PGSA - Books

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Index to the Obituaries and Death Notices appearing in the Dziennik Chicagoski, is available as a set of 4 volumes, covering 1900 through 1929. These works have approximately 80,000 names of individuals whose obituary or death notice was published in the Dziennik Chicagoski, Chicago's leading Polish newspaper. If you have any family ties with Chicago, these volumes are a tremendous help in finding relatives and family members in Polonia's largest Polish community.

This 4 volume set is available from PGSA for the package price of US $25.00, PGSA member $22.50

2009 PGSA Conference Syllabus - Unraveling the Mysteries - US $15.00, PGSA member $13.50

2007 PGSA Conference Syllabus - Bridges to the Past ........US $15.00, PGSA member $13.50

2006 PGSA Conference Syllabus - From Research to Rodziny - US $15.00, PGSA member $13.50

1. The Study of Obituaries as a Source For Genealogical Research, by Thomas E. Golembiewski

This book provides invaluable information on how to decipher and use Polish language obituaries, primarily from the Dziennik Chicagoski. However, because the format from newspaper to newspaper varied little, it is of use no matter what newspaper is being studied. In this second edition, the text and obituaries have been enhanced for easier reading. Second Printing 2009; 81pp; 6 x 9"; Softcover; ISBN: 978-0-924207-10-5 ............. US $10.00, PGSA member $9.00

2. Polish Parish Records of the Roman Catholic Church: Their use and understanding in Genealogical Research, by Gerald A. Ortell

The PGSA offers one of the first and most widely praised references for Polish genealogical research. It discusses baptismal, marriage and death records in detail and lists names, occupations, causes of death, Polish Saints' days, and much more. This excellent, in-depth book will help you understand and translate parish entries. Published 1996, 112 typeset pp., perfect bound soft cover, 8.5 x 11".................... US $12.00, PGSA member $10.80

3. Roman Catholic Parishes in the Polish People's Republic in 1984, by Lidia Mullerowa (English version edited by Stanley R. Schmidt and William F. Hoffman).

This book helps in locating parishes in modern Poland, an essential part of finding baptismal, marriage, and death certificates. It shows the diocese and deanery to which each parish belongs, and it is useful for writing to a parish or diocesan archive in Poland. There are 58 b&w maps, an 88-page index of towns and villages shown on the maps, and a guide to the names of Polish parishes. Published 1995, 157 + xi pp., 8.5 x 11 "................US $15.00, PGSA member $13.50

The maps and index of this book identify approximately 6,500 parishes and branch churches of the Latin rite in Poland before the first partition in 1772. It also encompasses Silesia, Moldavia and the Duchy of Courland. Published 1990, 48 pages, along with 24 fold-out maps, 8.5 x 11"..........................US $17.00, PGSA member $15.30

5. Polish Surnames: Origins and Meanings, Second Edition, by William F. Hoffman

The first half consists of 12 chapters explaining the origins and meanings of Polish surnames. The second half is an index of some 30,000 common surnames, organized by the roots they came from, with indication of how many Polish citizens bore each name as of 1990. Published 1997, 592 typeset pp. (xii + 580), perfect bound, paperback, 6 x 9". ............US $25.00, PGSA member $22.50

6. First Names of the Polish Commonwealth: Origins & Meanings, by William F. Hoffman and George W. Helon

This book is a collaboration between William F. Hoffman, the author of Polish Surnames: Origins and Meanings, and George W. Helon, former president of the Polish Genealogical Society of Australia; which provides information on thousands of first names encountered during the course of researching ancestors who came from any part of the old Polish Commonwealth. It includes names of Czech, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Latin, Lithuanian, Polish, Russian, Ukrainian, and Yiddish origin. When relevant, it also gives the equivalent forms of names in most of those languages, e. g., Polish Piotr = English Peter = Latin Petrus = Russian Hemp, etc. An introduction and three chapters of historical and linguistic background are followed by a 300-page list of names. Appendices include charts with information on the Polish, ancient Greek, ancient Hebrew, Russian Cyrillic, and Ukrainian Cyrillic alphabets, as they apply to name derivation and usage, as well as a list of Cyrillic forms of common Jewish first names. The format is soft-cover, 6 x 9 inches, perfect bound, vi + 426 pages, ISBN 0-924207-06-X; cover design by Lisa Terlecki. ................ US $20.00, PGSA member $18.00

This set includes both the Roman Catholic Parishes in the Polish People's Republic in 1984, by Lidia Mullerowa (English version edited by Stanley R. Schmidt and William F. Hoffman) and The Latin Church in the Polish Commonwealth in 1772, by Stanislaw Litak The Combined set price. ...........US $30.00, PGSA member $27.00

8. Index to the Obituaries and Death Notices Apearing in the JEDNOSC-POLONIA 1926-1946, by Tomas L. Hollowak

The Jednosc-Polonia was a weekly Polish-language newspaper published in Baltimore. This index is arranged alphabetically by surname and may contain information about clubs or organizations the deceased belonged to, place and/or date of birth and surviving family members. Supplies are limited so order quickly. ...................US $9.00, PGSA member $8.10

9. GOING HOME: A Guide to Polish American Family History, By Jonathan D. Shea

This Comprehensive reference book covers all facts of research that you will need to successfully trace your Polish-American family history. The author shares his over two decades of research experience in Polish genealogical investigations, including on site archival experience in Poland, Lithuania, the US, and Canada. Publish in 2008, 410 pages, softcover, 8.25 x 11". ...........US $ 35.00, PGSA member $31.50

