Events

Ephemera is a fancy word for items that were intended to have a temporary nature, often hand-written and disposable, that have persisted through the years. This could include postcards, ticket stubs, and other items you might find in a scrapbook. Utilizing ephemera can help deepen our family histories, provide visual and/or other context to a location or culture, and make tangible memories we might not have lived ourselves. See real-life examples of how ephemera helped bring a family history story back to life.

The sound of a loved one's voice = irreplaceable family memories. Learn how to digitize and preserve your audio recordings stored on cassette tapes, microcassette tapes and LPs. Hear from one of Dallas Public Library's librarians on how to edit your audio, and share your precious family memories using the Heritage Lab located on the 8th floor of the J. Erik Jonsson Central Library.

Jeanette Sheliga will speak at the next Genealogical Society meeting about “Creating a Locality Guide.”

Even the best researchers struggle to stay organized—whether its records you can’t remember the origin of, forgetting which sites you have already checked, or keeping track of those minute details about individual ancestors and relatives, organization is key.

Join the Grand Prairie Genealogical Society in person as Bernard Meisner presents "State and Territorial Censuses - Underused Genealogical Tools."

This is help for those just starting their family history research and a refresher for the rest of us. This class will get you started using the many resources of the internet to find your ancestors and their stories.

If you've never taken the plunge to look into your family's history, this program will help you know how to get started! Genealogy & History staff take you back to the beginning with step-by-step instructions on how to get started researching YOUR family's history. Learn how to set reasonable goals for your research, how to create an online tree and how to navigate popular genealogical websites.

The Periodical Source Index (PERSI) is the premier subject index for genealogy and local history periodicals and is searchable by name, locality and subject. In 2022, the PERSI database moved and is now FREE and indexed through Allen County Public Library's world-class Genealogy Center. Learn how to search this family history treasure trove and how it can enhance your genealogy research.

Join the Van Zandt Genealogical Society and Jim Thornhill for a day of learning at the Annual Seminar!

Learn to develop and follow a research plan, keep a research log, cite your sources, and write up your conclusion. You'll be amazed how this can improve you efficiency and effectiveness.

Manuscript collections can be a goldmine of information for family history researchers. Learn about where to find collections, how they are organized, how to use a finding aid, and the variety of interesting items that can be found in the collections.