Local History & Genealogy @ Carnegie will be closed October 29, 2009 for Employee Development Day.
Local History & Genealogy Center will be closed June 1st-7th
The Center will re-open on Monday, June 8th at its new location in the Carnegie Library. The hours of operation for the Local History & Genealogy Center at Carnegie will be Monday, Tuesday and Thursday from 9:00am-6:00pm.
Please call 747-8208 if you have any questions
DNA Workshop in Marion
Have you ever found your favorite necklace in a knotted, tangled mess? The process of researching your family roots is similar to untangling that necklace. You undo a knot only to find another one; each newly found ancestor leads you to another one. Untangling your necklace will have an end but sometimes genealogy research poses questions that further traditional research just can’t answer. That’s where Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak comes to the rescue.
Perhaps you saw the Oprah show where she took a DNA test to find out her genetic ancestry. Megan’s research made that possible. Have you heard family stories about having a relative that was Native American? Hit a brick wall in your family history research? Maybe DNA testing can help you tear down that wall and determine just what your ancestry is.
The Marion Public Library is pleased to sponsor nationally known DNA expert Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak for a one day seminar, Using DNA in Genealogy Research, on Saturday, May 30 at the Marion Ivy Tech campus.
Megan loves solving mysteries and she loves pushing the envelope of conventional genealogy research. A pioneer is combining DNA with genealogy; Megan used it when researching her own roots to a village in Czechoslovakia. As it turned out, both Megan and her husband’s roots go back to the same village but DNA testing proved that they are not cousins. Other mysteries that Megan has worked on include
- helping Alex Haley’s nephew Chris confirm the oral traditions about their ancestry,
- providing forensic consulting services to the US Army to locate families of soldiers still unaccounted for from wars beginning with WWI,
- figuring out who would be king of America if George Washington had been king,
- helping coroners and medical examiners locate the next of kin for unclaimed persons and many other projects.
In addition to being chief historian for Ancestry.com, Megan has appeared on Good Morning America, the Today Show and the PBS series Ancestors. Megan also authored several books including Trace Your Roots with DNA. She has won five writing awards for the International Society of Family History Writers and Editors. Her speaking engagements have taken her to 31 states, Great Britain, Canada, and New Zealand.
It is a privilege to have a speaker and teacher of Megan’s caliber visiting Marion. The daylong workshop will be on Saturday, May 30 at Ivy Tech, Marion campus. There will be four sessions followed by dinner and an evening session. The fee of $65 includes all the sessions as well as lunch and dinner. Several libraries, genealogy and historical societies will have display tables showcasing their resources for genealogists. For registration information, please see the library website, www.marion.lib.in.us or contact Rhonda Stoffer at 765.668.2900, extension 153.
Delaware County Deeds Available Online
The Local History & Genealogy Center is digitizing Delaware County Deed Records 1827-1961 as part of our Muncie/Delaware County Digital Resource Library:
http://www.munpl.org/default.asp?PageIndex=800
This is a work in progress; the first ten books or so are now available online.
Planning a Visit this Spring or Summer?
Because we will be moving our collections, please call ahead if you are planning to visit the Local History & Genealogy Center this summer to find out the days/hours we will be open. For further information about the budget cuts the library is facing, go to:
http://www.munpl.org/default.asp?PageIndex=718
An Interesting Discussion Forum on Local History
Have you been following the discussion on the Muncie Star Press website on “Lost Muncie”? There are a lot of great nostalgic photographs of Muncie. Go to the Star Press online:
and click on the “Muncie History/Lost Muncie” discussion forum. Share your memories and your historic photographs of Muncie…..
Save the Date! DNA Workshop, May 30th
Nationally know genealogist and DNA expert Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak will be presenting an all day workshop in Marion, Indiana May 30th on using DNA in genealogical research. For more information and to register go to:
http://www.marion.lib.in.us/departments/indianahistory/dna/dna_workshop.htm
President’s Day February 16th
The Library will be closed on Monday, February 16th for President’s Day
National Day of Listening
StoryCorps, the largest oral history project ever undertaken, has announced that it is extending its “National Day of Listening” through the month of December. One of the most meaningful gifts you can give your loved ones this holiday season is the act of listening. Be sure to “interview” your older relatives and swap family stories. Sample questions can be found at
www.nationaldayoflistening.org
For more information on StoryCorps:
Thanksgiving Holiday
The Local History & Genealogy Center will be closed Thursday, November 27th and Friday, November 28th in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday. We will re-open on Saturday, November 29th.
Interested in the history of Thanksgiving and how it became a national holiday? Go to this website:
