15 July 2003 POLISH GENEALOGY CONFERENCE MARKS GROUP¹S 25TH ANNIVERSARY Chicago ___ In conjunction with its 25th anniversary, the Polish Genealogical Society of America ( PGSA) will present its Annual Conference, ³Where Do We Go From Here?² October 3 through 5 at the Ramada Hotel O¹Hare, 6600 N. Mannheim Road, Rosemont, IL. Founded in 1978, with now over 1500 members locally and abroad, the PGSA addresses the needs of those who are researching their Polish roots, offering meetings, seminars, publications and an annual conference featuring renowned genealogy experts. The Conference will cover 17 topics including ³Passenger Lists and More,² ³U.S. Naturalization Records 1790s - 1920s² and ³The Peasant and the Palace.² Other topics presented will be ³ Using Maps and Gazetteers,² ³Publishing Your Family History,² ³Galician Research and Records,² ³Planning a Trip for Overseas Research,² ³Lesser Used Federal Records,² ³Online Research,² ³Orientation to the Family History Library² and ³Fact and Fiction in Ellis Island Stories.² Among the speakers will be Washington-based John Philip Colletta, one of America¹s most popular genealogists/lecturers and author of They Came in Ships: A Guide to Finding Your Immigrant Ancestor¹s Arrival Record, and other books; Ceil Jensen, an educator/ pioneer in integrating technology into the classroom; William F. (Fred) Hoffman, linguist, editor and author of several books; Brian J. Lenius, author and publisher of The Genealogical Gazetteer of Galicia and co-founder of the East European Genealogical Society; Stephen Barthel, staff member for the past 20 years of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City; and Iwona Dakiniewicz, from Lodz, Poland the PGSA¹s correspondent in Poland. Chicago area speakers will be Michael Mulholland, Local History/Genealogy Librarian at the Arlington Heights Memorial Library and Virginia Witucke, former academic librarian/educator and member of PGSA¹s Board of Directors. Keynote speaker will be Joseph Dressel, founding member of the PGSA who has traced his family back to the mid 11th century. Conference days are Friday, October 3 from 5 to 10PM, Saturday, October 4 from 8AM to 5PM and Sunday, October 5 from 9AM to noon. Conference registration is $68 for members; $55 for members¹ spouses; $90 for non-members and $75 at the door. Registration includes a Saturday luncheon with entertainment by the Lajkonik Dancers. In addition there also will be a special dinner Saturday evening at the European Crystal Restaurant in Arlington Heights with advance reservations at $28. For Conference/Dinner registration please visit the website at www.pgsa.org or phone 312-915-5927 ###*