Genealogy Club

Genealogy Club meets in-person!

Join a growing group of genealogists of all levels from the Wilsonville area to discuss genealogy tips, tricks, and research.

These discussions are informal in nature and are moderated by Librarian Malia Laughton. New members welcome!

Meets on the 3rd Monday of the month, from 1:00pm - 2:30pm:

Aug. 19, 2025: DNA & Paper: A Recipe for Genealogy Research Success

Don Anderson will share how to combine the genealogy paper trail with DNA to create A Recipe for Success. He will cover the types of DNA tests and how to use the available tools and matches to uncover what is hiding in your genes. His book Paper & Spit will be available for $20 (Cash Only).

Sept. 16, 2025: Telling Family History with A/V

Steve Edwards, filmmaker and member of Personal Historians NorthWest, will demonstrate how to bring family stories to life through audio and video. Using the latest tools and resources readily available to all, he’ll cover hardware and software, interview suggestions, as well as answer questions about how to capture and share your family's stories. For those interested in genealogy and storytelling, this will be an idea-inspiring session.

Oct. 21, 2025: Voting Records

Malia will present on how voting records and registers will fill in the gaps between census years.

Nov. 18, 2025:  Genealogy's Alphabet Soup

Malia will present on acronyms and abbreviations commonly found in Genealogy records.

Dec. 16, 2025: Discussion Group

A chance to ask your genealogy questions and get advice from the entire group.

Did you know? The library has access to a variety of genealogy databases!

The Wilsonville Public Library presently provides access to five genealogy databases with similar sounding names, but very different scopes and means of access. Find out more on the Genealogy Database page.

Check out Genealogy Club on YouTube!

We are now on YouTube! Librarian Malia Laughton shares tips and tricks to help you out on your genealogy journey at the library's YouTube channel. After watching the videos, email Malia with your questions and comments.

September 2022 Topic: Death Certificates & the International Classification of Diseases

October 2022 Topic: Lost in the 1890s

November 2022 Topic: How Did He Get There?

How do you decipher the cause of death on a death certificate when the handwriting is unreadable or the image is faded? In this presentation, Librarian Malia Laughton will introduce you to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) indexes and show you how you can use them in your genealogy research.