Southern California Genealogical Society: German SIG

German Special Interest Group

The German Interest Group meets at the Library every third Saturday from 1-4. They often have a speaker on German research and they offer assistance with your German research problems. New members and guests are always welcome. Lois Burlo is the leader of this group. Activities planned for 2009 include:.

DATE	PROGRAM	DESCRIPTION
17 January	Getting Started	An overview of essentials needed to begin family research in German related sources
21 February	Alphabets, Umlauts & Abbreviations	Beginning to read, write & use the vocabulary needed to do German family history research
21 March	Maps & Terminology	Terms used in geographic studies of maps relating to states, communities, etc.
18 April	Relationships	Terminology of relationships: parents, grandparents, & cousins, legitimate or not,
16 May	Telephone Directories	CDs, books & Internet directories used for research & how to read terminology
20 June	Terminology & Symbols	See how the Germans used symbols to describe major events in a person’s life, calendar dates, etc.
18 July	Calendar	Days of the week, months of the year, festivals, all the terms found on a German calendar
15 August	German Research Guides	Continuing to add new information to our study guides, to make these more useful to German researchers.
19 September	Illnesses	Death records often show causes of death. Find out if a particular ailment runs in your family
17 October	Occupations	Identifying occupations which help differentiate between two people with the same name.
21 November	Potluck & Traditions	11:45 - 2:00
19 December	NO PROGRAM SCHEDULED	We look forward to the SCGS ANNUAL MEETING

*Programs are subject to change without notice

10:00 Library open to the public

12:00 Lunch

1:00 German Interest Group Program

2:00 Assistance with research

4:00 Library closes promptly

Lois and the other members of the German Interest Group are busy compiling Research Guides for the various German states and regions. These research guides will be invaluable resources for the genealogist who is trying to locate ancestors in The Old Country.

With over 3,000 volumes of the collection of the German Genealogical Society of America held within the SCGS Library, this group has an abundance of resources at its disposal. The knowledgeable, experienced members of the German Interest Group are always willing to help navigate the challenges of researching in Germany.