By Patty Olsen
WSGS Region 4 Regional Representative
Lewis County Genealogical Society Vice President and Program Chair

Curt Witcher and WSGS board members Patty Olsen and Roger Newman

Heritage Quest Research Library’s annual Autumn Quest is in the books, and I’m hoping I use everything I learned. What a great day with Curt B. Witcher, senior manager of special collections at the genealogical phenomenon Allen County Public Library (ACPL) in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He also manages The Genealogy Center, Allen County’s Rare and Fine Book Collection and the Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection of Abraham Lincoln materials.

Curt was funny, entertaining and informative — a master of all three! He spoke on four subjects:

• Doing Effective Genealogy Research in Libraries
• Effective Use of the Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center
• Mining the Mother Lode: Using Periodical Literature for Genealogical Research
• Finding the World with WorldCat

His lecture on the Allen County Public Library really opened my eyes to what an amazing gem the ACPL’s Genealogy Center is. It immediately made just about everyone in the room want to take a road trip to Fort Wayne!

In a fascinating lecture, Curt enlightened us that our heritage records are in the hands of disinterested entities in government repositories. That’s why the ACPL Genealogy Center makes a rigorous effort to collect a diverse collection of records. In fact, the Genealogy Center will accept ANY record! Think about the breadth of their collection (currently at 4.3 million books!). They want your:

• Family histories
• Military packets
• Diaries
• Family Bibles
• School and college yearbooks
• Letters from the war to you and yours
• Programs from events like commencements, tributes, special events, etc.
• Ship itineraries
• Photographs
• Naturalization records
• Land grants
• Wills, probates, adoption papers
• Materials you purchased then discovered it wasn’t about your ancestor
• Memorabilia other entities wouldn’t save
• Weird stuff no one else keeps

Curt implored us not to throw these gems away….. send them to the Allen County Public Library! Even resources we aren’t quite ready to part with can be loaned to the library, where they’ll scan and bind them for their use, then return the unharmed original (and a bound copy!) back to you. What an eye-opening discovery!

In his “Doing Effective Genealogy Research in Libraries” lecture, he shared a piece of excellent advice: never visit a genealogical library without a research plan. A focused plan will make the best use of your time – and the staff’s time. Having an actual research question developed when asking the librarian for help will maximize our results and success.

One added (and appreciated) feature of Autumn Quest is the colossal book sale. Seems like I can’t walk by the brimming tables without finding some new and exciting title that I can’t live without.

The Heritage Quest Research Library always sponsors a first-rate event – and 2016 was no exception. I’m hoping to use some of the tips and tricks Curt shared with us. Now, on to write a research question……