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Minerd.com regularly is in the news and its content generates news. Telling the story of our website, our extended population of cousins, national family reunion and proprietary brand of research and storytelling are keys to reaching many thousands of cousins and the public at large and sharing this website's encyclopedic trove of family information.

Our goal is to educate anyone about our mission to document the early lives of more than 1,900 of our collective forefathers and mothers, and the enormous, long-term collective impact that an average, ordinary American family can have on society. Here is a summary of news-making efforts since 1999.

~ 2023 ~

Aug. 4, 2023 - An scanned vintage image from the Minerd.com Archives -- the cover of McClure's Magazine, May 1903, and bearing the headline "Pittsburg: A City Ashamed," part of the Beaver Area Heritage Museum's award-winning 2022-2023 display -- is published in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The image illustrates the article "Was U.S. Sen Matthew Quay from Beaver a saint or sinner?," authored by Karen Kadilak.

Minerd.com Archives images used in the national and state award-winning Beaver Area Heritage Museum exhibit, "Matthew Stanley Quay: Saint or Sinner?"

Award-winning exhibit. Beaver Area Heritage Museum

June 26, 2023 - The American Association for State and Local History bestows a 2023 Award of Excellence to the Beaver Area Heritage Foundation for the “Saint or Sinner?" exhibit and documentary, which includes vintage images from the Minerd.com Archives. The award will be presented on Sept. 8 at the AASLH annual conference in Boise, ID. "The Award of Excellence is the most prestigious recognition for achievement in the preservation of state and local history,” said Bethany Hawkins, AASLH chief of operations. “This year, AASLH is proud to confer 51 national awards honoring people, projects, and exhibits which represent the best in the field and provide leadership for the future of state and local history."

... the challenge of re-engaging their community and volunteer base after all the pandemic shutdowns by offering a new exhibit that explored the story of a once-famous local political figure in an inventive way. “Senator Matthew Stanley Quay: Saint or Sinner?” used the Beaver Heritage Foundation’s small display space to their advantage by creating a unique double-sided exhibit experience that presented the positive and negative aspects of Senator Matthew Stanley Quay’s career, then asked visitors to vote. Did 19th-century political power broker’s achievements and contributions outweigh his transgressions, or was it the other way around? The Matthew Stanley Quay project illustrates the Beaver Area Heritage Foundation’s commitment to helping their community recognize that “meaningful, substantive history is right in our own backyard.” The project also demonstrated the group’s collaborative relationships with other local organizations, including the Beaver County Historical Research and Landmarks Foundation, the First Presbyterian Church of Beaver, and members of the Quay family, all of whom contributed to the project. Beaver’s Matthew Quay project was also notable for documentary film produced in conjunction with the research done for the exhibit. Segments from a detailed video interview conducted with 100-year-old Quay Scholar Dr. James A Kehl months before he passed away were transformed into a professionally produced film exploring Senator Quay and his legacy. While Dr. Kehl did not live to see the final film, the finished documentary will now serve as an educational outreach tool, preserving Dr. Kehl’s scholarship for future generations.

Jan. 19, 2022 -  Minerd.com releases its 2022 Annual Review -- A Look Back, a Look Ahead and a Five-Year Plan" -- with founder Mark A. Miner writing:

Our award-winning Minerd.com website, social media properties and family research archive are nearing a crossroads to determine their future. Either these assets will be retired into oblivion when I can no longer maintain them or be kept intact and endure for future generations through a bold plan of action. After much thought and prayer, my choice is to pursue the bold plan. Maybe I’m just crazy. Thus in 2022, I began a five-year process to identify what steps are needed to make this happen. It will take a combination of factors that must function together in harmony. The solution needs to include all aspects of keeping our website and social media assets online and up-to-date and a facility to house and curate the physical archives where people can gather and mine the material for new discoveries. The solution also will require funding to assure proper stewardship and a team who can expertly curate long-term upkeep and public-facing engagement.

Some statistics about 2022 performance. Page impressions were down to 77,170 -- total visitors were down to 29,551 -- new visitors were down to 28,606 -- and 20 new biographies were added. Facebook page membership grew from 722 to 791, and research added to the numbers of known military casualties, accidental work deaths in mining and metals, and casualties of water, fire/shock and vehicle accidents. Some 110 cousin deaths were recorded for the year, and total known counts of deaths since July 2000 grew to 4,577. More>>>

~ 2022 ~

New Beaver Area Heritage Museum video documentary on YouTube features rare, vintage images from the Minerd.com Archives

Oct. 18, 2022 - A new, 35-minute video documentary Saint? or Sinner? The Complicated Legacy of Senator Matthew Stanley Quay of Beaver, PA, premieres at Beaver Station Cultural & Event Center , hosted by the founder of this website. The documentary features a number of vintage historical images from the Minerd.com Archives and is produced by the Beaver Area Heritage Foundation in association with Pacer Studios . The video highlights an exclusive interview with 100-year-old James A. Kehl, Ph.D., retired University of Pittsburgh professor and author of the definitive Quay biography Boss Rule in the Gilded Age. Sadly, Dr. Kehl died on Aug. 20, 2022, before the production could be completed. View the documentary on the Heritage Foundation's new YouTube Channel.  

The Minerd.com Archives acknowledged in the 2022 Beaver Area Heritage Museum exhibit, "Matthew Stanley Quay: Saint or Sinner?"

