Mary Clement Douglass,  Bachelor of Arts (Social Studies Education), is owner of Historical Matters, Salina, Kansas, specializing in Kansas research, genealogical education, and preservation of historical collections. Mary has more than thirty years experience as historian, genealogist, author, publisher, curator, and teacher. In addition to client research, Mary lectures nationally on Kansas resources and genealogical methodology, including engagements with the National Genealogical Society’s annual Conference in the States, and the Land Records & Genealogy Symposium sponsored by the Homestead National Monument, Beatrice, Nebraska.

Her article, “Genealogical Research in Kansas” appeared in the National Genealogical Society Quarterly in June 2004. She is a frequent contributor to the NGS News Magazine. Mary revised the Kansas chapter in Ancestry’s Red Book, 3rd edition. Everton’s Genealogical Helper, Family Chronicle, Discovering Family History, Association of Professional Genealogists Quarterly and Ancestry magazines have published her articles. She is the award winning author of “New Deal Art in the Salina, Kansas Post Office” which appeared in the scholarly journal Kansas Quarterly, Volume 20, No. 4, 1988.

She has served on the boards of the Association for Professional Genealogists, Genealogical Speakers Guild, Kansas Council for Genealogical Societies, and Smoky Valley Genealogical Society. Mary is past chair of the Salina Heritage Commission, former Architectural Historian for the City of Salina, and author of Historic Resources Survey, Part II Salina, Kansas 1984-1985 . She was curator of collections 1986-1997 for the Smoky Hill Museum which was accredited by the American Museums Association in 1997. Mary is a preservation consultant for the Kansas Humanities Council, and a peer reviewer for the American Museums Association.

Historical Matters Press was established in 2008. Its first publication, A Guide to Genealogical and Historical Research in Kansas, came off the presses in August, 2008.  A revised edition is scheduled for 2011.