"Crossing the Atlantic/Bridging the Divide"

The German Emigration Center (GEC) is a museum in Bremerhaven, Northern Germany, that covers the emigration of Germans to the United States during various eras as well as over 300 years of immigration to Germany.

As part of the Year of German-American Friendship 2018/19, the GEC has developed a program that combines traditional storytelling, face-to-face dialogue, and other proven “analog” forms with new digital methods for outreach, presentation, and dissemination.

GEC historians will ask US citizens with German roots about their identity and history as German-Americans and the role that their German heritage plays in their life today. As part of what used to be known as “The Great German Triangle of the Midwest" it comes as no surprise that Cincinnati is one station of this project. The filmed interviews will be added to the GEC’s oral history collection and will also be published on a planned online family history portal in 2019.

In the presentation with Q&A, historian Katie Heidsiek of the German Emigration Center will provide an overview over how the museum integrates oral history in its exhibitions, collections, and research projects.

Date:  Wednesday, December 12, 2018

Time: 7.30-8.30 p.m.

Location: Kolping Center Cincinnati, 10235 W Mill Rd, OH 45231

Admission is free. 

For more info: http://dah-bremerhaven.de/english/ and https://href.hypotheses.org/885.

The Year of German-American Friendship 2018/19 (Deutschlandjahr USA) is funded by the German Federal Foreign Office, implemented by the Goethe-Institut, and supported by The Federation of German Industries (BDI).

Posted by Bob Brodbeck

HCGS Acting DRD

Kelli Bergheimer - Understanding Your DNA Health Reports

Who: Kelli Bergheimer, Central Ohio DIG
What: Understanding Your DNA Health Reports
Where: MidPointe Library West Chester
When: Tuesday, December 11th, 2018
Time: 7:00 - 8:45 pm
Directions: MidPointe Library West Chester




Kelli Bergheimer, Chair of the Central Ohio DIG,  has agreed to return to the Cincinnati area to discuss how to interpret your health reports from 23andMe and/or Promethease. Learn that it's a "tendency toward" not a "diagnosis of" possible conditions. Find out what the Human Genome Project has discovered about specific genetically linked traits and diseases. What can the tests tell you and what can they not tell you. Discover how to talk to your doctor about the results. Kelli presented this topic at the Ohio Genealogical Society Conference in May 2018.

Kelli's Bio:

Kelli Bergheimer is a writer, teacher, editor, and national genealogical speaker. Kelli holds a Bachelor’s in Biology, a Master’s in Education: Curriculum and Instruction, and a Master’s in Business Management. Kelli is a math and science supervising editor for Smart Education—a K-12 textbook company located in Dubai writing textbooks for the MENA region—Middle East Northern Africa. Kelli runs two small businesses—Geo-Centric Learning and Mess on the Desk, a genealogical organization company with an accompanying blog, YouTube channel, and online store. Kelli is the Central Ohio DNA Interest Group facilitator. Kelli is a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists, International Society of Genetic Genealogists, and the Genealogical Speaker's Guild.

Submitted by: Kathy Reed
SWOHDNA Chair
dna.interest@hcgsohio.org

HCGS on YouTube

Hamilton County Genealogical Society members are certainly aware that one of their Member Benefits includes multiple videos on the website. Some are available to the public and others are for "Members Only."

Many of the videos that are also posted on YouTube address DNA and related topics for genetic genealogy. Others were co-sponsored by the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County. It is easy to "subscribe" to all HCGS videos on YouTube. (http://www.youtube.com) Follow these steps:

   

Click on the "Subscribe" button. This will store all videos posted by HCGS to be accessible from the left-side menu.


If you've not used YouTube before, I suggest you spend a few minutes searching on any topic you want to know about. It's like having Google with video. Enjoy!

Submitted by:
Kathy Reed

REMINDER: 2018 HCGS Heritage Luncheon

Monday, October 22nd is the last day to register online for the Hamilton County Genealogical Society's (HCGS) annual Heritage Luncheon to be held on Saturday, October 27th, at the Clovernook Country Club in North College Hill.

