Curious about family history outside of the Pale of Settlement?

The Center for Jewish History welcomes you to a lecture on genealogy tools for those interested in researching Jewish community records and Jewish life in the Sephardi or Mizrahi Diaspora. Open to all. No previous experience or preparation is necessary.  Presented by J.D. Arden, Genealogy and Reference Librarian at the Center for Jewish History and adjunct faculty at the LIU-Palmer School of Library & Information Science.

An ASL interpreter may be made available if requested in advance.

Tickets are free, but advanced registration is required at bpt.me/3909846. 

This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

Ventura County Genealogical Society

presents a Free Family History Presentation

Saturday, February 16, 2019

at the

Camarillo Library Community Room

4101 Las Posas Road, Camarillo, CA 93010

1:00 p.m. Using Maps and Gazetteers in Genealogy

All genealogists want to see where their families came from on maps but often look in the wrong places or on the wrong type of maps. This lecture discusses three ways of finding your ancestral homes: 1) locating the place in gazetteers or similar sources; 2) finding it on maps of the appropriate scale using the gazetteer information, and 3) searching for the town on maps of appropriate scale if it can’t be found in gazetteers. Map scales and levels of detail are discussed, along with historical border changes and the history of map-making itself. Sources for useful maps and gazetteers are summarized.

Ted Gostin has been conducting genealogical research since 1980 and has worked as a full-time professional genealogist since 1994. He has twice been President of the Jewish Genealogical Society, Los Angeles, and has taught genealogy for several adult schools and university extension programs. Mr. Gostin has helped plan and organize three national genealogical seminars, and has been a featured speaker at a half-dozen such conferences. He lectures widely on Jewish genealogy, Southern California resources and naturalization and immigration records. Mr. Gostin is the author of “Southern California Vital Statistics: Volume 1, Los Angeles County 1850–1859,” and is the owner of Generations Press publishing company. He was featured on the Larry Lamb episode of the original UK version of the popular genealogy television show, “Who Do You Think You Are?” He is very active in the international Jewish genealogical community and maintains contact with genealogists throughout the world. Mr. Gostin is also an active member of the Association of Professional Genealogists.

2:30 p.m. Workshop: Timelines for Genealogists

Lyn Gesch will share examples of Timelines and discuss how they are useful in furthering your genealogical research.

10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.: VCGS DNA Special Interest Group Meeting

Presentation: Latest DNA News from i4gg conference

The 4th International Genetic Genealogy Conference was held in December in San Diego, organized by the Institute for Genetic Genealogy (i4gg.org). We are fortunate to have this conference in our own backyard. Teri Reynolds will bring you some of the highlights of the Conference, focusing on new developments in genetic genealogy for 2018 and 2019.  This is the second installment in our 2019 DNA lecture series. We hope to see you there!

April 5-6,2019

Fairfax Genealogical Society's annual conference , "Find Your Missing Branches," will be held at the Reston Sheraton Hotel, 11810 Sunrise Valley Drive, Reston, VA, near the Dulles International Airport.  The conference will offer sessions on a variety of topics including:  beginning and intermediate DNA research, Southern Migration; African American Research; colonial land, law, and religion; and other topics.  In addition to speakers, workshops and individual consultations, a number of vendors will offer books, maps, and other items and services.  Conference details and registration may be found at  organization's website:  www.fxgs.org/conference.

Ventura County Genealogical Society presents a Free Family History Presentation

Saturday, January 19, 2019, at the Camarillo Library Community Room, 4101 Las Posas Rd, Camarillo, CA

1:00 p.m. Speaker: Lisa Schumacher  Topic: 1890 Census Substitutes

Family history researchers rely heavily on Census records from 1790 to 1940. However, most of the 1890 census is not available. What happened and what can be done to fill in the 1880-1900 gap? Learn about other resources that can provide information for this time period.

Lisa Schumacher has thirty years of experience in the computer field and is currently a self-employed technical support consultant. Her interest in family history began twenty years ago with a focus on computer programs that can be used in genealogical research. Lisa is Past-President of the South Bay Cities Genealogical Society (Torrance, CA). She was a staff supervisor and instructor at the Los Angeles Family History Center for seven years. She lectures on various topics throughout the Los Angeles South Bay area.

2:30 p.m.:  Speaker: Judy Janes  "Sanborn Maps"

Sanborn Maps are a great resource for genealogists who long to learn more about the homes and buildings where their ancestors lived in America. Created in the 19th and 20th centuries for fire insurance purposes, these detailed maps can help you find exact locations. Judy Janes will show us how to access these maps, which are particularly valuable when buildings no longer exist.

