New Patrons’ Page & Members’ Map!

Explore our new Patron’s page to learn about our supporters, their publications, and commitment to our growing community. PLUS: Free subscribers can now join the map to share their publications, too!

When I introduced the Projectkin Patrons’ tier, I stressed the crucial role this group of individuals has played in our community's success.

Introducing Projectkin’s Patron Tier

Then, I realized that publicly naming and thanking them might return some of their kindness with a bit of visibility for their publications and work. Projectkin isn’t very big, but our community is incredibly engaged.

So here I am, delighted to recommend the publications of every one of our remarkable Patrons. You’ll find a selection of them at Projectkin.org/patrons.

You can now explore the page at Projectkin.org/patrons

This listing is still just a sampling of our generous subscribers and contributors. I’ve made inclusion optional, asking each first for an explicit opt-in. Some would prefer to maintain their privacy. Others have not had time to confirm their participation so watch for periodic updates.

If you join Projectkin supporters at the Patrons’ tier by upgrading to a paid subscription, you’ll find the sign-up details in my welcome email.

But wait, why don’t we put YOU on the map?

A crazy idea occurred to me: Why not put members on a map? It happened during my live chat with

Jennifer Jones

on my weekly Substack Live program. We were talking about the queue for the member-powered Speakers’ Corner series. I’d just been creating a map view of Patrons, when I realized:

Why not create a handy map of members so that everyone can get to know each other? We already benefit from their diverse comments, with a map view we’ll know to ask for their insights related to ancestral roots, travel and the like.

Here’s the thing.

There are a lot of you now.¹ So I needed to come up with something easy and extensible. Then, it hit me. To use Google’s MyMaps feature to create a map showing everyone's location, all I needed was a way to associate physical addresses with Substack accounts.

It turns out that’s easy. All I had to do was ask.

Projectkin’s patrons had already been kind enough to share their mailing addresses,² and everyone seemed to appreciate the view. To include all subscribers, I’d simply have to ask members if they wanted to appear on the map, too. So, here’s the map with locations of select Patrons.

You can explore the map at Projectkin.org/members-map

Let’s make it a Members’ Map.

Instead of limiting this map to patrons, I see no reason why I can’t add all of you — if you opt in, of course. All I need is your mailing address.

If you’d like to participate, here’s the simple Google form:

I appreciate that home addresses are an essential piece of protected personal information, so I devised a couple of guardrails and a little something to sweeten the deal.

• First, I built the map referencing only the city, state/province, and country. That way, no one’s personal information is even on the map.

• The map includes references you, AND your Substack publication. What a great way to showcase your work to a ready-made family history community.

• Next, a little test will ensure that everyone on the map is a Projectkin subscriber in good standing. I reserve the right to filter out trolls by validating accounts with authentic posts and comments.³ I validate the list against my current subscribers to ensure it is accurate and up-to-date.

• Finally, as a thank you, I’ll include an optional field for your street address. I’d love to send you a postcard as a thank you if you're comfortable sharing it. I can commit to sending one to the first 100 people, anywhere in the world⁴. After that, I’ll have to restock and see about a periodic rotation. I love receiving postcards too. 😉

Though it won’t be instantaneous, I’ll do my best to keep the map routinely refreshed and updated. So, you want in? You’ll find the form at Projectkin.org/members-map-form.

What You See Depends on Your Point of View 👀

While this project was already fun, I now see it as more than that. We each bring our local perspective to our family history. While researching our stories, many of us have discovered tales of our ancestors' travels, discoveries, and migrations to other lands. These stories may connect us with far-away lands — or to each other. Now, with this tool, we’ll have a way to learn about these places from the people who live there today.

Today, most of us have English as our first language. Although this common language may divide us, the larger opportunity lies in sharing resources and perspectives among friends in this community of family historians.

I hope you’ll decide to put yourself and your publication on the map too. Join us, won’t you?

1. Which is terrific, of course!

2. To be clear, I washed all addresses of specific street details and asked for permission.

3. I’m keeping this loose for now. Please let me know if you have concerns. I frankly have neither time nor patience for trolls 🧌.

4. I stocked up a stash of international postcard stamps just for such an occasion.