ROOTS & BRANCHES

It was about two-and-a-half years ago that I became interim executive director for Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania.

There was a familiarity to the territory. I had been GSP’s executive director for four years in the early 2000s.

Earlier this month, I finished that “interim-cy” and have moved back to being a freelance genealogical writer, researcher, and lecturer.

The society hadn’t had an executive director for half a decade when I arrived, so there were a lot of things contesting for “Job One.” Some of them never got done.

But I am proud of a number of achievements although something that certainly has been reinforced during that time: No one person does anything alone in an organization, and that’s definitely been the case at GSP.

Which leads to the first thing I’m happy about: I leave GSP on the cusp of having a full Board of Directors for the first time in a long time. And we didn’t go about just filling slots with warm bodies; the people we’ve added to the board expanded its diversity in terms of geography (western and central Pennsylvania are now represented and we even have a board member residing in Utah!), race and ethnicity, and age—as well as re-creating ties with institutions.

Which in turn leads to a second thing: Institutional relations with Historical Society of Pennsylvania, which have been on a roller-coaster ride since before my first stint, have been enhanced, due in no small part to the fact that David Brigham, now titled as HSP’s CEO and Librarian, has righted the financial ship at what had been a chronically cash poor organization.

HSP hired a director of genealogical programs and services who has helped both societies better serve our shared constituency of family historians, including representing Pennsylvania genealogy at a variety of events, including last year’s Pennsylvania’s Genealogy Event (PaGE), for which HSP was a sponsor.

PaGE, the first all-Pennsylvania genealogy conference in nearly 20 years (and only the second ever!), was the center of a resumption of programming by GSP that includes free Third Thursday webinars, occasional full-day seminars, and in-person Special Interest Groups at the GSP headquarters.

With all of this increased activity, it’s not surprising that GSP membership increased by leaps and bounds in the last two years, with many hopes for the future.

What lessons have I learned about organizations in the last couple of years, aside from the already acknowledged “you need a team” to do it?

The first thing is despite the many changes to a virtual setting during the COVID-19 pandemic, at least a limited sense of place is important to an organization.

And, second but also important, is that genealogy organizations need to also respect their distance members and continue to give them ways to connect.

GSP will continue to thrive if it continues along these lines.