Massachusetts Society of Genealogists, Inc.
Worcester Chapter
Meetings are generally held on the second Tuesday night of the month at 7:00 PM except that winter meetings (November-March) are held on the first Saturday of the month at 10:00 AM. Check the calendar below.
MSOG is made up of chapters throughout Massachusetts: Bristol, Martha's Vineyard, Merrimack Valley, Middlesex, and Worcester. Each chapter has its own governing board of officers, an annual meeting, and an election. Each chapter is a member of the state board and is represented by the chapter's president. Chapters do not meet during the months of July and August.
Officers
President: Sandra Goodwin
Co-Vice Presidents: Judy Goodwin, Denise Driscoll
Treasurer: Seema Kenney
Secretary: Janet Bessette
Membership: Pat McGrath
Chapter News
Our January 2012 program featured Eileen Angelini, speaking on "A Little Known History of Discrimination in New England". View the recording of this program .
Our March 2012 program featured Sandra Goodwin on "Disaster Management: Digitally Organizing and Preserving Your Genealogy Materials." View the recording of this program.
Schedule of Speakers 2012-2013
| Date/Time | Speaker/Topic | Location |
| September 11, 2012, 7:00-9:00pm | Shellee Morehead, independent genealogy consultant and researcher, will speak on " Conserving our Personal Collections." Each of us has invaluable "home sources" that are precious memories of our family's history. Photos, documents, military medals, textiles and all manner of materials are tucked away in drawers and closets. But are we doing enough to protect these unique items from the effects of time and unpredictable natural disasters? In this lecture, the speaker describes methods for organizing, protecting and preparing our irreplaceable family memorabilia and photos. She will discuss archival products, back-ups and general conservation and organization techniques used by some of the best museums and archives in the world, because our families and family materials deserve to be preserved. |
Knights of Columbus Hall, 49 Central Street, Auburn, MA |
| October 9 | Connie Reik- Gov. Publications Coordinator, Tisch Library, Tufts University: " Beyond Pension Files! Discover Your Civil War Ancestor in Federal Publications and Documents"
Learn how to supplement and enrich your Civil War research with federal publications: find petitions, claims, and pension record information, battle and regimental histories, and historical information of the period. |
Knights of Columbus Hall, 49 Central Street, Auburn, MA |
| November 3 | MSoG, Inc., Annual Meeting, Lawrence, MA | |
| December 1, 10 a.m. | Christmas Meeting: Genealogy PASSWORD Game Remember the old Password game on TV with Allen Ludden? Worcester chapter will be holding its own version of the game. Come and play; you and your partner could win a great prize! Bring your holiday spirit!! |
Zion Lutheran Church, 41 Whitmarsh Ave., Worcester |
| January 5, 10 a.m. | Matt Brenckle- research historian, USS Constitution Museum "The Smartest and Most Capable Ever Known:" USS Constitution's Crew During the War of 1812- For more than a decade, the USS Constitution Museum has researched the lives of Constitution’s War of 1812 crew. Join us as Constitution Museum Research Historian Matthew Brenckle presents some of the common seamen’s newly discovered personal stories. |
Zion Lutheran Church, 41 Whitmarsh Ave., Worcester |
| February 2, 10 a.m. | Sandra Goodwin- speaker, instructor, past-president of MSOG: "Joining the Genealogy Blogging Community";
Learn everything you need to know to keep track of your most important blogs as well as how to create your own. Within a half hour, you can have your own blog up and running, reaching out to unknown cousins and contributing to the genealogy community. |
Zion Lutheran Church, 41 Whitmarsh Ave., Worcester |
| March 2, 10 a.m. | Sandra Goodwin, speaker, instructor, past-president of MSOG:
"Using Print-on-Demand: Write a Family History Book Your Relatives Will Actually Want to Read!"-
Do your relatives' eyes glaze over when looking at a typical published genealogy? Discover how easy and fun it is to write your family's story in short, manageable snippets that will be difficult to put down. |
Zion Lutheran Church, 41 Whitmarsh Ave., Worcester |
| April 9, 7 p.m. | Joy Hennig- Local History and Genealogy Librarian at the Worcester Public Library, which is now an affiliate of the Family History Library:
"Using the Family History Library and FamilySearch.org"
Introduction to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City; will explore the FHL's website, FamilySearch.org, and will become acquainted with the process of ordering microfilm from the FHL. |
Zion Lutheran Church, 41 Whitmarsh Ave., Worcester |
| May 14, 7 p.m. | Polly Kimmitt- current director of the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS): "Until They Are Home: Genealogists in Service of Country"
The Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) is a joint task force within the United States Department of Defense whose mission is to find American Prisoners Of War (POW), or Missing In Action (MIA), from past wars and conflicts. To accomplish this, they do two things: first, they send teams of scientists all over the world to recover remains. And second, they hire genealogists under contract to locate present day family members of those lost servicemen. Learn what is involved in this complicated process and see if it is something you might like to pursue. Also, learn techniques used for finding living people. |
Zion Lutheran Church, 41 Whitmarsh Ave., Worcester |
| June 11, 6 p.m. | Dinner - Panel: Who Do You Think You Are? Join us for dinner. Then sit back and enjoy the unveiling of a volunteer's family history. | TBD |