Baseball and the Civil War

Presented by Bruce S. Allardice

Baseball was labeled the “national pastime” even before Fort Sumter. Civil War soldiers spent more time playing baseball than they did fighting battles. Professor Allardice takes a sometimes serious, sometimes humorous look at the “National Pastime” and how it was played during the war. He’ll show that the war destroyed most existing baseball teams, but also helped to spread the game across the nation. Continue reading “Meeting, Tuesday, October 10, 2017” →

Sorting Through Sordid Southern Divorce Records 1700-1860

Presented by Debra Dudek, MS-LIS

The practice of divorce in the southern United States can vary by location and time period.  Get an overview of divorce laws and practices from 1780s-1860s. Continue reading “Meeting, Tuesday, September 12, 2017” →

Past Conflict Repatriation:
The Role of Genealogists and Methodology in Fulfilling Our Nation’s Promise

Presenter – Jeanne Larzalere Bloom, CG^sm

Learn about the repatriation program and the techniques genealogists use to locate family members and DNA reference samples for missing service members from past conflicts.

Continue reading “Meeting, Tuesday, August 8, 2017” →

World War I Music

Presented by Andrew Bullen, MS-LIS

World War One has been called the most musical of all wars. In a joint Pritzker Military Museum and Library and Illinois State Library project, Andrew Bullen has converted scanned musical scores from Pritzker’s collection to playable files using optical musical 

Continue reading “Meeting Tuesday, July 11, 2017” →

Hunting for Henry:  A Case Study Solved Using Collaterals

Presented by Teresa Steincamp McMillin, CG^sm

Henry Steren was a German immigrant who lived in Quincy, Illinois. Resources available about him only indicate that he was from the Province of Hanover in Germany. This lecture will walk through the process of identifying his town of origin and his parents. Continue reading “Meeting Tuesday, June 12, 2017” →

The Underground Railroad in Lake County: Myths and Facts

Presented by Nancy Schumm

This program summarizes a project Nancy Schumm has been working on for over three years to trace the path, mythology, facts and families involved in the Underground Railroad in Northeastern Illinois, and particularly Lake County. Continue reading “Meeting Tuesday, May 9, 2017” →

It’s not all online:  Chicago Repositories and What They Have

Presented by Ginger Frere, MLS, MBA

Good genealogical research means we must do “reasonably exhaustive” searches for information about our ancestors, going beyond the data we find online. Continue reading “Meeting Tuesday, April 11, 2017” →

“I” IS FOR iDENTITY CRISIS

Presented by Dan Hubbard

We think of identity as something fixed and simple, but as we try to reconstruct the identities of long gone people we need to realize that identity is a much slipperier concept. Continue reading “Meeting Tuesday, March 14, 2017” →

Finding Grandmother’s European Ancestors – Germany and others

Presented by Steve Szabados

Finding European ancestors is a challenge but this program covers a method that tries to simplify this daunting search. The program will focus on German resources but will also include other countries Continue reading “Meeting Tuesday, February 14, 2017” →

You, Too, Can Read Old Handwriting

 Presented by Maureen Brady

While today’s family records are most often printed or computer generated, records of the past were handwritten.  As handwriting styles have changed over time, and also differ from region to region, reading these records can be a challenge.   Continue reading “Meeting Tuesday, January 10, 2017” →