9:30 AM EDT    Socializing
  9:45 AM EDT    Business meeting

10:00 AM EDT    Presentation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Debra M. Dudek is Head of Adult and Teen Services at the Fountaindale Public Library District in Bolingbrook, IL. She holds a post graduate certificate in Genealogical, Paleographic & Heraldic Studies from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland. 

 

Ms. Dudek is the Book Review Editor of the Illinois State Genealogical Society, an executive board member of the Illinois State Historical Society, website coordinator for the Chicago Chapter NSDAR, and is the author of the World War I Research Guide: Tracing American Military and Non-Combatant Ancestors.

 

 

This meeting will be held via Zoom.  Pre-registration is required at:  https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/l1f5z4kwT_GNnRWAgx0EQQ  

 

This program is FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.

  9:00 AM EDT    Library opens

  9:30 AM EDT    Socializing
  9:45 AM EDT    Business meeting

 10:00 AM EDT   Presentation

Tuscan Grilled Chicken

  9:00 AM EST    Library opens

  9:30 AM EST    Socializing
  9:45 AM EST    Business meeting

10:00 AM EST    Presentation

 

 

The in-person location is:

 

Gale Free Library

23 Highland St

Holden, MA

 

Second floor program room, accessible via stairs or elevator

 

We invite you to join us for lunch after the meeting at a local restaurant.

  10:30 AM EST    Socializing
  10:45 AM EST    Business meeting

  11:00 AM EST    Presentation

 

 

 

  9:30 AM EST    Socializing
  9:45 AM EST    Business meeting

10:00 AM EST    Presentation

 

Zug, a family law professor at the University of South Carolina School of Law, is the author of You'll Do: A History of Marrying for Reasons Other Than Love.

  9:30 AM EST    Socializing
  9:45 AM EST    Business meeting

10:00 AM EST    Presentation

 

What does a home reveal about its occupants, and about our shared history? Join Longfellow House-Washington’s Headquarters National Historic Site public programs manager Emily Levine for a presentation and conversation about the remarkable history and unique collections of the Vassall-Craigie-Longfellow House in Cambridge. This site bears witness to the history of slavery in New England and the early free Black community of Cambridge, and George Washington’s development as a leader. In the 19^th century, it became the home of famed poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and a hub of literary and artistic life. The house also reveals a rich history of the historic preservation movement and LGBTQ+ community. Today, Longfellow House-Washington’s Headquarters is an active site of arts, scholarship, stewardship, and community.

 

Worcester Chapter Meeting

 

Sari Bitticks presents:

 

 

In 1778, a bored housewife arranged for the murder of her husband. What seems like a footnote to history turned out to be a complex web of political intrigue. The big question is: why are we still talking about it nearly 250 years later, and why do people say the town of Worcester committed murder the day they hanged Bathsheba Spooner.

 

 

Sari Bitticks is president of the Auburn Historical Society and Museum, and is a noted story teller who brings history to life in an engaging and entertaining manner.

 

  6:00 pm EDT    Socializing
  6:15 pm EDT    Business meeting
  6:30 pm EDT    Presentation

 

This presentation will be Hybrid - In Person and Virtual via Zoom.  Pre-registration is required if you are attending virtually at https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwucemqqD4vGdSbpU5aYvHERFfZcaHHHcDL.

 

The presentation is free and open to the public.

 

Millbury Public Library

128 Elm St

Millbury, MA

 

The library requests no food in the meeting room.

Just as some New Englanders left their declining farms and headed west, industrialization arrived in New England and our ancestors’ lives and records changed forever. The days when deeds and probate would solve genealogical problems gave way to a dizzying array of new census collections, state mandated vital records, poorhouse, prison and asylum records, sturdier cemetery markers, and military pensions. Let’s re-teach ourselves as we trace 1800’s ancestors.

 

O'Connor's Restaurant

1160 W Boylston St

Worcester, MA

 

Presentation:  First Trip to the FamilySearch Library in Salt Lake City

 

Description:  The mecca of genealogy is the library in Salt Lake City. Let’s review the preparation, researching, and wrapping up of Seema’s first trip there in order to be more prepared for our own research trip.

Resources at the Historical Society of the United Methodist Church

 

About Frances:

 

Trained as an archivist at University College Dublin following graduation with a degree in History. Worked in museum and corporate archives until appointment as Reference Archivist at the General Commission on Archives and History of The United Methodist Church in 2008. Certified by The Academy of Certified Archivists. 

