Federation of Genealogical Societies Projects

The Federation of Genealogical Societies works to preserve resource materials of genealogical and historical significance. FGS provides national leadership by marshaling resources for the following projects:

• Malcolm H. Stern-NARA Gift Fund. One aspect to records preservation and access is the Stern-NARA Gift Fund. The Federation of Genealogical Societies promotes and publicizes the idea of one dollar per member per year to finance this fund. Established in 1983, the Stern-NARA Gift Fund makes possible the creation of finding aids and the microfilming of valuable research materials now preserved in the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in Washington, D.C.
• FGS Records Preservation and Access Committee. The committee works with agencies throughout the country to establish a system by which records at risk can be identified and their historical and genealogical significance evaluated. For those record groups deemed to possess important research, potential steps are recommended to preserve them in the most permanent and economical method possible.
• Civil War Soldiers & Sailors System (CWSS). FGS recruited and trained thousands of volunteers to work on the creation of an everyname index to the participants in the Civil War. In 1999, FGS and GSU, with support from the National Park Service, the National Archives, and the Civil War Trust (among other groups), completed the data entry of more than five million names.
• FGS Youth Organization: Future Genealogists. Created in 2005, the FGS Youth Committee exists to promote, mentor, and educate youth involved in family history and genealogy, and to help them find a voice in the genealogical community.