Friday Events at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania

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Friday Events at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania

Please note: These events will all be held at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania at 1300 Locust Street in Philadelphia on Friday, March 14. These events are open to all Ancestry Day ticket holders.

**UPDATE: All Friday events are now SOLD OUT. Video of the Friday lectures will be made available online to Ancestry Day attendees.**

 

SOLD OUT - From 10 a.m .–5 p.m.

  • SOLD OUT - HSP’s research library will be open free of charge to Ancestry Day ticket holders.
  • SOLD OUT - Free 15-minute tours of the library will be held every half hour. Sign up at the front desk.
  • SOLD OUT - Personal consultations with professional genealogists will be available at the Ancestors Roadshow. Consultations are $20 for 25 minutes. Pre-registration is highly suggested, as space is limited. You can register online as part of your Ancestry Day registration, or call Christopher Damiani at 215-732-6200 ext. 227.

SOLD OUT - Free afternoon lectures:

  • 3–3:45 p.m. – Genealogical Resources at the Pennsylvania State Archives

Learn about the types of records available to genealogists at the Pennsylvania State Archives. The presentation will cover the principal types of records, the information they may contain, and how to access them. The speaker, Aaron McWilliams, is a reference archivist at the Pennsylvania State Archives. He has appeared on WITF’s Radio Smart Talk and NBC’s “Who Do You Think You Are?” McWilliams worked previously at the Maryland State Archives and as a professional genealogist.

  • 4–4:45 p.m. – Finding Your Family History in Greater Philadelphia

There are a wealth of libraries, archives, and historical societies in the Greater Philadelphia area that can assist you with your family history search. Learn about the resources available at the Free Library of Philadelphia, Philadelphia City Archives, Chester County and Delaware County archives, county historical societies and other local repositories that might have the piece of your family story you’ve been searching for. This lecture will be led by Sandra Hewlett, a board certified genealogist with more than 30 years experience in research at local repositories in southeast Pennsylvania.

  • 5–5:45 p.m. – A How-To Guide to Genealogy at HSP

HSP is one of the largest family history centers in the country with genealogical material from every state east of the Mississippi River and more than 10,000 published family history titles in its library. Resources include wills, deeds, genealogical scrapbooks, church records, and census records. Learn about the family history resources available on-site at our library and online at hsp.org. HSP staff genealogists will lead this comprehensive and helpful lecture and will distribute guides to navigating HSP’s genealogical collections.

SOLD OUT - Evening reception:

Join us for a free welcome reception from 6-7:30 p.m. with hors d’oeuvres, refreshments, and an opportunity to chat with experts from Ancestry.com and the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Guests will also enjoy a document display of historic and illustrated family trees and genealogical charts from HSP’s collection.

*All day long we will offer pre-registration for Ancestry Day (pick up your registration packet and syllabus for Saturday and avoid the lines at registration!)