Minerd.com Annual Review 2021

April 2022 - In a new year-long exhibit, the Beaver Area (PA) Heritage Museum uses generic images from the Minerd.com Archives in highly attractive and colorful exhibit panels. The exhibit, "Matthew Stanley Quay: Saint or Sinner? You Decide!" is a deep dive into the complicated life and career of the 19th century Beaver resident who served as Pennsylvania State Treasurer, United States Senator and Republican National Committee Chairman prior to his death in 1904. The illustrations from our archives includes a drawing of the Union Army attack at the Civil War Battle of Fredericksburg, an image of world-renowned author Rudyard Kipling and the cover of McClure's Magazine bearing the headline, "Pittsburg: A City Ashamed." Minerd.com's founder, working with museum trustees Thomas Dowlin and Beth Spence, collaborate on the development and curation of the display.

Feb. 27, 2022 - Minerd.com releases its 2021 Annual Review covering the year's highlights and performance of our award-winning website and private family Facebook page and blog, Page impressions were down to 98,963 -- total visitors were down to 33,774 -- new visitors were up to 30,879 and new biographies added up by 86. Facebook page membership grew from 646 to 722, and research added to the numbers of known military casualties, accidental work deaths in mining and metals, and casualties of water, fire/shock and vehicle accidents. Some 125 cousin deaths were recorded for the year, and total known counts of deaths since July 2000 grew to 3,803. In 2021, the website was updated nearly every single day, using a combination of proprietary research and a flood of amazing new material proactively shared by readers.

~ 2021 ~

Historical Center executive director Mark Ware displays Well At This Time

December 2021 - The Historical & Genealogical Society of Somerset County (PA) -- also known as the Somerset Historical Center -- re-stocks its gift shop inventory of Well At This Time: The Civil War Diaries of Ephraim Miner, in both hardback and paperback formats, just in time for the Christmas holiday shopping season. Here, the Society's executive director Mark Ware displays the volumes in the Center's gift shop. In affiliation with the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, the Society is the steward of the cultural heritage of Somerset County through its historical collections, educational programs and genealogical archives. More about the book>>>

Minerd.com Archives images used by WFMZ-TV, Allentown, PA. View>>>

May 22, 2021 - Two vintage Minerd.com Archives images are used by WFMZ-TV in Allentown, PA in a new installment of its ongoing "History's Headlines" series. Entitled "1938: On the Edge," the segment features Dr. Preston Albert Barba, professor at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, and an expert on German history, focusing on the looming clouds of World War II in America during the late 1930s. Dr. Barba was of the family of Jesse and Elizabeth (Baer) Fegley, made some 40 research trips to Germany during his impressive career, and was highlighted as the Minerd.com "Photo of the Month" in April 2019. View the clip>>>

Minerd.com Annual Review 2020

Feb. 17, 2021 - Minerd.com releases its Annual Review 2020 covering the performance of the award-winning family website, private Facebook page and blog, a look back at highlights, what's new and performance during an otherwise difficult 2020, with the numbers generally up across a number of metrics. Page impressions were up to 105,449 -- total visitors were up to 35,959 -- and new visitors were up to 27,966 -- with total images up to 20,499 and total biographies up to 1,851. The year 2020 was to have been a much more pronounced celebration of Minerd.com’s 20th anniversary, and the Covid-19 lockdown slowed traditional research and reunion travel activity. But on the flip side, more time was freed up for online exploration and writing which greatly expanded Minerd.com’s already vast library of biographies, features and historic images.

Website founder Mark Miner writes in the opening paragraphs:

The worldwide coronavirus pandemic and lockdown – mixed with an embattled presidential election season, inflamed racial tensions and social media overload – shaped the quality of connection and respite in 2020 that Minerd.com and our Facebook page and blog are intended to be. These online properties document a social history of old Pennsylvania German families to the current time.

Today the clan is made up of a very wide range of cousins who racially and culturally are White and Black and richly mixed with everything else. Politically, they are Blue, Red, indifferent and expatriate. What binds us all together despite the breadth of diversity, culture and opinions is the family bond. It’s an absolute thing.

January 2016 - VisitPittsburgh, the official tourism promotion agency for Pittsburgh and Allegheny County, PA. makes public the latest edition of its Pittsburgh Reunion Planner and Workbook. The 25-page publication is intended to be a handy workbook to help event organizers stay on track, no matter what type of reunion or meeting they are planning to hold in Pittsburgh. The booklet features a full page of reunion ideas from the founder of this website, headlined "Take It from a Professional." Full text>>> VisitPittsburgh and Minerd.com have been in a continuous marketing joint venture since 2010, with the tourist agency's logo appearing on the Minerd.com homepage and on each "Photo of the Month" page since 2010.

January 2016 - The Minerd.com Annual Review 2015 is released documenting the site's continuing growth the past year. In May, Minerd.com celebrated its 15th anniversary – launched a new blog – in March and May enjoyed all-time record numbers of visits – and in November reached its 3 millionth visit of all time. The number of visits in 2015 were the highest since 2007 and totaled 288,095. Over the span of 15½ years since the site was first launched, total visits stood at 3,039,129, up 9.8 percent from 2,751,034 last year at this time. During the year, 1,015 new photo images were added to the site, in comparison with 948 last year. At year-end, the site had a grand total of 13,507 archival images, up from 12,492 last year, a growth rate of 8.1 percent. Some 61 new biographies were added in 2015, up 45 percent from 42 last year, for a grand total of 1,593 bios. These bios tell tens upon tens of thousands of family stories unique to the clan. View the report>>>.