The program at the Whatcom Genealogical Society meeting is "Mastering Digital Filling for Genealogists" with Cyndi Ingle. Visitors are welcome. Questions: contact us at Email: whatcomgenesoc@gmail.com.

The Stillaguamish Valley Genealogical Society will hold its Annual Meeting, Election of Officers and Potluck on Tuesday, May 14, 2023. at the SVGS Library, 188th Pl NE, Arlington, WA.  Everyone is welcome!

The National Genealogical Society (NGS) is hosting our FOCUS pre-conference event for genealogy organizations virtually in 2024, and we welcome your organization’s leaders, volunteers, staff, and members to attend on 16 May.

FOCUS offers learning opportunities that foster collaboration and share successes among societies, libraries, archives, museums, and other institutions. Its goal is to strengthen our genealogy and family history community as we work to support everyone in search of their ancestors’ stories.

This year’s theme is outreach and engagement. FOCUS sessions will offer practical tips and ideas to help your organization reach new people, activate volunteers, and highlight family history as a part of the America250 celebration in 2026. Watch presentations and participate in live Q&A on 16 May, then see sessions you missed at your convenience over a few months. Registrants will have access to FOCUS recordings until 15 August.

The Italian SIG of the Eastside Genealogical Society will present "St. Cabrini: First Italian-American Saint and Her Influence on the World, Including Seattle." 

 

St. Frances Xavier Cabrini was the Italian-born founder of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart and the first United States citizen to be canonized. She was born on July 15, 1850, in Sant'Angelo Lodigiano, Lombardy, Italy, and died on December 22, 1917, in Chicago, Illinois, U.S. She was canonized on July 7, 1946, and her feast day is November 13. Cabrini was sent to the United States by Pope Leo XIII and spent the rest of her life working with Italian immigrants, particularly in New York City and Chicago.

The zoom link for this virtual program can be requested at https://egs-iig.com

The Surrey (British Columbia) Libraries Family History Department is sponsoring "Online Research for Ancestors in Poland, Prussia and Pommern" with Sigrid Pohl Perry, PhD. The ability to search for birth, marriage and death records in regions now in Poland, Prussia, and Pommern has enabled research most of us never thought possible. However, to many, these resources are a perplexing maze of random searches.  This presentation will provide a brief overview of the large, free Szukajwarchiwach database.  This powerful database offers data from the Program for the Registration of Records from Parish and Civil Registration Offices (PRADZIAD), which collects information on genealogical materials kept in the state archives. Scans of archive materials from other cultural institutions are also included. These records encompass many Polish, German and Jewish residents.  A handout with links, basic word list, and suggestions of additional resources will be provided as a pdf.  Free.  Registration required – familyhistory@surrey.ca or call 604-598-7328 to register.

 

Our presenter, Sigrid Pohl Perry, Ph.D., worked with archives and special collections at Northwestern University Library for 40 years until retiring in 2020. A member of the Society for German Genealogy in Eastern Europe (SGGEE) since 2003, Sigrid has served on the Board of Directors; been actively involved in Lublin Project indexing; and given various presentations at SGGEE Conventions, the International German Genealogy Partnership, and a local Illinois Family History Center. 

 

We will be using Microsoft Teams (much like Zoom) for this online program.  Registered participants will receive a confirmation upon registration, and then the online link a day or two before the program.

 

The Italian SIG of the Eastside Genealogical Society will present "Brick Walls -- Searching for Italian Roots." 

 

The zoom link for this virtual program can be requested at https://egs-iig.com

The Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research (IGHR) is an annual week-long educational institute for genealogists of all backgrounds and skill levels, from beginning to advanced. Hosted by the Georgia Genealogical Society (GGS), attendees and faculty join us from across the country and around the globe. IGHR enrolls between 300 and 400 attendees each summer and reaches over five thousand social media followers throughout the year. For more information, visit https://ighr.gagensociety.org/.