Eastside Genealogical Society

PO Box 374 • Bellevue, Washington 98009-0374

Eastside Genealogical Society invites you to attend an event or become a member.

Events

  • German Interest Group – Friday June 6th 12:30 PM

    German Interest Group – Friday June 6th 12:30 PM

    Presenter:
    Robin McDonough

    Robin is the Outreach and Programming Coordinator for the Emerson History & Genealogy Center at the St. Louis County Library. She is a former high school history teacher and has been researching genealogy for
    25 years. She enjoys teaching others how to discover their family history

    When: Friday, 6th of June, 2025
    from 12:30 to 2:30 pm PDT

    Zoom Registration Required:
    https://tinyurl.com/4rpudhxk

    Topic: Using Ortsfamilienbücher to Research German Ancestors
    Ortsfamilienbücher contain genealogical information about families within a specific town, village, or parish, sometimes going back to the beginning of written records. Learn about the Emerson History & Genealogy Center’s large collection of these books and how to use them.

    More information: Visitors are always welcome.

    Our website is:
    https://egsgermangroup.wordpress.com

  • Italian Interest Group – Saturday June 21st 1:30 PM

    Italian Interest Group – Saturday June 21st 1:30 PM

    “Italian Municipal and Tax Censuses”

    Description: This lecture examines Italian municipal and tax censuses as valuable genealogical resources. It provides an overview of censuses over time, including the riveli and catasti, highlighting their insights into family structures, property ownership, and community history. Participants will learn how to locate and analyze these records to enhance their family research.

    ZOOM Meeting

    When:           21-Jun-2025, Saturday
    Time:             1:30 PM (PDT)
    Presenter:   Suzanne Russo Adams

    Speaker Bio: Suzanne Russo Adams, MA, AG®, is an Associate Professor of family history and the Director of the Center for Family History and Genealogy at Brigham Young University. An Accredited Genealogist® specializing in Italian research, she holds degrees in Family History/Genealogy and Sociology, as well as a master’s degree in History. With over 25 years of experience in the genealogy field, Suzanne has worked extensively in record acquisition, strategy, and content digitization for Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org. She is the author of “Finding Your Italian Ancestors: A Beginner’s Guide”.

    If you aren’t a registered member, you must request meeting access. Below is the link to request a meeting invitation.

    Please send me an invitation link

  • Family Tree Maker SIG – Friday June 20th 10:30 AM

    Meeting Friday June 20, 2025 10:30 AM PT

    The Family Tree Maker SIG meets on the 3rd Friday of each month from 10:30AM to 12:30PM Pacific time via Zoom. (Check this website for information on each upcoming meeting date.) The next meeting will be on Friday, June 20, 2025. If you would like to attend and are not on the SIG e-mail distribution list, please send an e-mail to ftmsig@eastsidegenealogicalsociety.org to request the meeting link. The Family Tree Maker SIG will not meet in December.

  • Genealogy Book Club – Friday June 13th 10:00 AM

    The Eastside Genealogical Society’s Book Club will meet June 13th at 10 AM PT via Zoom.

    The book for this month is I Know Who You Are by Barbara Rae Venter.

    Email Kimberly Nichols at vicepresident@eastsidegenealogicalsociety.org to request a zoom link and be added to the email list.

  • General Meeting and Speaker – Thursday June 12th 6:30 PM

    How to Reopen and Work a Genealogical Cold Case

    Our speaker: Lisa Louise Cooke
    Thursday, June 12, 2025
    Networking and announcements at 6:30 pm Pacific; program at 7:00 pm
    Via Zoom

    About our speaker: Lisa Louise Cooke is the author of several books including The Genealogist’s Google Toolbox, 3rd edition. She produces and hosts the popular Genealogy Gems Podcast (founded in 2007) and publishes weekly videos at the Genealogy Gems YouTube channel. She offers on-demand genealogy education. And she writes a regular column for Family Tree Magazine and produces the Family Tree Magazine Podcast.

    About our program: Become a genealogical detective in this vital session. You’ll learn to track ancestors like a criminal cold case detective, sniffing out holes in your research and getting missing information on the record with cutting edge technology.

    Everyone is welcome—we hope you will join us.

    For more information about EGS, visit our website at eastsidegenealogicalsociety.org

    *The Zoom link will be sent to members, otherwise check the website close to the program date.