Website: https://venturacogensoc.org

Camarillo Library Community Room 4101 Las Posas Road, Camarillo, CA

1:00 P.M. FERRETING OUT FAMILY STORIES: FACT, FICTION, OR SOMEWHERE IN BETWEEN
Every family has its stories, some more colorful than others. Some seem too fantastic to be true. Others have the ring of truth but don’t stand up to close examination. How do we tell the difference? Marion Werle will present a methodology for analyzing family stories – creating one or more research questions to focus our inquiries, developing a research plan, creating a potential timeline, and, finally, analyzing each component of the story to separate fact from fiction.

Marion Werlebegan family history research 23 years ago, researching family from Lithuania, Latvia, and Belarus, who settled in the US, Canada, UK, and Israel. She has been on the boards of the Jewish Genealogical Societies of both Los Angeles and Conejo Valley, is a past president of the Latvia SIG (Special Interest Group), and is a member of the SCGS Writers Group. A retired IT professional with master’s degrees in both European History and Library Science from UCLA, she has also completed the Boston University Genealogical Research Certificate. Marion wrote “The Skuders from Skud, a family history about one of her family branches from Lithuania, to share with family members.

2:30 P.M. MILITARY RECORDS GONE UP IN FLAMES! OR ARE THEY?
PRESENTER: PAT THOMAS

This will be an explanation of the difficulties in obtaining modern military records for 1912–1964, due to the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) fire of 1973. Pat will tell us what the workarounds might be to find information about these soldiers.

10:30 A.M. – 11:30 A.M.: VCGS DNA SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP MEETING PRESENTATION: INTRODUCTION TO DNA FOR GENEALOGY

Please join us for an Introduction to DNA for Genealogy. This presentation will cover different DNA tests and different DNA companies. If you are wondering which test is right for you, or even if you should DNA test, this is for you! Be prepared for the upcoming holiday sales on DNA test kits from all the DNA direct-to-consumer companies.

This is the kickoff to our 2019 DNA lecture series. We are planning an exciting year for the DNA SIG, and we hope to see you there!

Ohio Chapter Palatines to America Fall Seminar

COMING TO AMERICA: WHERE, HOW, AND WHY THEY CAME

Der Dutchman Restaurant, 445 Jefferson Avenue, U.S. Route 42, Plain City, Ohio

Saturday, October 27, 2018, 9:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M.

Featured Speaker: D. Wolfgang Grams, from Oldenburg, Germany

Topics: Where Did They Come From?

Ohio's Immigrants And Their German Homelands, "Hurra Wir Fahren Nach Amerika!"

Travel Patterns During The Age Of Sail,

The Pursuit Of Happiness: Faith, Land, And Hope,

German Resources To Trace Your Roots

Fees include syllabus, seminar sessions, vendor showcase, Der Dutchman pastries, coffee and juice for breakfast and full Buffet lunch including Broasted Chicken and Roast Beef, Mashed Potatoes, Noodles, Stuffing, Vegetables, Salad, Rolls, and Dessert..

The Indiana State Library will host the annual Indiana Genealogy and Local History Fair in downtown Indianapolis. Admission is free and open to the general public. This year's theme is "Digging Up the Dead," how to examine, decipher, and interpret death records, death research, and other interesting facets of mortality in history.

Over 30 organizations and exhibitors will be in attendance. Visit the tables in the exhibition hall to collect information from genealogical and local history organizations, and shop the commercial vendors.

Highly acclaimed, internationally known speakers and genealogy consultants, Lisa Alzo and Amie Bowser Tennant, will present.

In addition, Sarah Halter, Executive Director of the Indiana Medical History Museum, will give a brown bag lunch lecture.

Gone to Texas: Finding your Ancestors in Land and Probate will be a DGS full day hybrid seminar. The speaker will be forensic expert and native Texan Kelvin Meyers. There will be four lectures-Plowing Through the Land Records to Find Your Ancestors; Tracking the Land Tax Records; Probate: More than a Will; Texas Records and Repositories.

The event will take place at the Eric Jonsson Central downtown location of the Dallas Public Library. It will also be available to live-stream on Zoom. All registrants will have access to the recordings of the lectures for two weeks after the event. It will start at 9:50am CDT and end at 4:50pm CDT.

DGS members will receive a special rate of $25. Interested parties may join DGS for $35, and not only get the member price, but substantial discounts for the Fall 2022 and Spring 2023 seminars.