Category: Genealogy at the Library

Posts related to genealogical research at the library or archives

In the Navy: a WWII story

I recently had the opportunity to record the story of my grandmother in WWII for a storytelling class. It tells the story of how my Nana, Mildred Kaiser, joined the WAVES and served in the Navy during WWII. It follows the timeline of that part of her life. Click here or click the video below to view the digital story!

Thank you to Prof. Kate McDowell and my UIUC Storytelling classmates who inspired me to share this story in a new way! I had previously written about her time in the WAVES in a three-part series.

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The Family Librarian graduates with MSLIS

Eva_graduation_editedThis past weekend, I graduated from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana with a Master’s degree in Library and Information Science, with a certificate in Special Collections! I am so honored to also receive the iSchool Alumni Association student award. I’ve been working full-time at a public library while completing my degree, and I’ve received the wonderful support of family, coworkers, and friends! Continue reading “The Family Librarian graduates with MSLIS” →

(Book)Binding our Family History

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The cover of my family tree book

I took a bookbinding course this semester as part of my Library Science degree. At the end, we could create and bind our own book! Of course, I designed a book to showcase our family tree! I wanted to create a book that would include my family tree, and my husband’s family tree, joined in the middle by us. Continue reading “(Book)Binding our Family History” →

Genealogy at the ALA conference

 

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This week I attended the annual conference of the American Library Association (ALA) in Chicago. It was such a great experience! It is the largest conference for libraries of all kinds in the United States. I learned a lot about today’s librarianship, including lots of cool tidbits about how libraries are helping genealogists! Continue reading “Genealogy at the ALA conference” →

Calling all Medine cousins!

 

Medine family photo at the Pleasant Hill farm
The only known photograph of the Gustaf Medine family, taken about 1911 at Gustaf’s Pleasant Hill farm in Mayfield, IL. Photo Source: Drake family photos

I’m looking to reconnect with any relatives of the Medine family from DeKalb County, Illinois!

This semester, I took an online Genealogy course at University of Illinois with genealogist Nicole W. Miller. I feel like I learned so much about developing trends in genealogy, and I developed better practices for researching and sourcing my own family history. One of my accomplishments was writing a formal compiled genealogy for the Medine family. I realized that there are still some close Medine cousins that I know very little about! Continue reading “Calling all Medine cousins!” →