The Brue Family Learning Center

In this online lecture, Senior Genealogist Rhonda R. McClure will discuss how examining dates in relation to one another in a timeline uncover new stories of your family tree.

The Brim-DeForest Library at American Ancestors serves as a center for research, learning, and discovery, where history comes to life through archival collections and expert guidance. Learn more about the collections, services, and other library offerings during a brief tour.

Wyner Family Jewish Heritage Center’s Curhan Scholar Shiyong Lu will explore the interactions between American Jews and Chinese food purveyors, and how adaptations arose in restaurants and home cooking in response to the cuisine’s tremendous popularity among Jews and its violation of kashrut (Jewish dietary laws).

Dr. Johnson’s famous 18th-century quote, “When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford,” could still be applied to 20th-century London. Join this architecturally focused lecture about one of planet’s most astonishing cities during the most turbulent century in world history.

The Brim-DeForest Library at American Ancestors serves as a center for research, learning, and discovery, where history comes to life through archival collections and expert guidance. Learn more about the collections, services, and other library offerings during a brief tour.

Join us for an in-person event that celebrates the power of food, memory, and family storytelling. Participants are invited to bring and share a beloved family recipe—whether it’s a handwritten card passed down through generations or a dish that has become a new household favorite.

Online family trees are a powerful tool—allowing you to organize different branches of your family in one place, to consolidate your documents and timelines, and to make new discoveries through publicly shared trees. However, there is a flip side to online trees! When researching, it can be easy to get swept up in your discoveries and to begin adding people to your tree without documentation—before you know it, your tree has grown, but you find yourself questioning how much of it is accurate! In this online lecture, Senior Genealogist Rhonda R.

Our ancestors moved near and far seeking economic opportunities, religious freedoms, and closeness to family. These mobile ancestors, however, are notoriously difficult to research. We might have an ancestor in our sights and then—poof!—they’re gone; or we may have an ancestor for whom we have no idea of where they came from. In this online lecture, Senior Genealogist Melanie McComb will offer several strategies for discovering ancestral origins and future movements.

Learning about your female ancestors and their families is dependent on knowing her maiden name. Unfortunately, all too often we find women listed by their married names only or that their maiden name is simply not recorded. In this online lecture, learn what records are most likely to provide this information and gain important strategies for finding that elusive maiden name.