Founded 1991
1500 Shenandoah Road
Alexandria, Virginia 22308
Telephone: (703) 768-4101 |
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Monday, February 17
Writing Family History SIG: February 2020 Meeting Cancelled (Special Interest Group)
2:00 pm to 3:30 pm Hollin Hall Room 214
Instructor: Paul Phelps
The February 2020 Meeting, normally held on the 3rd Monday of each month, is cancelled due to the Federal holiday.
More information about this class may be obtained from the instructor, by clicking HERE.
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Tuesday, February 18
State Archives: What They Are and How to Use Them. (General Meeting)
1:00 pm to 3:00 pm Hollin Hall Room 112
Presenter: John Philip Colletta, Ph.D.
Discussion: State archives hold vast collections of materials that document the lives and activities of the state’s residents. Each state’s archives is tied organizationally to the state library, and sometimes to historic sites and museums. These repositories hold population censuses, vital records, land transactions, public school, hospital and other institutional records, newspapers, manuscript and cartographic collections, cemetery information, military service and pension records, naturalization and other court records, and more. This lecture examines the Websites of select state archives from the North, West, East and South, displaying the wealth of genealogical and biographical resources they contain. It also explores the electronic and paper finding aids that help family historians access the treasures in state archives.
Dr. Coletta teaches diverse audiences nationwide how to reconstruct their family’s past from scraps of information found in old written records, maps, newspapers, photographs, tombstones and heirlooms. The detective work is challenging and fun. But creating a family tree is only half the goal. The other half is learning about your ancestors as men and women with personalities, character traits, motives and aspirations, joys and disappointments, just like you. His illustrated presentations use engaging case studies and real-life examples—and lots of humor—to show how to explore the world of your forebears and write an account of their lives.
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Tuesday, February 18
German SIG: Meeting Date Change (Special Interest Group)
1:00 pm to 3:00 pm Pohick Regional Library
Presenter: Bob Dunfield
The February 2020 German SIG meeting is moved to Tuesday, February 18th due to the Federal holiday on Monday.
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Thursday, February 20
Beginning German Genealogy (Training and Education)
10:00 am to 12:00 pm Hollin Hall Room 217
Instructor: Robert Dunfield
Class will have an emphasis on the German wave migration to America.
To register, please send an email with your name, phone number, class name and date to Amy Breedlove at albreedlove@comcast.net
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Sunday, February 23
JGSGW Presents Maximizing a Journey to One's Roots (Special Interest Group)
1:30 pm to 3:30 pm B'nai Israel Congregation, 6301Montrose Road, Rockville, Maryland
Presenter: Tony Hausner
Discussion: In this presentation, Tony will describe how his Jewish genealogy research laid the foundation for his travels to towns in Eastern Europe where his and his wife’s families lived over the past four centuries, as well as travel to his birthplace of England. The pre-travel research process enabled him to maximize the results of his travels. He will also describe the many dimensions of his experiences in visiting all of these places and his experiences with the guides that he used. Finally, he will discuss the several lessons he learned on steps that can improve one’s genealogy experiences. He says, “There were many things I wish I had done on my travels that would have made the trip even more useful.”
Tony Hausner has a Ph.D. in Social/Community Psychology from the University of Kentucky. He worked for 26 years for the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on research and policy projects. He played a leadership role in 11 town research groups, particularly Skala Podolskaya in Eastern Galicia, where his mother was born. He spent several weeks as part of three trips traveling to Eastern Europe, Western Europe and Great Britain, visiting all of these ancestral places and other relevant places. He has published articles on these trips and has given several talks about the trips and other topics relevant to Jewish genealogy.
(Please see the attached flyer for information on the JGSGW guest attendance policy.)
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Monday, March 2
New England SIG: Early New England Research (Special Interest Group)
1:00 pm to 3:00 pm Hollin Hall, Room 214
Moderator: Linda MacLachlan.
Presented by: David Allen Lambert, Chief Genealogist
Description: Since its founding in 1630, the City of Boston has kept records pertaining to its citizens, including several unique resources. Join Chief Genealogist David Allen Lambert to learn what records exist for Boston, tips for using them in your research, and where to find them. Special attention will be given to records from the 17th through 19th centuries.
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Tuesday, March 3
Getting Started with your Genealogy Research (Training and Education)
10:00 am to 12:00 pm Room 217 HHSC
Instructor: Janice Reid
You are interested in your family history and there is something you want to find out. Join us and discover how to get started with your research. By the end of the session, you will know what to do next to find your answer.
