Katie Kuck thinks students should take time to research their family history.
“I think it’s a good idea,” the senior psychology student said. “In different classes here I’ve looked back at my grandparent’s medical and mental history. I know it’s in my background, so I know what to be careful for and watch out for.”
Kuck is referring to genealogy research - investigating a lineage, descent or ancestry.
The Library of Michigan, 717 W. Allegan St. in Lansing, holds one of the largest genealogy collections in the country and will hold a workshop at 9:15 a.m. Saturday to focus on the resources.
The six-part series, Abrams Genealogy Series, offers assistance to people who want to trace family roots.
“The main reason we started this is the fact that we have one of the strongest genealogy collections in the country,” said Randy Riley, special collections supervisor at the library. “We wanted to put the spotlight on the collection and turn people on to genealogy.”
Saturday’s workshop is an introduction to the library and its sources.
“We’re going to be focusing on people interested in family history and we’re going to tell people about some of the unique things in our collection,” Riley said. “We’ll talk about the idea of how to get started, how to use our online catalog, the lay out of the building and policies of doing research.”
The genealogy collection at the Library is one of the top 10 in the United States. Riley said people travel great distances to view and research the selection.
“It’s not just a Michigan collection,” Riley said. “Our greatest emphasis is states that are east of the Mississippi River. It’s a big collection. We’re very lucky.”
Carole Callard, a genealogy specialist at the library, said she sees people researching the resources in the library for several different reasons - tracing medical conditions is one.
“Cystic Fibrosis is in the family line,” Callard said. “A lot of people have come in and retraced it back to see what’s happened. People need to know their health history.”
Callard said visitors to the genealogy section can also see what impacts history, war or geography have had on ancestors.
“Nowadays it’s recognized as a very serious part of research,” Callard said. “If there’s a divorce in the family and they know one side of the family and not the other, genealogy can bring that family back to life.”
The library also provides references and research services to state legislators and government agencies.
The second session is April 28, and explains how to investigate a ship’s passenger list. Other sessions will address family reunions, Ontario records, African-American resources and military records.
Sessions are $10 or $50 for the series. Fees include presentations by the Special Collections Services staff and materials listing reference sources for specific subjects. A question and answer session and guided tour of the special collections follow each workshop. The series is sponsored by the Library of Michigan Foundation.
For more information on the genealogy section call 373-1300.
