Services Offered by
The Past Matters

At The Past Matters, we understand that every research project is unique.  We provide a variety of research services that can be customized to meet your needs, and we will put together a Research Plan that is customized to focus on your specific objectives.  We offer a variety of services at The Past Matters, including:

Research Services

We can provide genealogical research, lineage research, family history, photo and artifact history research.  This type of research is used both by individuals researching their own family photos and artifacts and by antique dealers or others who want more information on an item they own or plan to resell.

Photographic Services

We can provide you with print and/or digital photos of a tombstone, family home, or other place of significance to you.

Consultation Services

We provide project management services, brick wall guidance services, and collection organization services.

Speaker Services

We provide lectures on a variety of topics

Research Agreement

Genealogical Research Services

Are you interested in finding out who your ancestors were?  Or do you believe you have identified an ancestor but need proof for a lineage application?  Do you have proof of your ancestry but want to know where your ancestor came from or more about the rest of his family or his ancestors?  To help you define your objectives, you might find it helpful to see how your research needs fit into one or more of the following research categories:

Genealogy Research –This category of research includes the activities necessary to determine the descendants of a specific individual.  This kind of research begins at some point in the past and then takes you forward through time.

Lineage Research –This category of research includes the activities necessary to determine the ancestors of a specific individual.  In contrast to genealogy research, this kind of research takes you backwards through time.

Family History Research –This category includes activities that provide either biographical details of your ancestor’s life or historical information about his life.  This kind of information can help you better understand your ancestor’s personality, character, experiences and choices within the context of the time and the place that he lived.

These categories of research often overlap.  For example, the fact that your ancestor was a blacksmith can be a piece of family history research that helps you to better understand his life.  However, the fact that your ancestor was a blacksmith could also be used to help differentiate him from another man in his community who had the same name, thereby making this one of the pieces of lineage research that helps to prove he is your ancestor.

Karen Wallace Steely’s research experience has included researching ancestors in all regions of the U.S. as well as in Eastern and Western Europe, with the majority of her experience being in the following areas:

• Ozark research (this includes southern Missouri and northern Arkansas)
• South-Central Midwest – Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas
• Northwest research – Washington, Oregon
• Native American ancestry (especially Cherokee and Oklahoma Indian Territory)
• DAR, SAR lineage applications

There are also specific libraries, archives and repositories that Karen regularly visits to do research, which include the following:

• Family History Library in Salt Lake City
• National Archives in Washington, D.C.
• Missouri State Archives in Columbia
• Allen County Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana
• Mid-Continent Public Library Genealogy Collection, Independence
• Kansas History Center in Topeka
• Arkansas History Commission in Little Rock
• Oklahoma Historical Society in Oklahoma City
• Oregon State Archives in Salem
• Washington State Archives in Olympia

Karen makes regular research trips to these repositories, and a schedule of her upcoming trips can be seen by clicking here

Photo and Artifact Research Services

Do you have a single photo or a set of photos you need help identifying?  Are you an antique dealer who would like to enhance the value of an item by researching its history?  Karen can research photographs or artifacts that you would like more information about. This includes family photographs, portraits, and antique items such as a quilt, a sampler or a doll.

Karen’s research experience has included researching photos, portraits and antique items, with the majority of her experience being in the following areas:

• 19th and 20th century photographs
• 18th, 19th and 20th century clothing and needlework items
• 19th and 20th century American artifacts
• 18th, 19th and 20th century dolls

Karen can also provide guidance on the preservation and storage of photos and other antique items.  Additional information on archival preservation is also available on our Resources Page.

Research Services

Please call us if you would like additional information on the services we offer, or if you would like us to customize our services to better meet your specific needs. You can also check out our Fees or see our standard engagement letter.

Photographic Services

Do you have a family member that is buried in the Pacific Northwest but live too far away to visit their burial site?  Do you know that a family member was buried in Washington or Oregon but are not sure which cemetery?  Would you like to have photographs of a family home, school, church or other site important to your family?

