Fifty Years of Credentialing: Presentations Available

In the "B. C." era (Before Credentialing) genealogical fraud was rampant. Two organizations sought to give confidence to the public when hiring researchers and coincidentally were founded in the same year of 1964.

Please join BCG and ICAPGen at an unprecedented joint banquet at the NGS conference in Richmond, Virginia, on Friday, May 9, 2014. The evening's speaker is David Rencher, AG, CG, FIGRS, FUGA, whose topic is "Celebrating Genealogical Credentials--The Accreditation and Certification Programs Turn 50!" Both organizations want to thank NGS for their recognition of this milestone in genealogical history. NGS registrations are being taken now at http://conference.ngsgenealogy.org/. One does not need to be registered for the conference in order to attend the banquet.

BCG began its celebration last year "in the 50th year of its age" with a luncheon talk at FGS in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, by Rev. David McDonald, CG on "No Diamonds, No Cherries: Celebrating a Jubilee" which can be heard on the BCG website.

At a joint banquet in Salt Lake City in October, the American Society of Genealogists and BCG sponsored Judy Russell, J.D., CG, CGL, as the banquet speaker. Her full presentation "We've Come a Long Way, Baby!" can be heard on the BCG website or viewed on YouTube. Judy's presentation is also an article in the NGS Magazine (January--March 2014, volume 40, number 1): 15-19.

When we think of the days of undocumented genealogies being fabricated on purpose or unintentionally, there was no recourse for the public or standards by which to determine the reliability of a pedigree. Now we have credentialing and a newly-edited Genealogy Standards book which helps consumers understand the parameters of good genealogy. We have, indeed, "Come a Long Way, Baby!"