Office Cleaning - BYU Class Materials

The last few days I have been going through the course materials for the classes I took from Brigham Young University seven to ten years ago. Some of the material was pretty dated at the time of the courses, so now it is even more outdated. The materials of most interest to me are the submissions and writings I created as part of the courses. In my office there was an entire shelf filled with fourteen notebooks, one for each of the genealogy related courses. Today I have only six notebooks left and eventually may decide to discard even more.

The first notebook has materials from the following courses:
Enrollment materials and graduation items.
Essential College Skills - Required for all college students, Ellen Rae Allred, A-
Bachelor of General Studies Capstone - A thorough review for all students, A
Professional Credentials in Family History - Final Genealogy Class, George Ryskamp, a challenging course, A

The next notebook has materials from these courses:
Family History-Genealogy, Roger Flick for Susan Easton Black, A
American Family History, Mary Stovall Richards, A
English Documents, Kip Sperry, A
Oral History, Jessie L. Embry, B+
US and Canada Geography, J. Matthew Shumway, my worst class, C+
Family History Directed Research, Roger Flick, on campus conference report, A

The final four notebooks are for individual courses that have the most impact on my ongoing genealogy work. They were the most writing intensive courses and generated a lot of submitted work. They are:
The Family and The Law in American History, George Ryskamp, A
Writing Family Histories, William G. Hartley, A
New England Family History, Roger Flick, My area specialty, A
US Midwest Family History, Roger Flick, A

My three favorite instructors were Roger C. Flick M.L.S.,A.G., William G. Hartley, M.A., and George Ryskamp. Here is a little background on each.

Roger C. Flick received a BS in Mathematics, with minors in physics and chemistry, a two-year degree in genealogy and a master of library science degree in information, storage and retrieval. He worked as a private consultant and researcher since 1963, becoming an accredited genealogist in British research in 1966. Since 1970 he taught genealogy classes at BYU. In addition he worked in various venues in libraries. He served as president of the Utah Genealogical Association and he was a presenter at many genealogical conferences in the United States.

William G. Hartley spent more than two decades doing research and writing about his findings. He considers himself a guide to those wanting to write about their own discoveries. His main genealogy interest is immigration. He enjoys visiting the sites where the records of his research originated. William served two years as the Mormon Trails Association president. He received a BA and MA degrees in history at BYU and received a doctorate degree at Washington State University. Then in 1972 he worked on the LDS Church Historian staff, then moved with the group when it transferred to BYU in 1980. He is the author of many articles and books.

George R. Ryskamp, J.D., A.G., is now retired from teaching at BYU, but he continues to be actively involved in the family history work of the LDS church. He is accredited and specializes in Spanish language research. He earned a BA in Spanish and history in 1975 and a juris doctorate in 1979. In 1993 he became an assistant professor at BYU. He is the author of many articles and books. George has spoken to groups around the world, including in my hometown. With Spanish as my second language I have benefited from his knowledge in such genealogy research.

For my final course, Professional Credentials in Family History, there was a required oral review conducted by George and Marilyn Markham at the FHL. This was very much like presenting a thesis. After almost four hours I was exhausted and very unsure of what the results would be. My daughter and I went to have dinner at the Inn at Temple Square. Shortly after we were seated in walked George and his wife Peggy. Hesitant as to what I should do, we greeted each other and I asked them to join us and they did. That was the perfect ending of a very challenging day. They are two of the most gracious, knowledgeable, and entertaining genealogists I have ever met.

I truly appreciate all of the instructors who provide courses through BYU and other learning sites. We share such common interests and desires to know more about family and world histories. Thank you to all genealogy instructors around the world who so graciously share their knowledge acquired over their lifetimes.