Tombstones in particular can be important sources of information and evidence for a family historian.  They can provide vital clues in genealogical research, and tombstone photos can add interest to a family history project. Tombstones are also, unfortunately, impermanent by nature.  Time, the elements, and vandalism, as well as other factors, pose a risk.

The Past Matters can provide you with digital, 35mm slide and/or archival-quality print photographs of tombstones or other sites of importance to you that are located in the Pacific Northwest.  We also use a Global Positioning System (GPS) device to record the exact location of your family tombstone, home or site.  Robert Craig Wallace is an experienced photographer in both print and digital photography.  Craig uses a variety of tombstone-friendly techniques to enhance the visibility of the images and inscription.  He can also place flowers or other memorials at the gravesite on your behalf.

Consultation Services

Karen Wallace Steely offers a variety of consultation services, including:

• Professional project management for family history projects.
• Assistance with preservation, organization and cataloging of your photograph, artifact or research materials collection.
• Development of research plans that help you focus your own research or overcome a specific brick wall.

Karen can also provide guidance on the preservation and storage of photos and other antique items.  Basic information on archival preservation is also available on our Resources Page.

Speaking Services

Karen Wallace Steely provides the lecture services for The Past Matters. One hour and one and one-half hour lectures and two-hour workshops are currently available.

New lectures, half- and full-day seminars are developed upon request and with four months notice.

Presentations are in Microsoft PowerPoint and are delivered from a laptop computer using a digital projector .  Speaker can provide the laptop computer and the digital projector .

The Past Matters uses a standard speaking agreement .

SPECIALTIES:

• Using Technology Effectively as a Genealogist
• Planning a successful research trip
• Organizing and cataloging your genealogical library
• Preserving family photos, papers and heirlooms
• Researching, dating and identifying old photographs

LECTURE TITLES:

See my page on the Genealogical Speakers Guild website for additional information.

Understanding Desertion during the Civil War

Explores the social history of desertion, its consequences, and the unique genealogical records that may result.  Includes a case study.

Hitting the Road: Planning a Successful Research Trip

Travel can be challenging, and genealogical research on the road poses very special challenges.  This lecture covers research trip planning, travel tips, packing lists and techniques, and research strategies for maximizing your research success on the road.

Finding and Using Divorce Records: Two Case Studies

Divorce was more common in the 1800’s than most people realize.  And divorce can generate records that provide both genealogical information and information about the personality and life of your ancestors.

The Genealogist as Project Manager: Getting to Done on Your Genealogy Projects

This lecture provides a project management perspective to genealogical research.  Topics include research planning, workplan development, task scheduling, and organization of research materials.

How to Use Search Engine Optimization Tools to Promote Your Website

You may have a website, but can people find you?  This lecture discusses the newest techniques for optimizing your website’s placement in search results.

Using Software to Catalog Your Library and Track Your Sources

This lecture includes an evaluation of some of the book cataloging and bibliographic software packages that are available, and then provides an in-depth example of how these tools can be used to improve the quality of your work.

Google Gone Wild: Advanced Internet Search Techniques

Even experienced web users may not know how browser search engines differ, or how best to use their unique features.  A variety of advanced search techniques are described in detail.

Would You Like Fries with That Family Tree? Some Dos and Don’ts in Building Client Relationships (Banquet or Luncheon presentation)

Both serious and tongue-in-cheek guidelines and anecdotes are presented, all of which underline the importance of managing client relationships by managing client expectations.

Workshops

How to Organize and Preserve Your Family Photos, Memorabilia and Heirlooms

How do you care for precious family photos and other artifacts? Proven methods for organizing, sharing, preserving and storing items from photos to books and clothing are discussed and demonstrated.

Determining the Who, Where, When and Why of Old Photographs

Begins with a history of photographic methods and then provides a methodology for using photographic method, fashion clues, and known genealogical information to help date and identify old photos.  The participants then have the opportunity to apply these skills to dating and identifying a set of old photos.

A History of Fashion since the French Revolution

Real examples of vintage clothing from 1820-1920 are used along with period drawings and paintings, and a silhouette-based methodology is presented for identifying vintage fashions.