Valley Forge Pennsylvania FamilySearch Center

Center Contacts and Hours
Location Map:


 * Location of Valley Forge Pennsylvania Family History Center on Map





Address:


 * 721 Paxon Hollow Rd Broomall PA 19008 United States
 * Located in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints building
 * Enter in the back door labeled “Family History Center”


 * Language:English

THE CHURCH HAS CLOSED ALL CHURCH FACILITIES TO GROUP ACTIVITIES AND SO THE CENTER IS CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC AND ALL ACTIVITIES ARE CANCELLED DUE TO SAFETY CONCERNS.

Email:


 * broomallfhc@gmail.com

Email us to:

• If you are not available during our regular hours or need more time to view images that are only available in the center, email for an appointment. There will not be staff there to guide you with your research however.

• Sign up on our mailing list to be notified of weather closures

• Receive a class schedule and other local genealogy information

Phone: 1-610-356-8507 only answered when we are open. There is no message machine.

Regular Open Hours: Every Wednesdays 9:30-3:30pm and the 2nd and 4th Saturday 9:30-12:30

Holiday Closures: We anticipate being closed in July and August 2020, but will have appointments to see images only available on our center computers by email request.

Appointments are not needed during regular open hours. As usual I appreciate your replies that you have moved or are not interested etc. and would like to be removed from our list. I add and remove people promptly. If you have friends that would like to stay informed and be added to the list they may email broomallfhc@gmail.com with their request so we get accurate emails and permission from the individual themselves. Messages given over the phone may result incorrect emails written down and so they may not be able to be added to the list.

Events
'''Since we are closed until further notice. If you want to learn more about using FamilySearch.org and Family Tree then check out our links on FaceBook and YouTube for some short video sessions by topic to give you some help.'''

Hello Everyone,

Here is the list of topics we have already presented, and also the ones coming up on the calendar. After each session, all videos are posted on the Family History in Greater Philadelphia Facebook Group and YouTube. Sharing a video is a great way to support family history during this time! THE CHURCH HAS CLOSED ALL CHURCH FACILITIES TO GROUP ACTIVITIES AND SO THE CENTER IS CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC AND ALL ACTIVITIES ARE CANCELLED DUE TO SAFETY CONCERNS. YOU MAY CHECK BACK ON THIS PAGE FOR FUTURE UPDATES. YOU MAY ALSO EMAIL AT THE ABOVE ADDRESS AND REQUEST TO BE PUT ON OUR EMAIL LIST FOR UPDATES.

We will send a message to all patrons on our list when we are open for individual appointments to view films or use our computers. Individual appointments will be available before we are able to open to the public. If you have questions, I am happy to try and help you by email.

WE HOPE THIS IS SHORT-LIVED AND WE CAN OPEN AGAIN SOON!

SHELLI

'''WE HOPE TO RESCHEDULE THE GROUP DISCUSSIONS WE HAVE MISSED ON OUR CALENDAR. I WILL SEND OUT UPDATES BY EMAIL.'''

Group Discussions:

Wednesdays 10 am - 11:00 am - no registration required

February 5 - Curating, Digitizing, Curating again! Storing, Organizing, and Sharing photos with family members by Shelli Nye. This is a work in progress as I have received many 1940s and 1950s photos from my mother's estate where I do not recognize many family members. I will show how I have used Forever.com to organize them to share with out-of-state cousins to help me identify those people. The older photos I will be putting on FamilySearch as I find out who they are. Newer photos with living people will have a home until future descendants can post them after family members past away.

February 12 - Cold Calling to find Family Members by Robert McDade (center patron). Come and see how he uses this technique and see his amazing results!

February 19 - Using the FamilySearch App by Shelli Nye. Come with the app downloaded if you want to follow along. This is a productive great app to use while you are waiting for appointments and doesn't require additional equipment since most people are already bringing their phones with them wherever they go.

February 26 - Rootstech Streaming Video - Photos Capture the Story - 3 experts 20 min each. This link on RootsTech.org has their video archive where you can watch the free video presentations. You can watch them live by clicking on the 3 bars on the top red Menu and putting "live streaming link" in the search bar and click on the link. When you click the play button, you will have to sign up for their newsletters in a drop-down menu, but then you can watch them immediately.

March 4 - The center will be open as usual, but we will not have class since I will be out of town.

March 11 - Turning Lemons into Lemonade by Sharon Simson (center staff member). Dead ends? Wrong trees? Research mistakes? Contradictory or weak evidence? Sharon will use her own examples to demonstrated how problems can be turned into discoveries.

March 18 - A group from The Sons of Norway will be coming into the center and we will have a demonstration of Scandinavian records that are available as well as free subscription services.

March 25 - Photo Detective Workshop:  How to Look at your Photos with a Detective’s Eye.

Please bring to the workshop a photo & question(s) you might have about knowing who is in the photo. With the help of a questionnaire provided by the workshop leaders, you will be able to make notes and analyze your photo for any noteworthy characteristics.

Another part of the workshop will involve viewing previously submitted photos as a group to review our findings and learn how these noteworthy characteristics might help you to answer your questions and to elicit further recommendations.

You can scan the photo and send it to me at the center email address if you want to have it pre-analyzed. Or if you don't have a scanner bring your photo into the center and one of us will take a picture of it. Don't forget we need to see the back of the photo too!

Facilitators: Marlene Kutys (center patron) and Sharon Simson (staff member)

April 1 - RootsTech Video "Adding Branches to Your Family Tree Using DNA" which will teach the secrets of expanding your family tree through DNA testing and research by Angie Bush. After we watch the video then we will ask our DNA questions to Bob, who will be live and in person! Bob is a center patron and our local DNA expert who had volunteered to answer questions you might have about your own DNA.

Keep watch on the weather. I will post on the website and send out an email if we have delays or cancellations.

See you at the center,

Shelli

PS We will resume FamilySearch.org classes in the Fall 2020, but we can help you one on one with your FamilySearch questions by email or during our regular open hours.

Resources in the Local Area
The Mainline Genealogy Club meets at the Easttown Library. They have great presentations each month.

Irish Immigration Center located in Upper Darby at 7 S Cedar Lane. They support Irish families in our area with genealogy help and many other kinds of support.

The Bucks County Genealogy Society has a Comprehensive Calendar of Genealogical Events in the Greater Philadelphia Area

Links

 * Family History in Greater Philadelphia Group
 * Delaware County, Pennsylvania FamilySearch Wiki page
 * Pennsylvania FamilySearch Wiki page

Volunteer at the Center
We would love to have more volunteers!

We look forward to seeing you at the center!