Genealogizing outside the lines...

The wonderful Genblogfinder tempts me to stretch my definition of the Midwest:

On our far right-hand side, Pittsburgh will be hosting the August 1-3 meeting of the FEEFHS, the Federation of East European Family History Societies. The conference blog lists speakers and topics including "Austria-Hungary" (in two parts, naturally), "Recruiting Rules of the Austrian Army," "Russian Empire Research," and "Polish Archives: Behind the Scenes in Gdansk & Poznan." Conference blogs don't tend to be cutting-edge, but it does give me a warm fuzzy feeling that people are working these resources.

On our left-hand side, the Davenport (Iowa) Public Library's Richardson-Sloane Special Collections Center, AKA "Quad City Memory," is blogging at "Primary Selections from Special Collections." Recent posts include generous excerpts from Capt. Chester Barney's unique and wry recollections of the Civil War, and a cliffhanger about Davenport barber, foot doctor, and ex-slave General Houston.