Michigan Genealogical Council Fall Family History Seminar
with Michael Strauss

Michael L Strauss, AG

Each fall, the Michigan Genealogical Council, with our partners, the Archives of Michigan and the Library of Michigan, presents the Fall Family History Event. This year, you can attend onsite in Lansing or online from home. Michael L. Strauss, AG, will be our speaker. Michael is employed as a Research Manager and Senior Genealogist for Ancestry ProGenealogists. He is a native of Pennsylvania and a veteran of the United States Coast Guard. He is a published author and national genealogical lecturer, instructor, and faculty member at the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy (SLIG), Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh (GRIP), and the Institute of Genealogical and Historical Research (IGHR), where he coordinates the military history courses. Michael has been involved in Civil War and Mexican-American War reenacting for more than twenty-five years. Michael Strauss’s presentations will be

  • Introduction to Military Genealogy Research will focus on a large number of records, strategies, and techniques to find your military ancestors from the colonial era through the Vietnam War.
  • A House Divided: Research in the Civil War will examine records most used by genealogists and historians, including service records, draft records, pensions, and records to trace the movement of your ancestor’s military unit for both sides.
  • Roosevelt’s Tree Army: Researching in the Civilian Conservation Corps will explore CCC genealogical resources between 1933-1942, including Office Personnel Files, discharge certificates, accident reports, camp and district reports, photographs, and motion pictures.
  • All in a Day’s Work: Occupational Genealogical Research will focus on the methodology to research your ancestor’s work history, tapping into records of employment and discussing old occupations no longer in use.

Register online today A complete event schedule and mail-in registration form can be found here.

Polish Genealogical Society of Michigan 45th Annual Genealogy Seminar – Day 2

Day 2 is Webinar or In-person at the American Polish Cultural Center, 2975 E. Maple Road, Troy, MI.
In-person registration includes a continental breakfast and lunch with Polish food. In-person seating is limited.

Includes live presentations with Q&A, a syllabus, and door prizes. Attend either day or both days — Open to the public.

Inaccuracies, Errors, and Conflicts of Information in Polish Vital Records and How to Resolve These Problems by Daniel Bućko

The Genealogical Value of Royal and Government Estate Inventories by Daniel Bućko

The Chene Street History Project by Dr. Karen Majewska

Hamtramck’s Polonia by Dr. Karen Majewska

For an informational flyer and online registration, visit the society website.
Registrations paid by check must be postmarked by October 5.
Online registration closes on October 10.

Polish Genealogical Society of Michigan 45th Annual Genealogy Seminar – Day 1

Includes live presentations with Q&A, a syllabus, and door prizes. Attend either day or both days — Open to the public.
Day 1 is Webinar Only.

Polish DNA: Stories It Reveals and the Ways to Use It for Genealogical Purposes by Eryk Jan Grzeszkowiak
Changing Places, Changing Borders: Overcoming Geographic Challenges by David Obee

For an informational flyer and online registration, visit the society website.
Registrations paid by check must be postmarked by October 5.
Online registration closes on October 10.

DNA Sequencing with Kayla Zochowski

Kayla Zochowski

Join Dr. Zochowski to learn about the basics of next-generation sequencing, or the process by which your DNA can be extracted, sequenced, and assembled into your unique genetic code. Sequencing contributes to our understanding of many different biological systems, including the ability to gain insights into ancestry. Learn about the steps involved from sending your saliva off to interpreting your ancestry results.

Michigan POW Camps in WWII with Greg Sumner

Greg Summers

Dr. Gregory Sumner is Chair of the History Department at the University of Detroit Mercy.  He will speak on the little-remembered subject of the 6,000 German and Italian POWs housed in camps across Michigan during WWII.  They mostly behaved well, supplied help during the labor shortage, and many later became U.S. Citizens.

100 Wyandotte Soldiers from the Civil War with Marty Bertera and Mary Johns Wien

By the war’s end in 1865, nearly 3 million young men and a few hundred women served in the civil war. They left their homes in large cities, towns, and small villages for an adventure of a lifetime; our presenters will look at one of these communities, Wyandotte, Michigan. The soldiers would serve their country in many far-flung locations throughout the United States. Ultimately, some would die, but most returned to civilian life, and a few suffered the traumas from personally experiencing war.

What started for them as a keep me busy project during covid, updating the correct number of soldiers in the city, ended up being over a 260-page book. By using as our foundation earlier books such as Proudly We Record and Historical Society notes that listed as few as 35 to a higher number of 112 soldiers from Wyandotte. The authors have been able to add and correct these numbers up to over 140. Along the way, they corrected the spelling of a few first and last names. They deleted a few names listed as Civil War but were Spanish American War soldiers.

You would be mistaken if you think this is just a civil war history; it’s more than a war story; for those that survived the war, it was a small-time frame of their existence but an important one. These veterans’ lives did not end when they were mustered out and discharged. Through many hours of research online, old newspapers, military books, and state archives, they have brought new information about the soldiers, such as the location of their birth, family members, occupation before and after the war, same with profession, location, and death date.

The authors:
Mary Johna Wein is the President of the Wyandotte Historical Society—director of the Friends of Wyandotte Cemetery and the Webpage of the same name.
Marty Bertera has published several civil war books and has worked in the film industry on historical films and documentaries. He also built the large diorama at Raisin River National Park in Monroe, Michigan, of Frenchtown in 1812, along with dioramas for other local museums

Vintage Baseball

Vintage Baseball

The Brownstown DDA and Brownstown Historical Society will present a vintage baseball match between the Brownstown Volunteers vx. the Detroit Franklins, on Saturday, June 17, 2023, at 1:00 pm. The match will take place at Thorn Park, 23555 King Rd, Brownstown Charter Twp, Michigan.