HOMERVILLE — The collections manager of museum collections at Cumberland Island National Seashore was the featured speaker when the Huxford Society hosted a quarterly meeting Feb. 10 at the library headquarters in the Homerville Municipal Complex.

As curator of the cultural and archival objects associated with the federal seashore, Mitchell brought professional expertise to a group dedicated to preserving family history records.

A native of the Adirondacks, Mitchell graduated in 1980 from the University of New York, Plattsburgh, with a Bachelor of Arts in History. He pursued graduate studies in the state capitol at Albany, N.Y., at the university, focusing on historic agency administration, Civil War history and museology. Across more than 20 years of federal service with the U.S. Department of Interior, National Park Service, Mitchell has accumulated professional knowledge, skills and abilities, as well as practical experience in caring for our nation’s rare, irreplaceable cultural artifacts.

His talk, entitled “The Fire Within,” covered the inherent vices of paper products, causing disintegration of documents by virtue of their nature. He said worldwide demands of a growing literate populace drained the supply of cotton and linen rags, previously used in paper manufacture, prior to the 1850s. Alum rosin sizing presents another challenge in preserving paper documents. To slow down the disintegration process, Mitchell advocated housing family documents in a cool, dry environment, using archival foldering and containers.

He provided a generous supply of handouts for his audience, answering questions at its conclusion.

On Feb. 9, the Huxford Genealogical Society hosted a weekend of learning in Homerville. Professional genealogist Linda Woodward Geiger of Jasper kicked off public outreach programming to a record turnout, with a full day seminar limited to 50 participants. She discussed and shared handouts with attendees on “Transcribing and Abstracting Primary Documents.”

Geiger provided tips for successful transcribing and abstracting, including the recording of essential data.

For more information on the Huxford Genealogical Society, contact Library Director Spence Davis, or librarians Delain Day Bennet and Sharon James Hutchinson by calling (912) 487-2310, or search the Web site at www.huxford.com