Tallahassee Genealogical Society, Inc. Records

Founded out of a need to organize an interest group of local amateur and professional genealogists, Cliff Burkhart and a group of 80 charter members started the Tallahassee Genealogical Society in 1981. The organizational meeting was held on April 30, 1981, at which 63 members were present.

The first periodic publication of the Society, the Bulletin, started during this year. Initially intended merely as a monthly bulletin, it expanded the next year into a full quarterly publication. An important milestone for the Society was its first published book, Surname Index, published in 1987. This was a compilation of surnames submitted by members of the Society used both as an aid to other researchers and a way of connecting researchers with common family interests. Another publication issued by the Society was the Florida Voter Registration Lists compiled by Carol Bouknecht. This book was the result of a seven-year project of which Mavis Day and other TGS members also took a role in completing. It was a transcription of the lists of registered voters in the state of Florida in 1868 and 1869. It included many first time African-American voters throughout the state and represented a period of Reconstruction where African-Americans had a measure of freedom that they would not experience for almost 100 years later. Two of the Society's signature annual programs are the Spring Seminars and the Fall Workshops. The first seminar took place in January 1982, with Willard Heiss as the speaker. The first workshop, a class held by Eleanor Gartner, was in 1984, and after a temporary suspension in 1985, became an annual tradition of the Society. Among the group's major early achievements was the Bible Copying Day, done in collaboration with the Florida State Archives. This project made family bibles available for local genealogical and historical researchers and had the additional benefit of preservation.

The Society has undertaken several projects that benefited the local genealogical community. Among the Society's most ambitious projects have been surveys of the church records and cemeteries within Leon County. The result of these projects resulted in the creation of invaluable reference sources for Leon County. The Church Records Project, started in 1999, undertook the daunting task of compiling all the religious establishments within the county and commenting on the status of their records. This included listing what types of records exist of the group and who holds them, if they are still in existence. This project strayed from the traditional church records projects of the past in its inclusiveness of religions outside the mainstream of society. The Cemetery Survey Project was similar to the church project except it was not complete but in the cemeteries it did cover, it included a list of burials made at that respective cemetery.

A major focus of the Society after 2000 has been undertaking group projects that are more personal in nature. Two of their most recent programs, the Family History Expo and the Leon County Heritage Book Project, reflect these changes. The Family History Expo is an interesting combination of family history and history fair projects. Members give presentations on their families using a variety of methods, the whole point of the Expo being to allow creativity. Recognizing the fact that many people in this area do not have deep family roots in Leon County, the Family History Expo does not place geographical or time period restraints on the subject matter. What results is a showcase of the cultural heterogeneity of the country. Following a similar vein, the Heritage Book Project is an ambitious undertaking that does not require anyone to have a family history in the area. The proposed book is simply a collection of personal stories from current and former residents who reminisce about their stay in Leon County.