November is our annual joint meeting of the Detroit Society for Genealogical Research and the Oakland County Genealogical Society. Director of Special Collections and Genealogy Center Manager, Curt B. Witcher will be our presenter.  “A New Look at Genealogy Center Resources” includes an update on the new Genealogy Center website, new items available since mid-2019, what is available through their partnership with FamilySearch, and what steps the Genealogy Center has taken to keep staff and visitors safe during these times. The Genealogy Center is part of the Special Collections of the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana.This meeting will be a Zoom webinar. Registration is required.

An online presentation via Zoom, check back a week prior for a registration link.

 

This presentation will discuss the migration of blacks to Michigan in the mid-1880s, prior to the Great Migration from the south.  It will share examples of individuals who migrated from Canada and Kentucky and settled in Detroit, Midland and Marquette.  

Presenter: Rozlyn Kelly

 

Persons forcibly kidnapped from a 3,000-mile stretch of West Africa and enslaved in North America came from a wide variety of different ethnic groups with distinctive traditions.  They formed new families and established common values, traditions, and a group identity.  They used the term “African” in the 1770s, “colored” and “Negro” in the 1830s, “colored,” “Negro,” and “Afro-American” in the 1900s.  “Black” and “African American” became the dominant terms after the 1970s.

Presenter: De Witt Dykes

These are held cooperatively with the Highland Township Library, and currently use the Library’s Zoom virtual platform for the presentation. Registration is required for the events, watch Facebook for the event registration link or check our website two weeks in advance to find the link in our program schedule.

 

Many family historians find that their ancestors were farmers. The presentation will talk about the pervasiveness of farming, sources for farming history including, deeds, plat maps, the agricultural schedule of the United States Census, the 1938 Works Progress Administration’s (WPA) Rural Property Inventory, and Centennial Farms.

Presenter: Dan Fantore

These are held cooperatively with the Highland Township Library, and currently use the Library’s Zoom virtual platform for the presentation. Registration is required for the events, watch Facebook for the event registration link or check our website two weeks in advance to find the link in our program schedule.

 

How does history get tangled and twisted sometimes? How do inaccurate accounts and historical myths get passed along down through time? And... most importantly, what resources exist to help straighten it out! This presentation focuses on multiple resources that can be used not only to investigate the history of Oakland County but also to correct some common errors.  We will examine questions such as: How do you determine something is inaccurate in history? How do you know if a source is reliable? Why are dates frequently incorrect? How come people got it so mixed up?"

Presenter: Carol Bacak Egbo

These are held cooperatively with the Highland Township Library, and currently use the Library’s Zoom virtual platform for the presentation. Registration is required for the events, watch Facebook for the event registration link or check our website two weeks in advance to find the link in our program schedule.