Swedish Genealogy Society of Minnesota

This is the Home Page of the Swedish Genealogical Society of Minnesota (SGSM). The Swedish Genealogical Society was organized in March 1983. It is a branch of the Minnesota Genealogical Society.

Purpose:

The purpose of the Society is to assist members in their Swedish-American genealogical research by:

Holding meetings for the instruction and encouragement of the members.
Providing informative talks on some facet of Swedish-American genealogy.
Helping solve individual problems with all members contributing solutions.
Researching the more common troublesome areas.
Publishing materials to aid research in Swedish ancestry.

WebSite Table of Contents:

Calendar of Events:

(Events of Interest to Persons with Swedish Ancestry!)

Notice – Our 2009 meeting schedule has been set. All meetings will be held on the following Saturdays in the Minnesota Genealogical Society’s Auditorium at 1185 Corcord Street North, South St. Paul. More event details will follow in future issues of the Tidningen. The dates are; January 17, 2009 (1-4p.m.); March 21, 2009 (1-4p.m.); May 16, 2009 (1-4p.m.); and the NEW 1 1/2 Day SGSM Research Conference, October 16th (1pm to 4pm) and 17th, 2009 (9a.m. to 4p.m.). More details below.
Saturday, March 21st 2009. Swedish Genealogical Society of MN quarterly meeting from 1 p.m. until 4 p.m. at the Minnesota Genealogical Society Auditorium at 1185 Concord Street North, South St. Paul. Our guest speaker will be Paula Stuart-Warren CG. She is a Minnesota-based Certified Genealogist, specializing in Midwest genealogy. A past officer of the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG) and winner of the Smallwood Award of Merit from APG and the Minnesota Genealogy Ambassador Award for representing MN genealogy in the region and nation. She lectures nationally and has been a course coordinator at the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy. Her topic will be “ Baker’s Dozen: Easy Ways to Begin Writing Your Family History”.
Friday, April 17th, 2009. Swedish Genealogy Workshop. Beginning and Intermediate genealogists are invited to a workshop with instructors Dee & Ray Kleinow on Friday, April 17th from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the American Swedish Institute (ASI). Dee & Ray have a combined 40 years of experience in doing, teaching and assisting with genealogical research. This class will range from the basics of genealogy through demonstrations of computer databases, internet research and the Genline database. Complete the workshop knowing the steps needed for successful genealogical researching, the records used, how to access them, how to analyze the data found and how to continue with research. Bring a bag lunch. Required class text “Your Swedish Roots” is available in the ASI Bokhandel or at our SGSM sales table. Check with ASI for class registration fee, for ASI members and nonmembers. To register call ASI at 612/871-4907 or send questions to: ASI-Genealogy, 2600 Park Ave., Minneapolis, MN 55407.
Saturday, April 18th 2009. - Minnesota Family History Fair at Minnesota Genealogical Society Library, 1185 Concord Street North, South St. Paul, MN. See http://www.mngs.org for details.
May 8th–12th, 2009. Genline (from Sweden) Visits U.S. 2009. - Representatives from Genline Sweden will be visiting North America in May. Peter Wallenskog, member of Genline's Board of Directors, Mikko Ollinen, CEO of Genline, and David Fogelberg will be making stops in Illinois, Minnesota, Lindsborg, Kansas and at the NGS Conference in Raleigh, NC to visit customers and present information about new Genline initiatives. Peter Wallenskog, Mikko Ollinen and David Fogelberg from Genline Sweden and Genline's North American representative, Kathy Meade, will be giving a presentation and demonstration on Genline, Swedish Church Records Online and Bygdeband, Genline's new Swedish local historical research initiative on Friday, May 8 at the Arlington Heights Memorial Library. If you are in the area, this is a great opportunity to learn more about Swedish genealogical resources and how to use Genline to trace your Swedish roots as well as to discover how you can learn more about the farm or village where your ancestor lived in Sweden. Monday, May 11th, 2009, from 1 until 4 p.m. The Genline Sweden's management team will be visiting with members of SGSM, MGS, and anyone else wishing to attend, at the Minnesota Genealogical Society's location in South St. Paul.
Saturday, May 16th 2009. SGSM quarterly meeting from 1 p.m. until 4 p.m. at the Minnesota Genealogical Society Auditorium at 1185 Concord Street North, South St. Paul. Our guest speaker and topic will be Dan Karvonen who teaches all three levels of the Finnish language as well as phonology at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. He is a fourth-generation Finnish-American born and raised near Minneapolis, Minnesota. He has lived and studied in Finland, both during high school as an exchange student through the Rotary Youth Exchange Program and while completing graduate work as a Fulbright scholar. He has a B.A. in Finnish and Russian from the University of Minnesota; an M.A. in Linguistics from Indiana University; and a Ph.D. in Linguistics from the University of California at Santa Cruz. He has a lifelong interest in genealogy, and has recently become interested in “genetic genealogy”, and is tracing his family tree again, this time via DNA.
Friday & Saturday, October 16-17th 2009. October 16th (1 until 4 p.m.) and October 17th (9 a.m. until 4 p.m.) – The Swedish Genealogical Society of Minnesota will be holding a “SGSM Research Conference” where they will host SwedGenTour2009, Genline Sweden and Genline North America at the Minnesota Genealogical Society building, 1185 Concord Street North, South St. Paul, MN. It will feature one-on-one help sessions with top Swedish & American genealogists with access to all major Swedish and Swedish-American databases, both days. In addition, Swedish Genealogy Research Lectures will be given morning and afternoon on Saturday. Tables may be reserved for vendors who wish to display genealogically-related material. Pre-registration will be required so PLEASE check our SGSM homepage at http://www.rootsweb.com/~mnsgsm for added details. We will be updating the webpage as details become available! As was popular last year, we will be having MANY nice table specials and door prizes, which will be drawn throughout Saturday. Refreshments and possibly a catered buffet are in planning.
October 25th 2009 – November 1st 2009. Swedish American Genealogist (SAG) Workshop at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. More details to follow.
Friday, November 13th 2009. Swedish Genealogy Workshop. Beginning and Intermediate genealogists are invited to a workshop with instructors Dee & Ray Kleinow on Friday, November 13th from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the American Swedish Institute (ASI). Dee & Ray have a combined 40 years of experience in doing, teaching and assisting with genealogical research. This class will range from the basics of genealogy through demonstrations of computer databases, internet research and the Genline database. Complete the workshop knowing the steps needed for successful genealogical researching, the records used, how to access them, how to analyze the data found and how to continue with research. Bring a bag lunch. Required class text “Your Swedish Roots” is available in the ASI Bokhandel or at our SGSM sales table. Check with ASI for class registration fee, for ASI members and nonmembers. To register call ASI at 612/871-4907 or send questions to: ASI-Genealogy, 2600 Park Ave., Minneapolis, MN 55407.

