Making the Genealogy Center in Fort Wayne, IN Your Research Assistant, With an Emphasis on Jewish Family History Research

Meet and Greet: 12:30 pm

Presentation begins: 1:00 pm                    

Making the Genealogy Center in Fort Wayne, IN Your Research Assistant, With an Emphasis on Jewish Family History Research

Presented by

Curt Witcher

Genealogy Center Manager at Allen County Public Library

The presentation will cover how to explore the expansive holdings and datafiles of the Genealogy Center to plan a research trip to Fort Wayne, to prepare for attending the 2025 IAJGS Conference, and to use the Genealogy Center remotely.

Bio:  Curt Witcher is the Director of Special Collections at the Allen County Public Library, managing the widely acclaimed Genealogy Center as well as the Rolland Center for Lincoln Research. He is a former president of both the Federation of Genealogical Societies and the National Genealogical Society, and the founding president of the Indiana Genealogical Society. Curt currently serves on the Indiana State Historical Records Advisory Board, the Indiana Historical Society’s publications committee, and the executive committee of the Friends of the Lincoln Collection of Indiana’s Board of Directors. He also serves on the Northeast Indiana Jewish Genealogy Society board of directors as well as an advisor for the African American Genealogical Society of Fort Wayne. 

Curt is distinguished as a fellow of both the Indiana Genealogical Society and the Utah Genealogical Association.  Over the decades he led collaborative national efforts to preserve and make more accessible historical data. For those efforts he has received the Federation of Genealogical Societies' Rabbi Malcolm H. Stern Humanitarian Award and the National Genealogical Society’s P. William Filby Award for outstanding, life-time contributions to genealogical librarianship. Curt’s passion for finding families’ stories and his belief in the power of those stories to change lives has been recognized by numerous organizations. He is the recipient of the Indiana Historical Society’s 2019 Eli Lilly Lifetime Achievement Award for extraordinary contributions to the field of history, the 2024 “I Love My Librarian Award” from the American Library Association for outstanding public service, and a 2024 Distinguished Hoosier Award from the Governor of the State of Indiana.  

Join us at 12:30pm PT - before the meeting - for a meet and greet.  Get to know the other genealogists attending our meeting.