OGS Resuming In-Person Meetings in September!
Starting with our September 12, 2024 meeting, we will resume in-person monthly general meetings. We will be "hybrid" so we will continue to use Zoom as well. Choose the one that works best for you each month. Want to see your friends in person? Meet us at Westminster Presbyterian Church. Bad weather or don't like driving at night? Join us via Zoom. Refer to the meeting calendar for details.
Indentureship in Early America - June 13 Meeting
 Peggy Clemens Lauritzen presented " Apprentices, Indentured Servants, and Redemptioners in America" at our June 13 general meeting.
An estimated one-half of early immigrants came to America against their own will; some as indentured servants. Our ancestors arrived in many different ways as their lives touched the early colonies. Some voyages were planned, many were not. This lecture examined the many different forms of servitude and indentureship in early America.
The love of her family’s history has never left Peggy. With her experience serving as a former and current Family History Director, she frequently speaks at genealogical socities, workshops, seminars, and webinars where she loves bringing genealogy to life. She has recently completed several Legacy QuickGuides on Appalachia. Peggy is an instructor at Ancestry Academy, Family Tree University, a columnist for Reminisce magazine, and a former researcher for Ancestry ProGenealogists. She and her husband Kerry are Stake Family History Consultants in Mansfield, Ohio.
A recording of the Zoom meeting is now available for OGS members. Click on Community Events / Recordings* to view the recording. Corresponding handout is available. Click on PublicationsFiles / Downloadable Files / Program Material - OGS Only*. Through Peggy's generosity the recording and handout will be available to OGS Members on our website indefinitely. Please log onto the website to access files.
50th Anniversary Party - May 18th
 The OGS community celebrated 50 years of the Olympia Genealogical Society on May 18, 2024 at the Capital Vision Christian Church in Olympia. One of the highlights was Ann Olson and Alma Greenwood, two of our Founding Members, sharing their memories of the early days of the organization. We had quite a group of past presidents in attendance.
Photos and a video from the party will be available soon.
Jewish Research - May 9 Meeting
 Janice M. Sellers presented “ Jewish Genealogy: How Is This Research Different from All Other Research?” at our May general meeting. This talk told us what is unique about Jewish research, showed us what resources are available, and suggested what can be done with your research.
Janice is a professional genealogist specializing in black, Jewish, dual citizenship, forensic, and newspaper research. She is the president of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Oregon and a board member of the San Francisco Bay Area Jewish Genealogical Society (SFBAJGS) and other genealogy publications. She has volunteered at LDS FamilySearch Centers since 2000 and gives presentations on many genealogical topics at local, regional, state, and national/international levels. She has researched her own family history for almost 50 years. For more information, visit her website.
Genealogical Gems in Ledgers - April 11 meeting
 Diane Richard spoke about Genealogical Gems in Ledgers at our April general meeting.
Have you explored “small business” ledgers, typically found in manuscript collections (privately held or as part of a university collection)? You can learn so much about your family, FAN club, and neighborhood through these records. Store, business, post office, health-related and many other types of ledgers can link family members and provide content invaluable to your family history narrative. The frequent use of the barter system connected many! Samples of many ledgers are shared along with insight into the myriad resources helpful in discovering their existence.
Diane L Richard, www.mosaicrpm.com, has been doing genealogy research since 1987 and, since 2004, professionally focused on the records of North Carolina and southern states. She has authored over 600 articles on genealogy topics. In 2019, she published Tracing Your Ancestors — African American Research: A Practical Guide via Moorshead Publications. Since 2016, she has been the editor of the North Carolina Genealogical Society (NCGS) journal. She is co-leader of Tar Heel Discoveries, www.tarheeldiscoveries.com, which offers guided North Carolina genealogical research programs providing participants with targeted, focused research assistance. She is VP of NC Historical Records Online (NCHRO), http://nchistoricalrecords.org/, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing public access to high-quality images of original records and other related information to research North Carolina history and genealogy. She is co-owner of GenWebinars, direct to consumer webinar offerings coming in 2024.
A recording of the Zoom meeting is now available for OGS members. Click on Community Events / Recordings* to view the recording. Corresponding handout is available. Click on PublicationsFiles / Downloadable Files / Program Material - OGS Only*. Recording and handout available through 24 July 2024 for OGS Members. Please log onto the website to access files.
Welcome to Our Website!
The OGS website is designed to allow our members to engage with each other as they trace their ancestors and discover their family histories. We want to make this site a dynamic experience. Here are just a few ways to engage on this site today:
If you aren’t already an OGS member, please consider joining and engaging with our community. To do so, see Membership in the menu in the left column.
OGS Needs You!
Fellow OGS Members, as we begin our 50th year as a group with the special interest of family history, we are looking to reconnect with the community at large while serving our membership's continued interest in all things genealogy! With this end goal in mind, we are in need of more members to become involved to helping out. Listed below are various opportunities to help. Take a look, see what you can contribute to help grow and keep OGS vital for the next 50 years!
- DIG Virtually - There is interest in having a group to help out members in the community like we have done in the past at the Olympia Library, but to do this virtually. Virtual meeting times may be a couple of times a month, perhaps a week day and a Saturday for a couple of hours. If we were to have 6-10 members volunteer, there could be a rotating schedule. Schedule would depend on how many members volunteer. Training will be provided. Send an email to Info@olygensoc.org if you have an interest in participating in this outreach opportunity.
- Meeting Tech Team - We have a location secured with all of the needed equipment for hybrid general membership meetings, but we need one or preferably two people who can help with the tech setup at the in-person site for each meeting. Set up is pretty simple. You would be bringing the OGS laptop to each meeting and making the connections; much easier than when we met at the courthouse!! Orientation/training will be provided. If you are interested, send an email to webmaster@olygensoc.org.
- Speakers Bureau team - From time to time we receive requests for a member from our organization to come and speak to a group about genealogy and OGS. It would be great to have a few members who would like to speak for 30-45 minutes about genealogy to a neighborhood group, classroom full of kids, or service organization. Opportunities for this maybe once or twice a year depending on how many setup to represent OGS. Great outreach opportunities to grow our organization. Send an email to Info@olygensoc.org if you have an interest!
2023-24 Special Interest Groups (SIGs)
It's a New Year and our 50th Anniversary! As a "New Year's Resolution" consider joining a Special Interest Group if you haven't done so. This is a great venue to learn more and get to know fellow members in a small group setting. SIGs are a benefit of membership so make sure your membership status is updated to access this wonderful benefit. SIG meetings will continue to be held virtually using Google Meet except for the FTM SIG which will use Zoom. See the SIGs page for a list of our SIGs, coordinators, meeting times, etc.
OGS Surname Database
OGS provides a searchable public database to which an OGS member can add the surnames of their ancestors. At this writing, the database includes 348 entries. See OGS Surname Database for more information.
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August 20
Monthly Board Meeting
The primary activity at our August board meeting will be approving the annual budget. OGS members in good standing are welcome to attend board ...
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September 12
Monthly General Membership Meeting
Program: TBD Social time starts at 6:30 pm. Formal meeting begins at 7:00 pm. This will be our first in-person meeting since Covid! ...
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October 19
Beginners Workshop 2024
This free beginning genealogy research class is being offered for the first time since the start of Covid. Handouts will be provided at the class. ...
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WSGS Calendar
Washington State Genealogical Society calendar
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