2025 NCGS Award Winners!

Awards were presented at the NCGS 2025 Fall Conference on October 25, 2025 at the McKimmon Center in Raleigh, NC. The awards luncheon had close to 200 people attending.

The 2026 conference will be September 18-19, so we plan to start the 2026 nomination process much earlier next year. You can find more information at https://ncgenealogy.org/awards.

Orange County Historical Museum

churtonstreet.org
Catie Atkinson, Site Manager
Courtney Smith, Exhibits and Programs Coordinator

This award recognizes a group or individual for providing an outstanding example of a freely accessible website promoting North Carolina genealogy.

The Orange County Historical Museum has created an interactive website that provides information, maps, and images of Churton Street business owners and businesses operating from 1768 through the present in downtown Hillsborough. The route along the Eno River was originally part of an intricate network connecting Native American people who lived in the Piedmont-from Virginia to Georgia. Visitors to the website are able to view information from ten different time periods highlighting individual business owners and businesses. By clicking on the maps visitors learn about the growth, development, and changes in property lots. Lots are identified and active links provide information about businesses owners and businesses located on that plot. Images, newspaper advertisements, legal notices and obituaries, portraits, photographs of street scenes and businesses, and area maps to help put changes in Churton Street into perspective.

North Carolina Genealogy Facebook Group

https://www.facebook.com/groups/25245624455
Crystal Stevens, Group Admin

This award recognizes a group or individual for providing an outstanding example of a freely accessible social media resource promoting North Carolina genealogy.

The Facebook Group North Carolina Genealogy was created 18 years ago with a purpose to be “a place for anyone interested in genealogy, with roots in North Carolina.”  It is a private group, but joining is free and easy.  It has grown to over 25,000 members making it the largest North Carolina genealogy group on Facebook and possibly anywhere.   There are typically around 100 posts per month, a combination of members posting information useful for genealogical research, members trying to solve a problem or not understanding something and asking (and almost always) receiving assistance from other members, publicity for genealogy events of interest, members looking for others who might have common ancestry, and many other topics. 

New writing, collected essays, latest discoveries

davidcecelski.com
David Cecelski

This award recognizes a group or individual for providing an outstanding example of a freely accessible blog promoting North Carolina genealogy.

David Cecelski is a meticulous researcher; a prolific writer; a skillful storyteller. He captures the beauty of the mundane in coastal NC quietly and magnificently. His work shines with appreciation and honor of regular working folks. It’s a testament to the scrappiness and perseverance of eastern Carolinians who have not been applauded in Who’s Who publications. These people represent the bulk of Carolinians — ordinary people. He “goes deep” on crafts and occupations that kept them alive, documenting century-old manual practices and habits that would be lost.

Mecklenburg Genealogical Society
Mecklenburg Messenger

https://oldemeck.org/
Lynn Bancroft, Editor

This award recognizes an outstanding example of a periodical newsletter published by a local North Carolina genealogical society.

The Mecklenburg Messenger is the monthly newsletter of Mecklenburg Genealogical Society. It is distributed monthly to members via email and accessible to them at oldemeck.org. The newsletter includes information about upcoming Olde Meck meetings and local events of interest to genealogists; recaps of past meetings; memorials for members of the genealogical community; Olde Meck society news and more.

Mecklenburg Genealogical Society
Mecklenburg Genealogical Society Quarterly

https://oldemeck.org/
Ellen Poteet and Lois Stickell, Editors

This award recognizes an outstanding example of a periodical journal published by a local North Carolina genealogical society.

For more than forty years, this publication has been a vital tool for genealogists, historians, and family researchers. It connects us to the past and to each other, providing stories and uncovering details that might otherwise be lost to time. Each issue includes a variety of content such as: biographies of local historic figures and everyday people; the history of local landmarks; and information about sources useful to Mecklenburg County researchers.

Ordinary and Tavern Records of North Carolina, Vol 50 #3

Stewart E. Dunaway

This award recognizes an outstanding example of an article submitted to the NCGS Journal and/or its supplements.

Stewart Dunaway has long created books with images from hard-to-get-to files — these include those of ordinary and tavern records. He shares the ins and outs of the laws and more about these extraordinary records to provide us with important historical context about these valuable colonial era and later establishments which were the hub of many North Carolina communities. The examples he discusses are fascinating and whether your ancestor was a tavern/ordinary keeper, someone who traveled and stayed at such places or just find real-time descriptions of such interesting, you’ll enjoy and be educated by this article.

Minutes of Burke County, NC Court of Pleas & Quarter Sessions & Miscellaneous Records 1841-1849 & 1865-1879

Margaret Richards and Judy Watts

This award recognizes a book, or a set of books, of abstracts or transcriptions of an original North Carolina record.

The authors have considered the researcher in every detail of this book, from the physical appearance and layout, to the choosing of the number of volumes and cover material. The authors include an Introduction for the reader, providing a description of the types of records contained as well as an explanation of some of the records loss that had taken place. They also described their transcription methods and provided tips for reading the minutes, including a table of commonly used abbreviations. They have stayed true to the original work, keeping existing spelling and format intact. The work is well-organized and the records provide the researcher with original source information containing dates and court sessions as well as the page number of the original book/microfilm image found in the NC Archives.

John Willoughby and His Contemporaries, Descendants and Allied Families

Maxine Maloney

This award recognizes a book of family history relevant to North Carolina.

This book clearly provides the necessary documentation that John Willoughby provided a vital role in the first governing body of NC. Included also are sketches of his contemporaries, descendants and allied families who were among the earliest families and leaders of Currituck, Perquimans, Hertford, Pitt and Edgecombe counties. A researcher of Eastern North Carolina Willoughby families will find this book most helpful.

The Book of Ancestry: Forgotten Ones of Oakwood Cemetery

Phyllis Bridges and Linda Willard

This award recognizes a publication relevant to North Carolina genealogy.

This book is a compilation of newspaper articles regarding the lives of at least ninety-six of the more than five hundred people known to be buried in this section. This is the oldest public cemetery in High Point, North Carolina, and was just for people of color. Some of the people buried here are former slaves, others were wealthy African American property owners and business owners.

Mark Beasley

Recognizes an individual whose work within the society has been outstanding.

Mark Beasley has provided continuous technical support and consulting to NCGS since 2013.  This mainly includes the NCGS website, but also support for event registration, webinars, video recordings, mass mailings – pretty much anything requiring technical expertise.   That alone would qualify Mark for this award, but on top of that is the number of times and hours he spent going well beyond job expectations. Mark also takes the time to help train NCGS staff and volunteers and deal with all their issues, including those who aren’t as computer literate. 

Diane L. Richard

Recognizes an individual whose longtime genealogical contributions have greatly enhanced the study of family history in North Carolina and the region.

Diane L. Richard has been researching and contributing to North Carolina genealogy for over 20 years. There are many researchers who specialize in the “traditional” records for NC genealogical research – vital records, courts, etc., and Diane is well versed in all of them. However, there is no one in recent times who has explored as many of the more obscure and overlooked records which can help with NC research. She has found genealogical information in varied places like livestock brand records, post office records, NC Secretary of State records, NC Treasurer and Comptroller papers, and especially business ledgers of all kinds. She is also well-versed in all the information available online to assist with NC research.