Announcing RootsTech Pittsburgh 2015!

It's time to start getting excited for the second annual RootsTech Pittsburgh Family Discovery Day! This is a community family history event that will take place in Oakland on Saturday, June 13th from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The event is free, but please do register in advance.

The Family Discovery Day is a time for members of the community to come together and celebrate family connections across generations. Participants are encouraged to use technology to discover, share, and celebrate their family roots.

You can attend RootsTech Pittsburgh for all or part of the day, making the event suit your individual needs as you seek out and build your family tree. At RootsTech you can learn through:

• Classes taught by genealogy experts. Each hour, about six or seven different classes are offered, with class topics ranging from African American Family History 101 to Google Your Ancestors to Indexing. Pick and choose which is most interesting and useful to you. Classes are aimed at varying levels of experience, and each hour there is a class particularly intended for youth ages 12-18. See the class schedule here. 
• Individualized help from consultants in the Internet Café. Family history consultants will be available to help you on your personal family history. Whether you just need to set up a basic FamilySearch account or you are trying to break through a brick wall in your research, the consultants in the Internet Café can help. 

Last year's RootsTech Pittsburgh was a great success. Over 200 people attended and learned more about how to strengthen their family ties. Check out the blog post and photos from RootsTech Pittsburgh 2014 to get a feel for what this year's RootsTech will be like.

Lunch will be available for purchase at cost, or you can bring or buy your own lunch in Oakland. Parking is free. See RootsTechPittsburgh.org, including our FAQ page, if you have more questions, or contact us through Facebook or by commenting below.

We're looking forward to an awesome event! Your attendance will make it a success.

Searching Out Your Native American Ancestors

On November 29 the Plum Family History Center hosted an excellent event in honor of Native American History Month. The event started off with a Native American-themed lunch: a three-sisters vegetable chili with buffalo. It was delicious! It was accompanied by fried bread and side dishes brought by the guests.

After lunch, Pat "Star Dancer" Selinger presented about researching Native American ancestors. Pat is the Turtle Clan Mother in the Lenape Tribe. Everyone in attendance enjoyed learning more about Native Americans and their relations to the United States government and to us.

Pat boldly stated the challenges associated with researching Native American Ancestors. Because they are native, there are no immigration records. And there are rarely any written records at all, for that matter. When records do exist, a Native American may be recorded as being "black," or any other descent they married into. Also, because of the persecution in our country's past, many Native American renounced their heritage in order to protect themselves.

Generally, Native Americans don't have a great interest in genealogy work. So, what tools do you have to research Native Americans in your bloodline? Start with whatever clues you can find. Sometimes Native American were told to keep their heritage an absolute secret in order to protect themselves from the government. If think you have Native American ancestry, recall the stories your elders have told, and you may find connected stories in Native American lore. You may find help through individual tribe websites. Here are a few for starters:

• Cherokee, NC: http://nc-cherokee.com/
• Cherokee, OK: http://www.cherokee.org/
• Seneca, NY: https://sni.org/
• Lenape, PA: http://thundermtnlenape.org/

Buffalo three-sisters chili. The three sisters are three vegetables
(corn, beans, and squash) that grow well together by providing protection and support. 

Some of the displays brought by Pat Selinger

Plum FHC director, Ed Snodgrass, helps serve the chili

Chef Jared and Pat Selinger working on the chili and fried bread

Pat Selinger answers questions after her presentation

Thanks to Ed Snodgrass and Pat Selinger for this great event!

Visit the Green Tree Family History Center

Pittsburgh PA Family History Center from Matt Hoyt on Vimeo.

 The Green Tree Family History Center, located at 46 School Street (near the corner of  Mansfield Avenue and Poplar Street) is one of 4,600 local FamilySearch facilities in 126 countries where anyone can access genealogical records and receive personal assistance with their family history. (Jim Stuber's numbers in the video were just a bit out of date. The number of centers and countries grow every year.)

Family history centers are free, open to the public ,and staffed by knowledgeable volunteers. Each facility offers both novices and experienced family historians the tools and resources to learn about their ancestors. The centers provide free access to subscription genealogical websites. For a small fee, patrons also have access to the vast circulating collection of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which includes 2.5 million microfilms from over 100 countries.

