All members are encouraged to attend and participate. Current members will automatically be sent a link to join the meetings via Zoom. Non-members are welcome to attend and may request an invitation link by sending an email to: programs@scgsdelaware.org no later than October 11^th.

 

Topic: "German Research Online" by James M. Beidler 

James M. Beidler, Interim Executive Director for the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania, is the author of four commercially published genealogy books as well as writing “Roots & Branches,” an award-winning weekly blog / newspaper column on genealogy. He is also a columnist for German Life magazine and is editor emeritus of Der Kurier, the quarterly journal of the Mid-Atlantic Germanic Society.

He was co-chair for the International German Genealogy Partnership’s successful virtual conference in July 2021 and was a research-reports editor for Legacy Tree Genealogists from 2018 to 2021 (and remains an Affiliate with LTG). Since May 2020, he has been a regular on the “Genealogy Quick Start” television program hosted by Shamele Jordon.

Beidler was also Executive Director for GSP from 1999 to 2003. He was the President of the International Society of Family History Writers and Editors from 2010 to 2012 and served as national co-chair for the 2008 Federation of Genealogical Societies conference in Philadelphia.

Beidler is also frequent contributor to other periodicals ranging from scholarly journals such as The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine to popular-interest magazines such as Family Tree Magazine. He also wrote the chapter on genealogy for Pennsylvania: A History of the Commonwealth, published jointly by the Penn State Press and the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.

As a lecturer, he was a part of the Pennsylvania Humanities Council’s acclaimed Commonwealth Speakers program from 2002 to 2009, and has been a presenter at numerous conferences. In addition to being a member of numerous genealogical, historical, and lineage societies, Beidler also has sat on Pennsylvania’s State Historic Records Advisory Board as well as the selection committee for the Pennsylvania Digital Newspaper Project.

Beidler was born in Reading, PA, and raised in nearby Berks County, where he currently resides. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Hofstra University in Long Island, NY, with a BA in Political Science in 1982.

All members are encouraged to attend and participate. Current members will automatically be sent a link to join the meetings via Zoom. Non-members are welcome to attend and may request an invitation link by sending an email to: programs@scgsdelaware.org no later than November 15^th.

 

Topic: "Get the Scoop on Your Ancestor from Newpapers" by Lisa Louise Cooke 

 

Lisa Louise Cooke is the author of several books including The Genealogist’s Google Toolbox, 3rd edition. She produces and hosts the popular Genealogy Gems Podcast, and the free weekly YouTube show Elevenses with Lisa at the Genealogy Gems YouTube channel. She offers a Premium Membership service at her website ( https://lisalouisecooke.com ) featuring exclusive on-demand genealogy education. And she writes a regular column for Family Tree Magazine and produces the Family Tree Magazine Podcast.

Lisa found her passion for family history at her grandmother’s knee at the age of 8. She is now the owner of Genealogy Gems, a genealogy and family history multi-media company founded in 2007.  She is Producer and Host of the Genealogy Gems Podcast, the popular online genealogy audio show available at www.GenealogyGems.com, on your smartphone’s native podcast app, and through the Genealogy Gems app available through app stores. Her podcast brings genealogy news, research strategies, expert interviews and inspiration to genealogists in 75 countries around the world, and has been downloaded nearly 4 million times. She also produces the weekly genealogy YouTube live show Elevenses with Lisa at the Genealogy Gems YouTube channel. 

Lisa’s offerings are not limited to online.  She is a sought after international genealogy speaker. Whether in person or online, Lisa strives to dig through the myriad of genealogy news, questions and resources to deliver the gems that can unlock each genealogist’s own family history treasure trove!

Family is not just a priority professionally. Lisa is a doting wife to Bill, the proud mom of three daughters, and has added the role of Grandma to her resume.  She counts her blessings every day for the love, fulfillment and laughter that family brings to every aspect of her life.

This will be a hybrid meeting where members can attend in person at the Lewes library or join via a Zoom link. All members are encouraged to attend and participate. Current members will automatically be sent a link to join the meetings via Zoom. Non-members are welcome to attend and may request an invitation link by sending an email to: programs@scgsdelaware.org no later than December 14^th.

 

Topic: "Show & Tell"

 

 

 

 

 

The Edward H. Nabb Research Center for Delmarva History and Culture at Salisbury University is a humanities research laboratory for university students that also fulfills the historical resource needs of a variety of community researchers. Founded in 1982, it was endowed in 1998 by Edward H. Nabb, an attorney and philanthropist from Cambridge, Maryland and renamed in his honor.

Family and local researchers frequent the Nabb Research Center for its wealth of information on family and cultural history. Distinctive photograph and artifact collections bring the Eastern Shore of the past 150 years to life, offering insight into its traditions and heritage. Public presentations on historical topics, educational seminars and exhibits showcase the Shore’s rich history and culture.

Our non-circulating library contains books, serials, archival and artifact collections relating to United States history, the greater Chesapeake region and the Delmarva Peninsula. Our extensive primary and secondary regional archival collection contains family histories, correspondence, photographs, manuscripts, ledgers, diaries, local business and organizational records, maps, newspapers, land surveys, oral histories and rare books. Included in our microfilm collection are governmental and church records pertaining mainly to Somerset, Worcester, Dorchester and Wicomico counties in Maryland; Accomack and Northampton counties in Virginia; and Sussex County in Delaware. Archaeological materials, furniture, vintage clothing and coverlets, household items, tools, and military memorabilia comprise a portion of our artifact collection and are used for classroom instruction and exhibits. One of our best resources is the specialized expertise of the Nabb Research Center staff.

