Kim Stankiewicz
Joined: 06 Jul 2009
Replies: 1
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Posted: Mon Jul 06, 2009 12:10 pm
Post subject: PGSA annouces September 2009 conference
Don't miss out! Learn new Polish genealogical information, meet new people, make connections and have a good time. The Polish Genealogical Society of America (PGSA) is announcing their upcoming conference:
"Unraveling the Mysteries"
Friday, September 18th (1/2 day) and Saturday, September 19th (all day)
Chicago Marriott Schaumburg
50 North Martingale Road
Schaumburg, IL 60173
For more information and updates visit www.pgsa.org
Speakers confirmed to date:
-Don Litzer, former librarian of the Allen County Public Library, Fort Wayne, IN
-Kahlile Mehr, manager of the Slavic/Germanic Collection at the LDS Family History Library in Salt Lake City
-Dr. Michael J. Mikos, professor of foreign languages and linguistics at University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee
-Cynthia Piech, Board Member and Treasurer of the PGSA
-Craig Pfannkuche, president of Memory Trail Research, Inc. and genealogical archivist at the Chicago and Northwestern Historical Society
-Julianna Smith, editor of Ancestry.com newsletters, author of genealogy books and magazine articles
-Loretto Szucs, author of genealogy books and executive director and vice president of community relations at Ancestry magazine
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ZenonPolishOrigins Team Leader
Joined: 28 Apr 2007
Replies: 1532
Location: PolandBack to top |
Posted: Tue Sep 01, 2009 5:22 am
Post subject:
Interesting description of the incoming Genealogy research conference "Unraveling the mysteries" for those who haven't seen the latest PGSA e-mail notebook.
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Unraveling the Mysteries
What are your Polish Genealogy challenges? Find ways to overcome them at the Polish Genealogical Society's 31st annual conference! Registration forms and on line registration available at: http://www.PGSA.org
"Unraveling the Mysteries" will take place on Friday &Saturday, September 18 - 19, 2009 at the Marriott Hotel in Schaumburg, Illinois. The Marriott can be reached at (847) 240-0100.
The conference will kick-off on Friday with three exciting case studies:
"The Four Sisters" - encompassing bicoastal genealogy - Ken Nowakowski
"Anna & Her Sisters" - sisters working as a team - Karen Stanuch
"Finding Family the Easy Way-Have Them Find You" - setting up a family website - Stan Schmidt
All three submitters are PGSA members and by examining these case studies you will come to understand that we all have it in us to overcome genealogical challenges and you may find new ways to look at them.
Following the case studies will be a presentation by Jadwiga Cyparska, PHD entitled, "You Are Able to Understand Polish, Too". You will learn about the impact of the language on the names of people and places, abbreviations, dates, numbers and, what is often the biggest challenge of all, handwritten Polish characters. This is one lecture you don't want to miss.
After dinner you can travel along with Dr. Michael Mikos, Professor of Foreign Languages and Linguistics at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He will be your guide on this visit to Poland "the Glory of the Past and the Promise of the Future". Dr. Mikos will draw from his 29 years of experience escorting students and travelers to Poland.
The second event of the evening will carry us back in time as we are exposed to the beauty and variety of the folk costumes of various regions of Poland. The presenter is Cynthia Piech, experienced genealogist and frequent traveler to Poland.
On Saturday morning the Vendor/Media Room will be open prior to the lectures which begin a 9'oclock. You will have the opportunity to browse the books and products in the PGSA, PMA and Polonia book stores; find unique embroidered genealogical items offered by Stitched For You; visit Fun Stuff for Genealogy to see their wide collection of genealogical items; talk to photo expert, Eric Basir, who will be doing on-site photo restoration at his Photo Grafix booth; and discuss electronic genealogy with CAGG-NI (Computer Assisted Genealogy Group of Northern Illinois) and Illinois genealogy with ISGS (Illinois State Genealogical Society).
Between conference sessions, from Friday afternoon through Saturday morning you may want to stop by the "Ask Us" area where volunteers will be available to answer questions and you can sign up for translations not just for Polish, but for German and Russian as well (time will be limited so sign up early). Also author Grace Dumelle of Newberry Library will have a table displaying her book "Finding your Chicago Ancestors" which can be autographed. Grace will also be happy to answer questions you may have about the Newberry.
Saturday's first lecture block will offer an insight to the on-line databases of the Polish State Archives by Kahlile Mehr, supervisor of Slavic and East European Collections at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City; the Use of Cook County Records by Craig Pfannkuche, genealogist and president of Family Trails Research.
In the second session you can learn the impact of the partitions on our ancestors' lives from Professor Michael Mikos; delve into the mysteries of the Periodical Source Index (PERSI) guided by reference librarian and genealogist Don Litzer.
While the lessons of this full morning schedule sink in you can take a break at a full sit down lunch followed by an exciting, colorful and fast-paced dance program presented by the well-known and widely traveled WICI Polish Dance Troup.
The afternoon will consist of three lectures in each of three lecture blocks. In the first session you will have the choice of hearing Loretta Szucs of Ancestry who has a wide range of genealogical expertise including author, lecturer, Board advisor, etc. She will team with Julianna Szucs Smith, author and Ancestry editor to provide us with "A Dozen Ways to Jumpstart a Family History Project". Or you can choose to learn about East European internet sites from Kahlile Mehr or the extensive offerings of the Allen County Library from Don Litzer.
In the second lecture block, naturalization and ethnic origins will be explored by Loretto Szucs; Kahlile Mehr will be back leading us thru the intricacies of gazetteers and maps; and Craig Pfannkuche will explain how to deal with those inevitable "bad guys" that grow on most family trees.
Rounding out the afternoon we can choose from the lecture by Loretto Szucs who will suggest hidden sources that may hold family stories; Juliana Szucs who will lead us through a case study, "Dziadzia's (grandfather's) Roots" and share the expertise of Craig Pfannkuche as he unearths family history found in cemeteries.
If you are doing Polish genealogical research, this is one event you don't want to miss.
More details and registration are on our website at: www.pgsa.org See you at the conference as you begin "Unraveling the Mysteries" of your research!
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There is still time to enroll 
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