Terrebonne Library Genealogy Series Set for November; “One will find many hidden gems in genealogy”

Terrebonne Parish Library will be hosting a three-week Genealogy Series in November to educate how to conduct research and build a family tree.

The series is for learners of all levels! One of the main goals of the program is to educate people about how to conduct genealogy research and to showcase free library resources to help them build their family tree. “Genealogy connects us to our human ancestors, their families, descendants, and the kinship relationships between them,” Reference Librarian Carlos Crockett said, “It is really something marvelous and a way for us to go back in time and look at what the lives of our ancestors were like.” The library provides access to the past by providing free library databases such as ancestry.com, Heritage Quest, Fold3, obituary records, and many other resources to help one construct a family tree.

Crockett explained that they are celebrating the “Terrebonne 200 Year Anniversary” and many of the records they have today are due to people preserving local history who documents the lives of people who laid the foundations for our parish. “These people made many contributions to the development of our area, many were ordinary people but they made advances in many fields,” he explained.

Genealogy is the roadmap to who we are! Crockett said it’s important to learn the skills and find out about our roots because if you don’t know where you came from, you don’t have a roadmap of where you’re going, “For example,” he explained, “Many of our ancestors had to endure a lot, and had to overcome many challenges, but they are preserved. Doing genealogy is a way to learn what their lives were like and what they had to endure in order for us to live a better life today.” 

During the classes, Crockett will discuss his own research and how he got started because he believes that using examples is a great way to connect with the audience. The sessions are two hours and the full schedule can be found below:

• Sunday, November 6, 2:30 p.m. Genealogy 101: Connect with your roots and become a family detective. In this session, you’ll learn how to gather family stories, start a family tree, use online tools, and examine genealogical records.

• Sunday, November 13, 2:30 p.m. Ancestry.com & Familysearch.org: In this session, you’ll learn how to use these websites as tools to discover and document your ancestors.

• Sunday, November 20, 2:30 p.m. Census & Vital Records: In this class, you’ll gain insight into how to best use censuses and vital records to find, cite, and prove ancestors.

The series is free, and open to the public, with no registration required. Call (985) 876-5861, option 2 for questions. “Genealogy is really awesome and for many people, it’s their passion,” he said, “The way to learn genealogy is just to start doing it, “he said.

Crockett has an undergraduate degree from the University of New Orleans and a Master’s Degree in Library and Information Science from The University of Southern Mississippi (2013). While at Southern Miss., he was a recipient of The Warren Tracy Award for Professionalism, Scholarship, and Service. Crockett has a passion for serving the youth population and is a writer. He published “Urban Youth and Public Libraries” in January 2015 and as a reference librarian, he is responsible for not only helping patrons with informational needs but also writing for the library blog on local history and genealogy. His passion for the field comes from his heart, “I am African American and though for most African Americans, our direct descendants from Africa will forever remain anonymous due to historical issues…they’re still ways one can connect with the past and this workshop is a way to show people those resources,” he explained, “Also, many more records have been digitized today and allow for easier access where one does not have to travel. All you need is persistence and perseverance and one will find many hidden gems in genealogy.”