Illinois

Calendar of Genealogy Events in Illinois:

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Thursday, October 1, 2020

Arlington Heights Memorial Library
*FREE WEBINAR* From the Source's Mouth with Dan Hubbard

7:00 PM Central

Once we’ve understood that identities can be tricky to reconstruct, how do we piece together the tidbits of information that we find into an actual ancestor? How do we avoid putting together a great-great frankenfather from the spare parts we find in the documents we dig up? Do we trust what seems to be true, or do we look long and hard into the “source’s mouth.” Presented by Dan Hubbard.

Must register to participate in this live, online event. It will take place on Zoom and you will receive a link to participate by email one day prior to the event.
Register here: https://www.ahml.info/scheduling/reservation/62140


Saturday, January 23, 10 a.m.

** Zoom

  • Cost is free for the Swedish American Museum’s Genealogical Society members; non-member cost is $10. Reservations required and can be made via email to gro.camas|ygolaeneg#gro.camas|ygolaeneg or by calling 773.728.8111 for members and on the website www.SwedishAmericanMuseum.org for non-members.

Lesser Known Records in ArkivDigital by Kathy Meade
Researching further in ArkivDigital. Discover the value of researching in lesser known record collections!
ArkivDigital is an online site that provides access to Swedish historical records. While many people are familiar with the Swedish church books, there are many additional types of historical records in ArkivDigital. This presentation will point out some of these records such as the seamen records (similar to merchant marines), prison records, orphanage records, internal passports and other lesser known records and how they can help you gain a deeper understanding of your Swedish heritage.


Saturday, February 27, 1 p.m.

** Zoom

  • Cost is free for the Swedish American Museum’s Genealogical Society members; non-member cost is $10. Reservations required and can be made via email to gro.camas|ygolaeneg#gro.camas|ygolaeneg or by calling 773.728.8111 for members and on the website www.SwedishAmericanMuseum.org for non-members.

My Maja, a Grandson's Tribute by Dr. Donald Grossnickle
Book discussion by members.

ABOUT THE BOOK
My Maja, A Grandson’s Tribute is an upbeat chronicle and analysis of Swedish immigrant Maria Kallgren surviving the Great Depression by tapping into grit and resilience called "framåtanda". Many Americans can recall a story told from family history when an immigrant grandparent is sentimental and recounts joys and sorrows of leaving the former country behind and starts a new life. Sure to trigger emotions and offer transferable life lessons, My Maja adds to a global explosion of Scandinavian based writing that entertains and illuminates alternative ways to achieve genuine life fulfillment and happiness. Probing what it takes to be fearless in meeting the inevitable adversity and challenges in one' future is a worthwhile investment at any age. Grandma Maja harbored 3 well-hidden secrets in her steamer trunk. It took serious detective work to understand who was involved, what happened and how it was resolved. Millions engaged in genealogy are warned that a problem exists when hidden family secrets are exposed. Deciding what to do with them leads to heart wrenching choices. Author, Mary Beth Sammons writes, “Dr Don Grossnickle, through his research, discovered his grandmother’s steamer trunk that she brought with her from Sweden…. Inside he found photos, archives and a treasure trove of family history. As a child, he was drawn to the legacy stories of gritty ancestors Maja had memorialized. Tantalizing lore and legend set the stage for dramatic storytelling of brave valor with a proud pedigree of inspirational rags-to riches-legacies. Sharing her vivid details of finding creative ways through hard times became the platform for a close and long relationship.” This lively book portrays one woman’s dramatic and spirited refusal to accept defeat and prove her gritty and unique resilience of the heart.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dr. Don Grossnickle has applied theory and practice lessons to his life integrating gritty resilience learned from his Swedish immigrant grandmother. Spanning his varied career, he has engaged in writing about and implemented initiatives to deal with high school dropout, assisting recovering paralyzed injured high school athletes, and boosting providing compassionate care for impoverished mothers and babies suffering from malaria in Uganda East Africa. Grossnickle turns now to celebrate women like Grandma Maja and champion their stories of fighting big time adversity like the Great Depression. Discovering that the quiet valor of women like Maja are neglectfully missed by historians his mission now is to celebrate their guts and gumption. Impassioned to see that Maja’s story is no longer tucked away like the photos and family history archives he found in 2004 abandoned in a dusty long forgotten trunk filled with treasures, Grossnickle rescues them. 16 years of research has woven together a story of joys and scars. Maja fought hard for survival artistically crafting a mosaic life for her family from the pieces of her shattered Swedish American dream. Maja was intent to teach her three children about American rugged individualism and Swedish teamwork refusing to give in to despair. Maja loved both Sweden and grew to love America as a land of opportunity for those that refuse to falter. Her grandmotherly love was sweet and the two breakdowns that nearly killed her were well hidden beneath her generous caring and love. Maja’s young husband fell over dead in front of her and the three young children as the stain of a Depression era business failed and he was beaten down. Maja stood tall and stepped up determined to survive. Written in part to offer Maja’s great great granddaughter details of her namesake, Maja Kallgren Wittenstron comes back to life with 40 pages of photos and a storybook. This long overdue tribute honors a remarkable woman adventurer from Solleftea Northern Sweden. Swedish history professor and genealogy expert Lars Lundstrom and US historian Dr. Amy Lippert add authority to the writing team.


Saturday, March 27. 2021 at 10 a.m.

** Zoom

  • Cost is free for the Swedish American Museum’s Genealogical Society members; non-member cost is $10. Reservations required and can be made via email to gro.camas|ygolaeneg#gro.camas|ygolaeneg or by calling 773.728.8111 for members and on the website www.SwedishAmericanMuseum.org for non-members.

How to find the unknown father by Geoffery Fröberg Morris
Many Swedish researchers reach a stumbling block in their research when they discover a birth record of an ancestor where the mother is unmarried and the father’s name is not given. Can one find out who the father is so one can continue the research? Geoffrey Morris will present strategies in how to overcome this obstacle in his presentation “How to Find the Unknown Father”.

Geoffrey Fröberg Morris AG has been doing Swedish genealogical research for over 35 years. He has been employed for 20 years at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, as a Nordic research specialist. Among his work assignments, Geoff has helped thousands of people search for their Swedish ancestors, engaged in many archival visits in Sweden, authored hundreds of pages into the Family Search Wiki and routinely presents at conferences. He is the author of the book, A Practical Guide to Swedish Church Records for Genealogy and Family History, which was published in 2020.


Saturday, April 24th. 2021 at 10 a.m.

** Zoom

  • Cost is free for the Swedish American Museum’s Genealogical Society members; non-member cost is $10. Reservations required and can be made via email to gro.camas|ygolaeneg#gro.camas|ygolaeneg or by calling 773.728.8111 for members and on the website www.SwedishAmericanMuseum.org for non-members.

“Swedish Finns—A Fascinating and Stubborn Genealogical Anomaly”
by Kim Hongell Jacobs

What is a Swedish Finn? Learn about their origin story, how and where to find them, and how a tiny minority built an organization with 83 lodges in North America, including Chicago. Kim is the executive director of The Swedish Finn Historical Society headquartered in Seattle, Washington. She grew up in the Swede Finn settlement of Coos Bay, Oregon and both sides of her family roots reside in Karleby, Finland. She considers herself to be expert level at comforting former Swedes when they receive Finnish DNA results.



This Calendar is sponsored by Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter.

This page was last updated 14 Apr 2021 19:31.

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