, based on the number of entries submitted to the National committee.
The awards are based on the number of pages submitted and index entries submitted to the National Committee from March 1 to February 28(29) prior to the Continental Congress at which the awards are presented.
State chairmen and division vice chairmen are encouraged to present awards to the top submitters and indexers in their states or divisions.
