Winnetka Public Library
768 Oak Street
Winnetka, IL 60093 (map)
(847) 446-7220
Northfield Branch
1785 Orchard Lane
Northfield, IL 60093 (map)
(847) 446-5990
North Suburban Genealogical Society
Who Are We?
We're a group of North Suburban folks, young and old, of many educational and vocational backgrounds, who have in common the desire to learn more about our family roots. Who are our grandparents? Our great grandparents? Where did they live? Where did they come from? Unless we're Native Americans, we all came from somewhere else. The more we get into it, the more interested we become.
Our Own Roots
As early as 1963 a group of friends began to meet in the home of Katharine Greeley and later in the Winnetka Public Library to discuss common interests in family history and develop the materials to aid in their research. By 1969 the library's genealogical section had more than 500 books, and a group of volunteers was indexing about 50 county histories.In July 1975 about 20 people met in the Lloyd Room of the library to organize the society, elect officers, and schedule meeting dates. By January 1976 one hundred people had become charter members. Since then, the society has held 11 meetings each year, conducted occasional seminars, and published a newsletter that reaches members every second month.
The library's genealogical collection was named in honor of Katharine Greeley. This outstanding collection, with its wealth of materials, has helped hundreds in pursuit of their roots. A particular project has been the indexing of thousands of obituaries from the Winnetka Talk from 1917 to the present.
The society now has 200 members, from neophytes to certified genealogists. At least a dozen are authors of published genealogies or books related to genealogy.
Meetings and Programs
Our 11 monthly meetings offer a broad range of ideas to aid genealogists:- beginning research/advanced research
- usual and unusual records
- specific U.S. states and areas
- countries of origin
- area resources -- state and federal, courthouses, libraries, universities, cemeteries.
Meetings are held monthly (except December) on Saturday afternoons, generally at the Glenview Public Library, preceded alternately by the Computer Group and the Problem Solvers' Roundtable.
Newsletters
The society's eight-page newsletter, mailed six times a year, contains a broad array of material pertinent to genealogy -- original family history articles based on members' research, occasional digests of meeting presentations, recent additions to the Greeley collection, articles on such sources as libraries and the scope of material available from them, information about future meetings of the society and important regional or national seminars, and an annual list of surnames of interest to members.
Computer Interest/Problem Solving Group
Join us at 2:00 prior to regular Saturday programs for 1/2 hour of problem solving and computer discussion. Here's a great place to find out about favorite computer programs for genealogical work and members' research problems and solutions. Beginners as well as advanced researchers share experiences and exchange information and ideas.
Writers' Groups
For the past three years a number of members have been meeting in members' homes to share information regarding their family history writing. These meetings have proved fascinating and have stimulated members to undertake a variety of writing projects. The success of the first group encouraged a second group to start. Both groups meet biweekly, one in the evening, the other during the afternoon.
Interested in Membership?
Come on! Take advantage of the many benefits of belonging to the North Suburban Genealogical Society.- Variety of monthly programs
- Bi-monthly newsletter
- Computer Interest/Problem Solver's Roundtable
- Writers' groups
- Surname index
- And most of all, friendly folks to compare notes with you. You may already know some of them; perhaps you don't know about their interest in family history!
More and more people in the North Suburbs are trying to learn more about their family roots. Do join us by printing and filling out our form.