Van Buren Regional Genealogical Society

Volunteers are an integral part of the Van Buren Regional Genealogical Society and the preservation of the history of southwest Michigan.
Help is always needed in the Local History Department of the Webster Memorial Library. This is the place where the local history collection is
housed and shared with the public. The success of this facility is enhanced by the volunteers who assist researchers, handle incoming queries,
answer mail, do in-house projects and help monitor the overall security of the collection. For those people who are unable to volunteer at the
library there are many at-home projects that can be tailored to compliment a wide variety of talents.

THESE CURRENT PROJECTS ARE IN NEED OF VOLUNTEERS

MILITARY BOOK PROJECT
"VAN BUREN COUNTY IN WORLD WAR II" SCHEDULED TO BE PUBLISHED IN 2011
This book is being prepared to honor the war veterans of World War II who have/had a connection to Van Buren County, Michigan and will include
as many names of these many men and women, and information about their service, as can be obtained. Also, included in this book will be
recognition to the many people who remained at home and helped in the war effort.
WORLD WAR II PROJECT
MASTER INDEX PROJECT
The master index project is an ongoing attempt to index names of people and places that appear in the book and manuscript collection of the
Local History Department of the Webster Memorial Library. This index, which is computer accessible at the library, helps the staff better serve
visiting researchers.
SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN OBITUARY PROJECT
This project involves the collection of obituaries from local sources, indexing them for our website and preparing them for microfilming.
VITAL RECORD INDEXING AND PRESERVATION
Our collection has many copies of original records and they are in need of transcription so that they can be preserved on computer file and more
easily available to researchers.
OLD NEWSPAPER SURNAME INDEXING
Our large collection of old newspapers are being indexed by surname. This is part of the Master Index Project.
NEWSPAPER PRESERVATION PROJECT
There continues to be an ongoing search for old newspapers from Allegan, Berrien, Cass, Kalamazoo, and Van Buren County. The goal is to
microfilm or otherwise digitally preserve as many of these issues as possible. If you have original copies of old newspapers or have knowledge of
a collection that could be available please contact us.
PRESERVATION OF CURRENT NEWSPAPER ITEMS
Every day volunteers glean current editions of the newspapers from Paw Paw, Decatur, Marcellus, Watervliet, Plainwell, Allegan, Saugatuck,
Buchanan, Niles, New Buffalo, South Haven,Kalamazoo, Vicksburg, Benton Harbor and Dowagiac. Obituaries and articles that are important to
the areas history are clipped and indexed, they are then added to the collection of the Local History Department.
If you have original newspapers, wish to donate a current subscription or donate past issues of any southwest Michigan newspapers, please
contact us.
RESEARCH ASSISTANCE
Currently the Van Buren Regional Genealogical Society does not have a volunteer staff of researchers to assist requests that come into the Local
History Department. We do, however, provide a list of private researchers for the counties of southwest Michigan and that can be obtained by
contacting the Local History Department. The society nor the Webster Memorial Library endorse or are responsible for the research conducted
by these private researchers.
To have your name included as a researcher send your complete contact information along with a description of your area of expertise and your
fee schedule to the Local History Department.
BOOK/MAGAZINE REVIEWER
Books and magazines that relate to genealogy research are continuously being printed and reviews of this material are needed for publication in
the society publication
Van Buren Echoes.
PROGRAM PRESENTERS
The meetings and special events of the VBRGS extend a welcome to anyone who wishes to share their passion and talents with fellow
genealogists and historians. Contact the program chair at VBRGS or the Local History Department to discuss the topic of interest that you would
like to share at an upcoming society meeting.

For any information about volunteering or contributing items to these projects contact the
LOCAL HISTORY DEPARTMENT
by email
or call (269) 423-4771