Webinars

As a member of the Polish Genealogical Society of Connecticut and the Northeast, you will have the opportunity to attend our upcoming webinars and view previously recorded ones. Our webinars cover a wide variety of topics related to Polish genealogical research and Polish culture.

We also provide time at each webinar for an open Q&A forum where members can bring up questions related to their research. This is a great place to have other experts share their knowledge with you!

Below are some recent webinars we’ve hosted.

Finding Polish Graves Online

In this webinar you’ll learn about various websites to track down graves and cemeteries in Poland. We’ll discuss sites which cover all of Poland as well as more regional sites.

How to Obtain Vital Records from the Civil Registration Office - USC

Daniel Bućko, a Polish professional genealogist from Kraków, discussed “How to Obtain Vital Records from the Civil Registration Office – USC (Urząd Stanu Cywilnego).

Overview of The Arolsen Archives

Anna Meier-Osiński, Outreach Manager for the Arolsen Archives, gave an overview of their holdings, including a special online collection of the personal belongings of concentration camp inmates.

Cadastral Maps and Their Ancillary Records

Michelle Tucker Chubenko, a professional genealogist with Legacy Tree Genealogists, introduces “Cadastral Maps and Their Ancillary Records” for the Austro-Hungarian Empire and reviews the tools created for her volunteer effort to transcribe these records.

Writing Your Family History – Step by Step

Acclaimed author and genealogist Lisa Alzo covers how to bring your family tree to life by placing your own family stories in historical context, how to divide your writing tasks into smaller steps, and ways to sustain creative momentum throughout the process.

Getting Started With Genetic Genealogy

Blaine Bettinger, Ph.D., J.D., is a professional genealogist, accomplished speaker and author, specializing in DNA evidence. He shares how to understand and interpret your DNA results and use them the improve your genealogy research.

My Polish Family Discoveries in the PA Coal Region

In making his family discoveries, Michael Miscoski had to use almost all the tools in the genealogist’s toolbox: Unscrambling Americanized surnames, wild card searches, using Soundex, luck, using foreign sites, calling on researchers, DNA, and more. Join us as Mike shares the story of his research journey and the winding road he took to break down walls to push his research further.

A Polish Country Christmas

Sophie Hodorowicz Knab, author and noted lecturer, discusses the customs and traditions associated with the Christmas season beginning with Advent, moving on to Christmas Eve and right up to the Feast of Three Kings.

Understanding and Using Geneteka

Geneteka is an online database hosted and managed by the Polish Genealogical Society. It is the largest free database of Polish Genealogy records and is updated entirely by volunteers. It contains over 30 million indexes of records from many regions of Poland, as well as parts of Belarus, Ukraine and Lithuania. Understanding how to navigate the website can be a challenge for non-Polish speaking visitors, but in this webinar Julie Roberts Szczepankiewicz shows you how to become familiar with the interface and give tips for how to search the database.

Europe’s WW II Displaced Persons

Following the end of WW II in Europe, there were more than eleven million displaced persons (DP) in Germany alone with several million other DPs in neighboring countries. Yet by the end of 1945, more than 95% of these DPs had been repatriated (both willingly and unwillingly) back to their original homelands. Less than one million DPs remained, either unable or unwilling to return to their homelands.

Tom Sadauskas, a noted speaker at at various genealogy conferences, has been actively conducting genealogy research since 2000, with a special focus on Eastern Europe.

Lists of Parishioners and Confession Lists in Galicia

Alan Jakman, a native of Poland, presented information on the lists of parishioners (Latin: Libri status animarum) as a source for genealogical research.

In the former Galicia, these books have been preserved in many places. In many cases, when vital statistic registers are lost, this is the only source for genealogy.

These books often included information about the dates of births, weddings and deaths of parishioners, but also, for example, notes about changing religion or emigration to the United States. It can be said that parishioners’ lists are a “shortcut” in ancestral research.

Flavors of Poland – Historic and Culinary Travels through Poland

Renata C. Vickrey, University Archivist at Central Connecticut State University, discusses traditional foods in Poland and their regional differences and similarities, and how geography and politics impacted culinary evolution from the Middle Ages to current times.

Renata is a member of the Advisory Board of the Stanislaus A. Blejwas Endowed Chair of Polish and Polish American Studies at CCSU, a member of the New England Archivists (NEA).

Her professional interest is the history of Poland and history of Polish immigration.

Q&A Webinar with PGSM

We have assembled a panel of highly respected genealogy experts to answer the questions you submitted for this webinar jointly sponsored by the PGSCTNE and the Polish Genealogical Society of Michigan (PGSM).

The panel includes:

Jonathan Shea (President of PGSCTNE and author of Going Home: A Guide to Polish-American Family History Research and co-author of a series of language guides with William F. Hoffman on translating documents of genealogical value)
Valerie Koselka (PGSM President, PGSCTNE member and moderator for the Polish Culture, Food and Traditions Facebook page and the Polish Genealogical Society of Michigan Facebook page)
Michelle Tucker Chubenko (PGSCTNE member and professional genealogist with Legacy Tree Genealogists)
Theresa Leszcz (PGSM Vice President and PGSM Research Projects Director)
Daniel Bućko (Polish professional genealogist from Kraków)

Polish Genealogy Online Databases

Kinga Urbańska is a genealogist, historian, archivist and the founder and co-owner of Your Roots in Poland – the largest genealogical company in Poland.

She received a master’s degree in history, archival and historical sources at Pedagogical University of Kraków.

She assisted with uncovering Polish roots in the TV show, Finding Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr, where she had a chance to work on the family research for (among others) Dustin Hoffman, Juliana Margulies, Tea Leoni, Gloria Stainem and Bernie Sanders.

Genealogy is her job and passion.

Polish Herbs, Flowers and Folk Medicine

Join us as acclaimed Polish-American author Sophie Hodorowicz Knab takes us on a historical tour of herbs and flowers used in Poland throughout the centuries.

Learn about plants that were used in healing as well as in the daily life of your ancestors.

Genealogy is so much more than just collecting names and dates. Learning about how your ancestors lived is an important part of your family history!

Finding Clues to Your Immigrant Ancestor’s Origins in U.S. Records

In this webinar, we discuss strategies to improve your success in doing genealogical research overseas. If you find yourself running into dead ends, the key to success is often to research the entire family and the in-laws thoroughly in U.S. records first. Key pieces of information, such as village of origin in the old country and immigrant ancestors’ parents’ names, are often available in U.S. records.

Sara Allen is Genealogy Librarian and Assistant Manager of Local & Family History Services at the St. Joseph County Public Library in South Bend, Indiana. In 2013, she became Genealogy Librarian for The Genealogy Center.