Columbus Library

Columbus Metropolitan Library will have it's first "Genealogy Lock-In" during the Ohio Genealogical Society's annual conference which is being held in Columbus this year.  The lock-in will be Friday, April 1, 2011 from 6:30pm to 9pm.    We have an extensive genealogy collection with resources for Ohio, the United States and beyond.  Click here for more information about our genealogy collection.   There will be access to Ancestry Library Edition, HeritageQuest and the Internet.   All family history enthusiasts (not just conference attendees) are welcome to visit the library during the lock-in.  So bring your family history research and spend some time at our library!  Parking will be free Friday evening with the garage gates opening at 6:30. 

Columbus Metropolitan Library's Main Library is located at 96 S. Grant Ave., Columbus, OH  43215 and is about a 5 minute walk from the conference hotel (the Hyatt on Capitol Square).  The library's parking  garage is accessible from an alley called Library Park North.    Click here to check out our the library's genealogy page.
For more information or questions, please call 614-645-2275, or stop by the Franklin County Genealogical and Historical Society/Columbus Metropolitan Library booth at the conference.  You may also send questions to us by email at history@columbuslibrary.org.

If you can't make it to the lock-in please note that our library's regular hours are Monday-Thursday 9-9, Friday-Saturday 9-6 and Sunday 1-5. 

I look forward to seeing everyone at the conference and hope you can spend some time at our library.
 

Are you curious about DNA testing but not sure if it will help you with your genealogy research?  Whether thinking about testing, already tested, or just curious come to this workshop and find out more about how DNA research can help you.

The Franklin County Genealogical and Historical Society is sponsoring an "Introduction to Genetic Genealogy Workshop" on Saturday, March 12, 2011, from 10-12 noon at the Main Library-3rd Floor Conference Room. The workshop is free, for more information and registration please go to http://tinyurl.com/introdna or call the library at 614-645-2275 or the Franklin County Genealogical & Historical Society at 614-871-2110.  Seating is limited so register today!.

February is Black History Month and there are many opportunities to celebrate and learn about our African American heritage.  I'd like to mention a few events and programs that might interest you.

The Ohio Statehouse is celebrating Black History Month with several living history presentations every Tuesday in February from noon to 1 p.m. and are free and open to the public.  Click here to find out about these and other events taking place at the Statehouse during the month of February.

The King Arts Complex offers excellent programming year round and celebrates Black History Month with art exhibits, literature, film, music and dance programs.  Click here for more information.

The Kelton House on Town Street was a stop on the Underground Railroad.  A runaway named Martha Hartway and her sister had escaped and eventually found their way to the Kelton home.  The Kelton House presents "Martha's Journey" describing her experience.  Check out this and other programs at the Kelton House.

The Aldus Society will be presenting a program on the Ohio Historical Society's William H Siebert Underground Railroad Manuscript Collection.   Click here for more information about this program.

The Genealogy, History & Travel department at the Columbus Metropolitan Library has a great collection of material on local African American history.  There are histories, biographies, and images of people and places from Columbus.  The library along with the Columbus Historical Society has also created the Columbus Memory Project that has a collection of "Teachers Resources". One in particular is entitled African Americans in Columbus, Ohio and provides an overview of our past from the late 1700's to the 2000's .   For programming at Columbus Metropolitan Library go to our "Events" page.  Once there select the month of February and search either "African" and/or "black history" for a list of events.

Check out these and other activities or events taking place to celebrate Black History Month.  If you know of an event please add a comment to this blog.

Check out the October/November 2010 issue of Internet GENEALOGY for a list of the "Top 30 Websites for Family Research".  Included are free and commercial sites that may require a fee.  I thought I'd highlight a couple of the free websites below.

Chronicling America. If you want to see if your ancestors were written up in a newspaper or read a newspaper published at the time they lived, then Chronicling America is a source where you will find a collection of digitized and fully searchable U.S. newspapers from 1880 to 1922.  Currently this includes select newspapers from over 20 states including Ohio, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania with a plan to include significant newspapers from each state and U. S. territory between the years 1836 and 1922.  There is a searchable directory of newspapers where you'll find information about newspapers published from 1690 to the present day and where they are archived.  This is a great source and it's free, thanks to the efforts of the Library of Congress and many others.

Digital Library of American Slavery.  The Digital Library of American Slavery is a searchable database of personal information on over 150,000 people including slaves, slaveholders and free persons of color.  This data has been compiled from legislative and court records such as court proceedings, inventories, petitions, wills and more.  You can search by name or subject and you'll find a brief transcript of the record with information on what repository or archives has the original records.

Linkpendium.  Want to find out if there are any records online in the area where your ancestors lived?  Linkpendium is organized by state then county and list the records of a given area that are available online.  You'll typically find records for cemeteries, obituaries, churches, court, newspapers, schools, and much, much more.  Please keep in mind that it will refer you to sites that are free and some that are commercial subscription sites as well.

So check these out and if you're interested in the  reading the full article you'll find "Internet GENEALOGY" in the Genealogy, History & Travel division at the Main Library downtown.