Below are nine meeting opportunities that provide genealogical information, and for the most part, are free... one could be in your area, or worth driving to! On Tuesday, August 21 at 7:00 p.m. in the Northland Public Library, 300 Cumberland Rd., McCandless Twp., Pittsburgh, PA 15237. Free and open to the public. the North Hills Genealogists (for more info: [email protected]) will feature "THE ETHNIC EXPERIENCE IN LAWRENCEVILLE", by James Wudarczyk, noted local historian and author. Mr. Wudarczyk will illustrate how the various ethnic groups were instrumental in shaping the Lawrenceville community. Injecting amusing stories, he will show how one Pittsburgh neighborhood reflected national trends. Because many families in the Greater Pittsburgh Metropolitan area can trace their roots to the historic community of Lawrenceville, the lecture will also focus on available resources for genealogical research and address what the historic communities must do to preserve the records of the past. The presentation will trace the areas status from that of a struggling rural village of 200 people in 1826 to a metropolitan community of over 30,000 residents in 1900. While historical events will be mixed into the lecture, most of the talk will focus on how the English, Irish, Swedes, Germans, Polish, Solvenians and other ethnic groups built churches and fraternal organizations, and founded newspapers. Both the heyday of ethnicity prior to WW II and the subsequent decline of ethnic identification in more recent times will be discussed. Exhibits will supplement the presentation. Mr. Wudarczyk is author of the book PITTSBURGH'S FORGOTTEN ALLEGHENY ARSENAL, co-author of the book MONSTER ON THE ALLEGHENY AND OTHER LAWRENCEVILLE STORIES and author of the booklet HISTORICAL SITES AND LOST LANDMARKS OF LAWRENCEVILLE'S SIXTH WARD. His articles have appeared in the WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA HISTORICAL MAGAZINE, PITTSBURGH HISTORY AND LANDMARKS FOUNDATION NEWSLETTER, and many small publications and newsletters. He is a frequent lecturer and has designed several tours of the Lawrenceville area. ========================== Saturday, Sept. 1, 2001 at 10 a.m. at the Allegheny Intermediate Unit, 14th & Penn Sts. in the Strip District, Pittsburgh, PA (directions see: http://www.aiu3.net/) Free and open to all. P.O.I.N.T.ers in Person (Pursuing Our Italian Names Together) will meet to discuss all things Italian and about Italian research. For more information: [email protected] ========================== Sunday, Sept. 9, 2001 at 2 p.m. at Citizens Library, 55 South College St., Washington, PA 15301. Free and open to the public. For more info: http://jack.cobweb.net/~gssp/ ========================== Sunday, Sept. 9, 2 p.m. at Medina District Library Annex, Medina, OH. The Medina County chapter of the Ohio Genealogical Society will present CONNECTICUT RESEARCH by James F. Caccamo. This will include methods and resources necessary to perform genealogical research in Connecticut. More info: http://nightfly.apk.net/sandra/mcgs/ ========================== Sept. 12- 15, Davenport, IA, The Federation of Genealogical Societies 4-day conference with 10 lectures each hour and over 100 vendors of everything genealogical! Admission to vendor hall is free. For more information see www.fgs.org ========================== Thursday, Sept. 13, 7 p.m. at the Carnegie Library Lecture Hall, 4400 Forbes Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15213. Free and open to the public. http://www.clpgh.org/clp/Pennsylvania/wpgs.html Western Pennsylvania Genealogical Society will feature a presentation by Reed Powell entitled GENEALOGY RESEARCH IN AN INTERNET-DRIVEN WORLD The ever-expanding volume of genealogical data available on the Internet has changed forever many of our research strategies and methods. This talk will examine a handful of the most useful Internet websites. BUT WAIT! The Internet is not the only technology game in town! This talk will also address the use of technologies other than the World Wide Web. This includes a discussion on the use of email distribution lists, newsgroups, CDROM libraries, and the role of personal computers (PCs and MACs) in organizing genealogical records. An open question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. REED B. POWELL is a well-known lecturer on Genealogy & Computing in the western Pennsylvania area. He has also spoken at the National Genealogical Society Conference in the States. With over 25 years experience in the computer industry working for major computer companies, his background includes software development, support, marketing and website design. He is a frequent columnist for the Western Pennsylvania Genealogical Society's newsletter, Jots From the Point, and is the chairperson for the project to computerize the ancestor charts of WPGS members. Reed is a member of the First Families of Western Pennsylvania lineage program through his ancestors John Gravatt and Thomas Brown, both of Mercer County. =========================== Saturday, Sept. 15, 2001, Western Reserve Historical Society Library, 10825 East Blvd., Cleveland, OH 44106 CLUES FOR RESEARCHING AT WRHS, including Manuscripts, Finding Aids, Catalogs, Guides, Local Government Records, Newspapers and Periodicals, Ethnic Research Sources. REGISTRATION required. Late fee after Sept. 8. For more info: Roger Ellsworth, Registrar, [email protected] =========================== Thursday, Sept. 20, 2001, at the Valley Community Library, Sharpsville Ave., Sharon, PA The Mercer County Genealogical Society will have their monthly meeting. Free and open to the public. =========================== Sundays beginning Sept. 23, at 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., 5 week beginning genealogy class through Community College of Allegheny County at their North Campus, Rt. 19, McCandless Twp., Pittsburgh taught by Elissa Powell, CGRS. For more information: 412-237-2670 until Sept. 14. =========================== ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj.