A Review of Our Genealogy Lecture Series

We've been trying some new things out this year. One of those new things is live-tweeting our lectures. For those of you who aren't on Twitter, that may not mean anything, but it's a quick way of communicating little tidbits of information from our events to people who are unable to be here physically. Of course, if you're not on Twitter, you might feel like you're missing out on some of our services!

This is where another new thing comes in: We've collected those tweets using a service called Storify, so if you aren't familiar with Twitter, you can still read those tidbits easily. We've collected four of our genealogy lectures here for your enjoyment.

Cemeteries
Jeannie Regan-Dinius kicked off our lecture series with a discussion of Indiana cemetery laws and how to preserve them and conduct genealogical research using cemetery records and tombstones.

1940 Census
Allison DePrey spoke about the 1940 Census, which was recently released to the public. She discussed what questions were asked, how to search the census records, and how to use the results for genealogy.

From Daguerreotype to Digital: Dating and Preserving Your Family Photos
Joan Hostetler of Heritage Photo and Research Services gave a great presentation on family photographs, and there was a great deal of audience participation as she helped people with their own collections.

Maria's Journey: Writing Your Family History
Ramon and Trisha Arredondo gave an entertaining and informative presentation on their own journey through researching and writing their book Maria's Journey, about Ray's mother.

We hope this proves to be a helpful service to you. Please let us know what you think!

Learning about the 1940 Census

Our Genealogy Lecture series continued last night with a fun and informative talk from Allison DePrey about the 1940 Census.

Allison DePrey from IHS
talks about the 1940 Census

Allison DePrey is Assistant Coordinator for Education and Community Engagement at the Indiana Historical Society. She went over some interesting facts about the 1940 Census and discussed how to read the forms and maximize your research and understanding of the census.

The 1940 Census records were just released last year. Census records are held for 72 years before being released publicly, and they are an invaluable tool for genealogy researchers. The 1940 Census had some new features that previous census questionnaires didn't have, and the method used to take the census was new in 1940.

Here are a few tidbits we learned last night:

• Section 14 covered highest grade completed in education for the first time on a census.
• 16 supplemental questions were asked of only 5% of the population--place of birth, earliest language spoken, etc.
• People probably didn't admit on the 1940 Census that they spoke German at home thanks to anti-German sentiment from WWI.
• The supplemental questions asked for information about Social Security for the first time.
• Before 1940 no record was made of who provided the information--it could have been a neighbor or milkman!
• There were questions about place of residence in 1935, which reflected the impact of the Great Depression. About 14% of the population had migrated within the United States.

If you want to do genealogy research, start with the free official 1940 Census website. Other sources include Archives.com, FamilySearch.org, and Brightsolid. Ancestry.com also provides access to the 1940 Census.

Three additional Genealogy Lectures are planned throughout 2013.  Topics include Wallace family history (July 25), how to date and preserve your family photographs (September 12), and how to write your family history (October 3).  This lecture series is made possible through a grant from the Indiana Humanities Council in cooperation with the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Genealogy Lecture Series Opens with "Cemeteries"

Join us Thursday evening at 7 p.m. in the Carriage House for the first of our genealogy lectures!

Cemeteries can be invaluable resources for genealogists and historians. They serve as community museums in some respects. Many a genealogist has pored over cemetery records and traipsed across overgrown rural cemeteries to find an elusive ancestor.

Jeannie R. Regan-Dinius, Director of Special Initiatives for the Department of Natural Resources’ Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology, will discuss the state of cemeteries in Indiana, what is being done at various levels to protect and restore them, and what we can do to help.

Jeannie Regan-Dinius has a life-long interest in history, family history, and research.  She earned her Bachelors in Public History from Ball State University, where she studied also anthropology and American Studies.  She has her Masters in Urban Planning and Information Management/Library Science from Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis with additional graduate course work in public history.

Our "Cemeteries" lecture is free and open to the public, but we ask that you RSVP ahead of time. Email us at study@ben-hur.com or call 765-5769 to register.

In the Gift Shop: Finding Indiana Ancestors

A new book has found its way to our gift shop as we prepare for our 2013 exhibit about Lew and Susan Wallace's descendants. Along with talking about the accomplished Wallace family, we will also be discussing how family research is done and how best to preserve your own family legacy.

We have added Finding Indiana Ancestors: A Guide to Historical Research to our gift shop offerings. Edited by M. Teresa Baer and Geneil Breeze and published by the Indiana Historical Society Press, this book is a treasure trove of information, how-tos, resources, and examples to help you navigate the speed bumps and detours along the road of your family history.

The book has six parts: Getting Started, Identifying Resources, Researching Records, Researching With Maps, Researching Ethnic Groups, and Providing Context and Accuracy. It provides an excellent foundation for beginning genealogists, but also contains in-depth resources that even experienced family researchers will find useful.

Are you interested in family history? Do you have a favorite book or website about genealogy?