Our February Meeting was a Research Night with the theme of “Chain Migration.” PGSNYS member, Sandra Maciejewski Porter, hosted a brief presentation to kick the meeting off, introducing the concept of chain migration, and explaining its relevance to genealogical research. Our ancestors didn’t immigrate alone; they typically followed other family members, friends, relatives, or acquaintances who wrote about the employment opportunities they’d found here. Sandra provided some clear examples to illustrate the value in casting a wide net as we research, including not only our target ancestors, but also members of their FAN Club (Friends/Family, Associates, Neighbors). Members were invited to share questions and success stories, in person and on Zoom, and research assistance was provided.
As we announced at the meeting, our Research Links have been updated, so if you haven’t checked them in a while, please take a look. Over a dozen new links were added to online resources that might help with your research.
As was also announced, PGSNYS is excited to partner with PolishOrigins to invite you on our first-ever PGSNYS trip to Poland! PGSNYS members are invited to sign up for a 7-day tour of southeastern Poland that will take place from October 29th through November 4th and include historic and cultural highlights in the former Western Galicia region. This will be a beautiful time to visit Poland and make connections with distant relatives, since the tour will encompass All Saints Day and All Souls Day, when Poles visit their ancestral cemeteries and light candles on the graves. You also have the option to add extra days before or after the main tour for ancestral village visits, family visits, or research in archives. The full itinerary, plus links to register, and to request information about add-on, custom tours, can be found here.
The recording of Sandra’s “Chain Migration” presentation at the start of the meeting now available on our Meeting Recordings page for members to access.