Events

Olivia Millunzi presents: A User’s Guide to the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) Library

 

     The Daughters of the American Revolution Library in Washington D.C. isn’t just for descendants of Revolutionary War soldiers!  As one of the largest genealogical libraries in the country, the Daughters of the American Revolution [DAR] Library has something for everyone tracing their family history. 

 

     This presentation will give an overview of the resources available both on-site in D.C. as well as digital tools and resources available for free from wherever you normally do your family history work.  Come find out how your family history is on our shelves!

 

     Olivia Millunzi is the Reference Librarian at the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) Library in Washington, D.C.  She holds a BA in History and Museum Studies with a French minor from Juniata College, and an MLIS focusing in Diversity & Inclusion from the University of Maryland’s iSchool.  Before coming to the DAR, Olivia worked at the Middletown Valley Historical Society, Heritage Frederick (formerly the Historical Society of Frederick County), Schifferstadt Architectural Museum (part of the Frederick County Landmarks Foundation), the National Park Service, and the National Anthropological Archives at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.  She began working at the DAR as a Staff Genealogist in June 2019, and in June 2022 became the Reference Librarian for the DAR Library.  Olivia lives in Frederick, MD with a cat and an unconscionably large number of books.

 

 

Worcester Chapter Meeting

 

Debra Dudek presents:

 

Mixers and Shakers- Tracing Bartending, Saloonkeeping, and Tavernkeeping Ancestors

 

Paula’s book invites readers to walk in the steps of real people with real joys and terrible heartache as they make the fateful decision to leave behind everything they knew in La Rochelle France and begin life anew in New France. After serving indentureships, they began families, and some of her ancestors were caught up in the Acadian Dispersal. In the more recent past her ancestors immigrated once again, this time to the U.S. Through genealogical research of Paula’s ancestors that was gifted to her by a family member, she learned the bare facts of the many generations of her forbears’ lives. One day these ancestors began speaking to her heart. She responded by delving into the broader story of the times they lived through. She began writing a series of letters to specific grandparents, asking them unanswerable questions and telling them how she longed to know them better. Her family’s Ceinture Fléchée (Arrow Sash) has been passed down through six generations. The Sash binds the various parts of Paula’s story into a coherent whole. Undertaking a quest to bring the family’s heirloom to each ancestor’s grave, she discovered one ancestor after the next. With each discovery, she wrapped the tombstones with the family’s Sash. While learning and then writing about her 9x grandparents she walked the Long Trail in Vermont, discovering parts of herself she had never known existed. Along with her growing sense of closeness with these ancestors, she found her way back to the Catholic Church. Every step of her journey, she knew her ancestors were praying for her.