Philadelphia’s strong tradition of neighborhood distinctiveness has lasting power and deep roots.  In this culmination of the series, we look at the foundations of community experience. How do neighborhood ties unite and sometimes divide us? Across neighborhood boundaries, how do we form the common bonds of civic life?  This panel will be moderated by Carolyn Adams of Temple University with panelists including Linn Washington of Temple University, Domenic Vitiello of the University of Pennsylvania, and Thoai Nguyen of SEAMAAC, and Louis Massiah of Scribe Video.

A vast number of immigrants came to America from Eastern Europe in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Border changes, language differences, political considerations, and exotic-sounding surnames often complicate the search for Austrian, Czech, Hungarian, Polish, Rusyn, Slovak, Ukrainian, and other Eastern European ancestors.

So you have found the occupation of your ancestor, now what? Ancestral occupations can give clues to who our ancestors were, how they lived, where they lived, and most importantly, give them individual identity and personality. The sources that identify occupations are numerous. Church records, city directories, census records, wills, and land records are just a few that may list professions.  Part two in our series of genealogy workshops.

Brickwalls in African American genealogy can be caused by lack of records or improper research habits. Learning to research effectively can help to avoid these brickwalls. This presentation includes a case study on Alexina (Newman) Scott to demonstrate proper techniques for researching an African American family in Maryland, from evaluating known information to identifying parents to locating the final owner of an enslaved person.  Part one of a series of genealogy workshops in March.