Hagerstown will host 150 members of the Mid-Atlantic Germanic Society for their annual fall meeting on Saturday.
The theme for the meeting is "Putting the Family Puzzle Together: Research and Writing."
The group is a genealogical society founded in 1982. Its mission is to stimulate and facilitate research on Germanic genealogy and heritage in the mid-Atlantic region and to promote genealogical research of Germanic ancestors who settled in the Mid-Atlantic Region in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries.
"We chose Hagerstown for its strong Germanic roots and because many persons of Germanic descent stopped in Hagerstown and the surrounding environs while on their way to the Shenandoah Valley and points south," said Diane Kuster, the group's registrar.
John P. Colletta, one of America's premier genealogical lecturers, is the guest speaker for the meeting. He conducts workshops for the National Archives and teaches courses for the Smithsonian Institution and local universities. He lectures nationally and is a faculty member of the Institute of Genealogy at Samford University in Alabama and the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy. His publications include two genealogical manuals and numerous articles. His latest book is "Only a Few Bones: A True Account of the Rolling Fork Tragedy and Its Aftermath."
