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Greetings and welcome to the Bay Area Genealogical Society’s website!

Our society was founded in 1975 to educate people in genealogical research techniques and to make historical and genealogical material available to the general public. We locate and compile original materials and acquire donations of genealogical books and materials.

We are pleased to hold several educational sessions throughout the year. If you are interested in learning more about our events, see our calendar page for more information.

NEW!! Annual Member’s Meeting & Presentation–
March 10th 2022, 6:30– 8:30 p.m. on Zoom
6:30– 7:00 p.m. Annual member’s meeting including discussion of annual treasurer’s report and budget.
7:00– 8:30 p.m. I Got My AncestryDNA Results! Now What? presentation by Jill Morelli

Members will be sent a Zoom invite to their email address. A conference call phone number will be available for those who do not have aweb access. Jill Morelli, CG is a writer, lecturer and co-founder of Applied Genealogy Institute, providing practicum-based educational opportunities for intermediate and advanced genealogists. In 2017, she founded the Certification Discussion Group, an online series discussing her certification journey and that of others in order to demystify the process. She lectures nationally and has written articles for National Genealogical Society Quarterly, Swedish American Genealogist, and many others. Jill is past president of the Seattle Genealogical Society, and a member of many local genealogical societies.

Download Registration form: Annual Meeting/I Got My AncestryDNA Results! Now What? Registration Form

Current Events

Bay Area Genealogical Society 2022 Virtual Conference

Saturday, April 30, 2022
9 am – 2 pm
Reservations by Thursday April 16, 2022
Featured Speaker 1:
Gena Philibert-Ortega & Jean Wilcox Hibben

Jello Molds, Peacocks and Turtle Soup History of Food & Genealogy
Learn more about how food history interacts with your family history including food availability, food during war time, and what our immigrant ancestor ate. Gena Philibert Ortega is an author, researcher, and instructor whose focus is genealogy, social and women’s history. Her writings can be found on her blogs, Gena’s Genealogy and Food Family Ephemera as well as the GenealogyBank blog. She has presented to diverse groups worldwide including the Legacy Family Tree Webinar series. Her current research includes women’s repatriation and citizenship in the 20th century, foodways and community in fundraising cookbooks, and women’s material culture.

Featured Speaker 2:
Jean Wilcox Hibben

The 1849 Wisconsin Asiatic Cholera Epidemic and its Implications for Genealogical Research
Americans took a while to get familiar with how diseases were spread, what precautions could be taken to minimize exposure, and why vaccinations were so important. While the medical community promoted sanitation and healthy lifestyles and the US government got involved in encouraging the eradication of diseases, in 1849 and lasting about two years, Wisconsin was overtaken by a cholera epidemic that was quickly at pandemic level. Did your ancestor die of the disease? So many did that a lot of deaths escaped being recorded. Many statistics were disguised so that public panic would be minimized. Learn the facts surrounding the outbreak as well as the effect politics and economics had on how the pandemic was handled; it just might solve one of your family history dilemmas.

The Role the Great Lakes Played in Wisconsin’s Involvement in Prohibition
If your ancestors lived in Wisconsin anytime between 1920 and the early 1930s, there is a chance that their lives were impacted by Prohibition, specifically if they lived in Milwaukee or Green Bay. During those times, the Great Lakes were a virtual thoroughfare of illegal liquor transportation and the state’s access points on Lake Michigan became destinations for those transporting, obtaining, and stopping the movement of alcohol, most often imported from Canada. Learn more about how the state’s residents were affected, including how the state’s beer industry, on a large scale, survived the dry period (1920-1933).

Download Registration form: 2022 Virtual Conference Registration

Bay Area Genealogical Society 2021 Virtual Conference

Saturday April 24, 2021

Featured Speaker: Stephen Szabados

Steve Szabados is a genealogy speaker, author, and columnist. He received a Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois and an MBA from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois.

He has been researching his ancestors for about nineteen years and has traced ancestors back to 1600s New England and 1730’s in Poland, Germany, Bohemia, and Slovenia. He has given numerous presentations to genealogical groups and libraries in Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin. His goal is to share his passion for Family History.

He is a member of the Polish Genealogical Society of America and is also a genealogy volunteer at the Arlington Heights Illinois Library. He is the author of over fifteen print books on genealogy that include Basic Genealogy and beyond, Write Your Family History, Finding Grandma’s European Ancestors, Polish Genealogy, Memories of Dziadka, Finding your Czech and Slovak Ancestors, and his most recent book DNA and Genealogy Research: Simplified. He has also published ten eBooks on genealogy. All are must-have books for the beginning genealogist looking for their European heritage. Steve also is the genealogy columnist for the Polish American Journal.

European Immigration to America from 1800 to 1939 When, Where, Why and How.
When did your ancestors immigrate, where did they leave, why did they leave, how did they get here? These are questions we all hope to find the answers. This presentation studies the history of Europe and gives some insights to possible answers to the questions about your ancestors’ immigration. The material will hopefully clear up your confusion of where and why your ancestors left.

Practical Tools to Use with DNA Results in your Genealogy Research DNA testing has become a popular topic among professional genealogists and everyday family researchers. Why should we take a DNA test? How can DNA testing help us with our Genealogical research? If you have brick walls, DNA testing may give you clues to unlock these secrets. Which company offers the best testing results? Can a DNA test help you solve the mysteries hiding in your Genealogy? This program will compare the major companies offering DNA testing and discuss practical tools that are available that should answer some of your questions and make you think about a few more.

Go to the Events Tab at the top. Then slide over to the tab Upcoming Events in 2021 for more details….

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