Scott County Iowa Genealogical Society: Inspiration for Discovering & Writing Your Family’s History

Scott County Iowa Genealogical Society and the Richardson-Sloane Special Collections Center of the Davenport Public Library invite you to their monthly meeting. For our June presentation, Jeri Fuller Surad will share her work in discovering her family history and sharing it with others. The methods for performing genealogical research have changed with the advent of the computer. The numerous genealogical databases offer easy access to millions of records. As a reminder, you will still need to verify your information with two or more sources. It is your responsibility to record accurate information connecting your family's history. When writing a biography, you need to discover the details and personal history of your subject and their connections to their community and the times in which they lived. One great way to do that is to travel to where your ancestor lived, collecting information at the local level. I hope I have given you some inspiration to discover your family's genealogy and write your family's story! About the author: Jeri Fuller Surad has forty years of hands-on genealogical research experience. She began tracing my family's tree in 1972 when there was no internet or online databases for genealogical research. By 1999, she incorporated her research techniques, tracking forms, and directory of where to write for Vital Records into a CD, Get into Your Family Tree. She also traveled to the towns in America where her family lived, collecting additional rare information at the local level while discovering America's history alongside her family history. She has given numerous presentations over the years and created a family history quilt pattern with family photos sewn into it. By embroidering herr family's names and dates, she could touch and see her family's history. She won second place with her "Families are Forever" from the Alburquerque's Quilt show in 2005. She is a member of the National Genealogical Society in Virginia; the Scott County Iowa Genealogical Society; the Northfield Historical Society in Minnesota; Rice County Minnesota Historical Society; St. Lawrence County Historical Association in Canton, New York. She contributes to the Flint Public Library in Middleton, Massachusetts.