Post by gigi on Sept 30, 2008 21:34:37 GMT 1
September 2008
Polish and American Genealogical Societies Begin Collaboration
KRAKOW, Poland— 24 of this year marked what is believed to be the first cooperative activity between a U.S.-based Polish American genealogical society and one based in Poland. Members of the Malopolskie Towarzystwo Genealogiczne (Polish Genealogical Society of Malopolska) gathered in Krakow to hear a presentation, in Polish, delivered by Prof. Jonathan Shea of the Polish Genealogical Society of Connecticut and the Northeast. Shea spoke about major American sources, both archival and those on the internet, to the Polish audience, many of whom were searching for lost relatives who emigrated to the United States nearly a hundred years ago. For some audience members, who ranged in age from 17 to senior citizens and included faculty members from Jagiellonian University, all the information was new and being heard for the first time. Others exhibited a great familiarity with certain of the on-line sources such as U.S. census returns, ships’ passenger lists and the Social Security Death Index. New to most was Shea’s explanation of the holdings of Polish American parish archives and the geographical information contained within to help researchers connect back to a specific point in Europe. Also a revelation for many, were records of fraternal organizations such as the PRCUA (Polish Roman Catholic Union of America), which often contain certain biographical information and documentation about the policy holders.
Shea, whose maternal side of the family comes from the Lomza and Bialystok areas of Poland, presented the Polish Society with a copy of his newly published genealogy textbook Going Home: A Guide to Polish American Family History Research.
The 400+ page book provides Polish Americans with a comprehensive guide to tracing ancestry to Poland. It includes sections on language, using American archival sources such as church records, federal censuses, citizenship papers and immigration passenger lists. A portion of the work is dedicated to the historical geography of Poland and the many border and jurisdictional changes which took place over the centuries. Another major portion of the textbook covers sources in Poland and how to translate documents that family historians will unearth in the research process. Further information about this publication can be found on the website www.pgsctne.org/
The lecture was arranged by the Connecticut Society’s European correspondent and researcher Aleksandra Kacprzak and the president of the Malopolskie Towarzystwo Genealogiczne, Mr. Zbigniew Szybka. Future activities include a possible genealogy teleconference between the two societies.
The Krakow-based society is one of several regional Polish genealogical societies which have emerged in the past few years.
Interest among Poles about their roots, once a frowned upon topic under Communist rule, has been growing rapidly in the past decade.
www.polamjournal.com/News/Feature/feature.html
Polish and American Genealogical Societies Begin Collaboration
KRAKOW, Poland— 24 of this year marked what is believed to be the first cooperative activity between a U.S.-based Polish American genealogical society and one based in Poland. Members of the Malopolskie Towarzystwo Genealogiczne (Polish Genealogical Society of Malopolska) gathered in Krakow to hear a presentation, in Polish, delivered by Prof. Jonathan Shea of the Polish Genealogical Society of Connecticut and the Northeast. Shea spoke about major American sources, both archival and those on the internet, to the Polish audience, many of whom were searching for lost relatives who emigrated to the United States nearly a hundred years ago. For some audience members, who ranged in age from 17 to senior citizens and included faculty members from Jagiellonian University, all the information was new and being heard for the first time. Others exhibited a great familiarity with certain of the on-line sources such as U.S. census returns, ships’ passenger lists and the Social Security Death Index. New to most was Shea’s explanation of the holdings of Polish American parish archives and the geographical information contained within to help researchers connect back to a specific point in Europe. Also a revelation for many, were records of fraternal organizations such as the PRCUA (Polish Roman Catholic Union of America), which often contain certain biographical information and documentation about the policy holders.
Shea, whose maternal side of the family comes from the Lomza and Bialystok areas of Poland, presented the Polish Society with a copy of his newly published genealogy textbook Going Home: A Guide to Polish American Family History Research.
The 400+ page book provides Polish Americans with a comprehensive guide to tracing ancestry to Poland. It includes sections on language, using American archival sources such as church records, federal censuses, citizenship papers and immigration passenger lists. A portion of the work is dedicated to the historical geography of Poland and the many border and jurisdictional changes which took place over the centuries. Another major portion of the textbook covers sources in Poland and how to translate documents that family historians will unearth in the research process. Further information about this publication can be found on the website www.pgsctne.org/
The lecture was arranged by the Connecticut Society’s European correspondent and researcher Aleksandra Kacprzak and the president of the Malopolskie Towarzystwo Genealogiczne, Mr. Zbigniew Szybka. Future activities include a possible genealogy teleconference between the two societies.
The Krakow-based society is one of several regional Polish genealogical societies which have emerged in the past few years.
Interest among Poles about their roots, once a frowned upon topic under Communist rule, has been growing rapidly in the past decade.
www.polamjournal.com/News/Feature/feature.html
