Genealogical Forum of Oregon Offers Free Classes

The Genealogical Forum of Oregon will hold its annual spring open house March 18-26, to feature 40 free genealogical classes taught by local experts, free access to the GFO research library, and a surplus book sale featuring used books on genealogy and history.

“We are kicking off our free week-long open house with an intense weekend of classes on one of today’s hottest genealogical research topics – DNA testing,” said Genealogical Forum of Oregon President, Laurel Smith. “Let us help you discover your family heritage with classes on beginning genealogy, Mexican records, immigrant research, military records, our French-Canadian holdings and many more.”

In addition to over 42,000 holdings on Oregon, regional, national and worldwide topics, the research library offers access to online services including American Ancestors, Ancestry.com Library Edition featuring records from around the world, FindMyPast, Fold3 online military records, HistoryGeo and Newspapers.com.

For class times and details, visit the GFO Calendar.

March 18 - 26 Class Schedule:

Sat., March 18 – DNA Day 1: Comparing the Three Testing Companies; Basics of Y-DNA and mtDNA; atDNA Basics; Organizing Data & Contacting Matches; Discovering My Birth Family through DNA Testing

Sun., March 19 – DNA Day 2: Convincing Family & Strangers to Test & Why; The Four Autosomal DNA Testing Companies; Examples of How Autosomal DNA Testing Solved Genealogical Problems; GEDmatch; DNA Q & A

Mon., March 20: Start with the Census; Immigration & Naturalization; US History of Railroads; Ports & Shipping

Tues., March 21: GFO Website & Catalog; Facebook 101; Facebook 102; Create a Blog

Wed., March 22: Cemetery Research; FindaGrave.com; Intro to Photoshop Elements; Intro to Heritage Makers Books; GFO Resources

Thurs., March 23: Genealogy Basics; Genealogy for Beginners & More; Using a Timeline; Organizing All That Stuff

Fri., March 24: Mexican History for Genealogists; Intro to Mexican Records; Intro to Probate Records; Intro to Military Records

Sat., March 25: French Prairie; The GFO French-Canadian Collection; Membership Meeting; British Events Leading to Migration

Sun., March 26: Ancestry.com; FindMyPast.com; One-Step Webpages of Stephen Morse; HistoryGeo.com; FamilySearch.org

Cost: All classes and access to the research library are free and open to the public.

Location: Genealogical Forum of Oregon, 2505 SE 11th Ave., B-18, Portland, Oregon 97202

Details at www.gfo.org, or contact the Genealogical Forum of Oregon at [email protected] or 503-963-1932.