Cultivating your family tree

For anyone who likes to dig through a good mystery, Gene Williams would like a word with you.

Williams, a certified genealogist, will present an introductory program at the Post Falls Library to help people investigate their family histories. The free program, “Genealogy with Gene,” will be tonight at 7 p.m.

Ever wondered about your family’s roots? Where your ancestors originated? Or if you have any unknown family members scattered about searching the same thing? The program will serve as a stepping-stone in trying to answer those questions and many more.

To lend a hand in filling out family trees, the presentation, co-sponsored by the Idaho Humanities Council Speakers’ Bureau, will cover a variety of resources available to the public, including genealogy records at the library, as well as home and online sources and search strategies. Williams, a former manager of the Idaho State Historical Society Genealogy Library in Boise who also traces family ancestry for a living, has been a certified genealogist for more than 15 years, of which there are only about 1,500 such specialists in the world. Williams has been a traveling speaker for the Humanities Council since 1993.

“I’ve always had an interest in genealogy since I was a child. I love mysteries, putting puzzles together and that sort of thing, and this just fits,” she said. “It’s one of the largest hobbies in the world and the Internet has made it huge.”

In addition to talking about online resources, Williams will introduce the audience to the “Family Pedigree,” a chart that shows all the known ancestors, and the “Family Group Record,” a public-domain list of parents and children through generations.

“It’s basically an introduction,” she explained, adding that online investigations sometimes lead people to other family members who are performing the same searches.

Joe Reiss, director of the Post Falls Library, said the evening event is a fun and informative diversion from the doom-and-gloom stories making headlines around the world. The library has hosted a diverse selection of programs in the past, such as on terrorism and the Middle East, through the Idaho Humanities Council, a nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing the awareness, understanding and appreciation of the humanities across the state.

“It just seemed like a good year to have something that wasn’t so politically focused. There’s enough happening in the world right now,” he said. About the genealogy program, Reiss added, “We knew there was a lot of interest in the topic, and we were interested in something that involved the community.”

Williams said she hopes to inspire people to start their own ancestry investigations. And for anyone who likes the page-turning appeal of a well-written mystery novel, looking into one’s own lineage might prove just as gripping.

Williams said that as people start to fill in the blank spots in their family tree, a common reaction is “they get really excited and they are hooked at that point. It’s just kind of a snowball effect – you start to find information and you just want more.”