Kane County Genealogical Society to host community open house Oct. 8
The Kane County Genealogical Society will host a community open house on Saturday, Oct. 8. It will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Lawrence J. Martin Heritage Center, 315 E. Shannon St. in Elburn. The event marks the partnership between the genealogical society and the Town and Country Public Library, as well as the relocation of the society office and library to the Heritage Center.
The open house, the first of two planned public events, will provide the community with an opportunity to tour the center, view samples of collection materials, see demonstrations of the Master Every Name Index, and meet with Heritage Center volunteers.
The Kane County Genealogical Society features its exclusive Master Every Name Index, a research database that is the result of multiple indexing projects. Currently more than 1.2 million entries from over 385 public and private Kane County-related records comprise the database.
"We're excited to offer our resources, workshops, and services to those in the community generally interested in genealogy and records searches," said Susan Lye, president of the Kane County Genealogical Society. "Our new office in the Lawrence J. Martin Heritage Center will make our records much more accessible to the public. And, we're so grateful for our partnership with the Town and Country Public Library to offer educational workshops and classes to the community."
As a follow-up to the open house, there will be a Beginners and Back to Basics Family History Workshop at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 27, at the Town and Country Public Library, 320 E North St., Elburn. A one-on-one workshop with society members assisting anyone interested in starting or improving their family history project.
The Kane County Genealogical Society recently relocated from its 18-year home at the Geneva History Museum to the Martin Heritage Center to expand its research assistance services to community members interested in family or regional history and enhance county-wide representation.
As part of the relocation, the Kane County Genealogical Society brings its four decades of record processing and organization experience to promote the historical collection housed in Martin Heritage Center.
Materials about local businesses and schools, extensive photograph collections, maps and plat surveys, cemetery records, and Blackberry and Virgil township-related, Kane County court and probate records are a small sampling of items within the collection.
Karen Morrison, volunteer chair, added, "KCGS members and Heritage Center volunteers have been working to familiarize ourselves with the collection so we can better serve patrons. We are eager to share these materials with the community."
Formally established in 1978, the Kane County Genealogical Society has worked for more than 40 years to make Kane County-related materials available and to provide services that enhance the value and availability of materials and collections. It has been recognized by several Kane County governmental offices for volunteer efforts supporting record organization and indexing.
Contact www.kcgsillinois.org for information regarding the open house or workshop event.
Visit www.tcpld.org/resources-services/heritage-center/ for details regarding the Lawrence J. Martin Heritage Center.