THE GENEALOGICAL FORUM’s

Thursday Evening

E-News, Edition

1 March 2018

For a complete GFO CALENDAR click here.

Also, if you missed your free copy of our monthly Insider for February 2018, you’re in luck because we saved you a copy HERE. NOTE: The Insider issues are now located under the “Learn” > “Our Publications” menu at www.gfo.org.

Curious about the status of your GFO Membership? We’d love to have you as a GFO Member!

Don’t forget your Boots!

Beginning Genealogy Boot Camp

Laurel Smith and Barbara Schrag
from 9am – 5pm

Join Laurel Smith and Barbara Schrag for a day of beginning genealogy.

There will be sessions about the census, vital records, immigration and naturalization, discussions about genealogy software and database use,
organizing your research and more–all geared toward beginners.

Only a half hour will be set aside for lunch so we suggest you bring a sack lunch. Limited to the first 50 to register by sending a message to RSVP@gfo.org.

A link to the class notes and a first assignment will be sent out beforehand.

It’s Open House Week at the GFO Our Biggest Event of the Year!

Click HERE for the full detailed class schedule. Click the here for a quick video.

Complete printed schedules with class descriptions are also available at the library’s reception desk by the front door. OR see our online calendar HERE.

Open House Lineup:

Saturday March 3: Virginia Group (pensions), German Group (Recent research trip to Germany.)
Sunday March 4: All Day Boot Camp. (see above.)
Monday March 5: Irish Day (3 classes), Are You Stuck? (Harold Hinds says Probably Not!)
Tuesday March 6: Land Records Day (3 classes), Case of the Mystery Dad (Keith & Darlene Pyeatt solve a case.)
Wednesday March 7: Learn & Chat, Write it Up!, Good Writing & Personal Archiving.
Thursday March 8: Heritage Quest, PERSI (the mostextensive genealogy and local history subject index on the planet), Timelines, Sharing Your Genealogy.
Friday March 9: Google for Genealogy, Mexican Ancestry, Make the Most of Your Time
Saturday/Sunday March 10-11: DNA Days. 6 Sessions each day!

Please Arrive Early! Allow extra time to find parking in the area and to sign in at the door.
All sessions are free and open to the public. Please share this with your friends and family.

NGS Conference Ticket Discount

Help represent GFO at this year’s National Genealogical Society (NGS) 2018 Family History Conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan, May 2nd – 5th.

If you’re headed to the conference, we have a discount that could help reduce the cost of admission. NGS is offering two discount tickets for GFO to utilize!

Contact Laurel Smith at president@gfo.org to learn more.

Thanks for all you do for the GFO!

GFO’s Diversity & Inclusivity Statement

Adopted by the Board of Directors on February 13, 2018

The primary purposes of the Genealogical Forum of Oregon, Inc. (GFO) are to promote interest in genealogy and to preserve and provide genealogical and historical records and information. GFO strives to fulfill this mission by offering educational classes and materials, by compiling, preserving and publishing genealogical and historical records, and by providing access to abundant resources.

GFO is committed to supporting every individual’s genealogical research. Insights gained through…read full text HERE.

Hot Tips in Genealogy this Spring…

Blake Little’s Photographs from the Gay Rodeo – High Desert Museum, Bend, OR

Through April 30th
Consisting of 41 black-and-white photographs taken between 1988 and 1992, Blake Little: Photographs of the Gay Rodeo documents the gay rodeo circuit and the lives of many of its participants during those years. The collected body of work not only serves as a stunning example of black-and-white portraiture and rodeo photography, it also explores the diverse and complex natures of individual and community identity in the West.

Where We All Came From – Multnomah County Library

March 4th, 1 – 4pm
Exploring your family’s history can provide personal insight and a larger historical perspective about what motivates people to migrate. But where to start? Join us for an afternoon of genealogical detective work. We’ll provide access to research tools as well as one-on-one help with experts from the Oregon Genealogical Society, Genealogical Forum of Oregon and Multnomah County Library research librarians.

Swedish National Archives Now Free

Have Swedish roots? You’ll like this news: access is free to the Swedish National Archives. Now all you need into be able to read Swedish.

Ulster Historical Foundation Lecture Tour comes to Seattle
Join Fintan Mullan and Gillian Hunt from the Foundation during their annual North American lecture tour on Sunday, March 18th, in Seattle, hosted by the Irish Heritage Club.

THE GENEALOGICAL FORUM’s

Thursday Evening

E-News, Edition

22 February 2018

For a complete GFO CALENDAR click here.

Also, if you missed your free copy of our monthly Insider for February 2018, you’re in luck because we saved you a copy HERE. NOTE: The Insider issues are now located under the “Learn” > “Our Publications” menu at www.gfo.org.

Curious about the status of your GFO Membership?? We’d love to have you as a GFO Member!

What’s on Feb 25th? GFO’s Civil War Era Workshop!

TOPIC: African American Civil War Military and Pension Files

This coming Sunday, 9:30am to noon, at the GFO.

Presenter: Kate Eakman, M.A.

Come learn all about using the Freedmen’s Bureau Records and other Reconstruction Era documents to trace your African American Ancestors.

After the Civil War’s end in April of 1865 the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands (the Freedmen’s Bureau) was created to provide assistance to former slaves (and impoverished whites) in the South. The war had resulted in the liberation of about 4 million enslaved people, but it also destroyed many of the southern cities and towns as well as the plantation-based economy. Former slaves were free, but they had been dislocated from their homes and they faced starvation and powerful racial biases and inequalities.

The records from the Freedmen’s Bureau and other records of 1865-1872 include local censuses, marriage records, medical records, bank account records, and voting registers. These, in turn, can provide the names of spouses, children, siblings, parents, and former slave-owners as well as places of birth and locations where an individual lived between birth and freedom. This class will focus on the contents of these documents, where to locate them, and how to use them to add details to, and possibly extend your family tree.

Thank you so much for sharing GFO’s events with your patrons!

Below are links to flyers for our upcoming events at GFO.

If your organization has events or news items you’d like GFO to share, please email news@gfo.org.

If you’d like paper copies of any of these flyers, please email publisher@gfo.org. We’ll happily send your organization a color copy and multiple black & white copies.

Saturday, March 3rd thru Sunday, March 11th, at GFO’s Library

GFO’s Annual Open House

Multiple Presenters! Free & Open to the Public!

See the full list of events at our Calendar.

Saturday, March 17th, 2 – 3pm, at GFO’s Library

GFO GenTalk – Finding James

“A World War II Repatriation Project”

Presenter: Kate Eakman, MA

Saturday, April 14th, 10am – 4:30pm, at Oregon Military Museum

GFO’s Spring 2018 Seminar

“Your American Soldier: Then And Now”

Presenter: Michael Strauss, AG

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Sunday, April 15th, 9:30am – noon, at GFO’s Library

GFO’s Spring 2018 Half-Day Workshop

“A House Divided: The Civil War”

Presenter: Michael Strauss, AG

Saturday, May 19th, 2 – 3pm, at GFO’s Library

GFO GenTalk – Finding and Following the Paths of My Cuban Cousins

Presenter: Janice Sellers

THE GENEALOGICAL FORUM’s

Thursday Evening

E-News, Edition

1 February 2018

For a complete GFO CALENDAR click here.

Also, if you missed your free copy of our monthly Insider for February 2018, you’re in luck because we saved you a copy HERE. NOTE: The Insider issues are now located under the “Learn” > “Our Publications” menu at www.gfo.org.

Curious about the status of your GFO Membership?? We’d love to have you as a GFO Member!

Don’t Miss GFO’s Open House, March 3rd – 11th