Tag Archives: Genealogy and Local History Fair

2018 Genealogy and Local History Fair recap

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On Saturday, Oct. 27, 2018, the Indiana State Library was abuzz with genealogists and representatives from historical organizations, genealogical societies and libraries, who were all in attendance for the 2018 edition of the Genealogy and Local History Fair. The theme this year was “Digging Up the Dead,” as we learned how to examine, decipher, and interpret death records, death research and other interesting facets of mortality in history.

Lisa Alzo during one of her three presentations.

Internationally-known speaker Lisa Alzo presented “Murder, Mayhem and Town Tragedy,” “Cause of Death: Using Coroner’s Records for Genealogy” and “Diseases, Disasters & Distress: Bad for Your Ancestors, Good for Genealogy.” Sarah Halter, executive director of the Indiana Medical History Museum, presented “What Killed Your Ancestors?,” which examined 19th century medicine, the accuracy of information and names of certain diseases and what they mean.

Sarah Halter presenting “What killed your ancestors?”

In between sessions, attendees were able to mingle with fellow genealogists, vendors and exhibitors, as well as explore the beautiful Indiana State Library building and view the library’s most recently-installed exhibits. “The Practice of Medicine” and “The Business of Death” are both currently on display in the first floor Exhibit Hall and in the second floor Great Hall of the state library. In addition to items from the library’s collections, “The Practice of Medicine” showcases items on loan from the Indiana Medical History Museum. If you happened to have missed the Genealogy and Local History Fair this year, there is still time to catch these great exhibits, which will be on display through the end of January 2019.

Attendees browsing vendors in the Great Hall.

We hope to see you at the next Genealogy and Local History Fair on Oct. 24, 2020, as we focus on “The Women in Your Family Tree,” while commemorating the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage and examining the sometimes hard-to-research half of your family tree.

This blog post was written by Stephanie Asberry, deputy director of public services, Indiana State Library.

Genealogy & Local History Fair October 24

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It’s nearly time for the 2015 Genealogy and Local History Fair at the Indiana State Library. With a theme of “Crime and Punishment in Indiana,” the Fair promises to be a fun and educational event for genealogists, librarians, and local historians.

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Judy Russell will speak at the Genealogy & Local History Fair October 24

The Fair is Saturday, October 24, and doors open at 9:30 am, with opening remarks at 9:45.  The first speaker of the day will be Keven McQueen, author of several historical true crime books. He will speak on unsolved murders in Indiana.  After lunch, Judy Russell, author of the Legal Genealogist blog will give two presentations covering court and prison records.

Between sessions and during the lunch break, attendees may browse the exhibition hall, featuring over 30 vendors, including historical societies, libraries, authors, and other organizations. Attendees may also explore the beautiful 1930s era Indiana State Library building or do a bit of research in the Library’s large genealogy collection. Also, there will be a raffle of several door prizes, including a Kindle and a handheld document scanner.

Admission is free and there is no registration required. All sessions have been approved for LEUs for Indiana public librarians. Parking is available in the Senate Avenue Parking Garage, 220 North Senate Avenue, for $5.00 per car.

If you have any questions about the Genealogy and Local History Fair, please don’t hesitate to contact the Genealogy Division of the Indiana State Library at (317) 232-3689.

Genealogy and Local History Fair
9:30 am to 4:00 pm
Saturday, October 24, 2015
Indiana State Library
315 West Ohio Street
Indianapolis, IN 46202

This blog post was written by Jamie Dunn, Genealogy Librarian, Indiana State Library. For more information, contact the Indiana State Library at (317)232-3678 or “Ask-A-Librarian” at http://www.in.gov/library/ask.htm

Genealogy Librarians and Professional Development

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Professional development is an important part of librarianship, so that librarians can keep up with innovations within the profession and thus provide the best possible service to the public. This is particularly important in specialized subject such as genealogy. With that in mind, two librarians from the Genealogy Division of the Indiana State Library attended the Indiana Genealogical Society’s (IGS) annual conference at Indiana State University earlier this year, where they attended several presentations by Judy Russell, author of the popular blog The Legal Genealogist. Russell’s lectures were both informative and entertaining. She spoke on visiting county courthouses for genealogical research in original county records, finding ancestors’ military and military pension records and the abundant genealogical information they can contain, and tracking our “black sheep” ancestors using court and prison records as well as other contemporary sources, such as newspaper articles.
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If you were unable to attend the IGS conference or if you would like to hear Judy Russell again, she will be speaking at the annual Genealogy and Local History Fair held at the Indiana State Library on October 24, 2015. Russell will be speaking on research methods for finding your “black sheep” ancestors and utilizing underused collections, such as prison records, to further that research. This free event is open to the public and registration is not required.

For those in the library or legal professions, these sessions have been approved for LEUs and CLEs.

This blog post was written by Crystal Ward, Genealogy Librarian, Indiana State Library. For more information, contact the Indiana State Library at (317)232-3678 or “Ask-A-Librarian” at http://www.in.gov/library/ask.htm