To register, please send an email with your name, phone number, class name and date to Amy Breedlove at albreedlove@comcast.net
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Wednesday, March 4
Methodology SIG: Analyzing and Writing Obituaries (Special Interest Group)
1:30 pm MVGS Research Center, Hollin Hall
Presenter: Charles S. "Chuck" Mason, Jr., CG
Program Summary: Early obituaries may contain very little information yet they can assist in genealogical research. Today an obituary can be a gold mine of information. The program will examine how to find obituaries and analyze them for research. The program will be a workshop on writing an obituary for yourself or a family member. |
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Sunday, March 15
DNA Presentation (Training and Education)
5:00 pm to 6:00 pm Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints, 6942 Sydenstricker Road, Springfield, VA 22152
Presenter: Victoria Robinson, long-time staff member of the Annandale Family History Center and former presenter at RootsTech. |
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Tuesday, March 17
Strategies for Resolving Conflicting Evidence. (General Meeting)
1:00 pm to 3:00 pm Hollin Hall Room 112
Presenter: Angela Packer McGhie, CG®
Program Summary: Genealogical records sometimes have information that conflicts with other records. The challenge is to determine which information is accurate. This presentation will highlight several examples of conflicting information including misidentification of a parent. Each example will demonstrate four strategies for resolving conflicting information. These case scenarios will walk through the records that contain the information in conflict, the additional records searched, the analysis of the reliability of each record, and the correlation of data between the sources.
Angela Packer McGhie is a professional researcher, lecturer and instructor. She is the coordinator for the Intermediate Genealogy course at the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research, and coordinator of the Advanced Evidence Analysis Practicum at the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy. She served as the administrator of the ProGen Study Program from 2008-2014 and is now on the board of directors.
Angela is an instructor at the Genealogical Institute on Federal Records, the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh, and the Virtual Institute on Genealogical Research. Angela has served on the Education Committee of the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG) and is a past president of the National Capital Area Chapter of APG. She is a contributing author for the APG Quarterly and was honored with a certificate of appreciation from the Association of Professional Genealogists for her leadership and service. She lives in Maryland with her husband and three children.
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Friday, April 3 through Saturday, April 4
Fairfax Genealogical Society Spring Conference, "Lines to Our Past" (Conference)
10:30 am to 3:45 pm Sheraton Reston Hotel
On Friday, 03 April 2020 there will be a keynote speaker and six tracks of four lectures each from 10:30 A.M. to 8:00 P.M. Registration begins at 9:00 A.M.
On Saturday, 4 April 2020 there will be six tracks, from 9:00 A.M. to 3:45 P.M., as well as luncheon speaker: Paul Milner, "The Messages Our Ancestors Leave Behind".
Registration is now available for the 2020 FxGS Spring Conference. For more information, visit Eventbrite.
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Monday, April 6
Entering Information onto Find A Grave Workshop (Training and Education)
1:00 pm to 3:00 pm Hollin Hall room 214
Instructor: Linda MacLachlan.
Purpose of the workshop is to learn how to add information onto the Find A Grave website. Workshop is limited to 10 folks.
To enter info on Find A Grave, you will need a free account. Please set one up ahead of time and remember to bring the id and password with you to the workshop.
To register, please send an email with your name and phone number, workshop name and date to Amy Breedlove at albreedlove@comcast.net. |
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Thursday, April 9
New England SIG: Early New England Research (Special Interest Group)
7:00 pm to 9:00 pm McLean Family History Center, 2034 Great Falls St., McLean, VA
Moderator: Linda MacLachlan.
Presented by: David Allen Lambert, Chief Genealogist
Description: Since its founding in 1630, the City of Boston has kept records pertaining to its citizens, including several unique resources. Join Chief Genealogist David Allen Lambert to learn what records exist for Boston, tips for using them in your research, and where to find them. Special attention will be given to records from the 17th through 19th centuries.
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Tuesday, April 14
Online Resources for Irish Genealogy (Training and Education)
10:00 am to 12:00 pm Room 217 HHSC
Instructor: Paul McFarland
As more Irish records, especially the Vital Records of birth, marriage, and death, as well as Roman Catholic sacramental records, become available via Irish sites on the Internet we need to understand what these sites contain, how to access them, and importantly, how to find elusive records regarding our ancestors. It might be just as important to know what is NOT on these sites. Discussion of census records and census-substitute records will also be included.
