Lisa Alzo

Silent Voices: Researching and Writing About Your Female Ancestors

While most historical records have been created for and are about men, making it more challenging to research and write about female ancestors, this presentation will demonstrate:  Effective ways to discover your female ancestors; how to document the  important roles their lives played in culture/society; and various methods for telling their stories.
 

            Lisa Alzo 

“Slovak Land” or “No Man’s Land”:  Finding Your Slovak and Rusyn Roots

In recent years, interest in Slovak and Carpatho-Rusyn genealogy has greatly increased thanks to easier access to records, visits to the homeland, and use of the Internet, among others.  This session will provide an overview of how to find your Slovak and Rusyn ancestors, including what sources (traditional and online) to consult, how to identify and locate the ancestral village, the similarities and differences between the two groups, and tips for networking with other researchers.  Key strategies for overcoming the most common “brick walls” will also be discussed.
 

     Matthew Bielawa
                 and
       Jonathan Shea

Getting Started:  Finding the Missing Pieces of Your
 Polish-American Family History

This session will expose researchers to basic techniques  needed to assemble a Polish-American family history.  American records such as ship lists, vital records, cemetery inscriptions and census records will be featured. The historical geography of Poland and map and gazetteer sources will be presented. Finally the nature and structure
of high use Polish language European records will be discussed as well as their location and methods to access them.
 

     Mieczyslaw B.  
     Biskupski

To Be Announced

      
      Linda Blaser

Preserving Family Papers and Photographs

Participants will learn about proper storage of family documents, photographs, home movies, digital images, and other treasures so that they will survive poor environmental conditions.  Samples of bad practices will be shown so that the audience will gain a full understanding of what can go wrong and why.  Attendees are welcome to bring one item for conservation advice which will be given during Consultation Appointments.  If a document or photo-
graph is in need of repair, information will be included about how to obtain reliable conservation assistance.
 

 
      Stephen Danko

Polish Court Records

For those with ancestors who were members of the Nobility, Polish Court Records provide a wealth of information not available elsewhere.  Written in Medieval Latin, these documents include such records as loans and repayments, disputes and complaints, dowries, and dowry liens.  The information in these records sometimes describes in great detail the lands owned by those named, and frequently identifies individuals by naming their spouses, parents, and even grandparents. 

Polish Court Records maintained in the Polish State Archives predate birth, marriage, and death records, sometimes by centuries.  Polish Court Records not only detail events in the daily lives of our ancestors, but also provide genealogical information on generations of ancestors beyond that available in church records and vital records.
 

     Stephen Danko

Genealogy and the Changing Map of Eastern Europe

Finding the place of origin of an immigrant is crucial to finding historic records for that immigrant's ancestors.  To complicate matters, national boundaries in Europe frequently changed during the past two centuries as alliances formed between nations, as the strong conquered the weak, and as international congresses redrew the map of Europe after major wars.  At times, these changes obliterated some nations from the map or created new
nations.  Border changes in Europe affected not only the map of Europe, but also the records on which genealogists depend to document their ancestors' lives.  The ruling powers determined the types of documents that were maintained, the structure of those documents, and the languages in which they were written.
 

   William F. Hoffman

Your Ancestor's Name Wasn't Mxplq Prszmytgu!
 A Question-and-Answer Session on Polish Names
 and English Distortions.

Rather than give a formal lecture, Fred intends to bring his laptop, with as many of his sources as he can copy to its hard drive, and try to answer your questions on Polish first names and surnames. He also hopes to give a few insights on how to deal with names that have been misspelled or changed at some point. If you have names that are giving you trouble, be sure to note them down and ask about them!  Fred cannot promise to have all the answers, but he will tell you what he can, based on some 25 years of working with Polish names.
 

Aleksandra Kacprzak

No Vital Records?  Alternative Sources for Family History Archival Research

Is it possible to obtain information on our ancestors if the parish records have been lost or destroyed?  Can we learn anything about the lives of our ancestors from centuries past?  This lecture will present the variety of rich and priceless material that can be found in parish and civil archives and regional museums.  Included will be vital records summaries, village and parish chronicles, various court records, records of guilds and professional organizations, diaries and journals, school and hospital documents, as well as vintage post cards.
 

 
        Brian J. Lenius

Journey thru Galicia

A photo essay combining ten trips from 1994 to 2008 to Poland and Ukraine covering the whole territory of Galicia from the far western area (Auschwitz, Wadowice, Kraków); the central Poland/Ukraine border area (Przemyśl, Jarosław, Lubaczów); far eastern area (Lwów, Kamianka); south- eastern area (Tarnopol, Borszczów, Stanisławów, Kołomyja); and the Carpathian Mountains (Kosów, Jaremcze).

The presentation illustrates a wide variety of topics from tourist sights in Kraków and Kalwaryja Zebrzedowska to archives in Przemyśl, L’viv, and Ivano-Frankivs'k.  Possibilities for home stay, drivers, and interpreters are presented along with potential pitfalls of poor planning. Civil Registry Offices (RAHS) are examined as well as life in villages today, comparisons among churches, village projects such as cemetery restorations, and more.
 

      Brian J. Lenius

Land Records and Property Maps in Małopolska (Galicia)

Property maps are extremely detailed and show individual yards, houses, barns, roads, field plots, churches and more. Land records contain information for individual households about their holdings, taxes, and production of their land.

These records were created across the Austrian Empire on at least three occasions including 1785-88, 1819-1820, and 1817-1860's. The last survey (1817-1860's) resulted in the creation of property maps (Cadastral Maps) for the whole of the Empire. 

While these records are technically not genealogical records because they do not have the dates of vital events or even names of other family members, once a researcher knows the name of the household head and/or house number for a family, it is possible to create a wealth of  "family history" from these records and maps. One can literally retrace the routes an ancestor would have driven by horse from home to the fields, or walked from home to church or school.    
                        

        Kahlile Mehr

East European Internet Sites

A country-by-country discussion of the websites that provide contact information, search assistance, and other information.  Emphasis will be on sites in English or with an English language component. Native language components of sites and sites only in the native language will also be mentioned.
 

       Kahlile Mehr

How Family History Library Films are Acquired from the Former Soviet Sphere

Collection Management at the Family History Library, Record Locations, Field Negotiations, Filming Procedures, Shipping, Receipt, Cataloging, and Distribution through the Family History Library Catalog. Understand why some records are acquired and others not and improved ability find information in the Family History Library Catalog.
 

   Thomas Sadauskas

Lithuania?  Polish?  It’s All the Same, Isn’t It?  Researching Your Lithuanian Ancestry

This session will discuss the steps to take when beginning to research your Lithuanian ancestry. 

Topics covered will include:

♦  A brief review of the intertwined history of Poland and
    Lithuania
♦  What information you need to know before starting your
    genealogy research
♦  Where to look once you get started
♦  How learning about Lithuania’s historical geography can
    help narrow your search for your ancestral village
♦  Why finding your ancestor’s village may not be easy
♦  Lithuanian genealogy Internet discussion groups to join
♦  Using the Internet and such social networking sites like
    Facebook and MySpace for research
♦  Resources for researching your Lithuanian Displaced
    Persons ancestors