 

 

 

Quakers, Aggies, and Archivists: An Inside Look at Genealogy Resources in UMass Amherst’s Archives

 

• SCUA’s mission and collecting areas
• Collection highlights
• Collections for genealogical research including
  • New England Yearly Meeting of Friends Records: what they are/include, why we have them, how they fit into our collecting mission
  • University Archives (official and unofficial): how they come in, what they include, what they do not include
• How to work effectively with an archivist, whether doing research in person or remotely
• SCUA resources and using them/how researchers (and casual Googlers) find us
• Challenges of remote research and why everything isn’t digitized
• Digital resources and digitization challenges

 

About Caroline: Caroline J. White, Archives and Manuscript Librarian in the Robert S. Cox Special Collections and University Archives Research Center (SCUA), in the UMass Amherst Libraries, is a graduate of Simmons School of Library and Information Science, where she earned an MS in archives management, and of Princeton University, where she majored in English. Before becoming an archivist, she worked for nineteen years as an editor for Viking, Penguin, and Penguin Classics, in New York City. She has taught as an adjunct instructor in Simmons’ archives program; held several short-term positions at Mount Holyoke College’s Archives and Special Collections; and given presentations at professional conferences including the Society of American Archivists, New England Archivists, and Academic Library Advancement and Development Network. Her articles have appeared in Acid Free and Archival Outlook, among other publications. A native of Philadelphia, her mother’s hometown, she grew up in Louisville, Kentucky, like her Kentucky-born father, but also has deep roots in Massachusetts, her adopted state.

 

 

9:30 AM EDT    Socializing
  9:45 AM EDT    Business meeting

10:00 AM EDT    Presentation

 

This presentation will be Hybrid - In Person and Virtual via Zoom.  Pre-registration is required if you are attending virtually at https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEpfu2hrjIrEtHbgzYHswO9RiNgW6csd5ty

 

 

The presentation is free and open to the public. Location TBA.

 

Just a few of the topics Debra will cover:

 

Beyond the Local Pub

Making Drinks at Home

Breweries

Licenses

National Register of Historical Places

City Directories and Gazetteers

 

About Debra: Debra M. Dudek holds a post graduate certificate in Genealogical, Palaeographic & Heraldic Studies from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland. Ms. Dudek is the Book Review Editor of the Illinois State Genealogical Society, an executive board member of the Illinois State Historical Society, website coordinator for the Chicago Chapter NSDAR, and is the author of the World War I Research Guide: Tracing American Military and Non-Combatant Ancestors.

 

 

 

 

  9:30 am EST    Socializing
  9:45 am EST    Business meeting
10:00 am EST    Presentation

  9:30 am EDT    Socializing
  9:45 am EDT    Business meeting
10:00 am EDT    Presentation

  9:30 am EDT    Socializing
  9:45 am EDT    Business meeting
10:00 am EDT    Presentation

Movement from the United States to Canada was unrestricted and unrecorded until April 1908. The U.S. began recording the entry of Canadians along its northern border in 1894. Before that, many thousands of people lived cross-border lives, without visas, work permits, passports, or immigration records. Learn how to find these elusive ancestors.

 

About Annette: Annette Burke Lyttle owns Heritage Detective, LLC, providing professional genealogical services in research, education, and writing. She speaks on a variety of genealogical topics at the international, national, state, and local levels and loves helping people uncover and share their family stories. She is coordinator of the Intermediate Foundations course and the Writing the Stories of Our Ancestors course for the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy. Annette leads Best Practices Study Groups for a number of organizations, providing in-depth education on the genealogical research process in an interactive setting. She is president of the Association of Professional Genealogists.

 

This presentation will be Virtual via Zoom.  Pre-registration is required at https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUkdemuqTstE9CAfiwNQ4Xy9D1KExb5GwB1.

 

The presentation is free and open to the public.

Stephen Hartwell presents “Diving Deeper into Surnames.” 

 

What’s in a brick wall? Most likely a surname in a particular time and place, which you can’t trace further back. In this talk, we will learn some underutilized techniques and resources using surname history to discover clues. Two particular areas of focus will be the Guild of One-Name Studies, which can be particularly helpful with surnames of English origin, and Y-DNA testing, with its wide range of capabilities.

 

Stephen is a professional genealogist and lecturer with specialties in New England and New York research, maritime ancestry, genetic genealogy, and family history websites. He is a graduate of the Boston University Genealogical Research Certificate Program, a Board member of the Essex Society of Genealogists and a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists, New England Chapter. His website can be found at https://shartwell.com.

 

In-person luncheon in a private room at O’Connor’s Irish Restaurant, 1160 W Boylston St, Worcester, MA.  Non-members are welcome if space allows.

