Registration for the Arizona Guided Research Trip Now Open

PCGS is now accepting registrations for the Arizona Guided Research Trip; an overnight trip to Phoenix and Mesa on November 1 and 2, 2013.

Polly Rosenbaum Archives & History
Building

We will begin our genealogy adventure at the Polly Rosenbaum Archives & History Building in
Phoenix on Friday, 1 November, at 9:30 a.m.  After a tour of the facility, we will travel to the Arizona State Genealogical Library on the 3rd floor of the Capitol Building.  The Genealogy Collection at the Arizona State Archives consists of materials from all 50 states as well as from some foreign countries, family histories, general indexes, journals, ship passenger lists, atlases and biographical encyclopedias. The State Buildings close at 5:00 p.m. at which time we will dismiss to the hotel.

Mesa FamilySearch Library

The following morning at 9:00 a.m., we will arrive at the Family History Training Center in Mesa for a lecture on navigating their website and a review of what is available at the library.  From there, we will commence to the Mesa FamilySearch Library at 10:00 a.m. for personal research. The Mesa FamilySearch Library, the largest Family History Center outside of Utah, is a branch of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. Its holdings consist of over 700 Commercial CDs with genealogical research data, 40,000 books, 81,000 rolls of microfilm, 52,000 microfiche and more. The library closes at 5:00 p.m. and we will return to Tucson.

Your package includes a pre-trip class which will provide information needed for researching at the libraries we will be visiting, tips on organizing your research, and an opportunity to network with your fellow genealogists prior to the trip. It also includes transportation, handouts, and private behind-the-scenes tours with experienced archivists at all three locations. Individuals are responsible for making their own hotel reservations and meal costs. A block of reduced price rooms are available at Days Inn, 1750 E. Main St., Mesa for $54.99 (plus tax) for double occupancy or queen. The hotel offers a complimentary continental breakfast and free wifi. Instructions for obtaining the discount priced reservation will be emailed at the time of registration for the trip.

Space is limited to 40 people; preference will be given to PCGS members. Be advised that PCGS may cancel the trip if less than 15 participants are registered. Were this to happen, a full refund would be made of the amount paid to PCGS.

Preregistration is required and registration deadline is 21 September. Click here to download the registration form.

Registration now open for the Arizona Historical Society Tour

In 1884, the Tucson branch of the Arizona Historical Society began collecting material related to Arizona. The library and archives collections document the development of the Territory and State of Arizona from the arrival of the Spanish to present day, with a primary focus on southern Arizona. Collection strengths include Territorial Arizona, nineteenth-century overland journeys to the West, mining, military campaigns and biographical information.

Sandy Chan

Our own Sandy Chan will conduct a tour of the AHS Library and Archives on Saturday, 7 September 2013. Sandy has a Masters Degree in Library Science and worked for Pima Community College for over 25 years as a faculty librarian before she retired from the College in 2007.  Just so she doesn’t get rusty, she is still a member of the American Library Association and volunteers for the Library and Archive at the Arizona Historical Society. She has been involved in genealogy for over 10 years and finds that in doing genealogical research there is always something new to learn.

The tour will teach you more about the collection as well as methods and tools to use to find the information you need. Visit their website for a preview of what you will learn about the society. This special event is reserved for Pima County Genealogy Society members only–the library is opening its doors just for us. Check-in starts at 10:00 a.m. in the lobby and the tour begins at 10:30 a.m. And here's the best part–the cost is only $2.50 to cover the cost of the handout. Parking is free to visitors of the library.

Preregistration is required and registration deadline is 17 August. You can find the registration form online at http://tinyurl.com/cjwk24m or pick one up at the general meetings this summer. All registrants will receive an email confirmation and detailed directions for the parking garage and the library.

Don't Miss the Writer's Workshop

This Saturday, March 16, is the deadline to register for workshop HEIR DRESSING: Writing Your Ancestor's Story. Don't miss out on this rare opportunity to get a jump start on writing your ancestors' stories. Rondie Yancey will teach you the skills you need to get your relatives interested in their family history. This class is for anyone who wishes to write their family history and doesn't know how to get started as well as those that have already written some and wish to improve their writing skills. Visit our blog post HEIR DRESSING: Writing Your Ancestor's Story for more information.



Rondie Yancey

The workshop is on May 4 from 1:00 to 3:30 PM at the University Medical Center, 1501 N. Campbell, Room 2500C (off the cafeteria). Pick an ancestor, bring all the information you know about that person and a writing tablet.

Preregistration is required. The registration form is online at https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B96N7jpkp9FWcVdVZ0VocHkxc2M/edit or pick one up at the general meeting this Saturday.

HEIR DRESSING: Writing Your Ancestor's Story

You have all these facts about your ancestor and want to share them, but every time you try to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) your mind goes blank. Or what comes out is just dates and places and sounds very dull, even to you. How are you ever going to get your relatives interested?

You don't have to be a Pulitzer Prize winning author to create an interesting family history, and Rondie Yancey will teach you how on May 4th.

There are two ways to tell your ancestors stories–a formal Journal Style approach, or a sociological approach that tells the story with cultural, pictorial and anecdotal additions. We will concentrate on creating a very readable and interesting story that still contains your documented research, but will also give your family and friends a realistic picture of what every-day life was like for the people you are writing about.

