2-Day Workshop
Have you ever wondered about your community, the old buildings in town, how an area grew or declined? Do you want to learn how to research a person or an event? Curious about where to find the records or statistics you need for your research project?
This workshop teaches students to locate, analyze, and understand primary resources including census records, maps, deeds, and other public records, and selected secondary history sources. Gain hands-on experience accessing and using research materials for family and local history. Student workshop projects include biographical sketches of people, places, and events, blog posts, and short articles.
NOTE: Order of topics and Subjects covered during workshop varies depending up location and interests of students.
NOTE: Order of topics and Subjects covered during workshop varies depending up location and interests of students.
Day 1
Introduction to Genealogy and Local History
- Getting started
- Review of terminology
- Discuss family trees and ancestor charts
- Family group sheets and other data
- Here’s a link for downloadable forms (Ancestor Chart http://www.ancestry.com/download/charts#ancchart) and (Family Group Sheet http://www.ancestry.com/download/charts#familysheet)Exercise # 1
Census Records
Print Indices, Online Indices
Print Indices, Online Indices
- Heritage Quest through the library (backdoor access to Ancestry)
- Ancestry Library through KSU Libraries; Ancestry by subscription http://www.ancestry.com
- Family Search http://www.familysearch.org
- Steven Morse http://www.stevenmorse.org
Finding and Analyzing Census Records
- History of the Census http://www.census.gov/prod/2000pubs/cff-4.pdf
- Finding the census record
- Interpreting the data
- 1930 Census (as of 1 April 2002) – General Population Census http://www.archives.gov/research/census/1930/
- Here are Blank Census Forms at Ancestry http://www.ancestry.com/cs/census-forms (1790-1940)
- The National Archives publication “Prologue” has a good article on how the Enumeration Districts for the 1930 census were drawn http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2003/fall/1930-eds.html
- 1940 Census (as of April 1, 2012)
- NARA information for searching 1940 Enumeration Districts http://blogs.archives.gov/online-public-access/?p=5500
- Films about 1940 Federal Population Census http://www.archives.gov/research/census/1940/videos.html
- NARA 1940 Census search page http://1940census.archives.gov/
- Potter, Constance. “New Questions in the 1940 Census” Prologue (Winter 2010): http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2010/winter/1940-census.html
Exercise 2
For future reference:
- Soundex & Miracode Coding:
- The rules and how they work http://www.archives.gov/research/census/soundex.html
- arrangement and alphabetization
- Reading the Soundex records
Field Trip to Columbus Metropolitan Library or OHS – when held in Columbus overview of their collections
Field Trip to Akron Summit County PL Special Collections – when held in Kent
(Field trips will be held if time permits)
Military Records from the National Archives: What records contain
- Military Rosters, Pension Records, Burial indices for soldiers, Census of Pensioners
- Civil War Records including Official records of the Union and Confederate armies (letters and military correspondence of the War of the Rebellion) http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/moa/browse.monographs/waro.html
- Post 1900: WWI, WWII, Korean, and Vietnam Vets.
Day 2
Maps, Atlases, Gazetteers and associated Local History resources
- maps & gazetteers,
- city directories
- Check out this article on Ancestry’s Blog (26 Feb 2016): http://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2016/02/26/5-tips-for-getting-the-most-from-city-directories/
- county histories
EXERCISE: Using City Directories and Maps to locate census records
Land Records and Land grants
- where to locate information, how to interpret it
- Deeds and Tax Maps
Exercise 3
- House Histories: NYPL House History materials: http://www.nypl.org/blog/2011/10/14/guide-researching-your-homes-history
Vital Records, Obituaries, Newspapers, and other primary sources
- Vital Records – Birth, Marriage, Death and Divorce, Wills and Probate
- What do they tell us, where do we find them
Exercise # 4
Cemetery Records – where to look for them and what do they tell the researcher
Miscellaneous Materials:
Video: “Building Bridges Between Genealogy and History” National Genealogical Society.” http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/cs/publications/voices_of_genealogy/robert_anderson/building_bridges
Personal and public: Civil War portraits (Smithsonian Museum of American History) http://youtu.be/oouCmDCh84Q
Question period, review of Post Class assignment