Program

Friday Schedule

Saturday Schedule

Friday Sessions:

Workshop: Hands-on Approach to Learning the Cyrillic Alphabets

This 75-minute workshop will acquaint participants with the letter symbols of the Cyrillic alphabet and the sounds represented by each letter symbol. Everyone will practice writing and pronouncing the sounds. Additionally participants will learn to recognize both printed and cursive versions of the letters and read portions of nineteenth century vital records. Upon completing the workshop those who attended will no longer fear doing research in records written in the languages that utilize this writing system. Seating is limited to 20 participants, first-come first-served in order of registration date!

Which Autosomal DNA test is right for you?

New autosomal DNA tests can answer questions about genealogy that traditional Y-DNA and mtDNA may not. Learn what tests are available, the pros and cons of autosomal DNA testing and which test might be right for you. Shellee will describe ways to get the most out of your Autosomal (atDNA) test at each of the three sites for connecting with relatives, finding cousins, and becoming active in the genetic genealogy community.

One-on-one Translation Appointments

Saturday Sessions:

"I Found My Village! Now What?": Locating Vital Records in Poland Using Online Resources

Finding vital records for one's family in Poland is a critical step in exploring our Polish ancestry, but can sometimes be confusing. After a brief overview of the Polish partitions to introduce beginners to the history and geography of Poland, Julie will illustrate the use of church records, passenger manifests, naturalization records, and other documents from U.S. sources, to determine one's ancestral village accurately. She’ll suggest resources and strategies to help you decipher misspelled place names, and discuss the next steps in your research: determining the parish and civil registry office using gazetteers, and obtaining birth, marriage and death records. Julie will rely heavily on online sources throughout her presentation, and show how you can trace your Polish ancestry without having to cross the ocean.

Now I Found It! What does it Say? A Linguistic Overview of Latin, Russian, Ukrainian and Polish

This session will examine various phonetic and grammatical features of the languages we encounter in our quest to document the histories of our families. Special attention will be given to features of the Slavic languages which confuse the English speaker. We will also translate representative sample documents that we frequently encounter in the research process.

U.S. Alien Registration Files

Alien Registration Files for our non-naturalized ancestors can provide valuable genealogical information, if you know where to look, and how to access them. This lecture describes the Smith Act of 1940, how to find A-Files and what information can be found in them, including memberships in various organizations.

Using Polish Language Websites for Genealogical Research in Galicia (Halychyna)

A recent surge of interest in family history in the nations of Eastern Europe has resulted in the development of various websites that assist us in researching digitized records and compiled vital records indexes. Among those to be examined will be geneteka, which contains indexes to vital records in Poland, Belarus, Lithuania and Ukraine as well as several additional websites which contain records from not only Poland but also of neighboring nations such as Ukraine and Lithuania.

How to Locate Those Elusive Military Records for Ancestors who Served in the Austro-Hungarian Army

Men were conscripted in all regions of the Empire including Austria, Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia, Galicia, Transylvania, Bukovina, Bosnia Herzegovina, Croatia, Slovenia, Northern Italy and Hungary which included the area of present day Slovakia. Therefore, locating records for individuals who served in the Austro-Hungarian Army can be a bit challenging if one does not understand where and how these records are kept. The presentation will attempt to demystify the process and provide the necessary tools and methodology to make a search for AH military records successful.

Genetic Genealogy (DNA) Tools

You got your DNA results, so now what? Learn how to make the most out of your DNA results by using 3rd party websites to analyze your data, find more cousins and learn more about your genetic heritage.

Finding Uncle Frank:  Confirming the Identity of a U.S. Soldier Buried Under the Wrong Name

Frank Zielinski was a Polish immigrant who served in the U.S. Army in World War I, was killed in combat, and was buried in an American cemetery in Europe.  However, the American Battle Monuments Commission, which has burial records for all American cemeteries overseas, has no record of a serviceman by this name.  Using a variety of sources including military personnel and burial records from state and national archives, and newspapers, Julie will trace her search for Uncle Frank and demonstrate how military records can be goldmines for family historians. 

UAGenealogy: Discovering Online Genealogy Resources

In this talk, Chubenko will share her “top-ten” websites for Ukrainian research—sites that are invaluable and are constantly expanding their collections. From online indexes to digitized images of records, you’ll learn about who is bringing greater access to the records from the Central State Historical Archives, Oblast (Regional) Archives and other historical organizations in Ukraine and the diaspora. Discover how to use message boards and other databases to find fellow researchers and historical information on Ukraine's rich, yet turbulent history.

Speaker Biographies

Carl Kotlarchik has been an avid genealogist for over forty years. An organic chemist by training, he was the Director of R&D for Photographic Materials at Eastman Kodak before his retirement in 2004. Since retiring, he and his wife have enjoyed biking, swimming, gardening and especially conducting research on their respective family histories. Carl’s recent research emphasis has been on the military records and history of his Slovak families. After publishing a book in 2011 about his family, he began a blog on how to locate Austro-Hungarian military records to help others find their ancestral documents.

Julie Roberts Szczepankiewicz is a family history researcher with 20 years of experience in researching her family's origins in Poland, Germany, the U.S. and Canada. She reads records in Polish, Russian and Latin, and she volunteers as an administrator and regular contributor to the Facebook groups "Polish Genealogy" and "Genealogy Translations." She is a member of the Polish Genealogical Society of America, the Polish Genealogical Society of New York State, the Polish Genealogical Society of Connecticut and the Northeast, and the Polish Genealogical Society of Massachusetts.  Her article, "The Insider's Guide to Geneteka" (co-authored with Maciej Adam Markowski), was recently published in the Winter issue of the PGSA journal Rodziny. Ms. Szczepankiewicz currently resides in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, with her husband and children.

Michelle Tucker Chubenko is a self-proclaimed southern belle born north of the Mason-Dixon Line. She is a professional genealogist with deep ancestral roots in colonial America from her father and a 20th century flair of Eastern European ancestry (Ukrainian and Hungarian) from her mother. Michelle is a founding member with the Family History Group – Nashi Predky – at the Ukrainian Historical and Educational Center of New Jersey. She has presented locally on Eastern European research and volunteers as a co-coordinator for the Facebook group “Our Ancestors -- Наші Предки / Ukrainian Genealogy” and the UkraineGenWeb project. She has attended GRIP, IGHR, and SLIG and is a ProGen17 graduate.

Shellee Morehead, PhD, CG solves complex genealogical problems, writes and teaches genealogy and biology. She is Rhode Island-based, and specializes in Rhode Island, Italian-Immigrant, French-Canadian and genetic genealogy research.

Prof. Jonathan Shea, AG is a native of New Britain, Connecticut, is a professor of foreign languages in the Connecticut Higher Education System. In addition to being a foreign language educator, Shea is a trained archivist and professional genealogist with specialization in Eastern Europe and Ireland and frequently lectures and presents workshops internationally on the topics of document translation and other linguistic issues, immigration history and European archival resources. He has over twenty years of experience in the field of genealogical research, documenting his own family (with roots in the former provinces of Łomża and Grodno, Poland, and Counties Offaly and Mayo, Ireland) as well as the families of others. The Family History Library in Salt Lake City has recognized him as an Accredited Genealogist in the field of Polish research. His most recent publication "Going Home: A Guide to Polish-American Family History Research" is a comprehensive reference work on genealogical research methodology. He has also co-authored with William Fred Hoffman the three volume series "In Their Words: A Genealogist’s Translation Guide, Volume 1: Polish, Volume 2: Russian, Volume 3: Latin."