 

 

PERSI and AGBI are two finding aids for location information in History Centers’ and/or Genealogical Societies’
newsletters. Transcriptions, including civil records, family bible pages, and tombstones are just some of the
sources embedded in these newsletters, a mainstay of genealogy research before computers. How do you access
these newsletters?

Suz Bates has brought her expertise in genealogy to the public, spreading her enthusiasm for family history research to everyone during her workshops and presentations as well as with her private clients and small group consultations. She has been a family history researcher for over 45 years and a private consultant for 30 years. 
Having begun her genealogy interests in the early 1970’s, before computers, Suz spent many hours at the Newberry Library with a special admittance pass. She learned the traditional research methods from many kindly old gentlemen and ladies holed away doing family research before it was popular. Skills expanded with needs to typing letters to village offices, location visits, walking cemeteries, rubbing tombstones as well as researching in courthouses, vaults and old school houses. Many genealogy classes, workshops and private lessons continue to build researching skills, technology and presentation skills needed for genealogy. 
After college, where Suz earned a B.A. in Modern Foreign Language with a minor in History and an M.S. in education, her career in education was just as long and varied. She taught both adults and children in various educational settings, public and private, including elementary, middle school and university classrooms as well as conference and lecture halls. All the while, genealogy continued to fill her hours with research, location visits, indexing, transcribing, and digitalizing, along with attending many conferences while working on her own and friends’ family histories and ultimately private clients. 
Suz takes these teaching and lecturing skills, combined with her extensive genealogical research experience, into her genealogy career of speaking, researching, and consulting in an easily understood manner with enthusiasm and a wealth of knowledge. Suz has been a member of various genealogy and history associations including the National Genealogical Society, the New England Historic Genealogical Society, and the NSDAR with local membership in the Du Page County Genealogical Society, the Fox Valley Genealogical Society, and CAGGNI She is listed in the Genealogical Speakers Guild and the Genealogy and Local History Librarians.

 

Carla Cegielski is a full-time family history researcher specializing in Ohio, Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia research. She has been providing professional research services to attorneys, historians, genealogists, hobbyists, and others since 2007.

Carla is past-president of both of the Great Lakes Chapter of the Association of Professional Genealogists and the Lake County (OH) Genealogical Society. She has volunteered as a grader for the National Genealogical Society’s American Genealogy Home Study Course and as a coordinator for the ProGen Study Group. Carla currently serves as Vice President of the Great Lakes Chapter of the Association of Professional Genealogists.

After retiring from teaching at a local business college, Carla began lecturing on various genealogical topics. She is a frequent speaker at genealogical societies, libraries and conferences. Carla was the coordinator and instructor for the Reading, Transcribing, and Abstracting Old Documents course at the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh in July 2021.

Education and Training

• Bachelor of Arts degree in Russian Language and Literature from the University of Pittsburgh
• Master of Science degree in Library Science from Simmons College in Boston
• National Society Daughters of the American Revolution. Volunteer Field Genealogy (2008); Genealogy Consultant (2009)
• ProGen Study Group (2010)
• National Institute on Genealogical Research. (National Archives) (2011)
• Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh. Advanced Research Methods (2012); Your Immigrant Ancestors’ Stories (2013); Law School for Genealogists (2014); From Confusion to Conclusion: How to Write Proof Arguments (2016); Principles of Genealogical Writing (2022)
• National Genealogical Society. American Genealogy: Home Study Course (2013)
• Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research (Samford University). Advanced Methodology and Evidence Analysis (2013); Virginia: Her Records and Her Laws (2014); Writing & Publishing for Genealogists (2015); Advanced Library Research: Law Libraries & Government Documents (2016)
• Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research (Georgia Genealogical Society, Athens, GA). Genetics for Genealogists: Beginning DNA (2017)
• Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy. Advanced Evidence Practicum (2015); You be the Judge: A Practicum Using Standards to Evaluate Genealogical Work (2017); The Pennsylvania German and Research in the Keystone State (2018); Metes and Bounds Land Platting (2019); Corpus Juris: Advanced Legal Concepts for Genealogy (2020); Mother Russia: Research in the Countries of the Former Russian Empire and USSR (2021)
• Attends at least one national conference per year as well as many local and regional conferences.

 

This will be a hybrid meeting where Members can attend at the Lewes library or virtually via a Zoom link. All members are encouraged to attend and participate. Current members will automatically be sent a link to join the meetings via Zoom. Non-members are welcome to attend and may request an invitation link by sending an email to: programs@scgsdelaware.org no later than May 16^th.

 

Topic: "Holdings of the Maryland Archives & How to Access Them" by Rachel Frazier

Outline

Introduction

Brief background on the Maryland State Archives

Explanation of primary and secondary sources

Overview of holdings and collection types

New research guides and video tutorials

Preparing to conduct research

Dive into:
Government Records
Births
Deaths
Marriages

Probate Records

Land Records

Slavery Records

Other Court Records

 

Special Collections

Photographs

Newspapers

Religious Records

Maps

Conclusion and Questions