Calendar

  • July 21-25

    Camp Brown
    A Call to Arms...Life as a Civil War recruit. Students in grades 4-6 will experience the life of a Civil War private preparing to march into history. Limited spaces, 1-4 PM each afternoon, please register early. $50 fee
  • August 4-8

    History Detectives:
    "In the Good Ole Summertime" Grades 1-3. Have fun learning about life around Chautauqua Lake in the golden age of steamboats and trolleys. The week will finish with a field trip to New York State's newest historic park, Midway! Great fun! 9-12 noon each morning, limited space available, please register early, $50 fee.
  • August 9

    Annual Old Fashion Day NEW this year!! A Civil War encampment of living history by the 9th Calvary NY Volunteers! Hopefully with horses, campfires, firearms and a surgeon. Join a basket weaver, spinners, weavers, antique engines, food, fun and much more. More details to come!!
    9 AM to 3 PM
  • August 18-22

    History Detectives:
    "In the Good Ole Summertime"
    Grades 4-6. Fun and learning come together at the Fenton Mansion and Long Point State Park! What was life like around Chautauqua Lake when the trolleys and steamboats were running? What was it like to vacation or work at the #2 vacation spot on the east coast in the late 1800s? Find out at the Fenton History Center Summer Camp. 1-4 each afternoon, limited space available, please register early, $50 fee.
  • September 13

    Fenton Institute - Genealogy 101 9 AM to Noon. Learn the important tools of researching your family history. This session will introduce you to the things you need to know to begin uncovering your family tree. Free for members at the Individual Level or $15 for non-members
  • October 11

    Justice Deferred: Albion Tourgee and the Fight for Civil Rights- 9 AM to 4 PM at the Robert H. Jackson Center, Jamestown NY. The day will be filled with presentations, a panel discussion and lunch concentrating on our County's forgotten civil right movement hero, Albion Tourgee and the importance of archival resources.
  • October 18

    Jr. Historians "Behind the Scenes" of the popular Lake View Cemetery Tours. Noon to 1 PM. Students in grades 2-5 are invited to learn about what it takes to put together the "Saints and Sinners Cemetery Tours" and then they can take the tour to learn about the interesting people from Jamestown's history. Limited space, please register early. Cost is only $8.50 per students, bring a friend for half price.
  • October 18

    3rd Annual Saints and Sinners Lake View Cemetery Tours. Each hour from 1 to 8 PM at Lake View Cemetery, corner of Buffalo Street and Lakeview Avenue, Jamestown. Come dressed for the weather. The tour will uncover some of the more than 43,000 personal stories at Jamestown's beautiful Lake View Cemetery. Guests are asked to wear comfortable shoes, dress for the weather, bring a flashlight for the later tours and to be ready to learn some interesting information about Jamestown and Lake View Cemetery. The cost is only $8 for adults, $2 for children and free for Fenton History Center members. Reservations are requested, please call 664-6256 to reserve your tickets.
  • October 18

    Midnight Mausoleum Tour of Lake View Cemetery - Details to be announced.
  • October 25

    3rd Annual Saints and Sinners Lake View Cemetery Tours
    See information for Oct. 18th.
  • November 26

    Start a family tradition - bring the family to the 29th Annual Holiday Exhibit - I'll Be Home for Christmas - Members Only Preview! Be the first to see the elegant Governor's Mansion decked out for the holiday season! Light refreshments, friends and memories - all at the Fenton History Center this holiday season.
  • November 28

    29th Annual Holiday Exhibit opens to the public- I'll Be Home for Christmas through January 17, 2009
  • December 6

    Fenton Family Day Start a family tradition - bring your family for crafts, cookies and fun discovering your past at the Fenton History Center! Children are half price!

Genealogy

The Library has volunteer genealogy researchers who assist visitors with their research and who answer written research requests. The fee for using the library is the same as the museum admission-$5.00 per day per researcher. Members use the library for free as a benefit of membership. The research fee for mail inquiries is $20.00 per name. Guided by the information provided by the researcher, the volunteers will check the library book collection, family files and archival materials for additional information. Research materials outside the Fenton History Center are not consulted by the volunteers. A form to request a search is provided for your convenience or a letter with information about the person to be researched may be sent with a check to the Fenton History Center Library.

Genealogy Support Group

The "support" in this group is the support each member can give to other members in their genealogical pursuits, the support the Library can provide the researcher and, hopefully, the support the member can give the Library.

The staff was aware of various members using the Library at different times, often unaware of the other members who came at different times. The staff was also aware that some members were researching outside our area but we didn't know where. If these additional areas could be identified, it was possible to provide some additions to the collection to aid these members. A meeting was announced to invite interested members to meet together and start a network and provide for a few meetings a year. The group immediately asked if they could meet monthly. The result is a monthly meeting, usually held the third Monday of the month at 9:30 am at the Fenton History Center. Meetings during the summer months are often held in the evenings, giving the working members a chance to join the group. Different topics are selected for a short "lesson" and discussion at each meeting. Topics have included different types of records such as census, land, tax, or military records and how and where to research in different states or countries. In 2001, for example, each person picked a "problem ancestor" to work on and the group spent part of each meeting brainstorming the problems and suggesting ideas for further research. Each person gets help with a specific problem and all can benefit from the strategies and techniques discussed and tried.

Members of the Genealogy Support Group must be members of the Fenton History Center. There are no additional dues. Beside the monthly meetings, GSG member benefits include: borrowing privileges for a small collection of "how-to" books; rental of census and other microfilm from Heritage Quest; and support from others who understand the passions of a genealogist.

Contact us for more information.


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