This October HSP will be celebrating Family History Month with a series of three genealogy workshops. These workshops will be held on Wednesday evenings and begin at 6:00 p.m. They are all open to the public and cost $15 each but are FREE for members. So if you're not already a member of HSP consider joining today.

The first workshop will be Unlocking the Door to Lineage Societies on October 3rd. If you have ever wondered how to get into the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Mayflower Society, or a more obscure group like the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick then this program is for you. James M. Beidler, author of an award-winning weekly newspaper column on genealogy, will discuss the qualifications for various groups and the types of documentary proof needed to complete applications. Beidler is vice president for development for the Federation of Genealogical Societies and the former executive director of the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania. You may remember him from the Searching for a Pennsylvania German Ancestor workshop last fall.

On October 10th we will present Finding Landless Ancestors with Gerald Smith. This workshop is designed for intermediate level genealogists who are having trouble tracking down an ancestor who didn’t leave much of a historical record. Smith will teach you how to use city directories, military records, and more obscure sources that researchers may not be familiar with. Smith is a professional genealogist who specializes in Pennsylvania families prior to 1900 and has published numerous articles about Pennsylvania genealogy.

This series will conclude on October 17th with Researching Your Civil War Ancestors. Learn how to identify and research Civil War soldiers (Union and Confederate) using records available online and at various repositories. The program will focus on the use of federal, state, and family records, and how to avoid common pitfalls. This workshop will be taught by Laura H. Congleton, a Brooklyn-based professional genealogist with more than 30 years experience in family history research.

I hope to see you there!