Sunday February 8th, 2015 Branching Out with the OGS & TBPL

Looking for a fun activity for the whole family this Family Day weekend? Drop-in to the Brodie Resource Library on Saturday, February 14, 2015 (10am-12pm) to get started on your family tree during the Branching Out: Make Your Own Family Tree program. Members of the Ontario Genealogical Society will be on hand to help answer your questions and assist in using local history materials. No registration is required and all ages are welcome.

This program is an example of the longstanding partnership between the Thunder Bay Public Library (TBPL) and the Thunder Bay branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society (OGS). The OGS maintains a crucial role in the preservation and discovery of local history and genealogical roots in Northwestern Ontario. Members of the OGS regularly work with organizations and groups like TBPL, the Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society, the City of Thunder Bay Archives & Records, Lakehead University, the Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame, the City of Thunder Bay Heritage Advisory Committee, the Northwestern Ontario Aviation Heritage Centre, local legions, and professional researchers. This work might seem individualistic (it is genealogy after all), however it all ties together in a broader network that has grown over the years to make Thunder Bay one of the richest repositories of local history and genealogical material in Northwestern Ontario.

The OGS library in Thunder Bay is housed at the Brodie Resource Library and is comprised of a variety of different types of research material. The collection is open for public use and includes location histories, guides, birth/marriage/death indexes across Northwestern Ontario, family trees, census records, and more. Further, the monthly meeting of the local OGS occurs the second Wednesday of the month (September – June) at the Brodie Resource Library.

The first Genetic Genealogy workshop being offered by a member of the OGS was held on January 29, 2015 with another session planned for March 26 at the Mary J. L. Black Branch Library. This free workshop is for anyone interested in learning more about how their DNA can help in tracing their genealogical roots. Instructor Clare Cook will introduce participants to the topic of genetic genealogy for the purpose of family history research.  More information is available online at www.tbpl.ca/Research/Local History & Genealogy.

Following this, the OGS will be participating in the second annual Genealogy Fair hosted by the Thunder Bay Public Library in partnership with local researcher, Dave Nicholson. Stay tuned to the TBPL website for more information closer to the date (sometime in October).

Jesse Roberts