Genealogy connects people to the past in direct and meaningful ways and is now the leading hobby in the United States. Genealogical research can be as easy as discovering more about one’s grandparents, but it can also help illuminate the individual choices made by our ancestors. Yet many families still do not have their own family historian to pull together their family stories. In this entertaining and informative presentation, Mike Karsen provides some of the basics, as well as a simple formula for getting started in this noble endeavor. Fundamental records including both birth and death certificates, the Federal Census, and various types of directories are reviewed.

Recorded Tuesday, May 09, 2006 at Palatine Public Library.