Presentations at Upcoming Meetings
MAY
DATE: Saturday, May 10, 2025, 12:00 noon (Mountain Time)
LOCATION: Idaho State Archives (Idaho History Center), 2205 Old Penitentiary Rd, Boise
SPEAKER: Kim S. Harrison
TOPIC: Genealogical Research Using Railroad Records
Our May speaker will provide an overview of the different types of records or sources that were created by the railroad or the people who worked on them. A quick look at the value of these records tell us about our railroad ancestors.
Speaker Bio
Kim S. Harrison has been doing genealogy since 1974, and in 1998 was fortunate to turn her passion into her vocation. She had the privilege of working in the library community by representing some of the big online providers of information (Gale, Otherdays.com, ProQuest, NewsBank, and Ancestry) before relocating to Arizona for seven years and now back in Michigan (May 2023).
Her genealogy membership since the 1970s has been the NGS and the Ohio Genealogical Society as well as being past President of the Michigan Genealogical Council, founding member of the Grand River Trails Chapter of the DAR (MI), and past President of the Arizona Genealogical Advisory Board. During the 1980s she lobbied the National Archives to stop the destruction of the Railroad Pension Application files. Later she wrote a grant for the preservation of the investigation in the Sultana Disaster, which is now available (free) on Fold3. Her most interesting ancestor was Lot Little, and she was able to join the DAR under his service. Lot was a freed slave from New Hampshire.
June
DATE: Saturday, June 14, 2025, 12:00 noon (Mountain Time)
TOPIC: No meeting - Summer Vacation - See you in July.
July
DATE: Saturday, July 12, 2025, 12:00 noon (Mountain Time)
LOCATION: Idaho State Archives (Idaho History Center), 2205 Old Penitentiary Rd, Boise
SPEAKER: Elaine Fraser
TOPIC: What in the World is Find-A-Grave
This talk serves as an introduction to Find-a-Grave. Find-a-Grave can be a valuable tool for finding information and clues on your ancestors that may not be found in Ancestry or FamilySearch vital records. It includes so much more that just names and dates and we will explore photos, flowers and profiles to see what else might be revealed.
Speaker Bio
Elaine Fraser is a GenMentor for the Pikes Peak Genealogy Society in Colorado Springs and as such she helps other members with their research questions. She also belongs to the Italian Research Group in Denver and the Italian Interest Group of EGS. Her interest in genealogy started in her mid-twenties and continues today. She researches on Find-a-Grave nearly every day and knows how to wring out the details.
All monthly meeting presentations are free and open to the public, both in person and via Zoom. Society members receive meeting notifications that include the pertinent Zoom information. Nonmembers may request the Zoom link during the week each meeting is held by sending an email to idahogensociety@gmail.com. Zoom requests must be received no later than 9:00 a.m. (Mountain Time) on the day of the meeting. The Society's Board Meetings are held on the same day as its monthly meetings and are also open to anyone who would like to participate. These meetings begin at 10:30AM. If attending via Zoom, use the same Zoom information as for the monthly meeting presentation.