CHIMACUM — Participants can register now for a daylong seminar about turning genealogical research into a story about family history planned Saturday, March 17.
The Jefferson County Genealogical Society’s annual seminar will be from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Tri-Area Community Center, 10 West Valley Road, Chimacum.
Registration is $25 for “Transforming Genealogy to a Family History Narrative,” led by Lorraine McConaghy, public historian with the Seattle Museum of History & Industry and teacher of museum studies at the University of Washington.
Because of limited space, advance registration is advised. The registration deadline is March 9.
Representatives of Heritage Quest publishers will offer reference books and resources of genealogical interest for sale.
Doors will open at 9 a.m. for registration and shopping at the Heritage Quest bookstore. The seminar will begin at 10 a.m.
“The sessions are designed to assist in making ancestors come to life. Ancestors were more than just dates and places,” said Dick Bennett of the Jefferson County Genealogical Society.
“Attendees will walk away with practical techniques to enrich their ancestor’s stories.”
Three sessions
The seminar will include three sessions:
■ “Framing a Historical Research Project,” which will cover reviewing methodology and references for conducting historical research into family members’ lives and times and how to transform facts to “living” family narratives.
■ The second session will feature a case study of using historical research to bring to life the story of Surveyor General James Tilton and his young black slave Charles Mitchell in early Washington Territory.
■ “Interpreting Your History,” the final session, will address primary documents, what they mean and how to interpret and use some of the more puzzling references researchers may discover.
McConaghy is the recipient of the DAR National Heritage Medal for Oral History and the Robert Gray Medal, the most distinguished award in Washington state for a historian.
At Seattle’s Museum of History & Industry, she has curated a series of successful projects, including the museum’s core exhibits “Metropolis 150” and “Essential Seattle,” as well as “Blue vs. Gray: Civil War in the Pacific Northwest.”
McConaghy teaches in the museum studies program at the University of Washington, and her work has been honored by the Washington Museums Association, the Oral History Association, the National Council on Public History and the American Association for State and Local History.
Attendees are advised to bring a lunch. Coffee and tea will be available.
Registration forms are at the organization’s website, www.wajcgs.org, and at its research center at 13692 Airport Cutoff Road, Port Townsend.