Special Screening
Sunday, July 14, 2019
1-2:30 p.m.
York Theatre in Elmhurst, IL
Eastland: Chicago's Deadliest Day Documentary is the dramatic story of how hundreds of immigrant factory workers and their families, setting out for leisurely summer cruise, died aboard a heavily loaded steamship that tipped over while still tied to the dock in downtown Chicago... and how the rich and powerful who were responsible got away with it.
The Eastland Disaster Historical Society is graciously offering CGS Members an opportunity to attend this Special Screening by registering for FREE tickets before they are available to the general public. This will be your opportunity to see "Eastland" on the big screen in surround sound! Seating is very limited, with tickets available only to current CGS using the following link: http://www.eastlanddisaster.org/documentary then click on “Ticket information here.”
Note – you do NOT have to obtain a membership to EDHS. The link will let you register for FREE.
The tickets are available to the general public starting this Friday, June 28th, so reserve your tickets today!
Thank you to the EDHS for this opportunity. Another great value and benefits for CGS membership!
Our next Genealogical Oriented Bus Tour is coming up on August 24: Chicago’s Greatest Waterway - The I & M Canal.
Using a luxury bus, the Chicago Genealogical Society will be hosting a genealogically oriented tour of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, August 24, 9:30am – 4:00pm (starting from and ending at the Ogilvie Transportation Center), which will included such stops as the Chicago Portage National Historic Site, the St. James of the Sag Cemetery, Lockport, Locks at Channahon, the Seneca Grain Elevator, and the Fox River Aqueduct in Ottawa among many other places in a beautiful summer setting. Chicago Historian and CGS board member, Craig Pfannkuche, will be our guide to learn about this fascinating time in Chicago’s history and how it changed our Chicago ancestor’s lives. See registration details and tour cost under events on our website https://chicagogenealogy.org/event-3369936
Suggested material on the topic –
PASSAGE TO CHICAGO by Tim Wilcox
PRAIRIE PASSAGE – photographs by Edward Ranney
University of Illinois Press 1998
HISTORICAL MAP AND GUIDE TO THE I&M NATIONAL HERITAGE CORRIDOR
National Heritage Corridor Commission – US Department of Interior, 1993
Join us on August 24th!
The National Archives at Chicago is looking for volunteers to assist patrons with family history research in our Public Access Computer Room. Primary responsibilities include introducing new genealogists and first time patrons to resources available through the National Archives at Chicago and answering genealogical questions. Using your own experience, teach patrons to navigate family history sources and help them work through “brick walls” in their research. This is an excellent opportunity to network with other genealogists and expand your own research.
We are seeking individuals with the following traits: patience, research skills, and willingness to share information; basic internet and computer skills; and knowledge of Ancestry.com, Fold3.com, and FamilySearch.org. Training on National Archives specific resources will be provided, and we can arrange for a new volunteer to shadow a current volunteer for the first few weeks of volunteer service.
The National Archives at Chicago is located at 7358 S. Pulaski in Chicago and is open to the public Monday to Friday from 8AM to 4PM. Ideally, volunteers commit to helping on a weekly basis, but people willing to commit to as little as one day a month will be considered.
Professional genealogists would not be able to work for pay while volunteering with the National Archives.
Interested candidates should contact Sarah at 773-948-9001 or Chicago.archives@nara.gov.
Join us this Saturday, June 1st for our next program at the Newberry Library at 1:30pm
Adoption Searches Past and Present. Our speaker will be Matt Rutherford. Having an adopted ancestor can often be one of the most frustrating and challenging aspects of genealogy research. In times past, records of adoptions weren't as well kept as they are today, making searching for the link between birthparents and adoptees difficult. And, in modern times, adoption searches are often hindered by legal barriers. We'll discuss techniques & tips for researching American adoptions in all time periods.
Matt Rutherford, MLIS, is Curator of Genealogy and Local History at the Newberry Library will be our speaker.
Note - we will start our program with our annual meeting and voting of the 2019-2020 officers.
Did you miss the opportunity to watch the The Eastland Disaster: An Unparalleded Tragedy webinar last Sunday?
You are in luck if you are a Chicago Genealogical Society member. The recording has been posted in the members only section for you to watch on your own schedule. Not a Chicago Genealogical Society member? Join today and view this great webinar.