 

11:30  Doors open

12:00  Luncheon

  1:00  Presentation

 

Choose from one of the following selections:

 

            Tender lemon, basil, thyme chicken with chef’s choice of side

 

            Tasty seafood pie of haddock, salmon, bay scallops, swordfish, and chopped clams in an herb cream sauce, topped with a mashed potato crust and a pesto crumble

 

            Kale and julienne of greens combined with roasted butternut squash, native apple, beets, feta cheese, dried cranberries, and sunflower seeds, served with your choice of dressing on the side

 

$25 Price includes:

 

Rolls & Butter

Freshly Brewed Coffee or Tea

Homemade Frozen Bailey’s Irish Cream Pie

            A graham cracker crust, frozen Bailey’s Irish Cream Pie filling, over hot fudge sauce with whipped cream

Tax & Tip

 

Cash bar for soft drinks and cocktails

 

RSVP to Worcester@msoginc.org by May 14^th with your luncheon selection of chicken, seafood, or salad.  Payment instructions will be provided.  Late reservations will be accepted if the restaurant can accommodate.  

  9:30 am EDT    Socializing
  9:45 am EDT    Business meeting
10:00 am EDT    Presentation

 

This presentation will be Virtual via Zoom.  Pre-registration is required at https://tinyurl.com/WRApr2023.  

 

This presentation is FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.

 

  9:30 am EDT    Socializing
  9:45 am EDT    Business meeting
10:00 am EDT    Presentation

 

This presentation will be Virtual via Zoom.  Pre-registration is required at https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYkc-mppjwsHdU0vAPWM5sxeKnIbmQhrLlF.

 

The presentation is free and open to the public.

Nothing embodies the complex history of mental health care in America better than institutions like Worcester State Hospital. Founded in the 19^th century as part of a reformist movement, Worcester State has been of enduring importance to inmates, family members, and the community at large for nearly two centuries. This program will trace the history of the institution and its impact on the lives of our ancestors.

 

Joy Hennig is the Local History and Genealogy Librarian at the Worcester Public Library and an avid genealogical sleuth.

 

  9:30 am EST    Socializing
  9:45 am EST    Business meeting
10:00 am EST    Presentation

 

This will be a Virtual event.  Please pre-register at https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83436916212?pwd=aCszWGtWOVJBcnZsTU5vWlY3M1JQUT09. 

The presentation is free and open to the public.

  9:30 am EST  Socializing

  9:45 am EST  Business meeting

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

There are many ways to share our research. You don't have to tackle a full book describing every ancestor you have discovered to begin writing. This presentation will cover a range of publication possibilities. Have you explored the capabilities of your genealogy software? Have you thought about blogging? What is self-publishing all about? Join us to take a step toward making your writing dreams a reality.

 

Sara is a past editor of our monthly newsletter "Past Times." She has self-published a family history and edited a memoir for a friend. She has contributed 3 profiles to the series "Western Massachusetts Families in 1790" published by NEHGS. You will find three articles Sara has written for MASSOG in past issues, receiving the third prize in our 2016 writing competition and second place in 2020. Her summary of Massachusetts probate records appeared in the NGS Magazine this spring.

 

  9:30 am EDT  Socializing

  9:45 am EDT  Business meeting

10:00 am EDT  Presentation

 

 

In person:  Pre-registration is not required.  Masks are optional.

First Unitarian Church

90 Main St

Worcester, MA 01608

 

Pre-registration is required to join via Zoom.

 

This presentation is FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.

 

Stephanie Barrett is a reference librarian at the New York State Library in Albany, NY. She has been with the library for 34 years, most of it in reference services.  In addition to teaching classes at the library on Ancestry Library Edition and FamilySearch, she has been working on her personal genealogy for over forty years.

Our June meeting will be a luncheon, short business meeting, half hour video, and half hour tour of the Black Tavern, a historic tavern located in Dudley, MA.

 

 

Open to the public (Pre-registration required)

There is no virtual component for this event. 

 

Note that to enjoy the full tour there are narrow steep stairs typical of the time period.  You may also tour the garden area.

 

Pre-registration and pre-payment is required by May 31^st. Please email worcester@msoginc.org and we’ll send you directions and payment information.

 

The Black Tavern is a historic tavern located in Dudley, Massachusetts, which is now painted white. The main block of the tavern was built c. 1803, and is one of the town's finest examples of Federal period architecture. It originally housed a major stop on the stagecoach route between Boston, Massachusetts and Hartford, Connecticut. It is now maintained by a local preservation organization and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. 

 

Sandwich and Salads Luncheon      $14

Assorted Sandwiches

Garden Salad

Potato Salad

Pasta Salad

Assorted cookies

Lemonade

Coffee

 

Jessy Wheeler has been the Research Specialist in Genealogy at the Boston Public Library since 2018. She has worked at the BPL since 2007 in a variety of different positions, primarily doing reference work. Before the BPL she worked as a library assistant at the Fisher College Library in Boston. While Jessy is not a professional genealogist, she has always been interested in family history and has been assisting library patrons with their genealogical research for most of her professional career. She holds a BA in English from Skidmore College and a MLIS from Simmons University.