Rondie Yancey

Rondie Yancey was born and raised in the Northwest, but settled in Tucson in 1989, and considers Tucson the best place in the world to live.  It was shortly after moving to Tucson that she became interested in genealogy, and began research on one family that she thought might take one or two years to complete….(short pause for laughter to subside).  After all these years, she still thinks genealogy is the most fascinating of subjects, and likes to create small books about  members of her ancestral line for the benefit of family members who don’t have time or inclination to do the research, but who do enjoy reading about their family history.  The one original family line that was the subject of her early research has expanded to include many other lines, so another reason for writing the family stories is to ensure that her research won’t be lost when she shuffles off this mortal coil.

Rondie’s academic background includes Bachelor and Masters degrees from Arizona State University. During her studies for her Masters Degree, she was one of 30 teachers in Arizona to be chosen to attend the Bay Area Writing Project, a program originating at UCLA, with the purpose of sharing best practices for writing teachers.  It was a six-week intensive program that enriched as well as instructed, and changed her view of the writing process forever.

One particular practice, the involvement in “writing groups” has been particularly important to her, and will be discussed during this session.

Join us at 1:00 p.m. on May 4 at the University Medical Center for this fun and exciting event. Pick out someone from your family tree, and bring all you know about them to work with, along with a notebook for writing. Handout will be provided.

Preregistration is required. You can find the registration form here or pick one up at the general meeting this Saturday, February 16. Don't delay–registration deadline is 16 March 2013.

Mark Your Calendars for 2013 Workshops and Tours

We have been working hard to provide an exciting variety of workshops and tours in 2013. While not all events' details have been worked out, we wanted to give you a sneak peek at what we are planning. Registration is now open for the Family History Center Orientation. Registration for the other events will be announced here when available.

FAMILY HISTORY CENTER ORIENTATION by Linda Orton
Family History Center, 500 S. Langley Ave.
January 23, 2013   3:00 to 5:00 p.m.
This event was announced in or blog post Register for the First PCGS Event of 2013 on December 14, 2012. What we perhaps did not tell you is that the Family History Center is open just for us and we will have the opportunity to use the onsite resources after the tour. There is no cost for the orientation, but there will be a small fee (less than $1.00) for the handout which will be collected at the door. Click here for the registration form. REGISTRATION DEADLINE:  12 JANUARY 2013

WRITING YOUR ANCESTOR’S REAL LIFE STORY by Rondie Yancey
University Medical Center, 1501 N. Campbell, Room 2600 (Duval Auditorium)
May 4, 2013 1:00 to 3:30 pm
There are two ways to tell your ancestors stories--a formal Journal Style approach, or a sociological approach that tells the story with cultural, pictorial and anecdotal additions. We will concentrate on creating a very readable and interesting story that still contains your documented research, but will also give your family and friends a realistic picture of what every-day life was like for the people you are writing about. Pick out someone from your family tree, and bring all you know about them to work with, along with a notebook for writing. Handout provided. REGISTRATION DEADLINE:  16 MARCH 2013

ARIZONA HISTORICAL SOCIETY TOUR
Tucson Library and Archives, 949 E. 2nd St.
September 2013 (Date and time TBA)
In 1884, The Tucson branch of the Arizona Historical Society began collecting material related to Arizona. The library and archives collections document the development of the Territory and State of Arizona from the arrival of the Spanish to present day, with a primary focus on southern Arizona. Collection strengths include Territorial Arizona, nineteenth-century overland journeys to the West, mining, military campaigns and biographical information. Take a tour of the Tucson Library and Archives to learn more about the collection as well as methods and tools to use to find the information you need.  REGISTRATION DEADLINE:  17 AUGUST 2013

RESEARCH TRIP TO ARIZONA STATE ARCHIVES AND MESA REGIONAL FAMILY SEARCH CENTER
November 1-2, 2013
The Genealogy Collection at the Arizona State Archives consists of materials from all 50 states as well as from some foreign countries, family histories, general indexes, journals, ship passenger lists, atlases and biographical encyclopedias. The Mesa FamilySearch Library is a branch of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. Its holdings consist of over 700 Commercial CDs with genealogical research data, 40,000 books, 81,000 rolls of microfilm, 52,000 microfiche and more.

We will arrive at the Polly Rosenbaum Archives & History Building at 1901 W. Madison Street in Phoenix on Friday morning, 1 November 2013, at 9:30 a.m.  After a tour of the facility, we will go to the Arizona State Genealogical Library on the 3rd floor in the Capitol Building at 1700 W. Washington.  The State Buildings close at 5:00 p.m. at which time we will dismiss to the hotel.

The following morning (Saturday, 2 November 2013), we will go to the Mesa FamilySearch Library, 41 S. Hobson, at 9:00 a.m. The library closes at 5:00 p.m. and we will return to Tucson.  REGISTRATION DEADLINE:  21 SEPTEMBER 2013

Register for the First PCGS Event of 2013

Subscription websites, genealogy research books from all over the world, family histories, and local access to films stored at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City:  $0.00 at the Family History Center.

An orientation tour of the treasure trove of resources, including the ones above, held at the Tucson Family History Center:  $0.00

Handouts to take home with you: Minimal $ (collected at the door)

Using what you learn while on the tour to find a new branch of your family tree: Priceless.

Join us for this no cost tour of the Tucson Family History Center and see what priceless bits of information you find!

The orientation will be on Wednesday, 23 January 2013 from 3:00 - 5:00 p.m. Pre-registration is required and the registration deadline is 12 January--just a few short weeks away. Follow this link for the registration form. Don't miss out...register today!

Watch our blog for the full list of the year's events to be posted soon.