SOMERSET, N.J. – The Nashi Predky Family History Group of the Ukrainian History and Education Center (UHEC) will hold its annual spring conference virtually on April 10. This year’s theme – “East meets West” – will feature Ukrainian genealogy-related talks and opportunities for virtual networking.
The morning presentations will include a talk on using the Central State Historical Archives of Ukraine (CSHA) in Lviv to conduct genealogical research. Oksana Melnyk, a reference archivist at the CSHA, will give a detailed overview of metrical records and other documents at their repository and she will discuss how to use them for research. The second presentation by Michael Andrec, the UHEC’s archivist, will explore approaches to “big data’’ genealogy using Greco-Catholic birth and death records from 19th century Galicia. In his talk, he will review the structure of such records and present his data management strategies and a custom computational tool to assist in the assembly of kinship networks from village-scale metrical records.
The third speaker of the day will be Andrew Nynka, editor-in-chief of The Ukrainian Weekly and Svoboda, who will discuss how researchers can use the two newspapers to conduct genealogical research. Rounding out the day will be Vincent Rees of Cobblestone Freeway Tours. Mr. Rees will share his experiences traveling to Ukraine to conduct family research, and he will share his experiences navigating archives in western Ukraine and Poland.
Information about Nashi Predky and the upcoming conference can be found at www.ukrhec.org/np-conference. Conference registration for all sessions is $50. There will also be a chance for virtual networking. To register by phone, readers can call 732-356-0132.
The UHEC strives to foster a vibrant connection between past and future generations by helping individuals explore Ukrainian history, spirituality, arts and culture through educational programming, exhibitions, workshops and conferences. The Nashi Predky Family History Group was launched in 2014 to provide researchers with a place to learn how to explore their ancestral roots in Ukraine and southeast Poland. The group’s goal is to help individuals learn about their own family histories, collect stories and documents about their immigrant ancestors, get advice on preserving family records. The UHEC offer workshops on how to trace family lineage in both Ukrainian and Polish archives.
Nashi Predky offers monthly virtual presentations called Nashi Predky@Home, which features presentations on topics in Ukrainian history and genealogy. The group also offers their Nashi Predky Virtual Office Hours, where one can get help with historical puzzles or mysterious documents. To find the schedule of these events and others offered by the UHEC, readers may visit UkrHEC.org/calendar, and questions about the group or their activities can be emailed to [email protected].