This webinar will discuss bringing together genealogical sources to track people living in cities. We will combine details from census records, city directories, deeds, newspapers, and maps to illuminate your ancestor and their neighborhood FAN club. We will also look at other resources you should search for beyond these basics of urban research.
Or speaker, Jessica Fontana, is a genealogist with nearly twenty years of experience, and a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists. She previously worked as a researcher for Ancestry ProGenealogists and now has her own consulting business. She specializes in U.S. research, with experience in the Southern, Midwest, Great Lakes, and Mid-Atlantic regions, as well as African America family history. She is a member of the Minnesota based Early Midwest Black Heritage Group; this collective are researching the state's early Black pioneers (1840s-1900s). She also works on U.S. immigrant families from Germany, Luxembourg, and Hungary; as well as work focused on dual-citizenship applications in Luxembourg.
The Webinar will be recorded and available on the CGS website in the members only section.
Registration is required via the Chicago Genealogical Society website under Events. Registration will close 1 hour prior to the event. The meet-up will take place virtually via ZOOM. All people registered will receive an email the morning of the event with log-in instructions and a link. This information is not to be shared. Registering for this webinar signifies you accept responsibility to either show or hide your visage, voice, or both on the webinar screen and audio for this live presentation and ergo its recording.
Note: This webinar is FREE for CGS members. Non-Members can register for the event for $10. No refunds.
Special Webinar: Chicago Genealogy Society Commemorates America 250
From colonial expansion to revolution, 18th-century America was a time of upheaval. Discover how political, cultural, and social transitions shaped recordkeeping, and learn where to find the surviving documents of your ancestors.
Our speaker, Sylvia Tracy Doolos, has been interested in genealogy for forty-five years and has been working as a professional genealogist for over ten years as the owner of New Leaf Genealogy. She is President of the Colorado Chapter of the Association of Professional Genealogists (CAPG), and the Wales, Ireland, Scotland, England Family History Society (WISE), and Past President of the International Society for British Genealogy and Family History (ISBGFH). Sylvia is actively involved as a genealogical volunteer with both the Denver Public Library and the Carbon Valley Library and is an active member of several other genealogy societies. Sylvia is a proud graduate of ProGen 48 and has a B.A. in History with a minor in English focusing on linguistics, so she could study how language changes affected record keeping.
**Note this is our Annual Members Meeting**
The Webinar will be recorded and available on the CGS website in the members only section for ninety days.
Open Mic Meet-Up - CGS Members Only Event
Join us to share your discovery or watch and listen to others share their successes. You have a research problem? Come and ask the group. Maybe someone will have a suggestion to further your research. A great opportunity to learn!
This meet-up will have a host to run the Zoom and to give the opportunity for everyone to share as time permits. If you plan to share a discovery or problem, please keep it to 5 minutes or less to allows others to also share.
Registration is required via the Chicago Genealogical Society website under Events. Registration will close 1 hour prior to the event. The meet-up will take place virtually via ZOOM. All people registered will receive an email the morning of the event with log-in instructions and a link. This information is not to be shared.
**This Meet-Up is not recorded"
Picture from Library of Congress
Have you researched your ancestors but don’t know how to transition from researcher to writer? Laura Hedgecock shares down-to-earth strategies to help you write compelling, relatable stories about your ancestors. Learn how to convert researched facts into stories that engage imaginations and connect hearts.
Our speaker, Laura Hedgecock, is an author, international speaker, and freelance writer, passionate about helping others tell family, ancestor, and personal stories.
Laura serves as president of the 125-year-old Detroit Working Writers, as well as secretary of the Genealogical Speakers Guild. She’s a past president and lifetime member of the GeneaBloggers Organization and a panelist on the GenFriends YouTube show.
Her website, TreasureChestofMemories.com, provides pragmatic advice on preserving and sharing memories and family stories. Likewise, her book, MEMORIES OF ME: A COMPLETE GUIDE TO TELLING AND SHARING THE STORIES OF YOUR LIFE, guides and empowers writers and storytellers with practical advice and creative ideas.
The Webinar will be recorded and available on the CGS website in the members only section for 30 days.
