July 26, 2008 BGS Meeting - Genealogical Research on the Freeman Family

The Birmingham Genealogical Society meets the fourth Saturday of each month (ex. Nov. & Dec.) in the Arrington Auditorium at the Downtown Birmingham Public Library. Guests are always welcome!

Next meeting: Saturday, July 26th at 2 p.m. Refreshments at 1:30 p.m.

Speaker: J. D. Weeks, author, historian and genealogist

Program Topic: Genealogical Research on the Freeman Family

Details: www.birminghamgenealogy.org or BPL-Southern History Dept. at (205) 226-3665

Local genealogist, historian and author J.D. Weeks of Gardendale will discuss Genealogical Research on the Freeman Family. An avid postcard collector, Mr. Weeks has published Birmingham: A Postcard Tour (1999) and Birmingham: Then and Now (2007).

June 28, 2008 BGS Meeting - Old School Scrapbooking

The Birmingham Genealogical Society meets the fourth Saturday of each month (ex. Nov. & Dec.) in the Arrington Auditorium at the Downtown Birmingham Public Library. Guests are always welcome!

Next meeting: Saturday, June 28th at 2 p.m. Refreshments at 1:30 p.m.

Speaker: Kelsey Bates, Assistant Archivist, Birmingham Public Library

Program Topic: Old School Scrapbooking

Details: www.birminghamgenealogy.org or BPL-Southern History Dept. at (205) 226-3665

From Victorian era school girls to a county coroner with an interest in grisly murders, Birminghamians often saved mementos in scrapbooks. Many of these late 19th and early 20th-century scrapbooks are preserved in the Birmingham Public Library Archives. This talk explores scrapbook keeping and keepsakes–visiting cards, photographs, letters, poems, theater programs, paper dolls, newspaper clippings–that people treasured and saved.

Also check out the Birmingham Public Library’s Digital Archives online.

Walking Tour of the Lister Hill Library on May 24th

The Birmingham Genealogical Society will take a Walking Tour of the Lister Hill Library of the Health Sciences and Alabama Museum of Health Sciences at the University of Alabama in Birmingham on Saturday, May 24th at 1:00 pm.

The Lister Hill Library of the Health Sciences, established in 1945, is the largest biomedical library in Alabama and one of the leading such libraries in the South. It serves as a Resource Library in the National Network of Libraries of Medicine for the Southeast/Atlantic region. Its collections span seven centuries of knowledge beginning with the 30 incunabula within the thirteen thousand old and rare books to approximately 1500 current print journal subscriptions and thousands of electronic subscriptions through both individual publisher arrangements, aggregated packages, and consortial agreements. The volumes of books, bound journals, microforms, and other media currently held total approximately 350,000 volumes. The Alabama Museum of the Health Sciences, at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, is dedicated to the preservation and display of equipment, instruments, and objects that represent the history and development of the health sciences in the areas of education, research, and practice in the United States with special emphasis on the state of Alabama and its contributors to the practice of medicine. The scope of the collection includes, but is not limited to the following fields: medicine, nursing, ophthalmology, dentistry, public health, and allied health.

Our walking tour will be led by Michael A. Flannery, Professor and Associate Director for Historical Collections at Lister Hill Library, University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Lister Hill Library is located at 1700 University Blvd on the UAB campus. If you are driving north, take I-65 to 8th Ave South exit (Exit #259). The library is on the left side of the road between the 4th and 5th lights. If you are driving south, take I-65 South to the 4th Ave South exit (Exit #259-B). Turn right on 14th Street. Turn left on University Blvd (8th Ave) at UAB’s Hill University Center. The Library is on the left side of the road before the next major traffic light (18th Street). For more detailed information about directions and parking, visit the website.

Please join us on Saturday, May 24th at 1:00 pm and don’t forget to wear your walking shoes!

Don’t Forget - AGS Seminar May 3rd at Samford

The Alabama Genealogical Society (AGS) will host its Spring Seminar May 3rd at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. The speaker will be Hank Jones, Jr. For additional information and registration, click here. You must register prior to April 23rd to have your surnames included in the surname book. Registrations can be submitted after April 23rd, but your surnames will not be included in the book.

While visiting the AGS website, be sure to check out the Loose Records Project Index. They have added several new counties since we last posted about the index in December 2007.

April 26, 2008 - “Birmingham Rails” and the History of Birmingham Railroads

The Birmingham Genealogical Society meets the fourth Saturday of each month (ex. Nov. & Dec.) in the Arrington Auditorium at the Downtown Birmingham Public Library. Guests are always welcome!

Next meeting: Saturday, April 26th at 2 p.m. Refreshments at 1:30 p.m.

Speaker: Marvin Clemons, Co-author of “Birmingham Rails “

Program Topic: History of Birmingham Railroads

Details: www.birminghamgenealogy.org or BPL-Southern History Dept. at (205) 226-3665

Marvin Clemons and Lyle Key have published a new book called “Birmingham Rails“. It consists of 280 pages of historical narrative, entertaining personal essays, detailed maps, and richly detailed color and black & white photos, many published for the first time.

