Mind Your Own (Family) Business

This Saturday, August 12, at 10:00 a.m., the Southern History Department will offer another workshop in our popular Beyond the Basics of Genealogy series. This fast-paced workshop will focus on how to research your ancestors' occupation, place of employment, or family-owned business. Given how much time we spend at our jobs and careers, knowing what our ancestors did for a living gives us a much fuller picture of what their lives were like on a day-to-day basis.

We'll take a look at some familiar sources (city directories, census records, newspapers) and show you how to use them to piece together the history of a business or simply determine what your ancestors did for a living. We'll also be looking at the Alabama Secretary of State's Business Entity database which can be useful for finding out when and where a small business was established.

As we all know, genealogical information can turn up in the strangest places. Was your ancestor an inventor? Was he or she ever granted a U.S. patent? Did they work for the federal government? The railroad? We'll take a look at some easy to use online sources that can answer these questions for you.
Work was an integral part of our ancestors' lives. We're very excited about this upcoming workshop which aims to help patrons take their research in a new direction and give them a better understanding of their ancestors and the communities in which they lived.

The workshop is free of charge, but registration is requested. You may register online through the BPL events calendar. For more information, contact the Southern History Department at 205-226-3665 or at askgenlocal@bham.lib.al.us.