The Bucks Library hosted its second annual family history event featuring organizations at the forefront of genealogical research in the Bucks area.
The event was held in the Gallagher room on Oct. 2 and hosted by Interlibrary Loan Assistant and Records Library Technician, Kelly Deeney. The event included representatives from the Bucks County Genealogical Society, Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania, Bucks County Historical Society, Bucks County Free Library and the Volta Center for Writing Arts in collaboration with Bucks’ own Tyler Literary Society.
Deeney said that organizing the family history event was “Exciting. Last year was our first of this event, I wanted to invite even more organizations with more tables for this year. Not many students know about genealogy, so we want to introduce the subject to Bucks students, help them get started on genealogical research while their older relatives are still around.”
During the event, Deeney was heading a booth for the “Bucks in Time” archival project for the 2025-2026 school year, where students are encouraged to share what they enjoy most about their experience at Bucks – responses that will be compiled, open to the community and added to Bucks’ archives for future access.
Director of Library of Archives at the Doylestown Mercer Museum, Annie Halliday, informed students of the museum’s extensive research. Library of historical records relating to family registries and property ownership, noting upcoming exhibitions on Pennsylvania history.
Bucks County Genealogical Society was represented by its Director of Volunteers and Events, as well as Bucks History major, Noah Santosusso, and its Treasurer, Beth Lepianka.
Lepianka explained what drew her to genealogy. “It was the birth of my daughter. I named her Sarah and my mom told me that a great, great grandmother’s name was Sarah. This was in 1993.” As for what she gained looking into her family history, she said, “some of it is family characteristics – physical characteristics like how everyone is short, some of it is health-related. Most of my ancestors were rather plain – not kings or queens or like that sort. They were plain but they were interesting.”
Angie Indik of the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania spoke of her own early interest in her family history. “I like the puzzle of trying to figure out who my ancestors are, what they did, and all the choices that affect my life today. My relatives were from Ireland and Hungary. I wanted to know why they came here to the U.S.”
The event had varieties of activities and exercises in Genealogical interest. The Gallagher room’s, projector was an expanding word tree of countries from where the event’s participants’ ancestors came from. Bucks County Genealogical Society provided guides to beginning the process of researching a person’s family history, and Volta, with the Tyler Literary Society, offered prompts and materials to motivate memoir writing.
The Bucks County Genealogical Society, the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania, the Bucks County Historical Society and the Bucks County Free Library directed students toward free resources and databases on the organizations’ websites that are helpful to researching one’s family history and the history of those around them.