Georgia Archives hosting all-day genealogy session in October

AJC file photo

AJC file photo

The Georgia Archives is hosting its fifth annual “Archives and Genealogy Day” on October 7 from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m.

The free event includes two tracks. Track One, Beginning Basics of Genealogy,” will be an all-day session taught by Laura Carter, former head of the Athens Public Library Genealogy Room. It will cover introductory basics, census records, source citations, analyzing and evaluating documents, and filling out pedigree charts and family group sheets. Track Two will have four topics and four speakers: Kathryn Wright, of Mercer University’s Special Collections, will speak on “Baptist Church Records for Family History Research”; Tamika Strong, on “ Newspapers: A Treasure Trove of Information”; Caroline Crowell, of the Georgia Archives, will speak on “Manuscript Collections at the Georgia Archives and Using them for Your Genealogy”; and Hallie Pritchett, on “Resources for Genealogists in the UGA Map and Government Information Library,” which she heads. A round table including all speakers will conclude the event. Lunch on your own, or food will be available for a small donation. For further information, see GeorgiaArchives.org or call 678-364-3710.

Atlanta-Fulton Public Library hosts beginning lectures for Genealogy Month

The Atlanta-Fulton Public Library’s Central Library, 1 Margaret Mitchell Square, will host several free events during October for Genealogy Month. For the full schedule, check the website http://afpls.org/news/2212-october-is-family-historygenealogy-month. On October 5, there will be a viewing and a discussion of the “Finding Your Roots” television series episodes. An African-American genealogy class will be held October 11 from 2 to 3:30 p. m. in the 4th floor computer lab. More events in a later column. For further information, call 404-730-1896 or email John.wright@fultoncountyga.gov. The Central Library’s genealogy collection, begun in the 1920s, is often overlooked and contains some of the oldest published genealogy materials in the metro Atlanta area.

A few other websites to consider

Check out ArchiveGrid at beta.worldcat.org/archivegrid to peruse some 5 million documents in various manuscript collections. It’s free and worth a try. You never know when something related to an ancestor is in an archives. Another site is the WorldGenWeb. We know how great the USGENWEB.org site is, where every county in the United States has a free website. Now check this one for the entire world. Word is that some countries have better sites than others. See worldgenweb.org.