The event is open to the public - you DO NOT have to be a member of the HCGS or their lineage societies to attend. HCGS welcomes all participants with an interest in Ohio history and genealogy.

Members who have proven their descent from an ancestor who lived in Hamilton County will be inducted into our Lineage Societies and will receive their certificates and medals.

Our featured speaker will be Joyce Browning, well known for her living history reenactments of Ohio women, who will give her living history presentation of Julia Grant, the wife of President Ulysses Grant.

For more details of the program, a mail-in registration form, and link to the online registration form please see the event flyer.  You can also access the online registration form directly. Deadline for online registration is Monday October 22, 2018.

Updates, if any, will be provided in the Events listing on the HCGS website.

Mitochondrial DNA and Genetic Genealogy

Last night at the MidPointe Library West Chester, at the Southwest Ohio DNA Interest Group (SWOHDNA), we discussed Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and how it can be used for genetic genealogy. I had never been a fan of mtDNA until I attended a session presented by Michael Lacopo at last May’s Ohio Genealogical Society Conference.  For the first time, I realized how useful this could be if I used it “actively” vs. “passively.” In other words, you’re probably not going to have much success if you just wait for a match. However, if you use it to answer a genealogical research question, it can be much more powerful.

Here is a link to the presentation:  mtDNA and Genetic Genealogy

If you want to be part of SWOHDNA and get updates on meetings, please email Kathy Reed at dna.interest@hcgsohio.org

Submitted by Kathy Reed
SWOHDNA Chair

German Genealogy Resources

Oldenburg Ancestors

October is German Genealogy month. I recently became interested in trying to extend my maternal German line because of my new understanding of mitochondrial DNA. I inherited my mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from my ggg-grandmother, Maria Cathrena Bohm who was born in Bavaria in 1814. I have not researched beyond Cathrena, but now I'm curious to go back farther.

So what resources are available? During this past month, a page was added on the Hamilton County Genealogical Society that is devoted to German genealogy. There is a wealth of information all nicely-organized in one place on our German Interest Group page. HCGS Members can also access a video presentation by Jeff Herbert on What's New in German Research.

Jeff discussed several websites available for German research. Here is a list:

International German Genealogy Partnership            www.iggpartner.org

Oldenburg Emigration Records                                www.honkomp.de/damme-auswanderung

Oldenburg Emigration Records Index                     www.auswanderer-oldenburg.de/index.php

Oldenburg Church Records                                     www.fak-om.de//admin.php

Note: This is a pay site.





Matricula (Online Catholic Records)                      www.matricula-online.eu

Archion (Online Protestant Records)                      www.archion.de

                      Note: This is a pay site.




Meyers Orts                                                               www.meyersgaz.org

Association for Computer (German) Genealogy          www.compgen.de

or

www.genealogy.net



Emslander Emigration                                             www.emslanders.com

Note: All of these sites have an English language option. Most are free. Now you've got your research plan for the colder days ahead.

Submitted by:

Kathleen Reed
Director-at-Large

SWOHDNA Talk - Tuesday, October 16th

Who: Southwest Ohio DNA Interest Group (SWOHDNA)
What: Presentation on Mitochondrial (mtDNA) and its application to genetic genealogy
Where: MidPointe Library, West Chester           Directions: https://goo.gl/4B6b8p
When: Tuesday, October 16th, 7:00 pm at the library

Over the past two years, we have discussed autosomal DNA and Y-DNA. At this meeting, we will discuss mtDNA and its application to genetic genealogy. One of the biggest misconceptions is that this a test that only women can take. Although it is true that Y-DNA tests can only be taken by men, an mtDNA test can be taken by everyone. The test traces the maternal line of both men and women back thousands of years.

Although the topics discussed have increasingly assumed some level of comfort with underlying DNA concepts, this test is perfect for the newbie, as this is a topic we've not previously discussed. Please consider attending.

This talk will not be broadcast live, but it will be available online soon after the presentation. Last month's presentation on Y-DNA has been uploaded and you can find it at this link:
https://vimeo.com/288963734

If you have had success using mtDNA in your genealogical research, please email me and share your story.

Submitted by Kathy Reed
SWOHDNA
dna.interest@hcgsohio.org