MGC Sentinel

This year sees new efforts to curtail genealogical access to the Social Security Death Index (known to the government as the Death Master File). Rep. Richard Nugent of Florida submitted HR 295 (view the text here). Section 7 of the bill closes SSDI access for about three years. The only people who could win access in that crucial time would be those who can certify that they are investigating fraud. The bill would hamper the efforts of compassionate work by forensic genealogists, including those who find the next of kin for Unclaimed Persons or those who do similar work for servicemen killed in action. This two-year legislative session will need monitoring and our timely responses. Be ready to lend your voice when it is needed. Sign up for the IAJGS alerts email list. Learn more about IAJGS's Public Records Access Monitoring committee here. Jan Meisels Allen has announced that IAJGS will...

At 3:00 pm Thursday afternoon, 10 May 2012, in Cincinnati, Ohio, RPAC met at the National Genealogical Society’s annual convention. On behalf of MGC, I attended as a Massachusetts liaison. What is RPAC? The Records Preservation and Access Committee is a three-person panel with an advisory board. The three panelists are delegates from the Federation of Genealogical Societies, the National Genealogical Society, and the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies. About a dozen people sit as advisors, but the bulk of the work and the bulk of the strategy comes from the three panelists: David Rencher, AG, CG, the Genealogist at FamilySearch in Utah; Fred Moss from Texas; and Jan Meisels Allen from California. Together for many years they have provided advice to state genealogical societies whenever access or preservation issues arise. Last year they supported our efforts to stop a bill that would have closed records back to 1840. This...