Columbus Library

This year the the library is introducing a new monthly series of workshops called "Genealogy Labs".  These labs will be on the first Saturday of each month where library staff will introduce you to a genealogy website that will facilitate your family history research.

The first of this series will introduce you to Ancestry Library Edition.  We all see Ancestry advertised on television all the time.  Are you aware that the Columbus Metropolitan Library subscribes to Ancestry's Library Edition?  Come to this workshop to learn the in's and out's of using Ancestry's Library edition for your research. You will find out how to navigate the website and about the collections it contains.  You will learn what you can and cannot find in Ancestry Library Edition, and about the best search strategies to make your research more efficient.  You will also get hands on experience using Ancestry Library Edition during the workshop so bring your research and see how Ancestry might help you. 

This free workshop is Saturday, February  4, 2012, 10 am to Noon, at the Main Library, 96 S. Grant Ave.  (3rd Floor Training Loft).  Seating is limited to 20 people so register now!  Click "here"  to register online or you can call the library at 614-645-2275 and library staff will assist you.  Please note that registration ends 5pm on Friday February 3rd.

Come Meet local African-American author and Columbus native W. Kay Shabazz, she will discuss her book "Holding On To Somewhere", a fictionalized account of her personal struggle to escape from an abusive marriage and the many hard decisions she had to make along the way to save herself and her children. 
This free program will be at the Columbus Metropolitan Library's Main Library Auditorium, Thursday February 2, 2012 from 6:30-8:30pm.  No reservations are required for this program.
This program is sponsored by the Ohio State University Department of African American and African Studies Community Extension Center.

Tis the Season and Christmas, Kwanzaa, Boxing Day, Chanukah and other celebrations are just around the corner.  As we gather together to celebrate with family and friends we often find ourselves steeped in family traditions through ceremony, decoration and food.  How does your family observe the holidays?  What family traditions do you observe during the season?  Please take a moment to share those family traditions and special moments that happen at this time.

If you're looking for recipes or ideas or holiday traditions check out the "Recipes, Cookbooks & Family Traditions" on Cyndi's List.

Bronzeville was the commercial and cultural heart of Columbus' African American community.  The area was bordered by Cleveland Avenue to Woodlawn Avenue and Broad Street and what is now I-670.  Dr. Judson L. Jeffries, professor at OSU; Will Brown, President of Bronzeville Neighborhood Association and Dana Moessner, Near East Area Commissioner will present "The History of an historic Black Community called Bronzeville and why it is important today."

This free program will be Thursday, November 17, 2011 from 6:30-9 pm at the Columbus Metropolitan Library, Main Library-Auditorium.   Reservations are recommended but not required. To make a reservation click "here".

"Pretty Boy" Floyd (bank robber and FBI's Public Enemy Number 1) is found and killed by authorities on the Conkle Farm in Columbiana County.  Check out or reserve the following books:  Pretty Boy: the Life and Times of Charles Arthur Floyd by Michael Wallis. Public Enemies America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-34 by Bryan Burrough.

Jerry Siegel who created the comic hero, Superman was born October 17, 1914 in Cleveland, Ohio.  Did you know that he and artist Joe Shuster's first created the first story in 1932 entitled "Reign of the Superman" featured Superman as a villain?  A year later in 1933 they created a comic book changing Superman's role from that of a villain to a hero.  Jerry Siegel died January 28, 1996.  Reserve or check out the following books Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters and the Birth of the Comic Book by Gerard Jones

If you want to learn more about your German ancestors there will be a series of free genealogy programs brought to you by the Palatines to America Society-Ohio Chapter, Franklin County Genealogical & Historical Society and Columbus Metropolitan Library.  All the programs at Columbus Metropolitan Library are free and do not require registration.  The schedule for German Heritage Week is:

Tuesday, October 11th...

Breaking Down Brick Walls @ Gahanna Branch  1-2:30pm

Reading German Church Records @ Main Library's 3rd Floor Board Room 7-8:30pm

Wednesday, October 12th...

Probate Court Research Process @ Dublin Branch 1-2:30pm

What is in the PalAm Library Collection @ Main Library's Carnegie Room 7-8:30pm

Thursday, October 13th...

Let's Start Your German Research @ Whetstone Branch, 1-2:30pm

Probate Court Research Process @ Main Library 3rd Floor Board Room 7-8:30pm

Friday, October 14th...

What is in the PalAm Library Collection @ Southeast Branch, 1-2:30pm

You may check CML's Events page and enter "German Heritage Week" in the keyword search box for a listing of the above programs.  For library locations and directions please click here.

The Palatines to America-Ohio Chapter will also be hosting their Annual Fall Seminar on Friday, October 15th from 9am-3:30pm at the Der Dutchman Restaurant, in Plain City, Ohio.  The featured speaker is Dr. Don Heinrich Tolzmann who will be speaking on German Immigration to America: Causes in the 19th Century, Settlement Patterns, Ohio's German's in the Civil War, and German Contributions to America.  For more information and to register please click here.

Maps, atlases and other geographical materials can be useful to you as a genealogist. Some resources provide information about specific ancestors, while others offer important geographical context to add flavor and completeness to your family history. This program will examine what to look for in county atlases, Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, historical atlases, land office records and other material.  Come learn how maps, atlases and other resources can enhance your family history research.

Mr. Markley is the Records Clerk for the Licking County Government Records & Archives Department.

This program is Saturday, September 24, 2011 from 10am to noon, at the Main Library Auditorium (downtown) at 96 S. Grant Avenue.

Registration is not necessary but appreciated.  To register go to the following link http://evanced.columbuslibrary.org/evanced/lib/eventsignup.asp?ID=131471...

Are you interested in African American family history?  Do you want to begin your research but don’t know where to start or do you want to identify a slave ancestor or slave owner?  Have you hit a “brick wall” in your research and do not know how to resolve it?

Come to Columbus Metropolitan Library and see Tony Burroughs, an internationally known expert on African American genealogy, on Saturday, September 17th, 2011.  Tony will be present at the Franklin County Genealogical & Historical Society’s African American Interest Group’s 2011 Annual Conference “Connecting the Family Puzzle”. 

Tony will be speaking on several topics including; The Nature of Genealogy, Identifying Slave Owners, and Creating Order Out of Chaos.

Tony is best known for writing Black Roots: A Beginners' Guide to Tracing the African American Family Tree.   You may have seen him on programs such as Who Do You Think You Are?, African American Lives, Oprah, and more. 
No matter if you're a beginner or a seasoned researcher you should take this rare opportunity to see Tony Burroughs here in Central Ohio.

Any questions send an email to AAIG2011conference@yahoo.com

Date/Time/Location Information

Saturday, September 17, 2001, from 10am-5pm
  Columbus Metropolitan Library’s Main Library-Auditorium, 96 S. Grant Avenue, Columbus, Ohio 43215

Seating is limited so register now!
You must be registered to attend.

Click on "Tony Burroughs Registration Form"  for more information and to download the form to register.

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On June 9, 1861, Mary Ann (Ball) Bickerdyke a native of Knox County, Ohio begins nursing wounded and sick soldiers during the Civil War.  She served as a nurse in 19 major battles and eventually becomes chief of nursing for Grant's troops and later per General Sherman's request she accompanies his forces on the "March to the Sea". She also helped to organize 300 field hospitals. She would often walk the battlefields at night using a lantern to find wounded soldiers.  Because of her compassion and caring for soldiers as if they were her own sons, she was known as the "Mother of the Union Army" and "Mother Bickerdyke".