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 In research, we want to locate the most important records in recording an ancestor’s life, and, of course, we want it NOW! See how it may be possible to locate these “vital” records online.

For more information about this or other Beyond Ancestry's Leaves & Branches series, see our brochure.

Wednesday, May 29, 2013, Meeting Room A,  10 AM - 11 AM.

To register for this free class, send an email or call 260-421-1225.

Churches played both a social and religious role in our ancestors’ lives. Enjoy a basic overview of the steps one needs to take in finding church records. This presentation will feature many different examples of records from different denominations and will offer strategies for research and interpretation.

Saturday, May 25, 2013, 10 AM, Meeting Room A.

For more information about this or other events in our Family History Fundamentals series, see the brochure.

To register for this free class, send an email or call 260-421-1225.

The Allen County Public Library will present a special screening of Steven Spielberg’s movie Lincoln on Saturday, April 27th at 1:30 p.m. in the theater of the Main Library. The event is free and open to the public, but seating is limited and will be filled on a first-come-first-served basis.

For genealogists and those who just seem to acquire all the family records, organizing the information can be overwhelming! Bruce Buzbee of RootsMagic will be at the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana, on Monday, April 22, to show how RootsMagic software may be the perfect solution. The event will be in Meeting Room C of the Main Library, 900 Library Plaza, from 6-8 p.m.

Topics include:

6-7 p.m. - Roots Magic Overview
Whether you're a beginner or long-time researcher, RootsMagic can help you organize your family tree. Join RootsMagic's Bruce Buzbee as he explains the basics of how it can work for you.

7-8 p.m. - Ooo, Ahhh! New Features of RootsMagic
Once you learn about RootsMagic's basics, Bruce Buzbee will demonstrate new features sure to dazzle and amaze you. Don't miss this unique opportunity!

To register for this free class, send an email or call 260-421-1225.

The Allen County Public Library will continue its Lincoln at the Library series with the program “Lincoln’s Home Front” on Sunday, April 14, at 2:00 p.m. in the Main Library, Meeting Room A. Lincoln Librarian Jane Gastineau will discuss Abraham Lincoln’s Civil War experiences as a private individual who struggled with personal loss, conflicting duties and responsibilities, and family divisions and crises. Photographs, documents, and other materials from the Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection will illustrate the presentation. The program is free and open to the public.

This summer, The Genealogy Center is offering two series of events to help you expand your family history search techniques.

Famly History Fundamentals sessions will be held one Saturday each month, at 10 AM in Meeting Room A. The first class will be "Researching Church Records," on May 25th, followed by "Locating Newspapers Online," on June 8th, "Just Start Looking on Ancestry," on July 13th, and finish with "Jumping Off Points: Getting the Most From a Single Record," on September 14th. For more information about these free classes, see the brochure.

Beyond Ancestry's Leaves & Branches sessions are on weekdays, but still in Meeting Room A. The first session is "What Can I Find at The Genealogy Center: A Catalog Tour," presented by Melissa Shimkus and Aaron Smith, on Thursday, April 11th, from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM. Other sessions include "Find Births, Marriages and Deaths Online," on Wednesday, May 29th, 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM; "WeRelate Overview," on Monday June 24th, from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM; "Genealogy Jargon," on Wednesday July 24th, from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM; and finally "Public Member Trees on Ancestry.com" on Thursday, September 12th, from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM. If you ...

by Dawne

The Genealogy Center is anticipating this summer’s Federation of Genealogical Societies Conference that will be here in Fort Wayne the 21^st through the 24^th of August, with a special Librarians’ Day pre-conference event on the 20^th of August. When FGS comes to town, The Genealogy Center always gets involved in a big way, from hosting some conference-related events – like Librarians’ Day – onsite, to offering extended hours for genealogists to do research early in the morning before attending sessions, and late into the night after the day’s lectures.

When Fort Wayne is the locality of the state or a national conference, The Genealogy Center’s staff usually gets directly involved, and not just during the days of the event, but in the earliest planning stages. This year, several Genealogy Center staff members are participating in the conference planning and execution.

Genealogy Center Manager Curt Witcher is on the FGS 2013 Conference Committee as the representative of the Allen County Public Library, one of the two local co-hosts organizations of the conference. The Allen County Genealogical Society of Indiana is the other local co-host organization. Curt also will be delivering four lecture sessions and speaking at ...

As you plan your trip to The Genealogy Center, are you lost when using our Catalog? Once you're here, does it still seem complicated that you just end up browsing the stacks, missing some material? Here is the opportunity to learn how to locate the more than a million items in The Genealogy Center collection. In this virtual tour of the catalog systems, instructors Melissa Shimkus and Aaron Smith will demonstrate the different features of the system, including special notes and making lists.

The class will be 2 PM to 4 PM on Thursday April 11, 2012, in Meeting Room A.

For more information, see the brochure.

To register for this free class, send an email or call 260-421-1225.

Register soon to attend "Researching Australian Family History, with Additional Tips for Finding Your American Ancestor in Australia," presented by Liz Pidgeon, Local and Family History Librarian at Yarra Plenty Regional Library, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. She will provide an introduction to research in Australia, and an overview of sources, including archives, genealogy and family history societies, convict research, military resources, and libraries, including the National Library's Trove website, and she will also be available for research questions after the lecture.  This one-hour class starts at 2:00 PM and will be held in Meeting Room A.

For more information, see the brochure. To register for this free event, send an email or call 260-421-1225.

The Genealogy Center's version of March Madness is next week, Monday March 4th through Saturday March 9th. This year, we are concentrating on the stories of our and our ancestors' lives. Classes include:

Monday March 4, 2013, 2P-3P, Meeting Room A
Gathering & Writing the Stories of Your Life -- Beginning Steps
Curt Witcher

Tuesday March 5, 2013, 2P-3P, Meeting Room A
Did It Really Happen That Way? Documenting Oral History
Delia Bourne

Wednesday March 6, 2013, 2P-3P, Meeting Room A
Insuring Our Story: Recording & Transcribing Oral History
Melissa Shimkus

Thursday March 7, 2013, Heirlooms & Artifacts – Meeting Room A
11A – 12N: Tracking Heirlooms & Telling Their Stories
Dawne Slater-Putt
2 P – 3 P: Beyond the Family Bible: Making the Most of Heirlooms and Artifacts in Genealogical Research
John Beatty

Friday March 8, 2013, 10A-11A, Meeting Room A
Writing Personal History
Dawne Slater-Putt

Saturday March 9, 2013, 10A-11A, Meeting Room A
Creating a Family History Storybook
Cynthia Theusch

For more information, see the March Madness brochure. To register for any or all of these free events, send an email or call 260-421-1225.