The Genealogical Institute on Federal Records Alumni Association (Gen-Fed Alumni) announces, with great pleasure, the recipient of the Richard S. Lackey Scholarship for 2018, Linda MacIver of Boston, Massachusetts. Awarded yearly, this scholarship covers tuition and some other expenses for the week long seminar, the Genealogical Institute on Federal Records (Gen-Fed). The scholarship application specifies an “experienced researcher employed in a paid or volunteer position in the services of the genealogical community.”
Linda MacIver is hardly a newcomer to Government records. After several years as a school, college, and corporate librarian, Linda joined the Government Documents Department of the Boston Public Library, the GPO regional library for Massachusetts. Over the course of 27 years, and as the Documents and Social Sciences departments merged, Linda attacked the considerable volume of patron genealogy reference requests with her comprehensive knowledge of records; federal, state and local. When the personal computer/internet era changed everything, Linda developed a variety of computer-based genealogy classes and lecture series, all free to patrons and satisfying a growing public interest in family history.
Now recently retired, Linda takes her show on the road throughout central and eastern Massachusetts. Whether a one-hour lecture or a 4 or 6-week course, she continues to engage patrons to become “organized genealogists” with critical thinking and valuable print and electronic research skills.
Linda’s interest in records is also evident in her involvement with organizations whose mission is to preserve and protect access to documents. She serves as Secretary to the Massachusetts Genealogical Council and a board member of the Essex Society of Genealogists in Massachusetts. Her involvement extends across the pond as she serves as the New England agent for the Essex (England) Records Office, the only county to currently have such a stateside position.
Linda had this to say about her selection: “As much as I really enjoy teaching the beginners, I am thoroughly delighted to be able to spend an exciting week in Washington actually working on tearing down a few of my own brick walls. I am so appreciative of the opportunity that the Alumni Association has provided me and the honor of receiving the Lackey scholarship.”
The Gen-Fed Alumni Association is pleased to award the 2018 Richard Lackey Scholarship to Linda MacIver and we all look forward to welcoming her to Gen-Fed in July.
Registration for Gen-Fed will take place on Saturday, February 24, at 1PM. For information on how to register, click here.