Services include: Genealogical Research and Consulting; Historical Research; Archives and Special Collections; Presentations, Seminars and Workshops
A life-long Chicagoan, Ginger Frere MBA, MLIS, has been involved in family history for the past 20 years. In addition to working with private clients, speaking and teaching seminars, Ginger is a reference librarian in the Genealogy and Local History Section at the Newberry Library in Chicago, where her responsibilities include providing reference services and working on digital projects. She is co
01/04/2022
David Rumsey Historical Map Collection | San Francisco Chronicle Article on New Directions for the David Rumsey Map Center "At Stanford’s David Rumsey Map Center, the past, present and future converge" Andres Picon, San Francisco Chronicle Dec. 24, 2021 Map collector and authorit...
09/02/2021
An Age-by-Age Guide to City on Fire: Chicago 1871 | Chicago Parent When visiting Chicago History Museum's Great Chicago Fire exhibit, check out things to do for toddlers, elementary kids, teens and more.
Registration is now open!
Exploring Life in Pre-Fire Chicago | Newberry Chicago commemorates the 150th anniversary of the Great Fire this fall, and it’s easy to assume that nothing has survived. This is anything but true. In this course, we’ll uncover a gold mine of treasures that survived the fire and illustrate what life in Chicago was like before the disaster.
08/31/2021
We're sharing our "Chicago Genealogical Society’s Recommendations for Commemorating The 150th Anniversary of The Great Chicago Fire on October 8, 2021." We hope they will help enrich your understanding of what some of our Chicago ancestors experienced.
07/09/2021
National Archives Genealogy Series May & June 2021 In lieu of the autumn 2020 Virtual Genealogy Fair that could not be held due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are pleased to offer a new Genealogy Series! Instead of a single-day event, the program sessions will be broadcast individually during May and June. You are invited to watch and....
03/17/2021
Interested in Chicago history? Check out this guide!
LibGuides: Chicago's Community Areas and Neighborhoods: Overview A guide to Chicago's neighborhoods and 77 officially designated community areas
01/16/2021
FREE Live Class with Tim Neff and Michael Kraus
10/15/2020
Hundreds of Native American treaties have been scanned and are freely available online, for the first time, through the National Archives Catalog. https://go.usa.gov/xGJp9
Also, in partnership with The Museum of Indian Arts and Culture (MIAC), these treaties and extensive additional historical and contextual information are available through Treaties Explorer (https://digitreaties.org/).
"Thanks to our anonymous donor, we were able to do needed conservation work, scan and digitize this historically and culturally important collection, and these records are accessible for anyone, anywhere, through our National Archives Catalog," said David S. Ferriero, Archivist of the United States. "Now, many more descendants of the original peoples can examine the names and seals and read the words set down by their ancestors so long ago. But more than that, the treaties are still relevant today as tribal leaders and lawyers continue to use them to assert their rights in court, such as in cases over land and water rights."
Image: Ratified Indian Treaty 360: Sioux (Sisseton [Sissiton], Wahpeton [Warpeton]) - Washington, DC, 1867. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/58234673
09/10/2020
Maps, Maps and more Maps!
Telling the Story with Maps: Maps of Early Illinois and Where to Find Them How did our ancestors get from one place to another? Where might they have gotten married? Ginger Frere, professional researcher, will show off a wide variety of maps that can be used to tell the story of Illinois and will provide suggestions for finding maps to tell your family story. This program....
Just because large gatherings are still unsafe, you don't have to cancel your genealogy society/group meetings! Most have now moved online and you can too!
All of my presentations are available via Zoom or webinar. No technical expertise? No problem! Check out the list on the website. You can also see some previews on my YouTube channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKMupYCqtoxyC9-g7ifHKjw/
03/19/2020
https://dcc.newberry.org/collections
The Newberry Library’s Digital Collections for the Classroom website is an educational resource designed for teachers and students featuring primary sources from the Newberry’s holdings, contextual essays, and discussion questions. This is a great source for those curious minds that are all stuck at home!
A number of new collections have been added recently, including Chicago after the Great Fire. https://dcc.newberry.org/collections/chicago-after-great-fire
| Monday | 9am - 5pm |
| Tuesday | 9am - 5pm |
| Wednesday | 9am - 5pm |
| Thursday | 9am - 5pm |
| Friday | 9am - 5pm |