Story County Genealogical Society

10/21/2026

Webster City

Journey with us at Southfield Wellness Community as we explore the Orphans of Hamilton County, IA.

10/21/2026

Thursday, October 22, 6pm Cambridge
If Barns Could Talk

If Barns Could Talk - will be the subject of a program on Oct. 22 at 6 p.m. at the Cambridge Memorial Library with Rich Tyler. He has been restoring an octagonal barn near West Branch (pictured below). His presentation focuses on how old barns were a functional piece of Iowa's farming heritage.

10/18/2026

Thursday, November 19, 7pm
Immigrants and the American Story

We invite you to join us next month for our November Learn with the League program. We will hear from Allison McCarthy on the topic "Immigrants and the American Story." The program will also be livestreamed at this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86386095005?pwd=JLbZ5xbe1CGKPx2hNkPGRZuIzLU8cg.1

10/17/2026

How the Vikings Conquered the Midwest

10/17/2026

2026 Ames: A Glimpse Inside brochure!

10/17/2026

Ames: A Glimpse Inside
Saturday, October 17, 10am-3pm

10/15/2026

10/15/2026

October 21 10am-12pm Ames Public Library
John Liepa Presents "Iowa's Ethnic Heritage"

Come to this month's Genealogy Plus: Iowa's Ethnic Heritage!

📆 Wednesday, October 21
10am-12pm, Library Auditorium

John Liepa will help us trace who we are as Iowans, beginning with the Ioway, one of 17 distinctive indigenous tribal groups.

From Spanish explorers and French trappers, traders and priests; to the dominant English, Germans and Irish; to Scandinavians, Dutch and Czechs, we’ll explore why they left their homelands and how they ended up in Iowa. African-Americans, Eastern Europeans and Hispanics have different stories to share along with other “newer” Iowans.

This talk is personal and interactive and we’ll work together to discover who we are, and who we are becoming as Iowans.

Presented in partnership with Ames Public Library and Story County Genealogical Society. Program funded by Humanities Iowa, a private, non-profit state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities and the State Historical Society of Iowa.

Story County Genealogical Society Humanities Iowa National Endowment for the Humanities State Historical Society of Iowa

10/15/2026

10/14/2026

Every record says "Germany." Not one of them names the village.

If you've got an immigrant ancestor like that, this week's episode of Ancestors and Algorithms is for you.

Friedrich "Fred" Eckhoff was a cooper in Baltimore. The 1870 census says he was born in Hanover. The 1880 census says Prussia. His death certificate and his obituary both say Germany. Seven documents, one family rumor ("somewhere near Hamburg"), and no village anywhere. Friedrich is a composite, but every record in his story is the kind you'll find for your own immigrant.

Here's what I learned working his case: the problem usually isn't the records. It's the question we keep asking them.

In Episode 59, "The Right Question: Find Your German Village," I walk you through it one click at a time with three free AI tools:

• ChatGPT interviews you and turns a vague wish into a written Question Card
• Perplexity tests every record you hold: could that form, in that place and year, even hold a town of birth?
• Gemini in Google AI Studio reads old German handwriting and flags the letters it isn't sure of

If you've never opened a chatbot before, you can follow every step. That was the whole idea.

Listen free at link in the first comment, or wherever you get your podcasts.