AFGS Calendar of Events
Presentations by guest speakers are open to the public free of charge through a grant from the LeFoyer Endowment Fund
All workshops begin at 1:30 pm
March 3 – Interviewing Skills for Family Oral Histories with Marjorie Turner Hollman Personal Historian Marjorie Turner Hollman will provide attendees with hands-on experience interviewing and being interviewed. Gathering oral histories is a valuable contribution to saving and sharing the stories of our lives. Genealogists know that documents can tell only so much. Recording persons who have lived the story is an important piece of the puzzle in preserving our history and making it accessible for future generations. Seating is limited. Reservations may be made at the following link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/interviewing-skills-for-family-oral-histories-with-marjorie-turner-hollman-tickets-55131430593
March 17 – Resources for Finding Irish ancestors with Raymond Bacon and Richard Reid Raymond Bacon is a former co-manager of the Museum of Work & Culture in Woonsocket, and a noted history teacher at Woonsocket High School who developed a program on local history. He will speak about noted Irish immigrants in the Blackstone Valley and their contributions to the area since their arrival in the mid-1800s.
Richard Reid is a member of The Friends of Irish Research, a collection of friends with over 100 years of experience with a desire to utilize their experience and skills to promote the sharing of genealogical knowledge and to assist others in their family research. The Friends of Irish Research are affiliated with the Irish Cultural Center in Canton, Mass. Richard will speak about Irish immigration history and offer new resources for Irish genealogical research. He will distribute a CD of helpful resources for each attendee. Seating is limited. Reservations may be made at the following link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/resources-for-finding-your-irish-ancestors-with-ray-bacon-and-richard-reid-tickets-55131730490
April 14 – Organizing and Preserving Family Photos with Maureen Taylor. Maureen Taylor will Maureen Taylor, known as The Photo Detective, will explain basic photo organization and photo preservation basics from storage to labeling and everything in-between. Each step includes low-cost solutions that won’t bust your budget. Maureen is a frequent keynote speaker on photo identification, photograph preservation, and family history at historical and genealogical societies, museums, conferences, libraries, and other organizations across the U.S., London and Canada. She has written several books, hundreds of newspaper and magazine articles and made numerous television appearances including The View and The Today Show. Seating is limited. Make reservations at the following site: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/organizing-and-preserving-family-photographs-presented-by-maureen-taylor-tickets-54512747094
April 28 – Immigration from Quebec to New England with Sandra Goodwin Sandy Goodwin is a former teacher and is the founder of Maple Stars and Stripes: Your French-Canadian Genealogy Podcast to share tips and tricks that might make it easier to research your French Canadian family here in America as well as to trace them back in Quebec. In addition to many excellent guest interviews, her podcasts discuss ways to make it easier to move around in French-language records, especially if you’re not a native French speaker, and will review different record groups, repositories, history, geography, culture, and methodology particular to French-Canadian genealogy. Seating is limited. Reservations may be made at the following link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/immigration-from-quebec-to-new-england-with-sandra-goodwin-tickets-55132402500
May 5, 2019 – A Distinct Alien Race: The Untold Story of Franco-Americans, Industrialization, Immigration, Religious Strife with David Vermette. David Vermette, a Massachusetts native, will discuss his new book about his family’s assimilation in the U.S. He is a researcher, writer, and speaker on the history and identity of the descendants of French North America. David wrote, “Americans don’t think of Canada as a source of potential terrorists—speaking a foreign tongue, serving a foreign religion, and invading their country. But when a million French-Canadians crossed the border between 1840 and 1930, many seeking work in New England’s burgeoning textile industry, they were cast as foot soldiers in an alleged Roman Catholic plot.” Seating is limited. Reservations may be made at the following link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/a-distinct-alien-race-the-untold-story-of-franco-americans-with-david-vermette-tickets-55132706409
May 18 and 19 – Cumberland/Lincoln Community Chorus Spring Concert. Concerts on Friday evening May 18 at 7:00 pm and Sunday, May 18 at 3 pm. Details to follow.
AFGS welcomes suggested topics for future presentations. Email your ideas to info@afgs.org.
