Illinois State Genealogical Society Blog

ISGS is seeking proposals for webinar presentations for its 2018 schedule. Illinois will be celebrating its bicentennial in 2018 and to honor the occasion, the webinar presentations should be focused on Illinois. Live webinars are presented on the second Tuesday of each month at 8:00 pm Central Time and should be 45-55 minutes in length. Attendees can submit questions during the presentation and a short question and answer session will occur afterwards. Speakers that have not presented a webinar before, but feel they are ready, are encouraged to submit. ISGS will provide some additional assistance for those new to the platform. Presentations on the following topics are encouraged:   Migration patterns - into and out of Illinois  Chicago Fire  Early Illinois settlement, including French and English resources  Illinois Waterways  Using Illinois archives or other repositories including NARA  Railroads  Ethnic or religious population resources...

Join us on  Tuesday, October 10 , at 8:00 PM Central, when Daniel Earl will present  Funeral Homes and Family History: They're Dying to Meet You . To attend this webinar, register at  https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/8619206168660919556 . Last week's webinar,  Luxembourgers on the Prairie: Researching your Luxembourg Ancestors , presented by Lisa Oberg, is now available to ISGS members in the Members Section of the ISGS website ( http://ilgensoc.org/members.php ). Upcoming Webinars October 10 -  Funeral Homes and Family History: They're Dying to Meet You Presenter : Daniel Earl Registration :  https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/8619206168660919556 November 14 -  Illinois Gold: Hard to Find But Valuable Prairie State Resources for Genealogical Research Presenter : Thomas MacEntee Registration :  https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5490586515192783362 December 12 -  Ephemera: Genealogy Gold Prese...

You don’t want to miss Dr. Daniel Hubbard’s lectures! He started researching his family history when he was just a kid, and has a wealth of information to share with ISGS Fall Conference attendees.  A former particle physicist who lived 20 years in Europe, he is a full-time genealogist, writer, and book designer; he is also president of the Lake County (IL) Genealogical Society and on the Genealogy Board of Chicago’s Swedish-American Museum. Illinois State Genealogical Society: How did you become interested in genealogy? How long have you been researching? Daniel Hubbard: When I was a kid, we had lots of family gatherings. My father had five siblings that lived nearby and it didn't take much to get us all together. I usually ended up listening to the adults because I was a lot younger than my cousins. I heard many family stories that way. It was when I was about nine that I realized that some of the stories that a pair of my aunts told weren't things that had happened to...

The Illinois State Genealogical Society is so excited to have Rachel Popma as one of our speakers at the 2017 Fall Conference! Rachel is the editor of the Indiana Genealogical Society’s quarterly journal, Indiana Genealogist , and a professional editor specializing in family and local history, biography, and memoir. She holds an MA in English from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a genealogical research certificate from Boston University. We asked Rachel a few questions about the conference, genealogy, and writing. Illinois State Genealogical Society: Tell us a little about the lectures you'll be presenting at the ISGS conference. Rachel Popma: Many of us aspire to write about our family history, but we sometimes don't know where to start because we're paralyzed by all the information we have, or because we feel intimidated by writing. Often, though, all we have to do is get started, and the stories will come. My session on kick-starting your writing...

The Illinois State Genealogical Society (ISGS) is partnering with local co-host Rock Island County Illinois Genealogical Society (RICIGS) to bring the Fall Conference, Build Your Family Tree: DNA, Research & Writing to beautiful Moline, Illinois, October 27 – 28, 2017.   ISGS needs your help! To create a successful conference experience, volunteers like you are vital. Benefits of volunteering at a conference include networking and giving back to the genealogical community. A variety of volunteer opportunities are available. • Room Monitors (must be a registered attendee to Volunteer) • Audio-Visual Support* • Bag Stuffing* • Hospitality/Lost & Found* *Registration is not required to Volunteer for Audio-Visual Support, Bag Stuffing and Hospitality/Lost & Found. What a great way to get your spouse/partner involved!  You may choose to volunteer for one or multiple times and days. Click here to volunteer: Volunteer If you have not re...

The  September/October 2017 issue of the of the ISGS Newsletter is now available to both ISGS members and non-members. Visit the ISGS website at  http://www.ilgensoc.org  and click ISGS Newsletter to download the current issue (in PDF) and to view past issues going back to January/February 2008. © 2017, copyright Illinois State Genealogical Society

Title :   Luxembourgers on the Prairie: Researching your Luxembourg Ancestors Date : Tuesday, September 12, 2017, 8:00 pm Central Description : There are more people of Luxembourg-descent living in the Midwest than currently living in Luxembourg today, yet this immigrant group is often invisible as they frequently became absorbed in German-speaking communities following their arrival. Chicago has several historically Luxembourg neighborhoods and Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa, among other states, all have unique distinctly Luxembourg settlements. This webinar will explore resources for locating your Luxembourg ancestor in the U.S., identifying their ancestral village and tips for researching Luxembourg's multilingual records. Presenter : Lisa Oberg Inspired by the Bicentennial, Lisa Oberg began researching her family history at the age of 12. Lisa received her Master of Librarianship degree from the University of Washington (UW), where she is the Head of Public Servi...

Introducing our newest event for associate member societies: Ask Away-Society Edition. Join ISGS leaders in a new education opportunity for local society board members. Ask Away-Society Edition is a collaborative phone conversation, using the Go To Meeting platform. Up to 9 other Illinois society representatives could join you in discussing pressing issues for societies. Ask Away-Society Edition will not be taped. Each Ask Away-Society Edition is being offered at 2 convenient times-you choose one: 10:00 AM or 7:00 PM. Thursday, September 21. Choose one: 10:00 AM or 7:00 PM   Deadline to register: Monday, September 18. Topic: Discuss what issues your society is facing today. Special ISGS Guest: Jackie LaRue Lyell, President of The Genealogy Society of Southern Illinois and ISGS 2019 Director Thursday, November 16. Choose one: 10:00 AM or 7:00 PM  Deadline to register: Monday, November 13. Topic: Bicentennial Celebrations in your local societies ...