Genealogical Society of South Whidbey Island
old sepia photos

GSSWI Programs for 2015 - 2016

Click HERE to display programs presented during the

previous society year.

Monday September 14th: Monthly Program, 1:15 p.m.

Speaker:  Society Board Members
Program:  Introduction to the coming GSSWI Year

Meet your fellow members and learn about ongoing research.  Come prepared to describe one particularly useful website you have found and why you find it useful.

The new Board of Directors will  be introduced.  In addition,  Coffee and cookies will be consumed and the upcoming society year will be discussed.  Come, visit and learn.

Monday October 12th: Monthly Program, 1:15 p.m.

Speaker:  Janice Lovelace
Program:  Beyond Online: Beginning Courthouse Research

Janice LovelaceJanice Lovelace, Ph.D., has 20 years of experience in family history research as well as academic work in the area (Genealogy and Family History certificate at UW in 2012, Certificate program in genealogy at Boston University, 2013). A member of Seattle Genealogical Society for a number of years, she joined the SGS Board as Vice-President in June 2014. She is also a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists.

Step away from the computer to search records that may not be digitized but are stored in county courthouses.  Learn what you can expect to find from land records to court proceedings and how the information will help your research. 

Monday November 9th: Monthly Program, 1:15 p.m.

Speakers:  Eric Stroschein
Program:  Five Strategies for finding  Ancestors in their  Homeland

Eric StrohscheinMost migration and immigration issues are a US research problem. Thorough research is necessary to answer difficult genealogical questions. A great strategy is important to a successful outcome for your research.

Eric Stroschein owns, with his wife Karen, Generations Detective, a genealogical research firm. When not researching, he can be found driving a fire engine for the Seattle Fire Department where he is a 26 year veteran.  He recently returned from an epic three week trip to Sweden with Karen, where he met several cousins, spoke about using DNA in genealogy, and walked the lands of his ancestors. 

Eric serves on the Records Preservation and Access Committee for the Federation of Genealogical Societies. He is past President of the Puget Sound Chapter of the Association of Professional Genealogists and is also a board member of the International Society for British Genealogy and Family History.  

Eric's previous programs for GSSWI have been among the most popular and informative of our presentations.

Monday December 14th, Holiday Program, 1:15 p.m.

Program:  Annual Holiday Potluck and Personal Research Review

Holiday Wreath Come prepared to present a few words on an interesting aspect of your current research, an interesting book you've found or anything else notable you've discovered.  Family artifacts are also appropriate.

This will be our annual Holiday potluck luncheon.  Please bring a salad, entree or dessert sufficient to serve eight people.

Monday January 11th: Monthly Program, 1:15 p.m.

Speaker:  Nancy McDaniel
Program:  
A Sound Defense - Military Historical Sites of Puget Sound 

Nancy McDaniel Nancy McDaniel, a retired Air Force Colonel in the Medical Service Corps, will speak about her book, “A Sound Defense - Military Historical Sites of Puget Sound”. Ms. McDaniel will identify the local military sites, talk about their history, describe how the sites were acquired and any persons and skirmishes associated with each site.

Ms. McDaniel currently lives, with her husband, in her home town of Chimacum, where she went to high school, then on to the University of Puget Sound, where she was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant upon graduation from the AFROTC.  She is a board member of the Jefferson County Historical Society; volunteers as a tour guide for uptown Port Townsend; is a quilter, loves to travel and is a musician in the Port Townsend Summer Band.

Monday February 8th: Monthly Program, 1:15 p.m.

Speaker:  Maureen MacDonald
Program:  An  Apple  a  Day

Maureen MacDonaldMaureen MacDonald is one of our most active members and a graduate of Sarah Thorson-Little's highly recommended University of Washington Genealogy class.

In this program you will learn about medicine in the early days and how it affected ancestral families in choosing a location to settle, raising their children and, possibly, moving to another location. The program might help to answer the question of why you are missing certain relatives.

Monday March 14th: Monthly Program, 1:15 p.m.

Speaker:  Janet Camarata
Program:  Beginning Irish Research


Janet CamarataHunting for an elusive Irish ancestor can feel like an impossible task. Janet's program outlines an approach to make it easier, including strategies for tracking down Irish ancestors with common names.

The program will highlight differences between research in the US and in Ireland, record types available for Irish research here and abroad and the availability of records, both online and off-line.

(Plus, it's only three days to Saint Patrick's Day!)

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Monday April 11th: Monthly Program, 1:15 p.m.

Speaker:  Karen Sipe
Program:  DNA and Genealogy

Karen SipeDNA is becoming more and more  important  as a tool  for genealogical research. Unfortunately,  it  is a  very  complex subject!

Karen Sipe, our April speaker, is highly qualified in the application of DNA analysis as it applies to Genealogy. She will attempt to demystify the use of DNA research in Genealogy.  This is an important subject and the program is not to be missed.  Come and be enlightened.

Monday May 9th: Monthly Program, 1:15 p.m.

Speakers:  Jill Morelli
Program:   Top  10 Tech  Tools

Jill MorelliJill Morelli writes and lectures extensively in the Puget Sound (WA) area on subjects related to genealogy and her German and Scandinavian heritage. She is presently researching 19th century migration decision-making and insanity in the late 1800s.  She blogs at http://genealogycertification.wordpress.com about methodology and problem solving for the “on-the-clock” genealogist.

Jill says that she is not a technophile but she has located tools that she considers essential to research. 

Perhaps they might assist your efforts as well. 

Monday June 13th: Monthly Program, 1:15 p.m.

Speaker:  Gary Zimmerman
Program:  The War of 1812

Gary Zimmerman Gary Zimmerman, President of the Fiske Genealogy Library, will present the final program in this year's series. The subject, which has been requested by GSSWI members, will be 'The War of 1812'.

Gary's programs are always useful, entertaining and educational. Attend and learn from him.  

Extra Credit Question: Who was Oliver Hazard Perry and what did he have to do with the war of 1812?