South Suburban Genealogical and Historical Society - Illinois

03/22/2026

The Ancestor Hunt has many free guides and cheat sheets. Check them out.

Old Occupations and Their Meanings - Updated

Are you researching and finding these weird names for occupations that your ancestors had? Strange words like Colporteur, Cordwainer, or Costermonger, for example? Here is a list of 360 (80 are newly added) old occupations and their meanings used in the U.S. and U.K. in various documents, such as census records and newspapers.

Get all the Quicksheet pages at https://theancestorhunt.com/blog/old-occupations-and-their-meanings/

03/22/2026

This exhibit opens Monday at the Oak Lawn Public Library - Local History

Here's a friendly reminder to join us for a new exhibit: "Founding Families of Oak Lawn!" As an update, please be aware that the reception will now take place in OLPL's new Encore Room.

The exhibit opens Monday, March 23 in the Local History Room.

On Thursday, March 26 from 7-9 p.m. we will host an exhibit reception. Local History Librarian Tom Javorcic will speak about the exhibit with a slide show. Refreshments will be served. After the talk, visitors are welcome to tour the exhibit in the Local History Room.

Oak Lawn was settled in the late 1800s by European immigrants who came during the great immigration wave in Chicago. The earliest residents were farmers looking for affordable land near Chicago, where they could sell their crops and livestock. It was a time of rapid growth, great upheaval and charge. Please join us for a glimpse of Oak Lawn’s history and the founding families who made Oak Lawn their home. The exhibit runs through December.

03/20/2026

Eid Mubarak ("Blessed Festival") is a traditional Muslim greeting used to celebrate the end of Ramadan (Eid al-Fitr).

03/17/2026

Check out these places to find Irish roots:
https://familytreemagazine.com/heritage/irish/researching-your-irish-roots/

Have you looked in all the usual places for your Irish ancestors and no luck? If so, try these six overlooked sources for tracing roots in Ireland.

03/17/2026

Happy St Patrick’s Day! Today we bring you all things Irish.

My Heritage DNA sale:
https://www.myheritage.com/dna

Ancestry DNA sale:
https://www.ancestry.com/dna/

03/14/2026

George Washington discusses his surveying career.

03/14/2026

Listening right now to General Washington (aka Terry Lynch)

03/14/2026

Here's what's new on FamilySearch for March 2026:

FamilySearch expanded its free online archives with over 30 million new records from 28 different countries. Additions include 21 million court registers from Ireland, 3.6 million public records from the United States, and 2 million census and civil records from Italy.Other countries with significan...

03/12/2026

Happening Sat., March 21 from 1-3 at the Crete Public Library: DNA and DAR. Register on the library’s calendar.