National Day of Truth and Reconciliation/ Orange Shirt Day

 

#EveryChildMatters, #IndigenousPeoplesDay

The day honours the children who never returned home and Survivors of residential schools, as well as their families and communities. Public commemoration of the tragic and painful history and ongoing impacts of residential schools is a vital component of the reconciliation process.

Orange Shirt Day is an Indigenous-led grassroots commemorative day intended to raise awareness of the individual, family and community inter-generational impacts of residential schools, and to promote the concept of “Every Child Matters”.  The orange shirt is a symbol of the stripping away of culture, freedom and self-esteem experienced by Indigenous children over generations.

This National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, explore the rich and diverse cultures, voices, experiences and stories of the First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples.

The Durham Region Branch of Ontario Ancestors acknowledges the lands and Peoples of the Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation. We recognize the lands on which we meet are covered under the Williams Treaties and are within the traditional territory of the Mississaugas, a branch of the Anishinaabeg Nation, which also includes Algonquin, Chippewa, Odawa, Ojibway and Pottawatomi.

Stop the Presses: Historic Newspaper Collections in and Around Durham Region - Durham's October 4th Meeting

(Jennifer Weymark)

Newspapers are a treasure trove of information for all sorts of researchers. There are vital statistics such as births and deaths, there are articles highlighting the current events of the days and there are stories and advertisements that showcase social issues and community focus. Archives and libraries have worked to preserve their local newspapers so that they are available for researchers. This talk will focus on where to access newspapers from collections in and around Durham Region, the challenges faced by those preserving these collections and by researchers accessing them and some of the interesting ways local newspapers have been used to help tell local history.

Jennifer Weymark has been with the Oshawa Historical Society for 23 years, 22 of those years spent as the Archivist. This role has given Jennifer the opportunity to put to good use her undergraduate work in history and cultural anthropology, while also putting into practice the theories and skills learned while earning her Masters Degree in Museum Studies. In this position, Jennifer has not only devoted time to digitizing and reorganizing the archival collection, while maintaining the day-to-day collections management work, but she has also been focused on filling in gaps in the archival collection through focused collecting practices and original research. She has had the pleasure of sharing her work through presenting at conferences, developing and leading workshops for local students and speaking to various community groups.

Join Durham Region Branch on Tuesday, October 4th at 7:30 pm. This will be a hybrid meeting, that is, both in-person and via Zoom. It will be held in the basement meeting room of the Northminster United Church, 676 Simcoe St. N., Oshawa, Ontario (NW corner of Simcoe St. N. and Rossland Rd. W.)

For those joining via Zoom, kindly pre-register at the following link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYrduGprT4vGNExhuS1nstq0vT4mSpjkZGa

      

Durham's First Hybrid Meeting is on Tuesday, September 6th @ 7:30 pm

 

Ontario’s Records of Inheritance on Family Search

Please join Durham Region Branch on Tuesday, September 6th at 7:30 p.m. for our first hybrid meeting!

Are you ready to go beyond census and births, marriages, and deaths? Estate files are rich source for finding family connections and revealing our ancestor’s social and financial circumstances, maybe even personality. As court records, they tend to be very reliable—and even come with indexes. 

Now that FamilySearch.org has digitized an extensive collection of Ontario surrogate court records—we can discover these treasures from home. 

This session will give a brief overview of how the court system worked in Ontario and a step-by-step explanation of how to access the records. It will concentrate on records for Durham Region available through FamilySearch.

Speaker Jane E. MacNamara is the author of Inheritance in Ontario: Wills and other Records for Family Historians (OGS/Dundurn) and writes about genealogy at wherethestorytakesme.ca. A long time member of OGS, Jane lectures about research methodology, Ontario, and English family history to genealogical and historical groups throughout Ontario. She teaches courses for the OGS Toronto Branch, most notably hands-on courses about Ontario records—both onsite and online.

This will be the branch’s first hybrid meeting, that is, both in-person and via Zoom. It will be held in the basement meeting room of the Northminster United Church, Simcoe St. N., Oshawa, Ontario (NW corner of Simcoe St. N. and Rossland Rd. W.) for in-person.

For those joining via Zoom, kindly pre-register at the following link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYpf--pqj0uH9Z0C4Smfgs7zfITp24W0Ogi

Everyone is welcome!

Book Your Appointment Now!

 Durham's Research Room is open Fri. July 8th and Fri. July 15th from 10 am - 1 pm by appointment only.

Contact Stephen Wood at durhamresearch@ogs.on.ca to set up your timeslot.

Durham Region Branch's Research Room Re-opens

Our Research Room and Library, at Northminster United Church, will be open for researchers on the 2nd and 3rd Fridays of each month, from 10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Northminster United Church is at 676 Simcoe St. N., Oshawa, Ontario and our library is located in the "Boardroom" on the upper floor.

The number of people will be limited to 2 (not including staff) and advance registration is required. We will be reassessing the situation over the summer. Masks will be by choice. 

Appointments by email to Stephen Wood at durhamresearch@ogs.on.ca

Watch our (under 3 minute) tour of the library, research room and office: -https://youtu.be/sHdO2sMYW0A

Durham Branch’s Virtual Library Monthly Drop-In this Thursday June 23rd

Welcome! You are invited to join “Durham Branch's Library Drop-In”. We have a permanent day and time now: 4th Thursday at 11 am via Zoom. Drop-in and let’s talk genealogy!

We have booked Zoom meetings from June to October, it is one link and you can book all dates at the same time or pick and choose which meetings to attend.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the meeting.

Kindly register at:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYocuioqz4oHdLUmfh9rWpNJRU-fAAj8_A_

Exploring AncestryDNA™ with Nancy Trimble at our June 15th DNA Special Interest Group Meeting

 

Have you tested your DNA with Ancestry.ca®? Are you confused with the results and don’t know where to look on the site?

Join the DNA Special Interest Group of the Durham Branch on Wednesday, June 15th at 7 pm as Nancy Trimble, PLCGS, guides us through an exploration of Ancestry.ca’s DNA portion of the website. We will explore the DNA Story, DNA Matches and the Thru-Lines areas of the website in detail, showing how you can glean hints from each as you explore what your DNA is telling you.

Currently the Chair of Durham Region Branch, Ontario Ancestors, as well as Co-Chair of the branch’s DNA SIG, Nancy Trimble is a graduate of the National Institute of Genealogical Studies. She is very interested in the uses of DNA as a tool in our genealogical toolbox.

Kindly pre-register at:

https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEqduCorT0uGdWQTMFOyWmFgyahGmWtD4tf