UPCOMING CLASS AT MHS

From Immigrant to Citizen: The Naturalization Process in the United States

Citizenship papers can provide a wealth of information about your immigrant ancestors, including birth dates, ports of arrival, last place of residence in the old country and next of kin. Learn about the historical process of naturalization, along with some tips of the trade for doing research in these fascinating records. Presented by Reference Librarian Alison Purgiel.

• Saturday September 13, 10:00-11:30 a.m.
• Cost: $8 for MHS members; $10 for non-members.
• Location: Fraternal Congress Classroom in the Minnesota History Center.
• The class is limited to 30, pre-registration required.
• Register online.
  

UPCOMING gENEALOGY CONFERENCE

The Minnesota Genealogical Society will host the “Minnesota Star of the North” genealogy conference at the Minnesota History Center on Friday and Saturday September 19-20.

The featured speaker on Friday September 19, beginning at 1:00 p.m., will be Minnesota’s own Paula Stuart-Warren, speaking on:

• Finding Ancestral Places of Origin
• New Englanders in the Midwest: Key Resources
• A Baker’s Dozen: Easy Ways to Begin Writing Your Family History.

Also on Friday MHS librarian Brigid Shields and historian, author, and genealogist Joe Amato will be “Telling the Stories: Perspectives from a Librarian and an Historian.”

Friday evening there will be a reception and book-signing event from 6:00-7:00 p.m.  Annette Atkins (Creating Minnesota: History from the Inside Out, and others), Joe Amato (Jacob’s Well: A Case for Rethinking Family History, and others), Kate Roberts (Minnesota 150: The People, Places, and Things that Shape Our State), and Christine Rose (Courthouse Indexes Illustrated, Genealogical Proof Standard: Building a Solid Case, Nicknames Past and Present, and Courthouse Research for Family Historians, descriptions available on her website) will be availble to talk with and sign their books. Even if you don’t plan on attending the banquet, you won’t want to miss the reception!

The reception will be followed by a banquet and the annual MGS genealogy awards. The dinner speaker is Annette Atkins, history professor at St. Benedict/St. John’s and author of Creating Minnesota.

On Saturday September 20, beginning at 9:00, join nationally-recognized speaker Christine Rose. Her talks will include:

• Rites of Inheritance: Dower, Entail, and Primogeniture
• Leaping to Erroneous Conclusions: What did the Record Really Say?
• Too Young for the Revolution and Too Old for the Civil War: Military Records Between the Wars
• Solving the Problem in 25 Hours or Less.

Breakout sessions will feature Darlene Joyce (”Best Practices for Reconstructing Your Family History”), J.H. Fonkert (”Midwest Historical Geography for Genealogists”), and Tom Rice (”Finding Printed Sources Using the Internet”).

Check-out the Minnesota Genealogical Society’s website for more details and to register.