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





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

• 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 will be closed on November 21 and 24 Thanksgiving weekend.

We will close for the holidays at 3:30pm on December 19th after being open that day and reopen on Jan. 9th at 9:30am.

Additional Hours: By appointment

You may request to have the center open at other times by appointment. For a timely and quick response, please email broomallfhc@gmail.com to request a time. 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.

Events:
FREE CLASSES: 5 Wednesdays in a row at 10am in the Valley Forge Family History Center Broomall Location.

October 3rd - Beginning Class: Family Tree on FamilySearch.org - Why you want to use it, and how it can benefit you. How to get started adding information into FamilySearch.org's Family Tree.

October 10th - Beginning Class: Documenting your family on Family Tree - I will demonstrate the process of attaching indexed and non-indexed FamilySearch records to a person's page in FamilySearch.org's Family Tree. I will also demonstrate adding documents, photos, and other memories from your own computer to a person's page on Family Tree.

Merging duplicate person pages will be shown and highlighted. (Individual help will be available with merging will be available in person in the FHC, or by email. This skill is best learned in a lab setting with one on one help.)

October 17th - Finding Digitized Records on FamilySearch.org - 24 Billion images with only 6 Billion searchable by name! I will demonstrate how to find non-indexed images, microfilms and books from the FS catalog that are or in the process of being digitized, including understanding levels of access for digitized records. I will show you how to find electronic books from the main FH Library and partner libraries, also included will be worldcat.org and google books. These records may be added to Family Tree by the methods in the first 2 classes. Searching tips included.

October 24th - How to Think like a Researcher - Intermediate research skills. We will discuss clues to look for and questions to ask. If this is true then, this could be true....! Test out your ideas and see if the records support your questions/answers. Let the records tell you facts about your family rather than searching for years for an elusive fact which was never true in the first place! We are looking to build a weight of evidence to prove identity and relationships.

We will explore a 3 generation family history mind map model in class. Have you ever been looking at a record and wondering if this is a relative somewhere in your tree? It is easy to overlook a clue. Family relationships are easier to recognize if you have a visualization/memorization of an empty family history mind map and start filling in the blanks. This class will include real case study examples to help expand your thinking and put clues in the proper place. Bring your thinking cap! This exercise will help your keep your mind sharp! If you are a Family History newbie please attend the other fall classes first as we will use Family Tree examples.

October 31st -  More Places to Look: 1. A review of thefhguide.com 2. Learn about a variety of apps that connect to FamilySearch.org

If you live near the Phoenixville library, I will teach the same set of 5 classes on the Thursday following each Wednesday they are taught in the Family HIstory Center. Each class will be 2pm-3pm. The library classes are free, but registration is required for each class you would like to attend.

Microfilms:

I have received assurances from FamilySearch that ALL microfilms WILL BE digitized and available online. Not all films will be available for viewing on your home computer on FamilySearch.org, some may be available only in the FH Center, and others on Ancestry.com which we have available for free viewing in the FH Center. The films we currently have in the center will remain as they are until they are recalled which will be sometime in 2020-2021.

Hope to see you in the Family History Center!

Shelli Nye Director

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

http://mainlineroots.org/

The 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.

http://www.icphila.org/

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

http://www.bucksgen.org/index.php/bcgs-programs

Links

 * Delaware County, Pennsylvania


 * Pennsylvania

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

We look forward to seeing you at the center!