Programs and Events
Our meetings are held online via Zoom and are generally held on the third Saturday of the month, starting at 12:45pm. At 1:00 pm, there is a brief business meeting, followed by an educational program.
Upcoming Programs
See past events below the line.
Turn Family History Facts into Stories You Can Share - Annette Burke Lyttle
Note change to second Saturday*
You’ve uncovered lots of wonderful facts about your ancestors and you want to share them with your family, but pedigree charts put them to sleep. You need to turn those facts into stories. Does the idea of trying to tell the stories of your ancestors seem like too big a job? Two simple principles can get you started writing your family stories: look at what the facts imply and “take small bites.” This presentation will introduce a four-step process for putting those principles into action, allowing you to share your family stories with ease.
Setting Sail with Your Seafaring Ancestors - Denise E. Cross
Did your ancestors sail the world's oceans? Discover how to bring their maritime adventures to life using historic records and research techniques that go beyond the basic genealogy records. You'll learn how to track captains and crew members through newspaper accounts, plot their actual voyages using ships' logs, and understand the historic events that shaped their lives at sea. Explore specialized maritime collections and primary sources that reveal not just names and dates, but the vessels they sailed, the waters they navigated, and the challenges they faced. Piece together compelling stories of late eighteenth-century through nineteenth-century mariners to add rich historical context to your ancestors' seafaring lives.
The Top Six Genealogy Resources You Should Revisit…NOW! - Linda B. MacIver
“Now” being the operative word! Since early in our genealogy careers, we all probably have had a favorite checklist of sources as a constant reminder of all the types of records that will provide the answers we need. It is our task to determine what “resources” will lead us to those records. We are beginning to realize “now” how the digital world continues to offer us unique and developing ways to approach those familiar resources we have loved. Our genealogy research world is fast evolving, making continuing education a true constant for us. Let’s look at my Top Six favorites as we see how current technology is working its magic on them and how we can best allocate our personal finances by using the free vs. the increasingly expensive commercial products.
Linda B. MacIver is an educator, lecturer, librarian, and genealogy researcher. She retired from a 27- year career at the Boston Public Library Research Library, where she inaugurated many patron genealogy classes, including a beginners’ genealogy course, two popular seasons of Local and Family History lectures, and a Genealogy Summer Lecture series. Linda is the past Secretary and Civil Federal Records Director for the Massachusetts Genealogical Council and a member of several New England and international genealogical societies. She serves as the New England Representative for the Essex (England!) Record Office. She has a BA in History from the University of New Hampshire, an MEd from Boston University, and earned her MSLIS at Simmons College. Linda was the 2018 recipient of the Richard S. Lackey Scholarship to the Genealogical Institute for Federal Records (GEN-FED) and the inaugural recipient of the 2019 Senior at the Center of Excellence Award sponsored by Xerox Corporation and the City of Boston.