To register, please send an email with your name, phone number, class name and date to Amy Breedlove at albreedlove@comcast.net
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Tuesday, April 21
Arriving in America (General Meeting)
1:00 pm to 3:00 pm Hollin Hall Room 112
Presenter: Sharon Hodges, Past President, MVGS
Discussion: Millions of immigrants have come to call America home. For some the process was easy. For others it was more difficult and more restrictive, but none more so than New York City. Knowing what it was like to arrive in New York City gives an understanding of arrivals in other cities and the process for admitting aliens. This session is the culmination of immigration to this country. Each port maintained some sort of private or government-run immigration station, but none was as rigorous as Ellis Island. The initial reason for the opening of reception centers such as Castle Garden, Ellis Island, or Angel Island in California, was to protect and aid new arrivals to this country. This presentation covers arriving in New York City, pre-1855, through the Barge Office, Castle Garden, and Ellis Island, as it was more difficult for an alien to be admitted in this city than anywhere else. A good overview of what the process was like for an alien coming to America.
Sharon has been a professional genealogist, author, and teacher for about 30 years, having lectured in New Jersey, New York, Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. She is a past grader for the National Genealogical Society Home Study Course and a graduate of the National Institute for Genealogical Research. Sharon is a member of numerous local and national genealogical societies, past Secretary and Awards Chair of the Virginia Genealogical Society, and Past President of the Mount Vernon Genealogical Society.
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Thursday, April 23
Introduction to Family Tree Maker [FTM] (Training and Education)
10:00 am to 12:00 pm Room 217 HHSC
Instructor: Charles Gearhart
For those ancestry enthusiasts who are tired of keeping their family trees on a yellow pad or spreadsheet, Family Tree Maker is an ancestry archival system that may be your answer. This will be a basic level presentation for members looking for a storage application that will produce reports as well as interact with Ancestry.com and Familysearch.org. If you just purchased FTM and have it on your laptop bring it to class.
To register, please send an email with your name, phone number, class name and date to Amy Breedlove at albreedlove@comcast.net |
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Monday, May 4
Using Familysearch.org Workshop (Training and Education)
10:00 am to 12:00 pm Hollin Hall room 214
Instructor: Linda MacLachlan.
Purpose of the workshop is to learn how to use the Familysearch.org website more effectively
Workshop is limited to 10 people.
To do anything on Familysearch.org you need a free account. If you don't already have one, please set one up ahead of time and remember to bring the id and password with you to the workshop.
To register, please send an email with your name and phone number, workshop name and date to Amy Breedlove at albreedlove@comast.net. |
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Monday, May 4
New England SIG: Early New England Research (Special Interest Group)
1:00 pm to 3:00 pm Hollin Hall, Room 214
Moderator: Linda MacLachlan.
Presented by: Trenton Carls and Anne Meringolo
Description: Libraries are teeming with published and unpublished resources about your ancestor’s life, localities, and family. But unlike genealogical databases, library catalogs do not provide an every-name search. Join experts from our Library Collection Services team to learn how to approach any library catalog you may be unfamiliar with. We will demonstrate best practices using the NEHGS online library catalog and discuss other online resources.
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Tuesday, May 19
Why Can’t I Find My Ancestor’s Vital Records? (General Meeting)
1:00 pm to 3:00 pm Hollin Hall Room 112
Presenter: Charles S. "Chuck" Mason, Jr., CG.
Discussion: Often beginning researchers encounter problems when they search for their ancestor’s vital records. Sometimes even more advanced researchers have problems finding or understanding their ancestor’s vital records. There are a number of reasons why researchers encounter these problems. This lecture will address a number of misconceptions researchers have about vital record. Often the main problem is a misunderstanding of vital records, how and why they were created, and where the records may be kept.
Charles S. “Chuck” Mason, Jr., CG SM is a Professional Genealogist SM, specializing in Southern New Jersey and 19th and 20th Century Death Records. He is a graduate of NGS’s American Genealogy: Home Study Course, (1994), is an instructor for the NGS course Beyond the Basics, a graduate of the National Institute for Genealogical Research (NIGR) at the National Archives (1996 & 2001), the Institute of Genealogy and History at Samford University (2010), and has attended numerous NGS conferences, state and local conferences in the Washington, DC area and in New Jersey. He was a certified by the Board for Certification of Genealogists from 1999 to 2019, at which time he decided not to renew his certification.
Chuck is a member of both the Fairfax and the Mt. Vernon Genealogical Societies, served in various positions on the board of both societies including President (MVGS 2000-2002 and FxGS 2008-2009). He is a past President (2004-2006) of NIGR Alumni Association, and was a Director of the Northern Virginia Association for History (1999-2006). Chuck is the host of Tracing Your Family Roots at Fairfax Cable Television Channel 10. Rebroadcasts of the show can be viewed at their website at tracingroots.nova.org.
