August Genealogy Meetings and Classes

In spite of the disruption at our office caused by ongoing roof and ceiling leaks, we continue to carry on with our scheduled meetings and classes. (If you didn't read about our water woes, be sure to take a look at last week's post.) We are excited about the grand opening of the Emerson History and Genealogy Center at the new Clark Family Branch that opened on 9 July, and we have already begun to avail ourselves of the library's new meeting spaces. Our friends there came to our rescue in providing space for the Irish SIG meeting on 27 July, and our first monthly meeting will be held at the Clark Branch in August. You are invited to tour the new facility, if you haven't already done so, this coming week. Read on for more information . . .

StLGS February Genealogy Meetings and Events

Our genealogy year has gotten off to a great start, and we hope yours has too. We have had excellent attendance at all of our January meetings, and now we look forward to February. Meetings will continue to be presented as hybrid when possible so those of you who are unable to attend in person can participate. If you missed the January "Ask Louie" Q & A meeting or the first German or Irish SIG meetings, all the digital recordings are posted on our website. February features a fascinating glimpse at cemetery research, a Jewish SIG meeting on Russian revision lists, and two more upcoming classes. Read on for more . . .

StLGS August Meetings and More!

Most of us are sweltering this summer, but doesn't that make the idea of attending a genealogy meeting in a cool, air-conditioned location that much more appealing?  Now that the St. Louis County Library Headquarters building is closed, we have been working with our friends at the library to reserve large, comfortable meeting locations at several of the branch libraries for the remaining months of this year and all of 2023. Because our membership is so widespread, we have decided to use several venues throughout St. Louis County plus our office for our hybrid meetings, so we can accommodate everyone, regardless of where you live. You will not have to reserve space if you are attending in person, but do pay attention to meeting locations from now on. We will have Google map links to each branch library on our website as meetings open for registration. We have several interesting meetings coming up in August that should fill the bill for staying cool and learning at the same time, so check these out!

May Meetings and Events and We Say Goodbye to Another Volunteer

The days are longer, more of us can now gather in groups without fear of getting terribly ill, and life feels a lot more normal these days, at last. Our April monthly meeting, held as our first "hybrid meeting," was a huge success. We learned so much about the "new" 1950 federal census from Missouri State Archivist John Dougan with about thirty people in our office and another large group watching via Zoom. We will continue offering you meetings in that format so no matter where you are or however you feel safe, you can take part in our society's events, meetings, and classes. Coming up are some great options for you. Read on for details!

St. Louis Genealogical Society February Meetings and Classes

Our new year of genealogy meetings and classes is off and running. If you weren't able to join us on Zoom for our January panel discussion of "Ask Louie" questions and answers, you can still watch the recording that is posted on our website on the Monthly Meetings page. Our panel of genealogy professionals answered a number of questions that may help you with your own research. Our February monthly meeting, also on Zoom, will focus on an important record set—probate records—so you won't want to miss it!

Photographs and Memories: Two Special Upcoming Genealogy Events

The holiday season is a perfect time to share family treasures with relatives and recognize the importance of understanding and preserving fragile photographs and letters from the past. If you are lucky enough to have such unique documents from your family, perhaps you have wondered exactly what the letters say or how to identify and preserve those cracked, yellowing photos.

Two exciting genealogy events are on the horizon that can help you solve these dilemmas. Both are free but pre-registration is requested. We hope you will join us for one or both of these workshops.

Digitization Day: German Heritage in Letters

Saturday, 23 November 2019

1:00 p.m.–4:00 pm.

St. Louis Genealogical Society Office, 4 Sunnen Dr., Suite 140, St. Louis, MO 63143

If you have letters that were sent to your family from Germany before 1926, and you would like assistance with scanning and translating them, you are invited to participate in the German Heritage in Letters project under the auspices of the German Historical Institute of Washington, D.C. StLGS is partnering with St. Louis County Library's History and Genealogy Department and the German Historical Institute to sponsor this afternoon of scanning and translating at our office. StLGS volunteers will be on site to scan your letters and return them to you with a digital copy of each. Translators, library staff, and StLGS volunteers will be available to answer questions.

St. Louis County Library is handling registration. You can call 314-994-3300 or register on the event's registration page.

More information about the project is on the German Heritage in Letters website.

Kodak Moments and Technicolor Dreams:
Reading Immigrant Clues in 20th Century Photos

Featuring: Maureen Taylor, "The Photo Detective"

Sunday, 8 December 2019

10:00 a.m.–noon

Jewish Federation of St. Louis, 12 Millstone Campus Dr., St. Louis, MO 63146

This final Jewish Special Interest Group meeting of the year is free and open to everyone. Discover your family history one picture at a time. Maureen Taylor, internationally known for her expertise in historic photos and their preservation, will present tools and tips for photo identification, family history and research, and photo preservation. She will focus on twentieth-century photographs and immigrant ancestors in this special workshop co-sponsored by the Brodsky Library, the St. Louis Jewish Community Archives, and St. Louis Genealogical Society.

The Jewish Federation is handling registration for this event. 

You can contact Kathy Schmeltz at 314-442-3761 or at kschmeltz@jfedstl.org or register directly on the Center for Jewish Learning's website.  

• On the website, scroll down to class number 1919, "Kodak Moments . . ." and click in the registration box.
• Then continue scrolling down the page to the "Go to Checkout" button and click there.
• On the page that opens, you will need to fill in the starred items (contact information) and then click the "Finish Registration" button. There is no cost to attend.
• You will receive an email acknowledgment after you register.