| Mennonites and Hutterites: Beginnings and early developments (John J. Friesen) |
| Mennonites and Hutterites began in the midst of the sixteenth century reformations. This session will look at the issues that spawned their origins, and note the transition into continuing, settled communities. Special attention will be paid to the Dutch and Prussian Mennonite stories. References will be made to relevant resources for family history studies. |
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| Mennonites and Hutterites: Migrations and Settlements (John J. Friesen) |
| Attention will be given to the formation of Dutch Mennonite and Hutterite settlements, and their migrations, to Russia, North America, and Latin America. Some of the major settlement and migration records generated and their present access will be identified. |
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| Die Ahnenstammkartei des Deutschen Volkes (Central Index of the German People) (Thomas K. Edlund) |
| Active from 1921-1994, the primary goal of ASTAKA, or Die Ahnenstammkartei des deutschen Volkes, was to assist genealogists in circulating and coordinating research. The files of this service, now closed to submissions, document the names, vital data and pedigrees of 2,700,000 individuals. This workshop focuses on how to access the information contained in this massive resource documenting central European ancestry. |
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| Genealogical Records in the Prussian East (Edward R. Brandt) |
| The same records existed for each eastern Prussian province including East and West Prussia, Pomerania, Posen, Silesia, and East Brandenburg but they became part of Prussia at different times. Records covered in the presentation for areas east of the Oder-Neisse are in Berlin, Leipzig or Poland. Important ones include vital registers, land and tax records, court records, published lineages, card and data collections, and records of refugees, expellees and re-settlers from the East. |
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| German Migration to Linguistic Enclaves in the East (Edward R. Brandt) |
| One migration path consisted of movement to central Poland, Volhynia and certain south Russia (incl. Black Sea) settlements and a second path consisted of movement to Galicia, the Bukovina, the Banat and the Batschka. Origins of these two groups of settlers are quite different. Migration to Bessarabia and Mennonite areas (Prussia, south Russia) can also be included depending upon the interests of audience members. Time will be left for questions about these diverse areas. |
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| Researching the Germans from Russia (Thomas K. Edlund) |
| Germans have had a long association with the Russian Empire, the earliest dating to the beginning of the 16th century. This workshop studies the records and resources documenting the Black Sea and Volga German populations which immigrated to Russia from 1764 to 1819, and whose descendants now live in North and South America. |
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| EWZ: World War Two Immigration Records of Germans from East Europe (Dave Obee) |
| Between 1939 and 1945 more than 2.1 million ethnic Germans who had been living in other countries applied to move to the Reich. They were processed by the Einwandererzentralstelle (EWZ, literally Immigration Center), a central German authority for the immigration and naturalization. The EWZ files are available on thousands of rolls of microfilms. |
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| The 1897 census of Imperial Russia (Thomas K. Edlund) |
| The 1897 census was the first and last attempt to enumerate the entire Imperial Russian population. The census documented vital and demographic data of approximately 126,000,000 individuals. This workshop summarizes the history of enumeration in Russia (tribute lists, land and household tax lists, revision lists, family lists), and focuses especially on interpreting 1897 census returns for genealogical information. |
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| Russian Empire Genealogical Primer (Ukraine & Belarus) (Kahlile B. Mehr) |
| Understand the historical context, become acquainted with the best sources for genealogical research, the arrangement of records in an archive, options to acquire information from the sources, identify and use archival collections, and use the Internet to help do research. |
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| Finding Places in the Former Russian Empire (Kahlile B. Mehr) |
| How to identify localities by their various names and jurisdictions over time through the use of gazetteers and maps. This information will serve to solve locality name change problems, deal with jurisdiction changes, identify the most useful gazetteers and maps, help others solve locality problems. |
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| Hands-on Approach to Learning the Cyrillic Alphabets (Matthew Bielawa) |
| In order to facilitate learning how to read the Cyrillic letters, it helps to learn how to write them first! This workshop will introduce the most popular Cyrillic alphabets, as well as present tricks to learning the letters and point out common pitfalls for English speakers. Bring along a pen and lots of paper - you’’ll see how easy the Cyrillic alphabets are with just a little practice! |
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| Locating Places in Poland: Gazetteers, Maps, and other Sources (Daniel M. Schlyter) |
| This lecture discusses the value and availability of Gazetteers, Maps, and the Internet to locate your ancestral town in Poland; also the effect of Polish, German, Latin, Russian, and Ukrainian orthography and grammar on the names of localities. |
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| Vital Records and other Resources in the three partitions of Poland (Daniel M. Schlyter) |
| A description of the keeping of vital records in each of the 3 partitions of Poland; Austria, Russia and Prussia. What information is included, the languages used, and comparative usage for genealogical research. |
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| Emigration: the Decision, Preparations to Leave, and the Paper Trail (Maralyn A. Wellauer-Lenius) |
| This lecture will explore the changes which encouraged people to emigrate, including economic, social, and political reasons, and will take a close look at the process of separating from the homeland and discovering the "paper trail" (i.e., passports) it created. |
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| German Ports, Emigration Literature, and the Voyage (Maralyn A. Wellauer-Lenius) |
| Attendees will learn how to use the vast supply of "emigration literature" (i.e., Passenger lists, Hamburg Police Records, etc.) to trace a genealogy, and learn how to recreate the journey and its hardships. Actual case studies will be drawn upon to strengthen the experience. |
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| How Family History Library Films are Acquired from the Former Soviet Sphere (Kahlile B. Mehr) |
| Collection Management at the Family History Library, Record Locations, Field Negotiations, Filming Procedures, Shipping, Receipt, Cataloging, and Distribution through the Family History Library Catalog. Understand why some records are acquired and others not. Improved ability to find information in the Family History Library Catalog. |
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| Changes in Eastern Europe and Family History Library Microfilming (Daniel M. Schlyter) |
| This lecture discusses Eastern European border changes and covers the history of what, when, and how the Family History Library has acquired the records in its collection including current acquisitions. |
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