Illinois State Genealogical Society Blog

Debra Dudek, a genealogist and a librarian, will present her lecture “Aliens in the Army” at our 2018 Fall Conference on Saturday, October 27. We talked about her new book, World War I Genealogy Research Guide, genealogy, and the upcoming conference. Check out Debra’s interview below! Illinois State Genealogical Society: How did you become interested in genealogy? Debra Dudek: My grandmother and her sisters (Aunt Clara, Aunt Loretta, and Aunt Betty) were always very keen on family history.  I loved sitting at the table with them having tea and talking about their family.  They were very proud of their roots, as their mother, my great-grandmother (Grandma Rhodes) was from Scotland while most of their father's family (Grandpa Rhodes) had been America since before the revolution.  They shared so much information in a very interesting way.  Even when I was young, I recognized this was something magical.  I was my grandmother's family research assistant, licki...

It’s almost time for our 2018 Fall Conference! Join ISGS and ISGS speaker Mary Milne Jamba in Springfield, Illinois on October 26 and 27 for two days of genealogical fun! In anticipation of the conference, we asked Mary a few questions. Illinois State Genealogical Society: How did you become interested in genealogy? How long have you been researching? Mary Milne Jamba: My maternal grandmother told great stories and I especially loved to hear her talk about her own maternal grandmother. The concept that Grandma had her own Grandma fascinated me as a young child and I always wanted to learn about these family members. I first started doing real research when I was 25, so that's half my life! ISGS: Who is your favorite person (ancestor or otherwise) to research? Why? Mary: My 3G grandmother, Rebecca Harris has been fun to research. The family legend told of her living more than 100 years, but neglected to mention three of her five husbands or that she was a bigamist! Researc...