Robin LaCroix, Vice President of Massachusetts Society of Genealogy’s Bristol Chapter, has been on her quest to learn her family’s history since she was very young. Born and raised in Dighton, Massachusetts, her mother’s family arrived on the Mayflower, were first purchasers of Taunton, Massachusetts, and still reside there fourteen generations later. Her father’s family were first and second-generation Portuguese immigrants from the Azores, providing vastly different family histories. Her research and findings relating to her presentation, “Another Sibling?!”, are both astonishing and humorous.

 

Enjoying all things genealogy, Robin is a Life Member of Old Colony History Museum and General Society of Mayflower Descendants. She is a member of Massachusetts Society of Genealogy, Inc., New England Historical Genealogical Society, and Massachusetts Genealogical Council. She has completed Boston University’s Genealogical Principles Course and has been working with DNA testing to find biological families for adoptees and those with unknown parentage. Among her genealogy projects, she is currently working on a Cemetery Record Book for the Town of Dighton.

 

Catherine Perreault is currently the Reference Archivist for the State Archives, working under the Head of Reference, to provide researchers with access to all of their collections, including the genealogical ones.  Prior to joining the Archives, she was a genealogical researcher at the New England Historic Genealogical Society.  She can provide tips on how to get the most out of what the Archives has for all genealogical questions.

 

Archives description: The Massachusetts Archives is the state archive of Massachusetts. It "serves the Commonwealth and its citizens by preserving and making accessible the records documenting government action and by assisting government agencies in managing their permanent records."  The archives occupies quarters on the Columbia Point peninsula in Boston's Dorchester neighborhood on the University of Massachusetts Boston campus.

 

In addition to "the official records created by Massachusetts state government," the archives "counts among its treasures the state’s own copies of the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights, the 1780 Massachusetts Constitution, the 1629 charter [of Massachusetts Bay], and Revolutionary and Civil War records. It also has numerous documents signed by the likes of George Washington, John Adams, and John Hancock, as well as treaties made with Native American tribes, and slave and witchcraft records. There are also many artifacts, including Paul Revere’s engraving plate of the Boston Massacre, and military accouterment from the Civil War to World War I."

 

Virtual Meeting Opens: 9:30 AM
Business Meeting and socializing: 9:45 AM

Presentation: 10:00 AM
 

Register for this Zoom meeting at https://tinyurl.com/WRFeb2022

Meeting Opens at 9:30 am EST
Business Meeting at 9:45 am EST
Presentation at 10:00 am EST  

 

Curt is the Director of Special Collections at the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, IN, managing the widely acclaimed Genealogy Center as well as the Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection of Abraham Lincoln related research materials. He is in his forty-second year of service at the Allen County Public Library. He is a former president of both the Federation of Genealogical Societies and the National Genealogical Society, and the founding president of the Indiana Genealogical Society. He has penned many hundreds of articles on topics of interest to family historians, librarians and archivists, and has presented lectures to historical and genealogical groups across the country. Curt also serves on the Indiana State Historical Records Advisory Board and the board of the Friends of the Indiana State Archives. Curt was distinguished in 1995 as a fellow of the Utah Genealogical Association (FUGA) and received the Federation of Genealogical Societies’ Rabbi Malcolm H. Stern Humanitarian Award, in 1997. Curt was recognized in 2006 by being named the first fellow of the Indiana Genealogical Society. He was honored in May of 2007 with the National Genealogical Society’s P. William Filby Award for outstanding, life-time contributions to genealogical librarianship. Indiana’s lieutenant governor recognized Curt’s work in the summer of 2016 with a Hoosier Hospitality Award, and the Dallas Genealogical Society awarded him the Lloyd DeWitt Bockstruck Distinguished Service Award later that year for outstanding contributions to the genealogical community on a national level. In August of 2018, Curt received the Loretto Dennis Szucs Award from the Federation of Genealogical Societies in recognition of his many years of dedicated service to the genealogical community. Most recently, he is an Indiana Historical Society 2019 Eli Lilly Lifetime Achievement Award winner for his extraordinary contributions to the field of history and the Indiana Historical Society.

Getting into Scottish Research is a presentation designed for those just starting their Scottish research and for the veteran researcher. You will learn about some of the best free resources and subscription services that are constantly adding to the resources. Documents used in the presentation are the results of consultations performed by the presenter and his own research into the subject matter.

Richard Reid is the director of both the Friends of Irish Research and the David Allen Lambert Library which are based in Brockton, MA. The Friends provide training seminars, host a website full of research resources and provide consultations in the Brockton facility or via email. Richard has worked in the computer industry and taught in high schools, trade schools and colleges for over 35 years. He has co-authored four computer books, and established several computer training centers in New England. He is an active member of over a dozen societies including the Genealogical Association of Nova Scotia and the Cape Breton Genealogical and Historical Association. In addition to the computer and genealogical work, Richard also pastors North Baptist Church in Brockton.