Ever wonder who might have been seated around your family’s dinner table at holiday meals hundreds of years ago? Wonder no more – now you can find out. The Simsbury Free Library has partnered with Sheila A. Lafferty to offer “Genealogy 101: Tracing Your Family History.”
The five session series will hold classes on February 4, February 18, March 3, March 17, and March 31 from 10:00-11:30 a.m. Participants do not need to attend all sessions.
Students will learn hands-on how to begin searching for their family histories and how online resources can provide clues about family origins. The class includes: genealogy software, online resources (free and subscription-based), census records, vital records, church records, immigration, military, and more.
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- Session 1 (February 4): Introduction, genealogy charts and family interviews, software options, and online family trees
- Session 2 (February 18): Census records using Heritage Quest, Ancestry.com, free sites, census forms and maps
- Session 3 (March 3): Vital Records, official and unofficial sources, church records, cemeteries
- Session 4 (March 17): Immigration, Naturalization
- Session 5 (March 31): Internet searching and online resources, social networks for genealogists
Free wireless internet access is available at the Simsbury Free Library, and students are asked to bring their own laptop computers. The Library has a limited number of computers available for participants who do not have laptops – they can be reserved on a first register, first served basis. Light refreshments will be provided.
The program is free to members of the Simsbury Free Library. The fee for non-members is $10 per session or $25 for the entire series. Membership in the Simsbury Free Library is available at the $20 and $30 levels. Pre-registration is required by contacting Amy Zeiner at (860) 408-1336 or azeinerSFL@aol.com.
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About Sheila A. Lafferty
Sheila A. Lafferty has a MS in Library Science and is the director of the Julia Brooker Thompson Library, University of Connecticut Torrington Campus. She has worked for UConn Libraries in Waterbury and Torrington since 1989. Lafferty is a self taught genealogist and has been researching ancestry for over 30 years. In addition, she has delivered many presentation about Google searching, web browsers, and other Internet technologies.
About the Simsbury Free Library
The Simsbury Free Library (the Simsbury Genealogical and Historical Research Library) opened on the second floor of the Hopmeadow District School in 1874. In 1890, the Library’s collection was moved to its present location at 749 Hopmeadow Street in Simsbury. Today the Simsbury Free Library (SFL) seeks to promote interest in genealogy and history by providing access to research material and expertise, artifacts, and educational and cultural programs. It seeks to help patrons connect with the past and to learn from and be inspired by those who have gone before them. The SFL provides a relaxed setting in which people can pursue family research history at their own pace. For everyone from seasoned genealogy veterans to beginners, the SFL has the staff and resources necessary to help visitors develop the skills required to create family trees, search local histories, look up census records, explore vital records, etc.
Beginning February 1, the Simsbury Free Library will have new hours on Tuesday and Thursday from noon-8:00 p.m. and every other Saturday from 10:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. as well as by appointment. For more information, visit www.simsburyfreelibrary.org or call (860) 408-1336.
