52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy and History
28 Feb 2011 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: family history, family tree, genealogy, professional genealogist
Week 9: Sounds
Describe any sounds that take you back to your childhood. These could be familiar songs, jingles, children playing, or something entirely different.
I was born in the early 1970s and grew up listening to the music my mom loved. Neil Diamond, John Denver, Barry Manilow, Abba, and a bunch of music from her teen years. Those songs take me back to our house in Downers Grove where I am in the living room my dad built on to the house.
1980s music takes me back to Jr. High and High School when I was old enough to go to school dances and date. I know Bon Jovi takes me back to those days and it is funny that the songs I loved then, my kids love now.
If I hear the Mozart Clarinet Concerto, I’m taken back to my junior year in high school when I played that for my solo at District and State Music Contests. Those were good times. If I hear the theme from “Robin Hood” I am taken back to the fall of 1991 when I was in the marching band at SMSU (now Missouri State). I can still hear the music and feel my feet move forward at one point then horns raised to blast the audience at just the right moment. What a rush!!
Wisdom Wednesday – Check the Dictionary
02 Feb 2011 2 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: Chicago, citizenship, family, family bible, family histories, family history, family history researchers, family history resources, genealogical research, genealogical researchers, genealogy, generations, professional genealogist, research genealogy, researching family history, social security numbers, writing family history
If you read my post on Monday about going through old boxes of stuff this weekend, you will know I found a lot of new items I had not really looked at.
This is the cover to the Webster Dictionary. I am not sure of the date. It is a thick cardboard cover and on the back is a lot of family history information. We have all heard of families writing in the family Bible, but a dictionary?
The back contains information written by my grandma Rose Tregler. She wrote birth and death dates and places, social security numbers and citizenship petition numbers for some of my relatives! The people include Jaroslav Tregler, Sr., Jaroslav Tregler, Anna Tregler, Rose Tregler, her parent’s names, my aunt and my mom.
I wonder why grandma would write this in a dictionary……. Where are some interesting places you have located family information?
About Me
08 Jan 2011 Leave a Comment
in Tags: Chicago, family, family history, family tree, genealogy, History, professional genealogist, professional genealogy, shedd aquarium
My name is Jennifer Holik.
Born in the suburbs of Chicago and spending many years growing up in Missouri, I returned to my roots in the Chicago area in 1999 after finishing my B.A. in History, to attend graduate school. Upon my return to the area I worked in the Education Department at Shedd Aquarium for a year before moving to the I.T. Department to serve as a Database Administrator for a special project. I spent five years creating databases, writing reports and training manuals and teaching. I attended one semester of graduate school before starting my family and focusing on my career and personal research.
My interest in genealogy began in 1996 when I completed a project for a history class. Since that time it has blossomed and I have made the move from hobbyist to professional. I believe we must incorporate history into our family stories and we must view our families within their historical context, not ours. I have an eye for detail, love a challenge, and enjoy helping people discover their family stories.
Contact me: Jennifer Holik
©2011, copyright Jennifer Holik
