OGS In-Person (and Zoom) Monthly Meetings
OGS has resumed in-person monthly general meetings. The meetings are "hybrid" so we will continue to use Zoom as well. Join us in the way that works best for you each month. Want to see your friends in person? Meet us at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 1925 Boulevard Rd SE, Olympia. Bad weather or don't like driving at night? Join us via Zoom. Refer to Community Events / OGS Member Meetings calendar for details.
Upcoming meetings:
- Sep 11 (Z): Dawn Carlile, "Researching Oregon Trail Ancestors"
- Oct 9 (TBD): TBD
- Nov 13 (TBD): TBD
Speaker location: P = in person, Z = Zoom (remote), TBD = to be determined
Researching Oregon Trail Ancestors - Sep 11
 Dawn Carlile will present "Researching Oregon Trail Ancestors" at our September 11 general meeting: The Oregon Trail extended approximately 2,000 miles from Independence, Missouri, to Oregon City, Oregon, from 1840 to 1869. More than 50,000 people traveled to Oregon, and a great number died on the journey. This talk will cover resources for researching people and their lives along the trail.
Dawn Carlile is a professional genealogist, educator, and lecturer who enjoys teaching others about researching their families as much as she does about researching for her own family and the families of others. She has completed 15 institute courses at Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy, Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh, Institute of Genealogical and Historical Research, and Genealogical Institute on Federal Records. She is currently the president and an instructor for the Oregon Genealogical Society.
After many years of helping others with their research, Dawn started Genealogy Roots and Branches in 2021.
A link to the 7:00 pm Zoom meeting (starts at 6:30 pm for social time) will be posted here on the day of the meeting. Non-members are welcome to attend.
Working with the FamilySearch Center - June 12
 Kyle Kisebach presented "Working with the FamilySearch Center" at our June 12 general meeting. He reviewed the mission, history, people and resources of the FamilySearch program including its website and wiki and its Olympia FamilySearch Center.
Kyle Kisebach is the former director of operations at the Olympia FamilySearch Center. He enjoys studying his ancestry, currently going back past the 15th century in Europe and in the United States since before the American revolutionary war. He and his family moved to Olympia from Hong Kong in 2016. He works as the chief mechanical engineer for NV5 and in his time off is an avid learner of anything from art and geopolitics to 3D printing and blacksmithing.
A recording of this presentation is now available for OGS members under Community Events / Recordings. Recording will be available through 18 July 2025.
Rapidly Writing Your Ancestor's Story - May 8
 Devon Noel Lee presented "From Research to Draft: Rapidly Writing Your Ancestor’s Story" via Zoom at our May General Meeting.
Devon's presentation unlocked the power of storytelling to preserve our family histories like never before in this captivating workshop! Renowned genealogy expert Devon Noel Lee transformed one lucky RootsTech attendee's genealogical document into a compelling rough draft right before our eyes. Through the magic of the "Recipe for Writing Family History" process, Devon simplified the writing journey, ensuring no one ever faces writer's block again.
Devon Noel Lee is known for her contagious energy and passion for capturing and preserving family histories. She specializes in practical research, writing, and memory keeping. She has published over 60 books, including a memoir and four family history how-to books, including the popular "A Recipe for Writing Family History."
A recording of this presentation and handout was available for OGS members through 17 June 2025.
Beginning Genealogy Workshop - Oct 19, 2024
OGS presented a free Beginning Genealogy workshop on Oct 19 at the Tumwater Library from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm. This was our first beginner's class since COVID and we were excited to be able to provide this educational opportunity once again. We plan to offer Beginner Genealolgy classes several times a year, and we thank the Tumwater Library staff for being excellent hosts!
50th Anniversary Party - May 18th, 2024
 The OGS community celebrated 50 years of the Olympia Genealogical Society on May 18, 2024 at the Capital Vision Christian Church in Olympia. One of the highlights was Ann Olson and Alma Greenwood, two of our Founding Members, sharing their memories of the early days of the organization. We had quite a group of past presidents in attendance.
Click here to see a video of Ann and Alma's presentation. Click here to see the slide show presented at the party.
Welcome to Our Website!
The OGS website is designed to allow our members to engage with each other as they trace their ancestors and discover their family histories. We want to make this site a dynamic experience. Here are just a few ways to engage on this site today:
If you aren’t already an OGS member, please consider joining and engaging with our community. To do so, see Membership in the menu in the left column.
OGS Needs You!
Fellow OGS Members, as we begin our 50th year as a group with the special interest of family history, we are looking to reconnect with the community at large while serving our membership's continued interest in all things genealogy! With this end goal in mind, we are in need of more members to become involved to helping out. Listed below are various opportunities to help. Take a look, see what you can contribute to help grow and keep OGS vital for the next 50 years!
- DIG Virtually - There is interest in having a group to help out members in the community like we have done in the past at the Olympia Library, but to do this virtually. Virtual meeting times may be a couple of times a month, perhaps a week day and a Saturday for a couple of hours. If we were to have 6-10 members volunteer, there could be a rotating schedule. Schedule would depend on how many members volunteer. Training will be provided. Send an email to Info@olygensoc.org if you have an interest in participating in this outreach opportunity.
- Meeting Tech Team - We have a location secured with all of the needed equipment for hybrid general membership meetings, but we need one or preferably two people who can help with the tech setup at the in-person site for each meeting. Set up is pretty simple. You would be bringing the OGS laptop to each meeting and making the connections; much easier than when we met at the courthouse!! Orientation/training will be provided. If you are interested, send an email to webmaster@olygensoc.org.
- Speakers Bureau team - From time to time we receive requests for a member from our organization to come and speak to a group about genealogy and OGS. It would be great to have a few members who would like to speak for 30-45 minutes about genealogy to a neighborhood group, classroom full of kids, or service organization. Opportunities for this maybe once or twice a year depending on how many setup to represent OGS. Great outreach opportunities to grow our organization. Send an email to Info@olygensoc.org if you have an interest!
2024-25 Special Interest Groups (SIGs)
OGS members, consider joining a Special Interest Group if you haven't done so. This is a great venue to learn more and get to know fellow members in a small group setting. SIGs are a benefit of membership so make sure your membership status is updated to access this wonderful benefit. SIG meetings will continue to be held virtually using Google Meet, except for the FTM SIG which will use Zoom, and Genealogy Chat which is in-person. See the SIGs page for a list of our SIGs, coordinators, meeting times, etc.
OGS Surname Database
OGS provides a searchable public database to which an OGS member can add the surnames of their ancestors. At this writing, the database includes 348 entries. See OGS Surname Database for more information.
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July 17
Genealogy Chat SIG
Contact Peggy, GenealogyChatSIG@ olygensoc.org for more information regarding meetings. Address in Membership directory or Genealogy Chat SIG page.
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July 23
FamilySearch.org SIG
Log on to OGS website, click on SIGs in main nav menu, click on FamilySearch.org for Google Meet link. Can access 10 mins before start ...
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August 5
Family Tree Maker SIG
Log on to OGS website, click on SIGs in main nav menu, click on Family Tree Maker for Zoom link. Can access 10 mins before ...
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August 19
Monthly Board Meeting
OGS members in good standing are welcome to attend board meetings as observers only. Meetings are held monthly August through June on the third ...
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August 21
Genealogy Chat SIG
Contact Peggy, GenealogyChatSIG@ olygensoc.org for more information regarding meetings. Address in Membership directory or Genealogy Chat SIG page.
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WSGS Calendar
Washington State Genealogical Society calendar
Web Tips
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