Sumner County Historical and Genealogical Society to host: ‘How to research your home and the people who lived there’
Sumner Newscow report — The Sumner County Historical and Genealogical Society in Wellington, will host “Researching Your Home and the People Who Lived There,” a presentation and discussion by Diana Staresinic-Deane on Monday, May 16 at 6:30 p.m. at the Cowley College Short General Education Center’s Community Room, 2208 Davis-White Loop, Room 113, Wellington. Members of the community are invited to attend the free program.
Contact the Sumner County Historical & Genealogical Society at 785-339-3127 on Tuesdays from 10 a.m.– 4 p.m., or Jane—620-447-3266 or Sherry—316-833-6161 for more information. This program is made possible by Humanities Kansas.
Cowley College’s restaurant, The Tiger Eatery, will be open until 6:30 p.m. and you are welcome to call ahead at (620)441-6558 and order a meal or get coffee or a coke and take it to the meeting room.
Every year, a researcher drops into the SCHGS Research Center to learn what they can about the house they live in or the property they’ve purchased. Sometimes they are searching for information about their business property to learn what businesses may have been in that building or that location. Maybe someone has told them there was a livery stable in that location, or a dairy on their farm long ago, and a few, occasionally, come in because there are strange things occurring in their home. Footsteps where no one walks, noises in empty rooms, maybe a feeling that they’re not alone.
Whatever your reason for researching your home or business’s history, Staresinic-Deane’s presentation can help you get started.
Researching a property, be it an old home, a new business, or a section of pastureland, can do more than tell us the history of a space. It can also build a human connection to the people who came before us and the times in which they lived. This talk, which can be customized to highlight local resources, shares creative ways to study documents and assemble relevant narratives from maps, deeds, newspapers, and often unsought or unknown resources. This is ideal for those new to seeking out family and community stories, and helpful for those stymied by a dead end.
Diana Staresinic-Deane is the executive director of Franklin County Historical Society and Old Depot Museum in Ottawa. She is passionate about collecting, interpreting, and recording local histories.
“New researchers will feel empowered to take their first researching steps,” said Staresinic-Dean. “Researchers who have been stymied by a dead-end might just find the breadcrumbs they need to progress.”
“Researching Your Home and the People Who Lived There” is part of Humanities Kansas’s Speakers Bureau, featuring humanities-based presentations designed to share stories that inspire, spark conversations that inform, and generate insights that strengthen civic engagement.