Lorrie Danko Guthrie serves as director of the Green Tree Family History Center. She has held this unpaid Church-service position for many years. As director, she oversees the center's operations, staffing, and finances—and she does a great job. You will find the facility comfortable, the staff knowledgeable, and the resources extraordinary.

Following are Lorrie's "11 Reasons to Visit the Green Tree Family History Center."

1. Free help getting started with FamilyTree to create a permanent pedigree chart online.
2.  Free access to Premium Family History Web sites through the Family History Center Portal.  These include Ancestry. com, MyHeritage.com, Findmypast.com, Heritage Quest Online, Godfrey Memorial Library, World Vital Records, etc.  Usually you have to buy a subscription to these sites.
3.  Experienced family history staff to help you get started or to get you over your “roadblocks.” Many of our staff have spent 30 to 40 years researching their families and helping others.
4.  Free one-on-one help with your family history research needs.
5.  Almost 1100 films on loan from the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.  These are national and international films.
6.  Many research books on our shelves that are not available elsewhere.
7.  All of the microfiche ordered by our patrons kept on permanent loan.  Since we opened in 1978, there are thousands of microfiche available for you to review at no charge.
8.  Surname index to all of our family history books and files.  Again, many of these books are unique to our Family History Center.
9.  Family History files which have been donated only to our Family History Center.
10.  A nursery next door to the Family History Center, stocked with toys and books.  However, you must bring your own babysitter.
11.  Free parking.

Hours of operation are:

• Tuesdays, 10:30 a.m. - 6:30 p.m.
• Thursdays, 10 a.m. - 8 p.m.
• Saturdays, 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.

We invite you to experience how the Green Tree Family History Center can help you learn more about your own family.

RootsTech Pittsburgh 2014 in Review

RootsTech Pittsburgh was a great success! Thank you to everyone who came and to all who invited friends. Over 100 people attended a total of 35 classes. Many also worked on their family lines in the Internet Café

We snapped quite a few photos to document the event. Enjoy!

Some of our sister missionaries helped out at the sign-in

The hospitality room for our guest speakers and other volunteers

Internet Café

Thank you to our excellent Family History Consultants!

Classes

Some classes were intended specifically for youth ages 12-18

Sister Macbeth gives an introduction to FamilySearch.org

A few rooms played recorded presentations from the RootsTech 2014 hosted in Salt Lake City

Using Facebook to find family

Finding your African-American family using the BUILD method

Finding your Carpatho-Rusyn family

Google your ancestors

Lunch

Thank you again to all who made this event a success! We look forward to RootsTech 2015.

RootsTech Pittsburgh 2014

Welcome to RootsTech Pittsburgh 2014!

Mark your calendars, Pittsburghers, and anyone in the vicinity! Saturday, June 21^st, 2014, is the day of RootsTech Pittsburgh, a free local genealogy and family history conference.

This event is for anyone interested in finding more about his or her family roots—in keeping track of and finding out more information on grandparents, great grandparents, and beyond. People in attendance can choose to attend a variety of classes, depending on their personal and family interests and level of experience. RootsTechPittsburgh will introduce free resources, such as Familysearch.org, with plenty of hands-on help in the Internet café.

What is RootsTech?

RootsTech is the name of a major family history conference hosted yearly by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Church then encourages other Family History Centers throughout the country to host their own local RootsTech events.

RootsTech Pittsburgh will include some of the best presentations from the conferences in Salt Lake City, and also an abundance of local genealogy expertise from right here in Pittsburgh—like Marilyn Holt, director of the Carnegie Library’s Pennsylvania Room.

You’ll learn about genealogical resources in western Pennsylvania, finding your family in the British Isles or Germany, finding your African-American family, Googling your family, and five ways to do genealogy in your sleep. See the entire schedule at RootsTechPittsburgh.org.

Who can attend?

Anyone with interest in family history is invited! Some classes will target beginners, some those with more experience. There will even be classes for youth 12-17. Register now to attend.