As this week meanders from 2016 to 2017, a momentous happening will occur. As of December 31, 2016, I will let my membership in the New England Historic Genealogical Society lapse. I've been a member for 26 years. Over the last ten years, I've not done much research on my own family. I still used the library at NEHGS and certainly was glad to receive their publications. But now basic membership is $90 per year. And all you get for experienced genealogists is 4 issues of the Register and 4 issues of American Ancestors. I've decided that's not enough anymore. First of all the Register has changed. It is no longer a New England journal but a national journal. So the likelihood of my ancestors appearing in the Register from here on out has collapsed to near zero. The Great Migration Project is done. They've published their last original book and any further works are merely derivative based on what's been published already. I hardly use the library anymore. And living in Boston that was a big plus for membership.
I've already ended my member in all other genealogical societies except for the New Hampshire Society of Genealogists of which I am a life member. Some time in 2017 in between world trips, I'll box up my research and books and find a storage rental for them. It's time to downsize and genealogy is not going to make the cut in my new world.
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