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Meeting Dates, Time and Location:

Please check the meeting times and locations carefully. We are moving to the MN Genealogical Society (MGS) location. We no longer meet at the American Swedish Institute (ASI).

Meetings are held 4 times a year.

For 2009 the dates, times and locations are:

17 January 2009 1 p.m. until 4 p.m., at MGS in the Auditorium.
21 March 2009 1 p.m. until 4 p.m., at MGS in the Auditorium. (Our Annual Research Day meeting is moved to October.)
16 May 2009 1 p.m. until 4 p.m., at MGS in the Auditorium.
16 & 17 October 2009 NEW 1 1/2 Day SGSM Research Conference! 16th - 1pm to 4pm; 17th - 9am until 4pm! More details above.

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Membership/Contacting the Society:

Membership is open to any person interested in Swedish-American genealogy. The Swedish Genealogical Society of Minnesota does not have a membership fee. If you wish to receive the Newsletter, there is a charge. If you wish to purchase one or more of our new clothing items, there is a charge. If you would like to attend a meeting, we ask for a donation of a few dollars or so to cover expenses such as room rental, coffee and cookies, speaker fees, etc. This way you only pay for what you wish. We recommend membership in the Minnesota Genealogical Society (MGS), but it is not required.

For more information the Society can be contacted at:

Minnesota Genealogical Society Swedish Genealogical Society 1185 Concord St. N. Suite 218 South St. Paul, MN 55075-1187 (651) 455-9057 http://www.mngs.org

or e-mail to:

Dee at deeswede@comcast.net

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SGSM Publications:

The SGSM has several publications available for sale. These excellent resources are available through the SGSM. They are also for sale at our regular meetings at the American Swedish Institute.

Starting in January 1997, the SGSM has published a newsletter entitled "Tidningen" to subscribers. (Remember, there is no membership fee to belong to SGSM, you are automatically a member if you have an interest in Swedish-American genealogy. There is a fee to subscribe to the Tidningen.) The "Tidningen" is published quarterly. Back issues are available. See the link to SGSM Publications below.

Description of the SGSM Publications

I. 5 - Generation Chart
A 17" x 22" genealogy chart, which folds into quarters, and can fit in a 3-ring binder. The chart has room for birth, marriage and death information for 5 generations. It also has space for the names of nine brothers and sisters.
II. Subscription to the "Tidningen" Newsletter.
III. Newsletter Back Issues
All Back issues of the SGSM Newsletter "Tidningen" are available. Please specific Winter, Spring, Summer, and/or Fall for the years 1997 to the present.

See the linked SGSM Publications page for order form and more details.

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Page Maintenance/Returns

Please send comments about this webpage to; Ray at rayk29@comcast.net

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