Topic: "Researching Friends Historical Library (at Swathmore College) Quaker Records both Online and In Person" by Jordan Landes

 

Friends Historical Library (FHL) on Swarthmore College’s campus was established in 1871 to collect, preserve, and make available archival, manuscript, printed, and visual records concerning the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) from their origins mid-seventeenth century to the present. The collection reflects the Quaker origins of Swarthmore College.  With more than 45,000 books, pamphlets and serials, 60,000 photographs, 400 major manuscript collections, and 9,000 volumes of original meeting records, Friends Historical Library is one of the outstanding research facilities for the study of Quaker history. The Swarthmore Historical Society’s collections were deposited in Friends Historical Library in 1996.  The Library also maintains SHS’s archived Swarthmorean newspapers located here.

Jordan Landes became curator of the Friends Historical Library on March 11, 2019. Jordan previously was from the Senate House Library, the central library of the University of London where she was a Research Librarian for History.  A true exemplar of the value of a liberal arts education, Jordan has worked in libraries whose foci are literature and theater (Shakespeare’s Globe), contemporary dance (the Laban Library) and computer science (University of Maryland, College Park).

Jordan is an alumna of Haverford and in addition to her Master of Library Science from the University of Maryland; she has degrees in History from the University of Maryland (M.A.) and from the School of Advanced Study at the University of London (PhD).  Jordan has focused her studies in Quaker history.  Her doctoral thesis on the role of London in the creation of the trans-Atlantic Quaker community in the late 17th and early 18th centuries served as the basis for her book, London Quakers in the Trans-Atlantic World: The Creation of an Early Modern Community; it was published by Palgrave in 2015. 

 

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 12^th.

 

Topic: "German Research Online" by James Beidler

 

James M. Beidler is the author of The Family Tree Historical Newspapers Guide and The Family Tree German Genealogy Guide as well as writes Roots & Branches, an award-winning weekly newspaper column on genealogy. He is also a columnist for German Life magazine and is editor of Der Kurier, the quarterly journal of the Mid-Atlantic Germanic Society. He is now an editor at Legacy Tree Genealogists, Inc.

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.

 

 

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.

 

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 February 15^th.

 

Topic: "Using Genealogy Newsletters for Research" by Suzan Bates

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. For upcoming events or to book a consultation,
contact Suz at suzbatesgenealogist@gmail.com or by phone at 630-923-6642.
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 schoolhouses. 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.