Registration Open for OGS 2025 Seminar
On Feb 1, 2025 Blaine Bettinger will present " Artificial Intelligence Made Easy: Boosting Your Genealogy Research with Technology". Registration is required; see more details.
OGS Has Resumed In-Person Monthly Meetings!
OGS has resumed in-person monthly general meetings. The meetings will be "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:
- Jan 9 (Z): Nancy Cordell, "Finding a Professional Genealogist" (with guest Steven Morrison)
- Feb 1 (Z): Annual Seminar, Blaine Bettinger, "A.I. Made Easy: Boosting Your Genealogy Research with Technology"
- Feb 13 (Z): Melissa Barker, "Digging into Finding Aids: The Roadmap to Any Manuscript Collection"
- Mar 13 (Z): Brian Rhinehart, "Was my William Smith in the Civil War?"
- Apr 10 (Z): Craig R. Scott, "Researching Your War of 1812 Ancestor"
- May 8 (Z): Devon Lee, "From Research to Draft: Rapidly Writing Your Ancestor's Story"
- Jun 12 (TBD): John Anderson, "FamilySearch.org - Working with the Family Search Center and What it has to Offer"
Speaker location: P = in person, Z = Zoom (remote), TBD = to be determined
Finding a Professional Genealogist - Jan 9
OGS welcomes local genealogists and past OGS presidents Nancy Neville Cordell and Steven Waltz Morrison to our January meeting to present "Finding a Professional Genealogist".
Those of us searching our own family history love the hunt. But we have all come to points in our research when we are stuck. We can’t seem to find what we are looking for, for a variety of reasons. It is time to hire a professional! But how do you find a reputable professional genealogist? Nancy will help you figure out when hiring a professional is in your best interest and how to find a reputable professional genealogist. Steven will then provide a case study from his recent experience hiring professionals in England to find and transcribe documents from the 1500-1600s.
Nancy has a PhD in Anthropology and is a professional genealogist with her own business, Diggin' Our Past, specializing in DNA analysis and African American research. She is currently the president of the Puget Sound Chapter of Professional Genealogists.
Steven is a past president of the APG Puget Sound Chapter and has a Masters of Public Administration. He has an extensive resume as a genealogical speaker and scholar.
Annual Holiday Party - Dec 7
 OGS held our annual holiday party on Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024 at the Capital Vision Church in Olympia. A good time was had by all, with great treats and lots of conversations.
We'd love to have anyone with an interest in genealogy join us at our monthly meetings, whether online or in person. Non-members welcome! Check our website for details
The Witches of Salem - Nov 14 Meeting
 "The Witches of Salem" was presented at our November meeting by OGS member Jerri McCoy.
“The Witches of Salem” – There are no witches – are there? Of course not! But in 1692, in Salem, the witch hunt would swell and burn. How were witches identified? What happened to the accused? And who were those who were executed that terrible year in Salem? Come learn a little bit about them and their accusing neighbors.
Jerri was born and raised in San Diego, California, and worked in the computer industry for 30 years. She and her husband have been married for 55 years, and have two grown sons. Jerri has been active in genealogy for almost 50 years, and has published three books on her family. She is a member of OGS, the Washington State Genealogical Society, the DAR and the Mayflower Society.
A recording of the Zoom meeting is now available for OGS members. Click on Community Events / Recordings* to view the recording. The recording will be available to OGS Members until 17 December 2024.
Beginning Genealogy Workshop - Oct 19
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!
Find A Grave - A User's Guide: Oct 10 Meeting
.jpg) Following up her well-received lecture in September, Karen Wallace Steely presented "Find A Grave - A User's Guide" at our October general meeting.
Have you considered becoming a contributor to Find A Grave? More than just burial records, Find A Grave includes biographical information, obituaries, family relationships, and photographs. The integration between Ancestry.com and Find A Grave will also be discussed, including tips on how you can use Ancestry to work around limitations in Find A Grave’s search engine. Karen will demonstrate the additional tools available to contributors, review the guidelines for managing and transferring memorials, and provide a short tutorial on how to use the Find A Grave mobile app.
Karen is a professional genealogist who has specialized in dating and researching photographs for more than twenty years. She has served on the board of directors for the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG) and is a member of the Daguerreian Society. Karen is the principal researcher for The Past Matters® ( www.ThePastMatters.com) and lives in Vancouver, Washington with her husband and three cats.
A recording of the Zoom meeting is now available for OGS members. Click on Community Events / Recordings* to view the recording. Corresponding handout is available. Click on PublicationsFiles / Downloadable Files / Program Material - OGS Only*. Recording and handout will be available to OGS Members until 27 January 2025.
50th Anniversary Party - May 18th
 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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December 21
Legacy Family Tree SIG
Log on to OGS website, click on SIGs in main nav menu, click on Legacy Family Tree for Google Meet link. Can access 10 mins before ...
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December 28
Ancestry.com SIG
Log on to OGS website, click on SIGs in main nav menu, click on Ancestry.com for Google Meet link. Can access 10 mins before start ...
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January 6
Family History Writing SIG
Log on to OGS website, click on SIGs in main nav menu, click on Family History Writing SIG for Google Meet link. Can access 10 ...
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January 9
Monthly General Membership Meeting
Program: Nancy Cordell, "Finding a Professional Genealogist" Social time starts at 6:30 pm. Formal meeting begins at 7:00 pm. Those of us searching our ...
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January 14
DNA SIG
Log on to OGS website, click on SIGs in main nav menu, click on DNA for Google Meet link. Can access 10 mins before start ...
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WSGS Calendar
Washington State Genealogical Society calendar
Web Tips
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