Terms of Use
Effective Date: Dec 2023
Who We Are
Welcome to the Black Pearls of Genealogy (“BPOG”) website located at thebpog.org. By accessing or using this website, you agree to comply with and be bound by the following Terms of Use. If you do not agree with these terms, please do not use this website.
About Black Pearls of Genealogy
Black Pearls of Genealogy is a nonprofit educational and memorial organization dedicated to preserving history, supporting genealogical research, and honoring overlooked ancestors and communities through memorial projects, educational resources, and historical preservation initiatives.
Educational & Historical Purpose
The content provided on this website is intended for educational, genealogical, memorial, and historical research purposes only.
While BPOG works to provide accurate and well-researched information, historical records and archival materials may contain errors, omissions, outdated terminology, conflicting information, or inaccuracies originating from source documents.
Users are encouraged to independently verify all historical and genealogical information through official records and professional research when necessary.
Use of Website Content
Unless otherwise stated, original content created by Black Pearls of Genealogy — including website text, memorial designs, graphics, educational materials, AI-generated illustrations, videos, logos, layouts, and original project materials — is protected by copyright and may not be reproduced, copied, distributed, or modified without written permission from BPOG.
Historical records, archival documents, and publicly available materials referenced on this site remain the property of their respective archives, repositories, institutions, or rights holders.
Users may:
- ➡️ Share links to BPOG pages
- ➡️ Reference BPOG for educational or noncommercial purposes with proper credit
- ➡️ Use publicly linked archival resources according to the policies of their originating repositories
Users may not:
- ➡️ Reproduce large portions of original BPOG content without permission
- ➡️ Misrepresent BPOG materials as their own
- ➡️ Use BPOG content for unlawful, misleading, or harmful purposes
User Submissions
By voluntarily submitting photographs, stories, memorial suggestions, genealogical information, comments, or other materials to BPOG, users grant Black Pearls of Genealogy permission to review, store, display, or use submitted materials for educational, memorial, historical, nonprofit, promotional, or research-related purposes unless otherwise agreed upon in writing.
BPOG does not claim ownership of family histories or historical records submitted by users. Contributors retain ownership of their original materials.
Users submitting materials confirm that, to the best of their knowledge, they have the right to share the submitted content.
External Links & Third-Party Resources
This website may contain links to third-party websites, archives, databases, bookstores, mapping services, or educational resources. BPOG does not control or guarantee the accuracy, availability, or content of external websites and is not responsible for their practices or policies.
Memorial Projects
Descriptions, renderings, timelines, fundraising goals, and project plans related to memorial initiatives are subject to change based on funding, partnerships, fabrication timelines, approvals, site conditions, and community collaboration.
Participation in memorial projects does not guarantee project approval, completion, installation timelines, or fundraising outcomes.
Donations
All donations made to Black Pearls of Genealogy support the nonprofit mission, educational initiatives, memorial projects, research preservation efforts, website maintenance, and operational activities of the organization.
Unless specifically stated, donations are non-refundable.
Affiliate Links
Some pages on this website may contain affiliate links. BPOG may receive a small commission from qualifying purchases made through those links at no additional cost to the purchaser.
Limitation of Liability
By using this website, users acknowledge that they do so at their own discretion and risk.
Black Pearls of Genealogy, its board members, volunteers, contributors, affiliates, and partners shall not be held liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, or consequential damages resulting from:
- ➡️ Use of this website
- ➡️ Reliance on genealogical or historical information
- ➡️ Errors or omissions in records
- ➡️ Temporary website outages
- ➡️ Third-party links or services
Website Conduct
Users agree not to:
- ➡️ Attempt unauthorized access to the website
- ➡️ Upload malicious code or harmful content
- ➡️ Use the website for unlawful purposes
- ➡️ Harass, threaten, or abuse other users or representatives of BPOG
- ➡️ Misrepresent affiliations with BPOG
Changes to Terms
Black Pearls of Genealogy reserves the right to update or modify these Terms of Use at any time. Updated terms will be posted on this page with a revised effective date.
Contact Information
Black Pearls of Genealogy
Kalamazoo, Michigan
Website: thebpog.org