Van Buren Regional Genealogical Society

Benefits

 * What are the benefits for becoming a member of the society? Financial support is so important to our organization and Members, through their membership dues, help us preserve and protect the history of the people and places of Southwest Michigan. Members have the privilege of becoming a part of the leadership of the society and are encouraged to share their experiences and ideas to help direct the society's future as well as its daily affairs. Members who volunteer for leadership positions or as staff in the VBRGS Genealogy Room of the Hartford Public Library, Hartford, MI have the pleasure of sharing their knowledge with the Genealogy Community, making new friendships and learning from other like minded people. Members who choose to attend our programs will find many of the topics beneficial to their interests or research. And the greatest reward of being a member of the VBRGS is the opportunity to share a love of local and family history with others.
 * What are the benefits the society has to offer for those who are not members? Non-members have access to the vast Genealogy and Historical Collection owned by the society as well as the assistance, free of charge, from our Genealogy Room staff. Monthly programs are also offered free of charge to all who are interested and notification of area events and other items of interested are sent our to those who provide us with an email address.

History of the society
A group of Decatur, Michigan residents met to establish the VBRGS on April 27, 1987 and finalized its incorporation was July 8, 1987. "A main purpose of our society is to be the catalyst for researching the history of your families." These where the words penned by Conrad L. Burton our first society president. The society was to be a group of like-minded individuals that met for meetings to discuss topics related to genealogy with the ultimate goal of developing a genealogy/history collection. Their mission would be to collect materials that pertained to Southwest Michigan family and local history with some attention to broader genealogy resources. After its mission was agreed upon and by-laws were written, collection preservation and access became the focus of the 28 charter members.

The first home of the society was the Webster Memorial Library in Decatur, Michigan where the collection grew rapidly and was considered by many regional researchers one of the best in southwest Michigan. Its potential to become even better materialized in 2018 when the society moved its 3000+ book collection and 1000's of photographs and digital files to the new Arthur and Bonna Vanderlyn Community Center and Hartford Public Library in Hartford, Michigan. The society is honored to be a member of the Hartford Public Library and our reference collection is now archived in the Van Buren Regional Genealogical Society Genealogy Room. Our affiliation with the Hartford Public Library affords us the opportunity to offer our patrons a welcoming research facility with up-to-date technology.

Society Officers
Joyce A. R. Beedie, Pres., Patsy Miller, Vice-Pres., Bonnie Pardike, Sec., Joyce A. R. Beedie, Treas., Directors: Kay Gray, Lynn Martin, Ron Jillson



Society Projects
To provide our visitors and researchers the very best collection in an environment that is welcoming and to offer them assistance to the best of our ability and to administrate and operate the VBRGS Genealogy Room professionally and proudly.



Current Projects
Cataloging all of the books in the Genealogy Collection and including them in the Hartford Public Library catalog giving them online exposure to area patrons as well as those throughout the state of Michigan through the Michigan Electronic Library (MEL). This project was completed in June 2023.



Publications
Van Buren ECHOES (quarterly)

Newsletters

Society Websites
Blog

Facebook page VBRGS Southwest Michigan Genealogy

Collections
FamilySearch Affiliate Library, Southwest Michigan Military Collection, Local Histories and Family Genealogies


 * Record collections or papers to which your society has access
 * How these records can help researchers (May link to a Wiki article connected with the location)
 * Where the record is located (online, on site, at nearby repositories)
 * How to access it from a distance (order information, if any)
 * Indexes for records about this area
 * Where the index is located (online, book, or on site)
 * Look ups, and copying records from local repositories, if any (here or in Q &amp; A below)
 * Directions on how your society does this, and sends the information back to the patron

Events

 * (also include society trips to areas of interest here, in workshops, or in training below)

Society Meetings
We have one "Society Meeting" each year. Our other meetings are "Program Events". We offer eight Program Events per year on the 3rd Saturday of each month March through October that are free and open to the public. The topics are chosen to attract those interested in Local History as well as Genealogy. This has been very successful and a wonderful outreach to the community.



Workshops

 * (also include presentations online, on site, or elsewhere about how to do research in your area)

Board Meetings
We have three in-person Board Meetings each year.



Frequently Asked Questions

 * Q. What are the directions to the society?
 * A. Located at 12 Church St. Hartford, Michigan, US.


 * Q. What are the society's hours of operation?
 * A. Monday and Wednesday 10am to 7pm, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 10am to 5pm, Saturday 10am to 2pm. Eastern Time


 * May also include such items as: cost to join your society, how members access online records, free look ups, online meetings, newsletter queries, access to publications, or support from other members

Nearby or Alternate Repositories

 * (List each repository, link to it, and briefly describe their collection. Ideally list around 3 to 7 repositories, but this is flexible.)

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