Chicago’s Rosehill Cemetery was founded in 1859 on the north side and covers about 350 acres. It is full of Chicago history and is the final resting place for several known people. Our Chicago Genealogical Society is offering a private cemetery walk through this historical cemetery, located at 5800 N Ravenswood.
Our cemetery walk guide will be Adam Selzer. Adam is a tour guide, author, and historian in Chicago and New York. The author of more than 20 books, including Graceland Cemetery: Chicago Stories, Symbols, and Secrets. His tours are informative, hilarious, and endlessly fascinating. Check out his website https://mysteriouschicago.com/
Registration is required via the CGS website and will close Saturday, August 8, at 10:00am CT. No refund after August 8, 2026, at 10:00am. The online payment service fee of $1.50 will be deducted from refunds prior to August 8. Tour size is limited to 35. A waitlist will be available if needed. Attendees will receive an email 24 hours before the walk detailing information on the meeting spot.
Both CGS members and non-members are welcome.
Cost: $15 CGS members $25 non-members (limited spots)
Don’t know where overseas your family originated from? This presentation covers a variety of sources to explore to locate your ancestor's point of origin before arriving in the United States. Examples and strategies will be provided including: resources for locating town of origin, strategies for name changes, tips for boundary changes, and overcoming handwriting & language challenges.
Our speaker, Lisa Vogele, is a professional genealogist and Certified Travel Associate (CTA). She is the Chief Tree Climber at Travel Your Tree: Where Ancestry Meets Adventure, a genealogy research & travel planning firm specializing in Italy & Ireland. Lisa is passionate about traveling in the footsteps of your ancestors to make or re-establish connections of personal, historical significance. In 2025, Lisa was the inaugural recipient of the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG) Fellowship to study passport collections in Italian archives.
In 2016, Lisa authored Food & Folklore: A Year of Italian Festivals, a guidebook to assist travelers with incorporating heritage festivals into their itineraries, get off the beaten path, and experience local culture through food and historic events. She is a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG), earned a Certificate in Genealogical Research from Boston University in 2019 and a Certified Travel Associate (CTA) credential. Her travel tips have been featured in the Huffington Post, 1000TravelTips.com, and Dream of Italy. She holds a Master's degree from Clemson University, was raised in Connecticut, and resides in Colorado.
Have you come across a family member that was incarcerated, but unsure where to look next? Explore the process of uncovering the story of Frank Fanta, with only his name and inmate register number, information provided on a label in a sketchbook created by an inmate at the Old Joliet Prison Historic Site. Discover other incarcerations, aliases, and even a divorce by using prison records. By using a combination of widely available records and those that are less known, you will discover how to uncover more about your relative's incarceration.
Our speaker, Steven Wright, is the Curator of the Joliet Area Historical Museum and Old Joliet Prison Historic Site. During his time there he has learned how to unravel the story behind the men and women that have been incarcerated at the former prison. Since 2019 he has been actively documenting the death and burial of inmates of the Old Joliet Prison Historic Site. While doing so he discovered the men and women buried there have a story to tell outside of their incarceration. In his spare time, he enjoys traveling and spending time with his french bulldog and pitbull. He began his own genealogical research with his paternal grandmother at the age of seventeen, a hobby very few others at his age were interested in.
Every folded note and every handwritten annotation in your treasured family books hold a piece of your heritage. Discover practical, easy-to-follow techniques for caring for aging books, including ideal storage conditions, handling practices, and DIY preservation tips. We’ll also explore when expert conservation is essential—and how to avoid well-meaning mistakes that cause lasting damage.
Our speaker, Lesa Dowd, is a book and paper conservator, design binder, and educator with more than 25 years of experience preserving the physical record of history. Her career has included conservation and leadership roles at Northwestern University, the Chicago Public Library, and, most recently, as Director of Conservation Services at the Newberry Library.
In 2022, Lesa stepped away from institutional library work to found Bookish Farmgirl, LLC (bookishfarmgirl.com), where she continues her conservation and bookbinding practice while sharing her expertise through teaching and outreach. When she’s not caring for rare books and fragile documents, she can often be found tending her vegetable and flower gardens—bringing the same patience and attention to detail to the soil as she does to the page.
Chicago Genealogical Society is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Address: PO Box 1160, Chicago, IL 60690-1160
