Southern History Department Hosting Several February Genealogy Programs

The Birmingham Public Library’s Southern History Department is hosting five genealogy programs during February, including three Black History Month workshops.

For tons of genealogy workshop tips and other information, follow BPL’s Southern History Department on Facebook

Here is a listing of upcoming BPL genealogy program

* Race and Real Estate: Redlining Birmingham in 1938, Sunday, February 9, 3:00 p.m., Central Library’s Arrington Auditorium, 4th Floor



A federal government effort to identify the areas of Birmingham best suited to receive home mortgages led to the creation of a map in 1938 that further defined racial boundaries sanctioned by the city's zoning ordinance of 1926. Paul Boncella of the Southern History Department examines the two versions of the federal government's redlining map and other documents to demonstrate how real estate zones were delineated and how the criteria for doing so were later invoked to justify preserving the city's racial divisions.

 * Intro to Genealogy Wednesday, February 12, 3:00 p.m., Central Library’s Southern History Department 

Want to learn how to do genealogical research? Come to this introductory class that will help get you started on your genealogical journey. The staff in the Southern History Department covers such topics as vital records, courthouse and church records, and the Federal Census.

* FamilySearch Wiki, Tuesday, February 10, 10:30 a.m., Central Library Computer Center

Optimize how to search, edit, and post on the world’s premier free genealogy help site and discover its new features.

 * An Emblem of Segregation: The 1926 Birmingham Zoning Map Sunday, February 23, 3:00 p.m., Central Library’s Arrington Auditorium

 A scheme to segregate the population of Birmingham by race existed both in theory and in practice long before the legislation that made it legal was passed in 1926. Paul Boncella of the Southern History Department examines the zoning map and other documents to demonstrate how the ordinance came into existence and why it was initially accepted by the population at large.
A year ago, Boncella presented this same workshop at the Central Library during Black History Month.

 * Finding African American Records in Ancestry.com, Fold3.com, Newspapers.com, and FamilySearch Tuesday, February 25, 2020 10:30 a.m., Central Library Computer Center, 4th Floor

 Learn how to use our most popular genealogy databases to pinpoint African American records. This workshop will show you some tips and tricks for quickly locating records specifically relating to African Americans and will be useful for historians and genealogists.