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.

polish genealogy newsletter

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.
polish genealogy newsletter

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).
polish genealogy newsletter

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.
polish genealogy newsletter

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

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.

Blaine Bettinger

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.

polish genealogy newsletter

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.

polish genealogy newsletter

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.
Geneteka

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.
polish genealogy newsletter

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

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.

Polish Food

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.

polish genealogy newsletter

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)
Kinga Urbańska

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.

Kinga Urbańska

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!

polish genealogy newsletter

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.

Daniel Horowitz

MyHeritage Overview

Daniel Horowitz is a Genealogy Expert at MyHeritage, providing key contributions liaising with genealogy societies, bloggers and media, as well as lecturing, and attending conferences around the world.

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).

Chris Bukoski

Using FamilySearch for your Eastern European Genealogy

Researching overseas can be expensive and a trip to the “old country” might not be feasible for some. This does not mean it is impossible to research records in the “old country.”

Chris discussed the most useful features on FamilySearch for eastern European genealogy and demonstrate site navigation while providing tips for searching for records.

Chris Bukoski is currently the Program Chair of the East European Genealogical Society. She has written several articles for the EEG and given a number of presentations to the membership and other organizations.

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

Michal Petrus

Polish Citizenship – Are You Eligible?

Michał Petrus is the Project Manager and Polish Citizenship Specialist for Your Roots In Poland. He graduated in 2014 from the Faculty of History at the Jagiellonian University (MA).

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 knab

From Palm Sunday to the Resurrection in Polish Traditions

We again welcomed Sophie Hodorowicz Knab back to walk us thru Polish Customs. She says: Sitting down to enjoy the traditional Polish swięconka, the Easter Sunday breakfast, is the culmination of a Polish Easter celebration but there can be no high point without a beginning. The beginning could be considered Ash Wednesday but it is all the final rich traditions associated with Holy Week that takes us to that particular moment when we sit down and share the symbolic egg and the blessed food of a Polish Easter.

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).

sophie knab

Polish Cemeteries Online

The PGSCTNE is again pleased to have Kinga Urbańska join us for our May webinar. Her presentation will cover online Polish cemeteries databases portals and websites that include information about burials from all over Poland. Kinga will show how you can use these and explain the most common information you may find.

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.

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

Alison Singleton

A Genealogist’s Holiday – The 1950 Census

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.

Alison Singleton

Szukaj w Archiwach – Step By Step

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).

sophie knab

Spirit of Place – The Roadside Shrines of Poland

It is said that every country has its own genus loci or “spirit of place.” Poland’s distinct character can be found in the tens of thousands of roadside chapels, crosses and shrines that dot both its cities and countryside. A thousand years of Christianity, and the Polish Catholic tradition in particular, have left their mark on the country’s landscape. It is impossible not to notice the religious statues and little chapels that seem to be everywhere.

Polish-American author Sophie Hodorowicz Knab will explore the origins and purposes of Polish roadside shrines, examining the different types of shrines and the significance of the various religious figures represented in them to the people of Poland.

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

Daniel Horowitz

MyHeritage – Polish records, DNA and New Features

Daniel Horowitz is a Genealogy Expert at MyHeritage, providing key contributions liaising with genealogy societies, bloggers and media, as well as lecturing, and attending conferences around the world.

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).

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