German Ancestral Studies at GoAncestry

Type: Non-profit, Cultural, Genealogical, and Historical Society
 
Purpose: The German Ancestral Studies Research Group is designed to assist people on both sides of the Atlantic to discover and appreciate their German ancestral past. We are focused upon the current breadth of Germany as it exists today, but we are considerate of those other areas that at various times may have been part of a recognized "Germany". While we assist many people to discover knowledge about their ancestral homes in Germany, a primary objective is to help German researchers discover those who have left the German-speaking world and come to North America.
 
Contact Information:
Mailing Address: 1321 Ava Rd., Sever, MD. 21144
Phone Number: 410-519-6431
Auf Deutsch or English contacts are welcome.
 
Membership:
Individual $0.00/year, currently FREE
 
Benefits:
  • Access to online community with over 170 users. 
  • Access to internet collaboration workspace which includes: Blogs, Calendar, Chat, Galleries, Message Boards, and Surname Databases
  • Members Only Internet collaboration space.
  • Monthly Webinars. Up to 25 people at a time can access our topical research seminars.  We provide webinars to collaborate with others that are not living in our local area.
  • A surname research area for discussing German ancestors and their descendants.
  • A quarterly newsletter, Entdeckung, which is made available via email or the internet. The Entdeckung includes meeting information, event updates, genealogical information, maps, and much more.
  • Be part of a group which shares an interest in German history, culture, and genealogy.
 
Events: 
         •           Mayfest, an early summer festival, held the first Saturday in June, focusing on American BBQ and German Beer.
         •           Sharktoberfest, a harvest festival held in late September, with traditional German food, music, and liquid refreshments.   
         •           Quarterly research meetings make the library available for in-person research and occasional presentations on member selected topics.
 
Research (or Focus) Areas: 16 States of Germany and the 50 United States. We also support other European country research and Canada. While the primary focus is upon Germany and America, we respect that at different times in history borders were very fluid and the migration of German Speaking People found many places to settle.
 
Research Services: German Ancestral Studies offers to conduct FREE research as study group time permits. Additionally, each person can post individual questions that are often researched and quickly answered by the broader community of users. We can provide digital scans of most material dependent on the size of the original.  Large material must be photographed digitally; in large size files, but may still prove useful to a researcher.
 
Library: 
Our library is located at 1321 Ava Rd., Severn MD 21144. This large (over 4000), unique collection of books and reference materials focuses mainly on prominent German settlement areas in the USA (New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Texas, and California). We also have extensive holdings of pre-1900 bibliographic, cartographic, and genealogical society (New England, New York, Pennsylvania, German, etc.) publications. Further, we provide computer works stations to access prominent web-based applications, databases, and tools.
 
Store/Publications:
We offer free trading areas for our members where they can find books and other materials that members have used in their own research and no longer desire.