Webinars

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.

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.

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.

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.

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)

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.

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.

Dedicated to Genealogy since 1986, he was the teacher and the study guide editor of the family history project “Searching for My Roots” in Venezuela for 15 years.

Daniel is involved in several crowdsource digitization and transcription projects and holds a board level position at the Israel Genealogy Research Association (IGRA).

For almost three years he has been dealing with the issue of confirming Polish citizenship by descent. Thanks to hundreds of analyzed civic matters and continuous work with public offices, he knows many nuances of civil law and what documents are needed to successfully carry out this procedure.

This program was presented in partnership with PGSM (Polish Genealogical Society of Michigan).

Sophie Hodorowicz Knab is a noted lecturer and author whose books include Polish Customs, Traditions and Folklore; Polish Country Cottage Cookbook; and her most recent release is titled Polish Herbs, Flowers and Folk Medicine.

This program was presented in partnership with PGSM (Polish Genealogical Society of Michigan).

For those of us devoted to genealogy, “Census Release Day” is an informal but long-anticipated holiday every ten years. As genealogists, we eagerly await each new release of the Census and the treasure trove of information it will bring.

How can we find our ancestors? What is the best way to navigate the information? Now we that the Census has been out for more than six months, what are we missing from it?

Presented by Allison DePrey Singleton, MA, MLS, the Genealogy Services Manager at the Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

During this webinar, Kinga will provide you with information regarding what she calls the most important platform for Polish genealogy research – Szukaj w Archiwach. She will cover the Polish archival system, the type of sources you can find there, and how to navigate the site.

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 the Pedagogical University of Kraków.

This program was presented in partnership with PGSM (Polish Genealogical Society of Michigan).