Chuck teaches genealogy classes for the Fairfax County Adult and Community Education (ACE) program. He lectures at many of the genealogical societies in the Washington DC area, NIGR, and in Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. He has had articles published in National Genealogical Society’s magazine, the National Association of Retired Federal Employees, and a number of genealogical society newsletters. In 2017 he received the National Genealogical Society’s President’s Award. He received the Fairfax Genealogical Society’s President’s Award in 1996 and 2007. In 2013 Chuck received the Lifetime Sustained Meritorious Service Award from the Mount Vernon Genealogical Society.
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Thursday, May 21
Taking Basics to the Next Level (Training and Education)
10:00 am to 12:00 pm Room 201 HHSC
Instructor: Janell Blue
Class will be instruction and a case study on validating evidence and dealing with conflicting information.
To register, please send an email with your name, phone number, class name and date, to Amy Breedlove at albreedlove@comcast.net |
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Monday, June 1
Using Familysearch.org Workshop (Training and Education)
1:00 pm to 3:00 pm Hollin Hall room 214
Instructor: Linda MacLachlan.
Purpose of the workshop is to learn how to use the Familysearch.org website more effectively
Workshop is limited to 10 people.
To do anything on Familysearch.org you need a free account. If you don't already have one, please set one up ahead of time and remember to bring the id and password with you to the workshop.
To register, please send an email with your name and phone number, workshop name and date to Amy Breedlove at albreedlove@comast.net. |
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Thursday, June 4
New England SIG: Early New England Research (Special Interest Group)
7:00 pm to 9:00 pm McLean Family History Center, 2034 Great Falls St., McLean, VA
Moderator: Linda MacLachlan.
Presented by: Trenton Carls and Anne Meringolo
Description: Libraries are teeming with published and unpublished resources about your ancestor’s life, localities, and family. But unlike genealogical databases, library catalogs do not provide an every-name search. Join experts from our Library Collection Services team to learn how to approach any library catalog you may be unfamiliar with. We will demonstrate best practices using the NEHGS online library catalog and discuss other online resources.
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Tuesday, June 9
Tracing Jewish Roots (Training and Education)
10:00 am to 12:00 pm HHSC Room 217
Instructor: Mary-Jane Roth and Sheila Wexlers
Whether you identify as Jewish or not, you may be researching a Jewish famiy member, or a DNA test may indicate some Jewish ancestors. In this class, members of the Jewish Genealogy Society of Greater Washington (JGSGW) will use slides and personal stories to describe what is unique about doing research on Jewish families. They will discuss cultural hints, languages, uses of and complications with DNA, and finding elusive records in archives and dedicated on-line sites. There will also be time for Q&A. JGSGW, with over 300 members, is one of the largest organizations in the U.S. with a focus on educating and enabling individuals to research their Jewish roots.
To register, please send an email with your name, phone number, and the name and date of the class to Amy Breedlove at albreedlove@comcast.net. |
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Tuesday, June 16
Topic to be Determined (General Meeting)
1:00 pm to 3:00 pm Hollin Hall Room 112
Presenter: Char McCargo Bah, Professional Genealogist
Char has been a genealogy researcher since 1981. She is CEO and founder of FindingThingsforU, LLC. She a historical investigator, lecturer, and freelance writer who has been featured in numerous TV programs and several newspapers. She is the author of a genealogical column called “Char’s Corner” and is a former board member of the Virginia Genealogical Society. Char has also completed a PBS documentary.
Two of her genealogical success stories were finding out that a German client was a relative and being selected for a documentary with the Ellis Island Foundation.
Char was the City of Alexandria’s genealogist on the Alexandria Freedmen and Contraband Cemetery and received the 2009 Alexandria Special History Award. She received the “Living Legend of Alexandria” award in 2014. She is the co-author of “ African Americans of Alexandria, VA: Beacons of Light in the 20th Century” and is currently working on her second book.
Her research specialties are: adoption; African Americans; civil war; federal records; historical sites; House Historian; land records; Library of Congress; migration; neighborhood reconstruction; forensic studies; and court records.
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Thursday, June 25
Google Photos (Training and Education)
10:00 am to 12:00 pm Room 217 HHSC
Instructor: Charles Gearhart
As ancestry enthusiasts we are data collectors and especially keepers of those old photos, marriage and birth certificates. We can store our media as scans on our computer, on a removable hard drive or use one of the now many "cloud" systems. Google Photos [GP] aims to be our one-stop shop for all our photos. Its capabilities allow one to store, search, enhance, create folders, share specific folders, and even add to existing folders, or allow others to collaborate and add their own photos to the folder you have invited them to. The price is also right. If you have Google Photos already on your laptop computer or cell phone, bring it to this class and follow along with the instructor as the class discusses individual techniques. If you just want to get an introduction to GP, that's fine.
To register, please send an email with your name and phone number, class name and date to Amy Breedlove at albreedlove@comcast.net
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