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• Beginning Genealogy Drop-in Class

  • Start
    28 Jan 2024
  •  
  • End
    29 Dec 2024
  •  
  • Schedule
    12 sessions
  • Location
    Minnesota Genealogy Center

  Are you just beginning your family history journey? Come and stop by the Minnesota Genealogy Center for a presentation on researching your family history, some time for questions and answers, and a tour of the library. These events are open to everyone. Membership in the Minnesota Genealogical Society is not required.
  

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• MGS Challenge Live

  • When
    30 Apr 2024
  •  
    7:00 PM - 8:00 PM
  • Location
    Zoom Meeting

  Presented by Jay Fonkert, sponsored by the Minnesota Genealogical Society.
  

  Description:
  At the back of every issue of Generations (formerly known as Minnesota Genealogist), is a "Challenge" to readers, who are invited to practice their research skills. The Challenge is going live. Join us live at 7 p.m., April 30, when we "Zoom" in on our Spring Challenge. Editor Jay Fonkert will lead a short brainstorming session and then share his solution.

  You can find the Challenge on p.31 of the spring 2024 issue. If you missed it, here it is:

  Swedish-born Andrew E. Swanson lived with wife Helen and five children in Ringgold County, Iowa, in 1910. He was a naturalized U.S. citizen. Where was he naturalized?  Hint: The 1910  census says he immigrated in 1885, but he returned to Sweden about 1908.

  Zoom Meeting Information:
  https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86253951399?pwd=YFy9acKI7V64pIR3axSlUj44CJGnA9.1

  Meeting ID: 862 5395 1399
  Passcode: 374469

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• Church Records in Archives

  • When
    1 May 2024
  •  
    7:00 PM - 8:15 PM
  • Location
    Zoom Webinar

  Presented by Melissa Barker, sponsored by the Minnesota Genealogical Society.
  

  Audience Level – All
  

  Description:
  Church record research is a must for any genealogist. Many of our archives have church records available to researchers. There are also independent church archives for specific religions or denominations that can help you discover your ancestor. Learn from seasoned genealogist and archivist – Melissa Barker – how to find church records in archives.
  

  About the Speaker:
  Melissa Barker is a Certified Archives Manager and Public Historian currently working at the Houston County, Tennessee Archives & Museum. She is affectionately known as The Archive Lady to the genealogy community. She lectures, teaches, and writes about the genealogy research process, researching in archives and records preservation. She conducts virtual presentations across the United States and other countries for various genealogy groups and societies. Melissa writes a popular blog entitled A Genealogist in the Archives and is a well-known published book reviewer. She has been a Professional Genealogist for the past 20 years with expertise in Tennessee records. She has been researching her own family history for the past 34 years.
  

  Melissa’s previous MGS webinars available in the members-only area of the MGS website are:
  4 May 2022 — “Diaries, Journals, and Calendars: Preserving and Documenting Your Ancestor’s Day-to-Day Life”
  3 May 2023 — “Breathing New Life Into Your Boring Ancestors"

  Cost:
  Free
  

  Registration:
  https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_T5dQKMxpQGewYgZE5l5-ZQ

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• Introduction to Family Book Creator

  • When
    11 May 2024
  •  
    10:00 AM - 11:30 AM
  • Location
    Minnesota Genealogy Center
  • Spaces left
    22

  Register

  Presented by Rebecca Bley Shamblin, sponsored by the Minnesota Genealogical Society.
  

  Description:
  Have you ever wished for a magic button to turn all your hard work into something beautiful? To turn a tree on your computer into a book in your hands? Well, Family Book Creator may not be magic, but it comes awfully close. FBC is a plug-in for Family Tree Maker, and it uses the contents of your tree to automatically produce a beautifully finished document ready for printing - in only a few minutes! I will walk you through the basics of setup, the many possibilities for customization, the process of editing your final book draft, and even how to use Print-on-Demand to produce the coffee table book of your dreams. Register now to start ensuring that your legacy and life's work will live on. Sure, you could manually collate thousands of data points, design a book structure, insert hundreds of images and captions, create comprehensive indexes, and produce a dozen individual family charts... but wouldn't you like to finish this project sometime in the next century? Save time and effort by enlisting Family Book Creator to take care of everything for you.
  

  About the Speaker:
  Rebecca Bley Shamblin has been researching her family tree for over twenty years. She has published two family history books and runs www.ozaukeefamilies.com, a website devoted to her Ozaukee County, Wisconsin ancestry. Her primary heritage is Luxembourgish, and she achieved her dual citizenship in 2018. She loves helping to make genealogy fun and accessible to as many people as possible.
  

  Cost:
  $30 for MGS Members, $40 for Non-Members
  

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• Prisoner of War Camps in Minnesota in WW II

  • When
    5 Jun 2024
  •  
    7:00 PM - 8:15 PM
  • Location
    Zoom Webinar

  Presented by Kathy Kirkpatrick, sponsored by the Minnesota Genealogical Society.
  

  Audience Level – All
  

  Description:
  The 21 POW camps in Minnesota included only branch camps. They housed a maximum of 3368 German POWs (including Poles and those from other nations who were in the German Army, including a few Italians) in August 1945, out of the base camp at Algona, Iowa. About 200 Italian POWs were held here in two branch camps in 1943. All worked at harvesting crops. Kathy Kirkpatrick will also include an overview of the 1210 POW camps across America. She will describe in detail the variety of records and repositories, including the National Archives detailed reports from the Army’s Provost Marshal General Office regarding POW camp populations and burials.
  

  About the Speaker:
  Kathy Kirkpatrick earned her B.A. in History from Humboldt State University at Arcata, California. She is currently President of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Utah. Kathy has written family histories, genealogical and Italian research instruction, and volumes on American Prisoner of War Camps since 1986. Kathy speaks locally and Internationally on a variety of topics since1993, including at RootsTech and the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies (IAJGS). Kathy's research takes her on-site to Italy (including the Vatican Secret Archives since 2015), Sicily, Greece, the United Kingdom, and France as well as close to home in the FamilySearch Library in Salt Lake City. Her extensive websites are at www.gentracer.com for genealogy and www.gentracer.org for military research and cemeteries
  

  Cost:
  Free
  

  Registration:
  https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_gmMKbd8sRsmTFbrGXbKbIw

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• Documents + DNA + Method + a little bit of Luck, Combining Tools to Find Biological Family

  • When
    8 Jun 2024
  •  
    10:00 AM - 11:30 AM
  • Location
    Minnesota Genealogy Center
  • Spaces left
    28

  Register

  Presented by Elizabeth Williams Gomoll, sponsored by the Minnesota Genealogical Society.
  

  Description:
  Finding an adopted person’s biological family is especially challenging for genealogists. This presentation lists the steps one can take to identify an unknown child, parent, or grandparent and dissects a successful case to show how good methodology combined with document research and DNA matches (and a bit of luck) can put a decades-old question to rest.
  

  About the Speaker:
  Elizabeth Williams Gomoll, CG, is professional board-certified genealogist. In addition to researching for clients across the country, she is co-editor of the Minnesota Genealogist quarterly journal and president of the APG Northland Chapter. Liz has served as a Director for the Minnesota Genealogical Society and the Swedish Genealogical Society of Minnesota. Her books, With Love to All, a collection of WWI letters and photographs, and the co-authored guide Husförhörslängder, Swedish Household Examination Records, have garnered several awards. She researches and lectures as Red Bird Genealogy Services (www.RedBirdGen.com). Liz also plays flute and piccolo professionally and holds a private pilot’s license.
  

  Cost:
  $30 for MGS Members, $40 for Non-Members
  

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