10. In Their Words - Polish & In Their Words - Russian, By Jonathan D. Shea and William F. Hoffman

PGSA is now selling these acclaimed translation guides (there are two of them). Written with the Polish genealogists in mind, they reproduce and analyze in detail dozens of documents in Polish and Russian. These are the kinds of documents your research is likely to turn up - and not just birth, marriage, and death records, but also passports, obituaries, population registers, military service records, and so on. In addition, each book gives information on the language's alphabet, spelling, pronounciation, and standard handwriting; lists of thousands of of the terms most often encountered in documents; information on how to locate records in American and Europe; a series of maps illustrating the history of Poland; and a whole chapter on using gazateers to locate your ancestral villages and thus determine which archives are likely to have documents relating to your family, along with contact information for those archives and help writing letters to them. ...........US $ 35.00 each volume, PGSA member $31.50

11: A Translation Guide to 19th Century Polish-Language Civil-Registration Documents - 3rd Edition (including Birth, Marriage and Death Records), by Judith R. Frazin -

This user-friendly and practical resource for anyone with roots in Poland makes suggestions on how to locate ancestral towns on a modern map, determine if old vital records exist, and learn how to acquire, decipher and translate the records. The 472 page book includes a step-by-step guide on how to divide each document into a series of "mini-documents"; seven sample documents with important words and the information which follows these words highlighted; and fifteen topical vocabulary lists, such as Age, Family and Occupations, which include words that occur in 19th century documents.......US $35.00, PGSA member $31.50

The Slownik Geograficzny Krolestwa Polskiego, (Geographical Dictionary of the Kingdom of Poland) is a 15 volume gazetteer that was published between 1880 to 1902 under the direction of Filip Sulimierski. CD edition published in 2003, runs on most platforms (Windows, Mac, Linux, etc.). . ..........US $35.00 for nonmembers, $25.00 for PGSA members (postage & handling included)

Rodziny & More, Prepared by Volunteers of the Polish Genealogical Society of America®

The CD includes PDF copies of PGSA publications from 1979-2008. Both the Rodziny and its predesessor publications are included. Over the years most subjects of interest to the Polish genealogists-and in some cases other researchers as well-have been addressed in PGSA's periodicals. You'll find articles on history, the partitions, surnames, language, records in Poland, town descriptions, information and surname exchanges, and other topics too numerous to mention.The CD's Introduction, by William (Fred) Hoffman, Editor of Rodziny, provides a brief history of the publications and a brief "How-To" instruction follows.Most importantly, included for 1979 through 1992 are electronically searchable indexes for author, subject, and title. Publications from 1992 forward are directly searchable PDFs. With these tools you can zero in on a subject of interest or just browse an article, a single publication, or the entire CD.

CD-Rom; Adobe® Acrobat® Reader PDFs; readable on any system for which Acrobat Reader is available (web link included) US $35.00 for nonmembers, $25.00 for PGSA members. (postage & handling included)

Using Adobe Photoshop TM, learn how to restore scanned images from newspapers and faded handwriting in old documents. Includes the document and photo so you can follow along, restoring at your own pace. Adobe Photoshop Elements Tips TM included. Approx. 65 minutes. DVD with case. US $25.00 (postage & handling included), PGSA Member $22.50

Brush up your skills with a front-row seat for the 50 minute workshop, and follow-up with three on-screen tutorials covering the discussion . Detailed chapter/scene selections, picture files, handouts and extra articles included on this DVD so you can restore the same photo on your computer! Approx. 85 minutes. DVD with case. US $25.00 (postage & handling included), PGSA Member $22.50

1. Morbus -- Why and How Our Ancestors Died: A Genealogist's Dictionary of Terms Found in Vital Records with Descriptions of the Diseases As They Relate to the Health of Our Ancestors , by Rosemary A. Chorzempa

The terms found in this work are the ones seen as the most common causes of death in 18th and 19th century Europe and America. There is an appended list of common terms found as causes of death in German, Latin, Polish, and Russian. 16 pp. 8.5 x 11" ............................US $4.50, PGSA member $4.05

This brief booklet serves as an excellent introduction to Polish research. It is particularly helpful in showing how to use the resources of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City (through local Family History Centers) to solve the problems that typically frustrate beginners. Published 1993, 12 typeset pp., paperback, 8.5 x 11"..........US $4.00, PGSA member $3.60

This brief booklet describes the relationship of heredity traits in your family's genealogy. It also provides a Genetic Family Tree form for sample tabulations of your data. Published 1996, 8pp., 8.5 x 11" ...................US $3.00. PGSA member $2.70

1. Research Packet (24 pages).....................US $4.00, PGSA member $3.60

2. Maps Packet (21 pages)..............................US $4.00, PGSA member $3.60

3. Military Packet (15 pages)..........................US $ 4.00, PGSA member $3.60

4. Translation Packet - Newly Revised & Updated May 2010 (25 pages)......................US $5.00, PGSA member $4.50

Contains:

Polish genealogical letter writing guide
Polish, German, Russian and Latin words used in genealogy
Calendar / time word list in Polish, German, Russian, and Latin
Five language Christian name cross-reference
List of translators