February 27 They Came for the Gold and Stayed: An Introduction to Chinese-American Genealogy

Chinese-American and native Bostonian Alice (Yee) Kane presents a historical overview of Chinese immigration from southeastern China to the United States during the 19th and 20th centuries. Among the elements considered are Chinese societal and cultural values, immigration patterns, immigration and naturalization laws, and resources specific to researching Chinese-American citizens as found in courts and National Archives and Records Administration centers.Ms. Kane previously worked in the Boston Public Library’s Microtext Department before becoming a professional genealogist and researcher.

 

March 13 The Harbor Islands: Boston’s Unique Neighborhood

One of Boston’s most noted archaeologists presents the history of this unique area and explains why it can be considered a neighborhood. Ellen Berkland is the former Boston City Archeologist and currently serves as the Archaeologist for the Department of Conservation and Recreation. 

Thursday, March 14, Drinking Boston: A History of the City and its Spirits in Rabb Lecture Hall

From the revolutionary camaraderie of the Colonial taverns to the saloons of the turn of the century; from Prohibition—a period rife with class politics, social reform, and opportunism—to a trail of nightclub neon so bright, it was called the “Conga Belt,” Drinking Boston pays tribute to the fascinating role alcohol has played throughout the city’s history. Includes book sale at the event.Stephanie Schorow wasn’t born in Boston, but the day she moved here in 1989, she knew she had come home. Ms. Schorow is the author of six books on Boston, including, with co-author Beverly Ford, The Boston Mob Guide: Hit Men, Hoodlums & Hideouts, published in December 2011, by the History Press and Drinking Boston: A History of the City and Its Spirits, published by Union Park Press on November 1, 2012.

 

March 27  Being a Genealogy Detective for Harbor Islands Stories

Suzanne Gall Marsh will share stories of the Boston Harbor Islands including Portuguese fishermen who floated their homes from Long Island to Peddocks Island, the Lovells Island lighthouse family, the Great Brewster Island community, and other little-known stories about the Harbor Islands.Ms. Marsh is the founder of Friends of the Boston Harbor Islands and is a program facilitator at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute program at UMass Boston and a seasonal ranger/interpreter with the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area. 

 

April 10  The West End: From Early Immigration to Urban Excess

James Campano and Duane Lucia of the West End Museum present a broad look at an important American urban neighborhood from the seventeenth century to the present time. The West End Museum is a neighborhood museum located at 150 Staniford Street on the ground floor of West End Place, and is dedicated to the collection, preservation, and interpretation of the history and culture of the West End of Boston.Mr. Campano is the Founder of the West End Museum and Mr. Lucia is the Executive Director. 

 

April 24 Tracing the West End Families: Yesterday and Today

Richard Andrew Pierce provides insight to those facing the challenges of researching family histories in the unique urban neighborhood setting that is the West End. He is a consultant to the West End Museum and a professional genealogist in Boston. Mr. Pierce has traced the ancestries and missing heirs for hundreds of clients. His books and articles include: The Stones Speak: Irish Place Names from Inscriptions in Boston’s Mount Calvary Cemetery, The Wampanoag Genealogical History of Martha’s Vineyard, and a five-part series of articles on the ancestry of President Kennedy for the New England Historic Genealogical Society’s American Ancestors website. 

May 8 The Memoir Project: Recording the Memoirs of Boston’s Seniors

Since 2008, Mayor Thomas M. Menino and Boston’s Elderly Commission have partnered with a local nonprofit, Grub Street, to produce The Memoir Project. The project has gathered senior citizens from Boston neighborhoods to write down their personal memories. The project guides participants in sharing their stories through writing their memories in bound journals for their families and future generations to learn from and remember. Project staff will describe how the partnership came about and explain the techniques they use for gathering and writing oral histories.Speakers include:

• Tula Mahl, Deputy Commissioner of Communications and Policy for the City of Boston’s Commission on Elderly Affairs
• Christopher Castellani, Artistic Director at Grub Street and author of three novels
• Michelle Seaton, Lead Instructor and creator of the curriculum for the Memoir Project
• Judith Klau, Senor Participant from the South End workshop of the Memoir Project

May 22 Memories and Mortuary Records: Community Archiving Projects at UMass Boston

UMass Boston houses many archival collections that are utilized by family historians and researchers interested in exploring Boston and Massachusetts cultural history through the lives of individuals. The University’s collections include more than 4,000 stories and images in the Mass. Memories Road Show project, hundreds of case records from the Boston Female Asylum, and more than 30,000 mortuary records from the Massachusetts Catholic Association of Foresters between 1880 and 1940.Joanne Riley will share examples from these collections, and will discuss the fascinating, productive, and sometimes challenging interplay among individuals, communities, and institutional archives. Since 2010, Ms. Riley has served as University Archivist at the University of Massachusetts Boston.