Leaving home for the world

Volhynia, in the northeast region of Ukraine, was not like other areas in the Russian Empire that were settled by Germans. The Germans arrived there much later, and some started leaving within a couple of years of arrival. There was a steady drain of people over about eight decades -- to other parts of Ukraine, back to Germany, to South America, or to Canada and the United States.

There is no single story about the emigration process. This session will look at some of the ways and routes of departures.

Dave Obee has worked as a journalist in British Columbia and Alberta since 1972, and has been researching family history since 1978. He has received several honors over the years, including an honorary doctorate by the University of Victoria for his work as a historian, genealogist and journalist, as well as national and provincial awards for community service.

Time travel to boost your research

As the saying goes, "Everything Old is New Again." And that can be true in family research, as Edie Adam will show in her presentation at the 2024 convention.

Revisiting resources that have been around as long as you've been researching can still provide clues to move your family history forward:

• If you're a novice, there's a lot of material you may not have seen before, from "ancient" discussion boards to original Journals. Being decades old is not a drawback.
• If you've been researching for decades, you've learned a lot along the way. Revisiting material you already have may now make more sense or provide new clues you didn't know enough the first time to appreciate.

Edie will use examples from her research to make the point that you can find new clues in familiar places.

She is a former board member and president of SGGEE, and currently is involved in the website refresh project for the society. She also is on the board of the International German Genealogy Partnership, in which SGGEE participates. She has been researching her family in Poland-Volhynia-Russia for the last 30 years and has turned what she learned along the way into presentations for SGGEE, FEEFHS and the IGGP.