August Genealogy Meeting
Highlights of the August Meeting with Charity Rouse.
We were excited to welcome Charity Rouse as our speaker for our August 23rd Genealogy meeting. Charity, daughter of our own Mary Rouse, is a native of Harrisonburg, VA who enjoys exploring history through the lens of genealogy. She has always been interested in hearing about and discovering the people in her family tree and the places where they lived and worked. One of her favorite parts of being a genealogist is the chance to share stories, research techniques, and where to find information about the people in your family tree. She has been the Local History and Genealogy Librarian for the Spartanburg County Public Libraries (SC) since June 2014 and was at the Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library as a Genealogy Specialist from May 2010-May 2014. She completed her Master of Library Science degree in December 2011 from Emporia State University (KS). Prior to her work in the library world, she made good use of her BA in Music from the University of Richmond (VA) and Master of Sacred Music degree from Boston University School of Theology (MA) through full-time work in church music serving churches in Virginia, North Carolina and Kansas. When not working at the library or on her own genealogy, she enjoys singing, playing hand bells, reading, weaving and other crafts. Charity will present two talks:
Vital Records One of the places to start climbing your family tree is to locate vital records such as birth, marriage, divorce, and death. Some of the areas we will cover include: Where can these be found? What privacy restrictions? What time periods are these available? What information can you glean from these records?
Archives as a Resource for Research An archive can hold a treasure trove of original source material for your family. Some of the areas we will cover include: how to locate the right archive, how to prepare for your trip to the archive, what to expect when you get there, and the types of records you might be able to find.
