Published: May 03, 2008 06:11 pm            

Genealogy Society event on orphanages set for May 12

TERRE HAUTE — The Wabash Valley Genealogy Society has set their next public program from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. May 12 in the Vigo County Public Library, lower level.

The topic will be “History of Vigo County Orphanages” and will be presented by Jennifer Krockenberger, a lifelong resident of Vigo County. Krockenberger’s interest in the orphanages and children’s homes of Vigo County’s past comes from her love of local history and being an adoptee herself.

Finding that there was next to nothing online regarding the former orphanages/children’s homes, with the help of many local historians, genealogists and other “history bugs,” she began designing historical tribute Web sites in 2002. Her sites include Glenn Home, Rose Orphans Home and the St. Ann’s Orphans Home for Girls and can all be accessed at terrehautechildrenshomes.homestead.com.

She also designed the front and back of the Glenn Home Memorial Stone, which is in Chamberlain Cemetery on Maple Avenue. The memorial was dedicated in September to honor those children who lived and died while residing at the Glenn Home for Children in Lost Creek Township.

Arrive early in order to have time to register and view displays before the program begins. Refreshments will be available, along with door prizes and handouts.

The Genealogy Society also will stage a workshop on Saturday on “How to prepare to get into a lineage group (DAR, SAR, Civil War, and etc).” The workshop will be from 10 a.m. to noon in the Vigo County Public Library, main branch, lower level. This workshop is especially helpful for those who think they may be eligible but have no idea how to begin their documentation.

The Society will host the “WVGS Seminar 2008” on June 21. This will be an all-day event with nationally-known speakers presenting programs of great interest to genealogists.

Some of the programs include: how to submit your family members in the “Once a Hoosier” project, learning about the Kentucky land-patenting process and the genealogical information these records can yield, search tips for Ancestry.com, preserving family photos including cleaning, scanning and restoring family photos, and instructions on automated search tools such as GenSmarts, Ancestry Member Trees, Bloglines and Google.

The seminar will be from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Forsythe Program Center, (Girl Scout Building) in Fairbanks Park. Throughout the day, there will be genealogy related vendors and door prizes. The cost of the seminar is $15, with an optional lunch which is an additional $5.

For more information on any of these events, please call Jennifer Cruse at (812) 877-2940 or visit www.inwvgs.org.

        

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