The 2022 Summer Seminar Brought Us Back Together

by Suzan Younger

We’ve learned how to make changes and adapt in the last two years, but it was great to welcome our members and guests to a hybrid format during the 2022 Summer Seminar featuring Kelvin Meyers. Kelvin was live and in person at the Dallas Central Library on July 16, and attendees could choose to attend in person or in the now familiar virtual format. About one-third of the registered attendees joined the DGS Board in the Central Library auditorium for a day filled with presentations on land, taxes, probate, and repositories featuring Texas examples.

The hybrid format is the best of both worlds for presenting a program. People from all over Texas and the U.S. joined the seminar virtually from a place of their choice. Others were delighted to gather at the Central Library for face-to-face visits and opportunities to reconnect with friends and cousins. We met ladies who traveled from Houston and Austin who added some research time in the Bockstruck Genealogy Collection on the 8th floor of the library. However, as a reminder, you do not have to wait for the next DGS seminar in October to visit the library.

The Bockstruck Genealogy Collections is one of the top genealogical collections in the U.S. For those who attended the seminar, what a great way to use all that information Kelvin shared with us back in July. Make a date with your friends to meet and research together at the library. The genealogy section contains books, microfilm, microfiche, and databases. Your dues and revenue from our seminars support two of those databases – Historygeo.com and NewspaperArchive.com.

Historygeo.com is an excellent source for first-time land owners in the federal land states and Texas, and you should not overlook this site when doing your land research.

What’s next for the Dallas Genealogical Society? We begin the 2022-23 year on Saturday, September 10, with our first general meeting of the year. And what a treat we have for you with our first speaker. David Rencher, the Chief Genealogical officer for FamilySearch, joins the DGS community from Utah to kick-start the year. Please join us in person at the Dallas Central Library or via the Zoom meeting platform.