Past Quarterly Programs: Brick Wall Q & A
IGSI Quarterly Meeting
August 26, 2006
Brick Wall Q & A
By Kathy Lund
Instead of a guest speaker, this Quarterly was devoted to helping members conquer the ”brick walls” in their research. Several attendees pronounced it the most enjoyable program in a long time!
The room was divided into seating areas according to the date when an immigrant ancestor emigrated:” pre-1864”, “post-1864”, and “no clue” - the latter positioned in the back of the room. As expected, the “pre-1864-ers” dominated, thus illustrating the difficulty of Irish research prior to Civil Registration. Chairs were arranged facing each other to promote a conversational motif.
At the end of the business meeting, participants were asked to fill out the first handout, a questionnaire describing their problem and what sources they had so far consulted. During the break about sixteen of these were submitted for consideration. One, for a member whose family had emigrated as late as 1921, was answered on the spot.
To begin the meeting, Kathy Lund went over the second handout: a one page summary of general sources to check in the United States and Canada, sources in Ireland for pre- and post-1864, and suggestions on techniques to attack the blockage. Then the real fun began. Tom Rice, a Certified Genealogist, tackled the first question and developed abundant lines of research for the member. Beth Mullinax, IGSI librarian and researcher, answered the next problem. Kathy Lund tried for an answer on Quebec research. Taking turns the three managed to get through nine of the requests which brought us to noon and time to adjourn. At times members of the audience added tidbits and suggestions and had to be brought to attention with a ringing of the bell! We love a feisty crowd!
Those who failed to be chosen were encouraged to submit queries to The Septs issues. Everyone learned something that they might apply to their own research – all in all a successful event.
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