Genealogy Research

Thu, 10/07/2010 - 11:33am by Stewart

Celebrate Family History Month! Join Bobbie Snow, genealogy lecturer and teacher and long-time member of the Genealogical Society of Washtenaw County, to learn how to use two genealogy databases offered by the Ann Arbor District Library: Ancestry.com (Library Edition) and Heritage Quest.

Wednesday, October 13th from 7:00 to 9:00 PM at the Malletts Creek branch.

Classes are filled on a first-come, first-served basis and the classrooms will open 15 minutes before the class. Registration is not required. See you in class!

Beginning Genealogy

Mon, 05/10/2010 - 9:02pm by flora

Ever wondered about your family history? Find out about the many genealogical resources available and how to use them this Thursday, May 12, at the Genealogy for Beginners class. This class will be held at the Pittsfield Branch of AADL, from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. Our staff will show how to use several genealogy databases and databases, including Ancestry and HeritageQuest, provide tips for getting started, and answer your beginning genealogy questions. If you have never conducted genealogical research before and want to know how to get started, then this is the class for you.

Preserving Your Photographic Heritage

Mon, 01/11/2010 - 11:46am by lucroe

How can you preserve and protect precious photographs so that memories may last for future generations? Learn how to protect your personal mementos with local experts. Dianna Samuelson of the Bentley Historical Library will explain how to preserve and restore photographs, while George Borel Jr. of Huron Camera Shop will give information on what can be done digitally to repair photos. Get a head start by checking out these books on .

Join us Wednesday January 13, 2010: 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm at the Downtown Library: Multi-Purpose Room for Preserving Your Photographic Heritage.

Let's Fill in the Family Tree

Tue, 09/15/2009 - 9:25am by Debbie G.

The experts from the Genealogical Society of Washtenaw County will be on hand Sunday, Sept. 20, 2:00 ~ 3:30 p.m., at the Traverwood Branch to help you with your family history research. Following a short presentation on the resources available to you at the GSWC Library and the Ann Arbor District Library including Ancestry Library Edition and HeritageQuest, society members will work one-on-one with you whatever stage you're at in your quest to fill in the family tree.

Keys to Unlocking Family Histories in Europe

Mon, 04/20/2009 - 12:24pm by Debbie G.

Noted Genealogist Ceil Wendt Jensen will be in Ann Arbor Sunday, April 26, 1:30 p.m. at the Education Center on the St. Joseph Mercy Hospital campus to present Strategies for Locating Ancestral Villages sponsored by the Genealogical Society of Washtenaw County. You don't have to travel to Europe to unlock the past, there are plenty of print and online sources available in the U.S. to help you in your quest and Ms. Jensen will discuss and demonstrate these valuable resources. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Discover your family history with help from AADL

Wed, 02/04/2009 - 1:27pm by Jessenma

Curious about your family history, but don't know where or how to get started? If this sounds like you, then we invite you to attend our program, Genealogy for Beginners, Thursday evening from 6:30 to 8:30 pm at the Downtown Library. Our staff will demonstrate how to search for historical records in databases, Ancestry and HeritageQuest, as well as how to use various genealogical websites. They will also share tips on how to begin the research process. If you have never conducted genealogical research before and want to know how to get started, then this is the class for you.

Census Records Explained

Tue, 09/23/2008 - 2:43pm by Debbie G.

Census records are an invaluable tool in genealogical research but they are a tool that presents challenges for both new and seasoned genies. The Geneaolgical Society of Washtenaw County will host a lecture by genealogical masterwonk Barb Snow on Sunday, Sept. 28, 1:30 p.m. at the St. Joseph Merch Education Center Auditorium. AADL has Census records on microfilm, remotely through Heritage Quest and online at the library through AncestryPlus.

August 11th - Happy Birthday Alex Haley!

Mon, 08/11/2008 - 5:25pm by darla

Alexander Murray Palmer Haley was born on August 11, 1921 in Ithaca, New York. As a young boy, Alex Haley learned of his African ancestor, Kunta Kinte, by listening to the family stories of his maternal grandparents while spending his summers in Henning, Tennessee. According to family history, Kunta Kinte landed with other Gambian Africans in "Naplis" (Annapolis, Maryland) where he was sold into slavery. Alex Haley's quest to learn more about his family history resulted in his writing the Pulitzer Prize winning book Roots. The book has been published in 37 languages, and was made into the first week-long television mini-series, viewed by an estimated 130 million people. Roots also generated widespread interest in genealogy and eventually helped spawn the Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley Foundation.
Other Haley publications include many well received Playboy interviews (including Martin Luther King, Jr.), his first major book, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, A Different Kind of Christmas, a 1990 book about the underground railroad, and Queen, the story of Haley's paternal ancestors. Perhaps one of Alex Haley's greatest gifts was in speaking. He was a fascinating teller of tales. In great demand as a lecturer, both nationally and internationally, he was on a lecture tour in Seattle, Washington when he suffered a heart attack and died in February 1992.

Genealogy Guidance for Michigan and Beyond

Mon, 07/14/2008 - 10:56am by Debbie G.

Piecing Together Our Past, the 2008 Abrams Genealogy Seminar, Friday, July 25-Saturday, July 26 at the Library of Michigan in Lansing has something for every genie! On Friday, experts will concentrate on the many local history rooms, special collections and organizations throughout Michigan that can help you with family history research. Dr. George K. Schweitzer, author of some 20 genealogy books, will lead two seminars, "Tracing Ancestors Back Across the Atlantic" and "Civil War Genealogy." You can print and mail in the registration form. For more info, contact Randy Riley or Kris Rzepczynski at (517) 373-1300.

Fabulous Fiction Firsts #116

Wed, 07/02/2008 - 9:03pm by muffy

Lauren Groff's "exuberant" debut The Monsters of Templeton* is a "fantastically fun read, a kind of wild pastiche that is part historical novel and part mystery, with a touch of the supernatural thrown in for good measure".

Pregnant and troubled, archaeology student Wilhelmina (Willie) Upton slinks home to Templeton, N.Y., after a disastrous affair with her professor, on the very day a long-feared sea monster surfaces in Lake Glimmerglass, quite dead. When Vi, Willie's flower-child mother let slip that Willie's father is in fact a respected citizen in town rather than a nameless hippie from Vi's commune days, Willie dives headlong into untangling the roots of the town's greatest families and her father's identity.

Brilliantly incorporating accounts from generations of Templetonians — as well as characters borrowed from the works of James Fenimore Cooper, who named an upstate New York town Templeton in The Pioneers, Groff, a native of Cooperstown(on which Templeton is based), will delight readers with Willie's sharp wit, literary/historical references and lore.

* = Starred Reviews