Dutchess County Genealogical Society

Topics of Meetings Held in 2006-2007

September 19, 2006 "Fire! Flood! Hurricane! Hard Drive Crash! Would you Lose your Genealogical Materials in a Disaster?" - Christine Crawford-Oppenheimer
Hear suggestions on how to protect your valuable work from all kinds of dangers.  Christine Crawford-Oppenheimer, DCGS Vice-President of Programs, has been engaged in genealogical research since 1979.  She is the author of Long-Distance Genealogy: Researching Your Family History from Home and speaks frequently on genealogical topics.  She is currently librarian at the Culinary Institute of America.
November 21, 2006 "Approaches to Creating a Family Album" - Kim Scoralick
Kim will discuss different approaches to preserving family photographs and memories in an album (scrapbook) that may include only the current generation, or many generations.  Ms. Scoralick has been a scrapbooking consultant with Creative Memories for seven years, and is also a third-grade teacher in the Spackenkill school district.
January 16, 2007 Members Helping Members
Our traditional January meeting is an informal, open forum where attendees can discuss their research problems and see if others have suggestions to help them.  Attendees are also invited to share research breakthroughs and tell how they made them.  There will also be demonstrations of the computer programs available in the LDS Church library.
March 20, 2007 "The Women of the House: How a Colonial She-Merchant Built a Mansion, a Fortune, and a Dynasty"
Come join us for a presentation by Jean Zimmerman, author of the book of the same name, which was written after extensive research in primary sources.  The presentation will bring us into the parlors, bedrooms, counting houses and parties of early colonial America, vividly restoring a forgotten group of women to life.  Learn how Margaret Hardenbroeck Philipse built an empire of trading ships, furs and real estate while raising five children, and follow her descendants for over one hundred years.  Even if you aren't related to the Philipse family, the story is fascinating , and the sources in which Ms. Zimmerman did her research may help you with your family as well.

Ms. Zimmerman is the author of four books that explore the changing role of American women: Made from Scratch: Reclaiming the Pleasures of the American Hearth; Tailspin: Women at War in the Wake of Tailhook; Raising our Athletic Daughters: How Sports can Build Self-Esteem and Save Girls Lives; and Breaking with Tradition: Women and Work, the New Facts of Life.  She received an MFA in poetry from Columbia University and lives with her husband and daughter in Hastings-on-Hudson.
May 15, 2007 "Rescuing the Past"
Edith Glass will discuss "Rescuing the Past".  The talk explains the whys and hows of memoir writing.  Unless one records the meaningful events of one's life, together with family history, the past will be lost.  The goal of this talk is to encourage the listener to keep the past alive.  Mrs. Glass will read sample memoirs and answer questions from attendees.

Mrs. Glass was born and raised in New York City, the daughter of immigrant parents.  She received her bachelor's degree from SUNY-New Paltz and her master's degree from Long Island University.  She spent most of her teaching career in the Byram Hills School District in Armonk, New York.  She began teaching memoir writing in 1979 and has been a guest lecturer at senior citizen organizations, libraries and genealogical societies.