KHS Collection: Graphic 4 Goupille Family Collection. African American family poses in the yard, ca. 1913.
Five years ago, the close genealogical relationship between the Kentucky Historical Society (KHS) and the Kentucky Genealogical Society (KGS) took another step forward with the joint creation of a series of free workshops designed to appeal to genealogists and family historians. Held on the second Saturday of each month, the traditional meeting day of the KGS, the workshops/meetings begin at 10:30 a.m. with a KGS sponsored program that lasts until about 11:30. There is a break for lunch and then an afternoon session, sponsored by the KHS, begins at 12:30p.m. It runs until about 1:30. Morning and afternoon sessions usually feature a speaker of local or regional prominence to talk about a topic on genealogy or family history. Occasionally, a panel discussion is presented or the speaker’s topic will involve an aspect of Kentucky history. 
Registration for the program is strongly encouraged in order to ensure adequate seating. A box lunch for $6.00 may be ordered at the time of registration but no later than noon of the Friday preceding the workshop. Registration may be made by email at RefDesl@ky.gov. or by phone at 502-564-1792, ext. 4460.
This year’s series of workshops is of similar format to the programs of the past. The morning session of the January 8, 2011 Second Saturday workshop began with a presentation by Don Rightmyer, editor of Kentucky Ancestors, who spoke about what it takes to write an article for Ancestors. The second presentation of the January program was “Finding Violet – A Family’s Quest”, a case study presented by Tom Adkins, a transplanted Kentucky genealogist and family historian, who is now a resident of Ohio.
The Second Saturday workshop for February 12, 2011 will again feature Don Rightmyer, this time
speaking on migration patterns into Kentucky. The second speaker for February is another KHS staff member, Lynne Hollingsworth, who will talk about the Old Court/New Court controversy of early nineteenth century Kentucky, and its effect on migration and settlement in the Commonwealth.
As the workshop schedule moves into the spring, March 12, 2011 features a Genealogy 101 program presented by the regionally renowned genealogy and family history expert, Deborah Campisano. Deborah will spend both morning and afternoon sessions detailing how to get started in finding and documenting your family.
On April 9, 2011, both parts of the program will deal with cemeteries and cemetery preservation and the May 14th workshop will present Louise Jones discussing the preservation of documents in the morning session and Trevor Jones telling how to preserve artifacts in the second session.
On June 11, 2011, Roger Futrell will talk about the kinds of paperwork generally required for lineage societies in the morning. The afternoon session will be a panel discussion with representatives from several lineage societies such as the DAR and the SAR. There will be a one on one opportunity to meet with the lineage society representatives after the panel discussion.
Another panel discussion format will present itself the next month at the July 9, 2011 meeting. The morning session will see a panel of well known local and regional genealogists discuss strategies in dealing with brick walls. The panel will reconvene for the afternoon session and offer solutions to brick wall problems submitted by the audience.
The August Second Saturday program will actually be moved to the first weekend of August to accommodate the annual KGS Seminar featuring the nationally renowned genealogist, Elizabeth Shown Mills. The seminar will be a two day event, August 5th and August 6th, with break-out programs and an opportunity for local family history and genealogy groups to come together.
The September 10th morning program will host representatives from three libraries around the state, each taking about twenty minutes to discuss the genealogy and family history strengths of their respective institutions. In the afternoon, these representatives, together with staff of the Martin F. Schmidt Research Library, will offer sessions on getting started and on solving difficult research problems.
On October 8, 2011, representatives from Family Search will conduct an information session on their product in the morning. In the afternoon, they will conduct a hands-on session for workshop participants.
In November, the Second Saturday program will once again move to the first Saturday of the month in order not to conflict with Frankfort’s Candlelight Tour. The November 5th program will present a double feature on military records with one of the region’s leading experts, Brandon Slone. The morning session will cover American military records from colonial times through the Civil War. The afternoon session will cover later military records.
The last Second Saturday program of 2011 will be held on December 10th. Deborah Campisano will close out the genealogy year with a program “Digging Deeper for the Gold; Genealogy 201”. Ms. Campisano will expand on her genealogy basics workshop and take her December audience on an exploration of advanced genealogy and family history techniques during her morning and afternoon sessions.
There is also a Kentucky Technology in Genealogy (KTIG) program held after most Second Saturday workshops. The KTIG program discusses the use of technology such as software and online resources in genealogy and family history. It occurs fifteen minutes after the conclusion of the Second Saturday workshop.
--Jim Kastner
Images: top right, powerpoint slide from previous workshop. above right, KHS Collection. Graphic 4 Goupille Family Collection. An Assyrian Woman" ca. 1913. top left, KHS Collection. CAM.1990ph2.a3CAM8. Prying slot machine off wall in gambling raid, Newport. From state police file. 1958. above left, KHS Collection. 98M03.B20.425. A machine gun team at practice.Three soldiers crouch behind a large bush in the sand and practice using a Lewis gun. ca. 1916
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