The Eastland Disaster Historical Society wants to make sure every CGS member has the opportunity to learn more about the Eastland Disaster. So, they have graciously offered to do a webinar to complement the in-person presentation that was done on May 4 for those members that were not able to attend. The webinar is scheduled for May 19, 2019, at 4:00pm CDT. Registration required using link below.
Early on the morning of Saturday, July 24, 1915, a light rain fell yet the air was filled with anticipation and excitement. Thousands gathered along the Chicago River for Western Electric's fifth annual employee picnic. More than 7,000 tickets had been purchased for the day‐long festivities. But the day quickly turned tragic, resulting in Chicago's greatest loss‐of-life tragedy. Find out what happened during a presentation given by the Eastland Disaster Historical Society.
Come learn the answers to the following questions: Why was the picnic so highly anticipated? What happened? How did it happen? What was the impact? What was the response? Was it avoidable? Who was held accountable? What damages were awarded? What amount of relief funds were raised? Discover more about the Eastland Disaster Historical Society at http://www.eastlanddisaster.org/
Please register for CGS Webinar #4 The Eastland Disaster on May 19, 2019 4:00 PM CDT at:
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7231917182789123597
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
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Early on the morning of Saturday, July 24, 1915, a light rain fell yet the air was filled with anticipation and excitement. Thousands gathered along the Chicago River for Western Electric's fifth annual employee picnic. More than 7,000 tickets had been purchased for the day‐long festivities. But the day quickly turned tragic, resulting in Chicago's greatest loss‐of-life tragedy. Find out what happened during a presentation given by the Eastland Disaster Historical Society. This free program will be on May 4th, 1:30pm, at the Newberry Library.
We are excited to launch our new website. There has been a lot of planning, customizing, reviewing and hard work by the committee to make this happen. We have our features from the old website included with an updated look and several new features. Check out what is new:
New Home Page with Current News and Upcoming Events
You will find a list of upcoming events and current society news. There is also the current Facebook page post.
Members Only Section
The Chicago Genealogist – All volumnes full title index with volumnes 1-39 CARLI link and volumnes 40 to current on our website.
Vital Records from Chicago Newspapers 1833 – 1848 index and members can look up the article by year.
Past CGS Newsletters – 2006 to current
CGS Cemetery Book Publications
Chicago recorded webinars that members can watch as many times as they want.
We have many more items to add to the members only section, so stay tuned.
Member Profile
As a current member, you will be receiving an email soon to set-up your member profile to be able to access the members only section. We will be loading up your membership information. You will be able to set-up your privacy settings and add your surname data to share with other members if you like.
Purple Hearts Reunited Special Event: Experience a Return Ceremony + Honor our Researchers + Receive our Brick Wall Research Tips.
Join us and the Genealogy Interest Group of the St. Andrew Society of Illinois (GIG-SASIL) on March 2nd for a special program featuring the charitable foundation, Purple Hearts Reunited (PHR), whose mission is "to return lost or stolen military medals of valor to veterans or their families, in order to honor their sacrifice to the nation." Since 2016, twenty research volunteers from our and GIG-SASIL's groups have been identifying the veterans of now over 100 lost purple hearts, writing the veterans' biographies and finding either the veteran or their living next of kin so PHR can return these lost medals. Come to this moving program to experience a PHR Return Ceremony where a local family will welcome their hero's lost purple heart back home where it belongs. Help PHR honor our 20 research volunteers. And receive advice on how these volunteers used some interesting research techniques to get past some pretty incredible genealogical brick walls.
This special event is free and will be at the Newberry Library on March 2, at 1:30pm.
Learn how to use yearbooks as sources for genealogical information, for insights into personalities, and for historical and social context.
Jeanne Larzalere Bloom, CG® is a full-time professional researcher with over fifteen (15) years of experience. She specializes in forensic genealogy, problem solving, multi-generational family histories, Chicago and Cook County research. Jeanne researched the Chicago ancestry for many episodes of the television series, Who Do You Think You Are? andappeared in the Jason Sudeikis and Julie Bowen episodes.
Jeanne lectures frequently at conferences, workshops, and institutes and writes articles for scholarly journals and society publications.
She holds a Bachelor of Arts [History] from the University of Illinois at Chicago and a second-year certificate from the University of Chicago's publishing program. She is a trustee and a former president of the Board for Certification of Genealogists.
Please register for CGS Webinar # Using Yearbooks for Genealogy on Feb 10, 2019 4:00 PM CST at: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/8887874052022313986
Chicago Genealogical Society is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Address: PO Box 1160, Chicago, IL 60690-1160