  • Italian Interest Group – Saturday May 17th 1:30 PM

    Italian Interest Group – Saturday May 17th 1:30 PM

    SHARING TIME

    Share Your Italian Family Artifact, Document or Photo

    Description: At our May meeting we invite you to share something related to your Italian family history or research. Perhaps you have an interesting family artifact or a photo from long ago. Or you may have found documents relating to your family’s past in Italy. Even if you don’t have keepsakes from your ancestors, you may wish to show us their Ellis Island passenger manifest or a photo of the Italian town where they lived. Feel free to be creative. We will all learn from this experience. Please share your item and tell us a little about the person it relates to, or how you discovered it, and what it means to your Italian family history.

    ZOOM Meeting
    When:           17-May-2025, Saturday
    Time:             1:30 PM (PDT)

    If you aren’t a registered member, you must request meeting access. Below is the button to request a meeting invitation.

    Please Send Me An Invitation

  • General Meeting and Speaker – Thursday May 8th 6:30 PM

    Eastside Genealogical Society presents:

    Scandinavian Church Records

    Our speaker:  Jenny Hansen
    Thursday, May 8, 2025
    Networking and announcements at 6:30 pm Pacific; program at 7:00 pm
    Via Zoom—watch for the link*

    About our speaker:
    Jenny Hansen is currently a free-lance researcher and instructor, specializing in all things Scandinavia. She has a degree in Family History and Genealogy, is an Accredited Genealogist® (Danish research) and is also an Accredited Genealogist Lecturer™. Jenny serves as a commissioner for The International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists (ICAPGen). Her hobbies include reading, finding old churches and cemeteries, and doing anything outdoors with her family. She blogs at www.MyFavoriteAncestor.com.

    About our program: Church records are the backbone of Scandinavian research.  After a parish of origin has been determined, these records provide the majority of the information needed to extend the pedigree of one’s family.  This class will discuss the information found in church records and explain why these records are so important for family research. We will look at the layout of the records and explain record accessibility.

    Everyone is welcome—we hope you will join us. Via this Zoom link

    For more information about EGS, visit our website at eastsidegenealogicalsociety.org

  • German Interest Group – Friday May 2nd 12:30 PM

    German Interest Group – Friday May 2nd 12:30 PM

    Presenter:
    Dana Palmer, CG®, CGL(SM) Dana specializes in lineage society applications, publishing family books, and Midwestern research – specifically Ohio. In addition to her client work, she is part of the Mayflower Silver Books team, and lectures at RootsTech and the National Genealogical Society (NGS) conferences.

    When: Friday, 2nd of May, 2025 from 12:30 to 2:30 pm PDT


    Zoom Registration Required:     https://tinyurl.com/n92u343h


    Topic: Tools for Reading German Handwriting
    Understanding what is in your German records can be invaluable. Learn how to decipher the records using a variety of tools available. We’ll discuss handwriting changes over time, some tricks to reading the letters, and other helpful resources found in the FamilySearch Wiki, sütterlin schrift website, the handschrift script generator, the BYU script tutorial. We’ll also discuss using the German Genealogy Record Transcription Closed Facebook group, the German Genealogy Family Search Community Group, Google Translate, and the Google Translate App, and others.


    More information: Visitors are always welcome. Our website is:
    https://egsgermangroup.wordpress.com/

  • Genealogy Book Club – Friday May 9th 10:00 AM

    The Eastside Genealogical Society’s Book Club will meet May 9th at 10 AM PT via Zoom.

    The book for this month is In The Blood by Steve Robinson.

    Email Kimberly Nichols at vicepresident@eastsidegenealogicalsociety.org to request a zoom link and be added to the email list.

  • Italian Interest Group – Saturday April 19th 1:30 PM

    Italian Interest Group – Saturday April 19th 1:30 PM

    Italian Civil Registration – Other Documents: Diversi, Parte Due/Seconda & Cittadinanza

    Description: Italian civil records provide great information – names, dates, parents, grandparents, and sometimes even addresses. But – have you ever ventured into those handwritten scary looking records at the end of the book? Parte 2, Diversi, and the Cittadinanza records offer up additional information – and sometimes quite colorful information. They are a window into the past. We will delve into each of these record types and discover some amazing stories and see the potential for help these records can provide when you find your ancestors within the pages.

    ZOOM Meeting

    When:           19-Apr-2025, Saturday
    Time:             1:30 PM (PDT)
    Presenter:   Ruth Merriman

    Speaker Bio: Ruth Lapioli Merriman retired seven years ago after 35 years of working for FamilySearch. She worked cataloging Italian records and managing the International floor of the FamilySearch Library in Salt Lake City. She has lectured at national and international venues, at RootsTech and at various genealogical societies. She loves genealogy and all things Italian. She is a wife, a mother of four sons, and a grandmother of 6 of the best grandchildren ever.

    If you aren’t a registered member, you must request meeting access. Below is the link to request a meeting invitation.

    Please send me an invitation link