masthead 01masthead 02masthead 03

Home

Research Service
Frequent Questions
Research Agreement

Have Speech--Will Travel!
Need a Speaker?
Speaking Arrangements
Presentation Agreement

Historical Matters Press
Publications

About Us

Contact Us

Archival Preservation

Links

About Historical Matters

Mary Clement Douglass, Certified GenealogistSM (renewed for the period of 2005-2010) is the principal researcher for Historical Matters. Historical Matters was started in July 1997 as a local history research company. Since then it has grown to include educational programs on genealogical topics, and historical collections management as part of its services.

Vitae

Mrs. Douglass is an historian with over 30 years experience writing and lecturing. She graduated from Central State University, Edmond, OK with a degree in social studies education. She specializes in Kansas research and education of genealogists. Mary lectures nationally on genealogical and historical topics.

Mary served the Genealogical Speakers Guild as director and 2003 conference booth chair. She is co-founder of the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG) Heartland Chapter, served on the APG Board of Directors (term:2004-2005), and was the Web site administrator for APG-Town Hall.

A family historian since 1972, Mary served on the Smoky Valley Genealogical Society's board 1982-2000 as program chair, editor, vice-president, archivist, museum liaison, and instructor. Mrs. Douglass served as area representative and treasurer of the Kansas Council of Genealogical Societies (KCGS) board.

She is past regent and registrar for Mary Wade Strother chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, and former registrar of Walden Chapter, United Daughters of the Confederacy. She established lineages for US Daughters of the War of 1812 and Daughters of American Colonists.

Mrs. Douglass served on the Salina Heritage Commission 1998-2006, several years as chair.

From 1986-1997, she was Curator of Collections of the Smoky Hill Museum, Salina, KS, accredited by the American Association of Museums. Mary is a graduate of the University of Texas Winedale Seminar in Historic Administration. She continues her involvement with museums as a surveyor/peer counselor for the American Association of Museums' Museum Assessment Program. She is also a Heritage Preservation consultant for the Kansas Humanities Council.

Mrs. Douglass is listed in Marquis Who's Who in America.

Professional Memberships and Affiliations

  • Association for Professional Genealogists
  • Board for Certification of Genealogists
  • National Genealogical Society
  • Smoky Valley Genealogical Society
  • National Society Daughters of the American Revolution
  • United Daughters of the Confederacy

Credentials

  • Certified Genealogist, Board for Certification of Genealogists
  • Bachelor of Arts in Social Studies Education, Central State College, Edmond, OK
  • Graduate, NGS "American Genealogy" course
  • Family historian and genealogist since 1972
  • Smoky Valley Genealogical Society and Library, Inc. Various offices held 1982-2000
  • Curator of Collections (retired), Smoky Hill Museum, Salina, KS, accredited by American Association of Museum, 1997
  • Graduate, University of Texas - Winedale Seminar in Historic Administration
  • American Association of Museums, Museum Assessment Program Surveyor: Institutional Overview, Collections, and Public Dimension
  • Kansas Humanities Council - Heritage Preservation Consultant

Publications

  • "What is a Vital Record?" and "Do You Really Have a Family Coat of Arms?" in Discovering Family History, 2008
  • "Land Records: An Introduction", Family Chronicle, Dec 2007
  • "The Numerical Index--Another Land Record", Everton's Genealogical Helper, March/April 2007
  • "Finding Lost Relatives at the County Poor Farm", Everton's Genealogical Helper, May/June 2006.
  • "Burial Records as an Overlooked Source", Everton's Genealogical Helper, Jan/Feb 2006
  • "Kansas", Ancestry's Red Book, 3rd edition, 2004, contributor
  • "Genealogical Research in Kansas", National Genealogical Society Quarterly, June 2004
  • "New Deal Art in the Salina Kansas Post Office", Kansas Quarterly, Vol. 20, No. 4, 1988
  • "Salina, Kansas Historical Resources Survey, Part II", 1986
  • Editor, SVGS Tree Climber, 1982-1987
  • Clement Chronicles: Genealogical Sketches of My Ancestors, 1983

Awards

  • Martha Washington Award and Medal of Appreciation, awarded by Kansas Society, Sons of the American Revolution
  • Who's Who in America
  • 1989 Kansas Quarterly Seaton Award for Prose, "New Deal Art in the Salina Kansas Post Office"
  • Kansas Council of Genealogical Societies, Best Quarterly, 1987