There are plenty of opportunities this week to learn from Ontario Ancestors’ branches and special interest groups. All of these virtual presentations are free and open to the public. The times are in Eastern time.
Monday, February 24, 7:30 p.m. — Toronto Branch
Digital Humanities and Family History by Marian Press
Digital humanities is an area of research and teaching at the intersection of computing and the humanities, which has resulted in history and social science departments at academic institutions, as well as libraries, digitizing research materials and compiling historical databases for computer analysis and interpretation. None of the resulting freely available websites have been developed for genealogists, but many are wonderfully helpful for the work we do. Marian Press will discuss the best of the sites that have been developed over the last few years, while also looking at what’s new.
Opening Act: The Fabulous FamilySearch Full-Text Search: Figuring out what you have found. This exciting new experiment from FamilySearch Labs was launched about a year ago and content is growing. Speaker Jane MacNamara will demonstrate how to use the Full-Text Search — with an Ontario focus — and take the results back to the catalogue to understand the record structure and context.
Register online to watch one or both presentations.
Tuesday, February 25, 2:00 p.m. — Sudbury District Branch
Why Use Metadata in Genealogy? by Art Taylor
Art will address the question, Why use metadata for genealogy? The short answer is to add critical information to your digital photos and make them so much easier to locate. This is a hybrid event. The presentation will last approximately 90 minutes for those participating online. There will be a general discussion following for in-person attendees to chat about anything and everything family history. Register to watch online.
Tuesday, February 25, 7:00 p.m. — Wellington Branch
City Streets to Rural Homesteads: Tracing the Orphan Train Story by Heather Bigwood
Many of us are aware of the child migration program that sent over 100,000 children from the UK to Canada. But, did you know that from 1854 to 1929, an estimated 250,000 children were sent by train to rural communities throughout the continental United States and Canada? Join us as Heather explains the history of the orphan train movement, how it worked, how it ended, the link to Canada, and how to determine if your ancestor could have ridden on an orphan train. Register to watch online.
Thursday, February 27, 1:00 p.m. — British Home Children SIG
BIFHSGO’s BHC Research Resources by Sue Lambeth
Thursday, February 27, 7:00 p.m. — Ottawa Branch
One Team, Two Uncles, Three Victories by Robert Yip
Robert will tell the story of the 1933 Chinese Students Soccer Team, which was inducted into the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame in 2011 and is a part of the Canadian Museum of History. https://bcsportshall.com/honoured_member/1933-chinese-students/ His father and uncles were members of this team. Besides winning the provincial championship in 1933, at a time when Chinese people were denied basic rights, one uncle went on to help Canada win the war in the Pacific in 1945. A second uncle became Canada’s first lawyer of Chinese descent in Canada and led the campaign to successfully repeal the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1947, which led to Chinese Canadian winning back the right to vote. Register to watch online.
Saturday, March 1, 10:00 a.m. — London and Middlesex Branch
Vision SoHo: Preserving the History of St. David’s Ward by Michelle Hamilton
Invited to partner with Vision SoHo Alliance, a consortium of six affordable housing organizations, Michelle Hamilton has led 30 students in researching the history of the SoHo (South of Horton Street) neighbourhood to curate an outdoor historical exhibit and multimedia website. This talk will tell the stories of St. David’s Ward, as it was originally named, including Indigenous and immigrant history, numerous factories, Victoria Hospital, and Western’s Faculty of Medicine, and highlight the sources and oral histories used. Ms. Hamilton will also discuss how this history will be preserved through the Vision SoHo project. This is a hybrid presentation. Attend in person at the London Familysearch Library or register to watch online.
Saturday, March 1, 2:00 p.m. — Family Historian Users Group
We are a group of enthusiastic users of The Master Genealogist (the genealogy software product “that does it all”) and/or Family Historian. Some of us have switched to Family Historian for various reasons, and we include discussions and tips for that genealogy software as well. Our monthly meetings are webcast only and available to anyone in the world! Learn how to join the meeting here.
