Genealogy: Not A Solitary Pursuit

8 September 2001

I have a deep dark secret: I used to be a closet genealogist. Very late at night I would creep into my tiny office/guest room with my files and charts and get lost in the past. I was infected with the genealogy bug while attending college. For 15 years, I worked on my genealogy all alone. In defense of myself, I thought that was how genealogy was supposed to be done. After all, it was my family, so who else would be interested?

Shortly after moving to Broomfield nine years ago, I read a notice in the Enterprise about the Boulder Genealogical Society. Immediately my heart sped up. I had been thinking for a few years that my research was going nowhere. I clearly needed some help. But, dare I go to a society meeting where surely everyone but me would be an expert? Jack Lemmon once said “Failure seldom stops you. What stops you is the fear of failure”. It took me six months, but I finally attended a meeting. At that first meeting it was clear that genealogy is not a solitary endeavor at all. While everyone researches their own unique family, techniques and methods can be applied universally.

And so my education in genealogy began. I attended meetings, listened to speakers, and mingled with the other members. I found that I could ask a question, and usually someone could answer it. To my amazement, I was even able to contribute occasionally. I can’t imagine how many times I said to myself, “I wish I would have known this years ago. It would have saved me hours of work.” I started attending the local events which featured nationally known speakers. Through the societies, I learned about local and national educational resources. Also, many local societies sponsored classes at no cost or minimal cost. Some resources for these events are:

The Colorado Council of Genealogical Societies sponsors an event every other year, and they usually have two or three excellent national speakers who talk on a variety of genealogy-related subjects. The next one is scheduled for September, 2002. They keep a calendar of events sponsored by most genealogy societies in Colorado on their Web site at http://www.rootsweb.com/~coccgs/Default.htm Many societies have their own web pages and often list their events.
Colorado Genealogical Society sponsors a yearly all-day seminar featuring a nationally-known speaker. It is usually held in March and the cost is around $20.
Denver Public Library, Western History and Genealogy Department have brochure racks that have society information and program fliers. They also have a notebook at the desk with all of the local genealogical happenings.
Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) have many of the national events on their web site at http://fgs.org// Click on the calendar button to see a nationwide list of upcoming genealogy happenings.

Now that you’re eager to begin your education, I know the perfect place to start. There will be an all-day event right here in Broomfield on September 22. The Family History Quest will feature a variety of one hour classes for beginners to experienced researchers. Some of the subjects offered will be census, military, oral history, photo scanning and a variety of other computer related classes. In addition to the classes, computer demonstrations and Heirloom and Memorabilia Exhibits are planned. The Quest is free and will be held at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, 12th & Main Streets. Workbooks, which include the speaker materials, are $5. I would recommend getting a workbook but it isn’t required.

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