2007 is a special year for Emporia!

In 1857 the city of Emporia was founded. In 2007 we will celebrate 150 years – our sesquicentennial. Plans are underway to showcase our community heritage and pride. There will be an emphasis on our history, notable people, and achievements, along with plenty of fun and special events.

Our Local & Family History department will be especially busy as we prepare for 2007. Many families are working on their genealogy and we hope many more families will begin the search for their roots. Kelli Proehl works 20 hours per week on local history and genealogy. She can help you get started with your research. Obituary, birth, and marriage indexes are most valuable for documenting family information. We are grateful for the volunteer indexing work of Bob and Lois Hodge.

The library collection and the Internet offer many wonderful resources to document the important facets in family history research. Let us help you use these tools for your projects.

http://skyways.lib.ks.us/library/emporia/services/genealogy/genealogy.htm

Other resources to check out as you think about Emporia history and your family’s roots are:

Flint Hills Genealogical Society
http://lyoncountyks.org/

Lyon County Historical Museum & Archives
http://www.lyoncountymuseum.org/index.php?module=pagemaster&PAGE_user_op=view_page&PAGE_id=3&MMN_position=2:2

Emporia State University Library Archives
http://www.emporia.edu/libsv/archives/

We hope will consider discovering your roots and Emporia’s heritage. I assure you that you will be rewarded with fun, challenge, and satisfaction.

Sue Blechl, Library Director