Upcoming Events

PGS in-person classes and interest groups held at the Largo Public Library have been cancelled until further notice.

We have taken this precaution with the well-being of our members, patrons, and friends in mind.

HOWEVER, WE ARE OFFERING EVENTS SUCH AS SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS, MONTHLY PROGRAMS, AS WELL AS CLASSES AS ONLINE LIVE "MEETINGS."

These are all free and open to the public. Go to the calendar  tab on this Blog Home Page to  see the complete schedule of events as well as instructions on how to participate in them.

Selected events are recorded and are also available on the PGS website. You can find them in two places. First, mouse over the “Research” tab or the "Calendar" tab found at the top of the home page and select the “Meeting Recordings and Handouts” option from the drop-down menu. Those videos are free for all to view.

They are eventually moved to our Members Only pages after about one month. To access them, sign into the website as a member and navigate to the “Members Only Content” tab. The members pages also give you handouts to all of our classes.

This is a rapidly changing situation and we are learning as we go, so be patient. We will reach out to you using our website, this Blog, and our weekly emails to give you information on the events we are offering and the venues we will use.

Our goal is to reach out to our members and friends to provide some useful information, research assistance, and perhaps even some fun during this period of uncertainty and stress.

UPCOMING EVENTS

15 May 2021

MPE*: Disconnected Connections

(*Misattributed Parentage Event)

with Debbie Wilson Smyth

This event is a live online meeting. For details on joining the event, see the “Calendar” Tab
at the top of the Home page.
The meeting starts at 11 am (ET) and is free and open to the public.

Topic:  “MPE: Disconnected Connections”
In genealogical circles, the acronym MPE stands for a misattributed parentage event.  It is different than an adoption case or a case of an unknown parent. A misattributed parentage event encompasses those situations where parentage has been attributed to the wrong person. For example, learning that daddy wasn’t really the biological father. Finding a MPE can be an unexpected or upsetting matter. Truth is, it happens more frequently than we think. This presentation will begin with a discussion on the myths, pursuit, and ethics of MPE research, when the family lore, DNA, and documents diverge. The presentation will conclude with a case study exploring the speaker’s own personal MPE finding, the research approach followed, and the ethics involved.

19 June 2021

Meeting and Program: "Juneteenth: Tragedy -- Trauma -- Triumph

with Dr. Joe Ponds

This event is a live online meeting. For details on joining the event, see the “Calendar” Tab

at the top of the Home page.
The meeting starts at 11 am (ET) and is free and open to the public.

   The story of “Juneteenth” is one filled with devastations, denials, and deliverances.  Learn more about African American life in the period around Emancipation, including the work of and records created by the Freedmen’s Bureau.  Dr. Joe will help us better understand this era in the context of the saga of African American life in America; from slavery, through emancipation and Jim Crow, to today.

17 July 2021

Meeting and Program: "The Psychology of Searching" and "Ethical Dilemmas in Genealogy"

with Dr. Penny Walters

This event is a live online meeting. For details on joining the event, see the “Calendar” Tab

at the top of the Home page.
The meeting starts at 11 am (ET) and is free and open to the public. We expect the sessions to run until about 1 pm. There will be a short break between sessions.

    Dr. Penny Walters will lead us with polls and discussion groups  as we take a step back from the search for the next ancestor to tack to our family tree and examine what we are really trying to achieve.  This session will look at kinship, homelands, heritages, race memory and more.  Why do we research ancestors we share so little DNA with? Are we searching for who they were, or who we are?   
    After a short break, Dr Penny Walters, author of recently published ‘Ethical Dilemmas in Genealogy’ will discuss what ethics and morality mean, and what these have to do with genealogy.  Then she will break us out into groups to discuss how to best handle some of these issues including: exposing secrets and lies, and unexpected DNA results