Mr. Clemons is our guest speaker and will present a program about the history of Birmingham Railroads. He will have slides to show and he will give a wonderful presentation that will entertain everyone.

Note: Mr. Clemons was originally scheduled to speak at our January 2008 meeting, but had to cancel at the last minute due to unforeseen circumstances.

Alabama Archives “Second Saturday” Programs

From the press release:

Starting Saturday, January 12, 2008, the Department of Archives and History (ADAH) will offer a new series of programs to help people learn more about resources and services of the Department. Tips, Tools, and Treasures will introduce researchers to the vast array of research materials available at the Archives and will provide tips on how to make best use of the department services. Archives staff will present these programs the second Saturday of each month in 2008 from 10:00 - 11:00 A.M. The programs are free and do not require pre-registration. All programs take place in the Alabama Power Auditorium at the Alabama Department of Archives and History, 624 Washington Ave., Montgomery Alabama. Attendees will learn more about Archives resources such as newspapers, photographs, maps, state publications, and military records, or can gain valuable research knowledge on topics such as researching African-American family history or using Ancestry.com for family history research

A listing of all of the programs for the year is located here.

The next program scheduled is April 12, 2008, “Photographs at the ADAH”. Details on the program are located here.

March 22, 2008 Meeting - “History of Avondale”

The Birmingham Genealogical Society meets the fourth Saturday of each month (ex. Nov. & Dec.) in the Arrington Auditorium at the Downtown Birmingham Public Library. Guests are encouraged to join us!

Next meeting: Saturday, March 22nd at 2 p.m.

Speaker: Catherine Browne, author

Program Topic: “History of Avondale”

Details: www.birminghamgenealogy.org or BPL-Southern History Dept. at (205) 226-3665

Please join us as Catherine Browne, a resident of Avondale for almost 50 years, discusses her recently published book, “A History of Avondale.” Avondale, once a city of its own, is now broken up into at least three Birmingham city neighborhoods - South Avondale, East Avondale and North Avondale. Mrs. Browne has been compiling data about the area along with that of the Forest Park neighborhood since the early 1970s while leading a committee to research listing Forest Park on the National Register of Historic Places. She has also written a history book about Forest Park in the early 1990s, but by then she also had substantial information on Avondale. The research yielded stories about mounds built by American Indians in what was then a rural area they referred to as King’s Spring and Big Spring - the area is near Sloss Furnace. Browne’s research unearthed stories about Avondale Mills, a school called Avondale School that served the black community of Taylor Hill, and Avondale Park, the site of the city’s zoo.

February 23, 2008 Meeting - Tombstone Symbols and their Meanings

The Birmingham Genealogical Society meets the fourth Saturday of each month (ex. Nov. & Dec.) in the Arrington Auditorium at the Downtown Birmingham Public Library. Guests are always welcome!

Next meeting: Saturday, February 23rd at 2 p.m.

Speaker: Dr. Marcell Burchfield

Program Topic: Tombstone Symbols and Their Meanings

Details: www.birminghamgenealogy.org or BPL-Southern History Dept. at (205) 226-3665

How many of us have ever noticed the image of a weeping willow or an olive wreath on a tombstone but never understood its symbolism? Attend the February meeting and your questions will be answered.

Dr. Marcell Burchfield will explain the various motifs and symbols found on tombstones with an enlightening slide presentation. Cemeteries in the South retain a profusion of forms and symbols and Dr. Burchfield will clarify the distinctive meaning for each. Please join us for this interesting program!

January 26th Meeting, Room Change

Instead of the Arrington Auditorium, we will be meeting in the Library’s boardroom for our program tomorrow. The Boardroom is located on the 3rd Floor of the “new” building. Please share this information with others planning to attend tomorrow’s meeting.

Also, we are under a winter weather advisory for tonight and tomorrow. Check with the library at 226-3600 to make certain they are open prior to leaving for the meeting tomorrow.

Weather permitting, we hope to see you at the meeting!

StoryCorps Griot Coming to Montgomery

StoryCorps Griot is a national oral history initiative designed to collect the stories of African Americans.

The Birmingham African-American Genealogy Study Group, a special interest group of the Birmingham Genealogical Society, will be participating in StoryCorps Griot in Montgomery on February 15th.

Six slots for interviews on Friday, February 15^th 2008 in Montgomery have been allocated to BAAGSG. The interviews will be 45 minutes and two people at a time.

Most of you have wonderful stories about your family. You will be given a copy of your interview via CD before you leave, and copies will be given to the National Museum of African American History and Culture and to the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. Selected stories are broadcast on NPR. Think of a person you would like to be in the interview with because you will be interview each other.

If you would like to participate, please contact Josephine Govan at (205) 510-2670 or (205) 631-9818 as soon as possible.