Jerry Smith started tracing his genealogy after his ailing father gave him a suitcase full of family photographs.
His father had inherited them from his mother, and his mother had inherited them from her mother. Some were nearly a century old. On first inspection, Smith noticed that some were unlabeled.
“Who are these people?” he asked his dad. He didn’t know. Nobody knew.
“I realized at that moment that that’s when those people really died — when nobody knew who they were,” Smith said. “If you don’t make a record of your ancestors, they’re dead from all memory of humans. That’s when you really die.”
That realization sparked a passion in Smith, who is now a volunteer at the Clark County Genealogical Society.
How to get involved
To learn more about the Clark County Genealogical Society, visit www.ccgs-wa.org. The organization is seeking volunteers and donations.
“That’s kind of the overriding impetus for all of this, even if it’s just honoring your mother and your father and so forth,” he said. “There’s so much stuff in media now, it’s easy just to forget all about them. And they shouldn’t be forgotten.”
The Clark County Genealogical Society turned 50 on Saturday, and Smith was volunteering at the celebration held at the organization’s library at 3205 N.E. 52nd St.
The event — a 1970s-themed costume party — included a ribbon-cutting ceremony, library tours, a costume contest and lots of food. Expert genealogists were available to answer attendees’ questions. The “Gallery of Grandmothers,” an exhibit featuring photos and biographical information about some attendees’ grandmothers and great-grandmothers, was set up in front of the library.
Roughly 50 people were in attendance, including many of the children and grandchildren of the 15 founders of the Clark County Genealogical Society.
To prepare for the anniversary, Clark County Genealogical Society historian Bea Ritter researched the organization’s founders for two years. A book compiling her research about the founders and history of the Clark County Genealogical Society was for sale at the event.
“It was a fun project, but it was a lot of work,” Ritter said.
In 1972, Margaretta Zimmerman teamed up with 14 other women to establish the Clark County Genealogical Society.
The daughter of pioneers, Zimmerman was a passionate local historian. She was involved with Daughters of the Pioneers of Washington, Daughters of the American Revolution, the General Society of Mayflower Descendants and the Fort Vancouver Historical Society — no small feat considering she also raised six children on a chicken hatchery in Battle Ground.
When she began doing genealogical research, she learned that the Fort Vancouver Library did not have a genealogy department, so she helped start one. She was selected as the first president of the Clark County Genealogical Society, and some of the organization’s first meetings were held in her home.
The organization grew quickly. Now, it has some 400 members and more than 10,000 volumes and reference materials.
“Because of (Zimmerman’s) extraordinary efforts for our society, we are celebrating our 50th anniversary today,” Ritter said.
During the celebration, a plaque commemorating Zimmerman was hung in the library’s research room, which is now called the Margaretta Zimmerman Founders Room.
Additionally, a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held for the organization’s new sign that was donated by the children of founder Lois Bauman. Bauman’s great-granddaughter, Annika Wray, 3, cut the ribbon.
“This sign has certainly made us a lot more conspicuous than we used to be,” said Clark County Genealogical Society President Eric Jordahl. “As people drive by, they see it and come inside to see what we are all about.”
One such person was Clark County resident Steve Doerk, who visited the library Saturday to research his father’s lineage. Doerk has been studying his family tree for roughly 10 years. He has traced his mother’s well-documented lineage back to the third century. His father’s lineage, however, has been a bit harder to track.
“The fact that (the Clark County Genealogical Society’s) got a lot of the documentation that they have, it makes them a great resource,” he said. “There’s just a ton of wild information you can find, especially for those that are interested in this sort of thing. People don’t seem to be as interested in their history and their roots as they used to be. But my dad was a big historian, so I kind of got the bug from him.”
The Clark County Genealogical Society is working to digitize most of its resources, according to Jordahl, which might help spark more interest among younger people.
“We have some stuff that’s unique to Clark County that no one else has,” Jordahl said.
