Contribute to the CGSI Blog

This blog aims to be a repository of posts from a variety of people on a wide range of topics having to do with the cultural heritage of the Czech and Slovak lands. We welcome your contributions, big or small.

Why contribute? These are some advantages to sharing your story on the CGSI blog:

• Stability. Our website is central to the mission of CGSI as a way to connect. The site will stay under CGSI's control, unlike social media platforms.
• Connection. We are an established, large genealogical society and attract many viewers. Sharing your story can help others who you don't even know exist yet, and who may even live on the other side of the world!
• Reach. Sharing a post online allows others who you don't know yet to help you solve your genealogical mysteries and break your brick walls.
• Sharing. By sharing a post on the CGSI blog, you will have a larger audience and will not have to deal with any of the tedium of blog templates, creation, upkeep, editing, etc. Basically, you get all of the benefits without the hassle!
• Security. You do not have to share your own personal information on the CGSI blog.
• Legacy. This is an easy way to volunteer to give back to CGSI. Every page view of our website helps our cause, which is to be the leader in providing educational, cultural, historical, and genealogical resources, with a special emphasis in providing opportunities for our members to discover their heritage.

Our members and friends all have stories to share. We want to hear yours.

Format

There are no wordcount requirements, nor is there a formal style guide for the blog. You may write in whatever style you wish, though because it should be understandable, it should lean towards a more informal style. You should always give attribution to the source of your information if not yourself, but citations do not need to follow a specific style guide. Usually this is done by providing a link. This will help other researchers who want to help you solve your mystery because they will be able to retrace your steps - perhaps uncovering clues that you overlooked!

We suggest that you provide a high-resolution image with your submission, though if you cannot, we will find one that matches your post. All blog posts will be published with at least one image. Posts are subject to editing.

Here are three different styles of posts:

• Short

  • 25-100 words

  • Suggestions: share a photo and a brief description of an ancestor, a favorite place you have visited, a historical artifact you own, a poem or letter in an ancestral language, a saying that you grew up with and would like to know what it means, an image from an archival site that you have transcribed or need help transcribing, etc.

  • Example: Bread Shovels

• Medium

  • 100-500 words

  • Suggestions: Share a photo of an ancestor and tell their story. Who are they? Where did they come from? Why is it important to you to remember them? What would you ask them if you could see them in person? Share an experience you had while doing your family history. What did you learn? What do you wish you had known before you started your research? What was it like when you visited the ancestral village of your ancestors - or if you haven't had that privilege, what do you imagine it will be like? Share your thoughts about an item of cultural significance. Why is it important? What does it mean to you, and what did it mean to your ancestors? If you have a burning genealogical question that you can't answer, ask it! Provide a solid back story, fill in the details of the background information, provide links to supporting documentation, and write down your theories, no matter how unsure you feel about them.

  • Example: Goulash

• Long

  • 500+ words

  • Suggestions: share a detailed account of your ancestors. Include images of documents, people, places, artifacts, etc. Provide links to digital artifacts. Cite your sources. Did you solve a genealogical mystery? Brag about how you did it. Describe your feelings as you were able to piece together the clues. Justify your research by providing evidence and weaving together the clues. How do they support each other? What evidence is missing? What questions remain? What records do you wish you had access to, which you do not? Share a detailed account of your own personal history. Why are you proud to have Czech/Slovak/German/Bohemian/Rusyn/etc. heritage? What culturally significant symbols have imprinted their values in your life, and how? What do you hope that those who come after you will remember about you? Share a detailed account of your travels (and this needn't mean to the Czech/Slovak lands themselves). How did this place change your perception of your ancestors' experiences? How did traveling to a new environment change your sense of self? Where do you hope to go in the future, and how will it help you in your genealogical research?

  • Example: Village of Origin for Josef Kubeš

If you are interested in contributing to CGSI's quarterly journal Naše rodina, you can read how to do that here.

Submit

Your submission can be entered in the form located at the bottom of the main page of the CGSI Blog.

Most of us enjoy sharing a good story or interesting photo with others, and now is the time to do that.