A First Look at Ancestry's Premium "Club 1890" Offering and Some Thoughts

View here - Uncovering Ancestry's New Membership - Club 1890 (Is it worth it?)

Ancestry's new Club 1890 (currently offered to only a few by invitation) claims to be a premium experience. Amy Johnson Crow uses her video platform to highlight the various perks and advantages of the "vibrant community of like-minded individuals" in this video - Uncovering Ancestry's New Membership - Club 1890 (Is it worth it?). She also points out some shortcomings and concerns.

How do you feel about this up and coming "new flavor" of Ancestry? Would you use these services? Do they really enhance your experience enough to justify the price of $5K per year?

Reflecting on all this, I have to say this is not for me. It seems a little slim on the personal service, attention and return on investment offered. Once a month. Really?

For that yearly price, I would expect someone to do all the research for me and present a massive, beautiful book at the end of a year.

I hear Amy's concerns and share them with her. Listen to the end of the video to hear her concerns. I truly hope that more paywalls, steep costs, and exclusive advance access (for some...) is not the future direction that Ancestry plans to take our wonderful pastime.

There is one thing nagging me that Amy did not mention.

Imagine how many state and local genealogical societies you could support in the areas that you need to do deep research with that Five Thousand Dollars per year!

You would get access to topics, records and collaboration with folks who know the area. They know where to look and how to find the obscure information that you need to solve your family history mysteries. Collaborating with these folks builds expertise, social bonds and research skills and most importantly friendships! Will Ancestry consider Club 1890 folks friends if they see them at the archives or walking down the street? Will they only be friendly when it comes time to rejoin "the Club"?

Club 1890 is a non-starter for me. I have been scrapping around researching my genealogy for so many years now that I know where to look for what I need to find. Overpaying others for the services described is not going to push my research or story that much farther ahead and would not feel nearly as satisfying as making the discovery myself.

I would rather experience the thrill of discovery with the knowledge I have gained by seeking out quality sources - i.e. my local and state genealogy societies, webinars from Legacy Webinars, FamilySearch, and RootsTech. We should add the National Genealogical Society into the mix, too.

I hope this does not signal an era of more and more information silos and paywalls. If so, I will be spending my genealogy dollars supporting the societies who thrive on community, preservation, education an

d service. The ones who took such a hit during Covid. Perhaps we can prevent a few more from fading out of existence. I might not be the $5k to spend. You might not either, but if we all support our areas of concern we can make a huge difference.

Again, I say...

Just think of how many state and local genealogical societies you could support, save, and gain benefit from for that Five Thousand Dollar price tag.

Thinking of my favorite Societies to support!

I'll be adding a few more to my list...

Thanks Ancestry, but no thanks.

Wake Wednesday - Slave Narratives in the Wake Treasures Journal Archive

A selection of the slave narratives relevant to Wake County were transcribed as noted below. The Wake Treasures Journal Archives are currently free to all to view. Note that historical materials often include viewpoints, language, norms, and values of the original creators that may be harmful to our sensibilities today. There is language here that some may wish to skip. The words of the original speakers were preserved as originally expressed.* SLAVE NARRATIVES – A FOLK HISTORY OF SLAVERY IN THE US, FROM INTERVIEWS WITH FORMER SLAVES Transcribed by Jerry J. Lewis NORTH CAROLINA NARRATIVES, Pt. 1, Vol. 14, NC District #2. This can be found in the North Carolina State Library. This was a project of the Works Progress Administration in 1937. These narratives were can be found in Vol 8.2 (starting p. 57 ) and Vol 9.1 (starting p. 59 ) The narratives include accounts from former enslaved persons who lived in Raleigh at the time of the WPA survey. Many were enslaved in Wake County...

2026 Wake County Genealogical Society Virtual Meetings - next - Oct. 27, 2026

Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026 @ 6:30pm – Virtual Topic: WWII Service: Discovering your Ancestor's Story using Online Resources Speaker: Cynthia Gage As a genealogist, I feel that my role is to preserve not just the names of my ancestors, but also to learn the stories of their lives in order to fully appreciate the history that led to me. Military service is one of those important stories and luckily for us as researchers, many records exist. The service record is only one part of a veteran's story: the other is their experience. This presentation focuses on WWII service and will provide sources and techniques for gathering and analyzing information from both parts of the story. For those with Army servicemen, there are online sources which can help rebuild the service records that were lost in the1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center. Join us! Free and virtual! *Please register by 4pm day of meeting. *Please save your passcode and link for ease of entry at st...

Reminder - Join Wakecogen for "Coffee & Conversation" - July 16 Meet-up - This Thursday

Join Wakecogensoc for "Coffee & Conversation" What - July Meet-up When - Thursday, July 16 , at 9:30 am Where - Panera Bread - (Glenwood/Pleasant Valley), 6201 Glenwood Avenue , Raleigh, NC 27612 Designed by pch.vector / Freepik Our first coffee gathering was so fun, we are going to do it again! We’ll chat about what genealogical topics we're working on, or a brick wall, or ask other members how to do something. No RSVP - just show up , order your beverage or food, and look around for Barbara at a large table with a sign for WCGS. We tentatively plan to hold several more “Coffee and Conversation” events on different days and locations throughout 2026. If you are interested in hosting one, email President@WakeCoGen.org and we'll choose a date and location. Visit Wake County Genealogical Society's Website - Homepage | WCGS Events | Join WCGS | Publications | Wake Cemetery Survey Images |...

Search This Blog