Our Background

GenerousGenealogists springs from a complex and rather unique background. As an entity we recognize that we:

• are part of a community, one which has been in existence for 1000s of years
• represent specific values & aspirations
• are here to address a set of needs, for both ourselves and our community

To those ends, our environment is predicated and designed on three foundational pillars:

1. Community is the bedrock on which our environment is constructed. We (all of us including: site members, casual readers, genealogists and technologists alike) are people with knowledge.  We are people with questions.  We are all in search of answers to those questions which disturb our collective & individual psyche, impact our lives and intellects.  To that end, we (the collective whole) need to be able to ask questions of ourselves, which are accessible and answerable by us, using tools and techniques that we ourselves populate and develop.
2. Self reliance is required for most endeavors; and, genealogy research is no different.  The GenerousGenealogists environment is designed to help us succeed in our endeavors. Our environment assumes what was spoken in an ancient Chinese Proverb:
   

   “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”

   We are working at building and providing tools and coaching, within a coherent set of environments, whose objectives are to allow you to help yourself (self-reliance) as well as to help others (sharing).

3. Inquisitiveness/ Curiosity seems to be the very cornerstone of genealogy.  It is the search for who we are, and from whence we came.  To truly understand our past, we must understand the dimensions of our history, our family, and the environments from which we sprang.  This search requires knowledge, understanding, and source materials.  All of the materials and information we find need to be fearlessly examined and understood; for when they are, we begin to understand ourselves.

One of the key building blocks from which we have sprung, is the website that was RAOGK.  Although we recognize our kinship to RAOGK we are neither defined nor constrained by it or its history.  In a Genealogical sense we are perhaps best described as a child of that spirit. But we are much more. Quoting from the original RAOGK website:

Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness (RAOGK) was established in 1999 as a resource for networking among researchers. RAOGK links researchers who need documents from a distant location with others able to obtain them.

Genealogical researchers have always had the need for documentation to make progress in their family history research. Before the Internet, it was necessary to travel great distances or use postal mail to obtain the needed information because many of us do not live in close proximity to the places where our ancestors lived. [...]

RAOGK is a global volunteer organization. With volunteers in every U.S. state and many International locations, [...]. Our volunteers take time to do everything from looking up courthouse records to taking pictures of tombstones. All they ask in return is reimbursement for their expenses (never their time) and a THANK YOU.

This [original] Lincoln, Nebraska, based organization [was] administered by Bridgett and Dale Schneider. Both [were] former employees of RootsWeb.com and MyFamily.com. [...]

So in the spirit of community and family, we acknowledge and appreciate everything that has gone on before us. However, we make no claim to being our predecessors, we are ourselves.