Next meeting:  
Saturday, September 26, 2009, 1:00 p.m., Main Branch Library, 151 Library Drive, Houma

Did you see the German Artifacts collection? Mr. Gary Phillips, American history teacher at Vanderbilt Catholic High School, was the speaker at our August meeting and brought along his vast collection of German artifacts, pictures, postcards, canteens, figurines, medals, German uniforms from World War II, and a prisoner’s uniform from the Nazi concentration camp. He had a document signed by Adolph Hitler. He also had weapons such as rifles, swords, daggers and knives. He also showed video footage of the home of Richard Bausch, from New Jersey, before he removed these items. Every room in the house was filled with these items from floor to ceiling. He acquired these from the family of Richard as part of his estate settlement after his death. Words cannot describe this collection. You would have had to be there to see what I am talking about.

GUESS WHAT! We will have another speaker at this month’s meeting. Darlene Walk will be talking to us about the Census as a Tool for Genealogists. She will focus on Census geography, content, and researching. She is retired from the City of New Orleans after 31 years in the Office of the Mayor and Chief Administrative Office.  She has authored or complied more than 350 documents available in the LA Division of the New Orleans Public Library. The first was Analysis of Blight in the City of New Orleans written n 1974 for the Office of Planning and Analysis and the last document was Decision Making in Urban Government in 2005 written for a Civil Service class. She has been working on genealogy since about 1992 when her network administration classes brought her to Salt Lake City and the largest Family History Library in the world. She is a lifetime member of TGS and has roots in Lafourche, Assumption, & Ascension areas with names everyone will recognize – Boudreaux, Daigle, Simoneaux, Dalfreres, LeBlanc, and Lauland to name a few. During her last two years with the City, she taught a lunchtime seminar on “Finding Your Ancestors” for City employees. This was the largest drawing seminar for the Cyber Corner. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Studies Education and a Master’s Degree in Political Science from the University of Southwestern LA (now University of LA Lafayette), and doctoral work at Tulane University in Political Science. She is a Certified Microsoft Instructor, a Novell alumni, and Corel Specialist. She will be available after the meeting to help those who would like help in searching for census records.

We want to thank our wonderful hospitality members. Dorothy Bergeron, Marcie Cavalier, Gloria Hicks, Blanche Brown and the other wonderful people who brought all the mouth water snacks we had to eat. My personal favorite was the cake that had the pineapple, coconut and pecans. Delicious! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.

Branching Out In Genealogy sponsored by Southwest La Genealogical & Historical Library, Libraries Southwest, Southwest La Genealogical Society, Inc., and Friends of the Library. October 17, 2009; 8:30 am – 4 pm, Lake Charles Civic Center, Contraband Room. Master of Ceremonies: John A. Sellers of Sulphur Springs, TX; speaker: Carolyn Earle Billingsley, PhD of Houston, TX. Lectures: “Communities if Kinship: A New Theory for Genealogy”, “The Reality of Researching Your Indian Ancestors”, “Melungeons and Other Mixed Race Groups” and :”History Lost – History Found”. Registration Fee $25.00. Includes reception and “after hours” research at the SW LA Genealogical & History Library on Friday evening Oct. 16 from 5:300 to 8pm. Lunch provided if registered by Oct. 3, 2009. Make check payable to SW LA Genealogical & History Library, 411 Pujo St., Lake Charles , LA 70601. For more info contact Genealogy Staff at (337) 721-710 or gen@calcasieu.lib.la.us

Lawrence Freeman DELATTRE, 69, entered Heaven’s Gates n Friday, June 12, 2009, at St. Tammany Parish Hospital in Covington, due to complication from heart surgery. He was born in Danville, IL, lived on the West Bank of New Orleans over 39 years and Ponchatoula 12 ½ years. Larry worked as a meat cutter at A&P for 26 years – retiring as marker manager of the Royal Street A&P. He was the son of the late Frank DELATTRE and Bessie HAZELBAKER; brother of Frank DELATTRE and Lillie SHERBURNE; husband of member Janice UMBACH DELATTRE; father of Lydia DELATTRE MEDINE, Frank, Darren and David DELATTRE; grandfather of Anthony MEDINA, Robert Alexander GRAVES, Desiree, Chase, Ashley, and Alyssa DELATTRE, Paige FARNSWORTH and Brennan MEETZE; father-in-law of Katrina P. DELATRRE, Kelly M. DELATTRE and Tiffany MEETZE.

POINT OF INTEREST

On August 27, the State Library of Louisiana opened a special traveling exhibition, “Fighting the Fires of Hate: America and the Nazi Book Burnings”, organized and circulated by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. The exhibition focuses on how the book burnings became a potent symbol during World War II in America’s battle against Nazism and concludes with the postwar years, exploring how the Nazi book burnings have continued to resonate in American politics, literature and popular culture. It will run through September 20, 2009 at the State Library and then continue its nationwide travel. It includes displays of period artifacts, documents and news coverage, along with file, video and newsreel footage. For more information on the exhibition, call 25-219-9503 or visit www.state.lib.la.us or www.ushmm.org .The State Library’s hour of operation are Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.. It is closed on weekends. This is a free Exhibition.

Patty Whitney is in charge of the book committee. If you are looking for a book at the Terrebonne Parish Library Genealogy Department and are unable to find it contact Patty by email at pattywhitney@hotmail,com with the title of the book along with the author and publisher and it would be helpful if you know where to purchase and the price of the book.

The  Historic New Orleans Collection and the New Orleans Public Library are proud to announce that the entire Louisiana Biography and Obituary Index, over 600,000 citations dating back to 1804, is now available online, visit http://www.nutrias.org/~nopl/obis/obis.htm

If have moved send your new address to Jess Bergeron at jessndot@bellsouth.net or mail to P O Box 20295 Houma, LA 70360-0295. There will be an extra postage fee for all returned mail. NO EXCEPTIONS.

WE’RE ON THE WEB!!! http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~laterreb/tgs/ CHECK IT OUT!