Polish Genealogical Society of Minnesota

Kashubian Poles in Minnesota
2024-10-05 10:00 - 12:00 (America/Chicago)
Speaker: Dr. Joseph Hughes

The speaker will present a concise illustrated history of Kashubian Poles in Minnesota. The focus will be on the 19th century. Topics include the Kashubian migration to North America, Kashubian “colonies” throughout Minnesota, and the unfortunate, rapid demise of the Kashubian language all across Minnesota.
This program is free to PGS-MN members, and members do not need to pre-register. The program will be held by Zoom only. A zoom link will be sent to all PGS-MN members a few days before the program.

Tracing Family from the Pomerania Area
2024-11-02 10:00 - 13:00
Speakers:
Kay Freund, PGS-MN Secretary and
Chris DeWuske, Teacher, Graphic Designer and Founder of My Pomerania
This is a joint meeting between the Polish Genealogical Society of Minnesota and the Pommern Regional Group of Minnesota. It will be held in person at the Minnesota Genealogy Center, 1385 Mendota Heights Road, Mississippi Room, Mendota Heights, Minnesota 55120 as well as virtually by Zoom. A zoom link will be sent to all PGS-MN members a few days before the program. Attendees (both zoom and in-person) do not need to register in advance.
10:00 am
Kay Freund’s presentation will go through the process that she undertook to find the ancestral village of her Korcal family ancestors (Zblewo/Hochstueblau in Starogard County, Pomerania Voivodeship). It includes almost five decades of research, gaining an understanding the history of Poland, discovering hidden family gems, help received from others, and key take-aways for genealogy research.
There will be a short break between speakers.
11:30 am
Chris DeWuske found valuable resources to fill in the gaps of the origins of his unusual surname in Pomerania. He will explain documents he found that have typically been outside the purview of American audiences, but bear a tremendous significance for those who have run out of research options. His presentation will address Land Records, with an emphasis on land and mortgage registers, recess acts, and leases.
We hope you will join us!

Publishing a Family History Book: The Process and Details
2025-03-01 10:00 - 12:00
Speaker: Jay Biedny

This presentation comes in two parts:

The first will discuss the many ways you can create, publish, and distribute a family history book.
Then after a brief break, it will focus on ways to produce the text and incorporate graphics interestingly into the book.

The presentation is filled with many practical examples based on Jay’s recent publication of Only Two Places: Poland & Buffalo – A History of One New York Family. The nearly 400 page book culminates his forty years of research on his 100% Polish family roots.
This program will be held in person at the Minnesota Genealogy Center, 1385 Mendota Heights Road, Mississippi Room, Mendota Heights, Minnesota 55120 as well as virtually by Zoom. A zoom link will be sent to all PGS-MN members a few days before the program. Attendees (both zoom and in-person) do not need to register in advance.
Not able to attend this event? No worries – the program will be recorded and available on the PGS-MN website (under Program Meeting Archives) about a week after the program is held.

About the Speaker
Jay Biedny has been a decades-long member of both the Polish Genealogical Society of New York and of America. Since moving to Minnesota almost 40 years ago, he has been a member and officer of the Polish Genealogical Society of MN including its president. His roots in Poland center north of Poznan in the German Partition and east of Nowy Sacz in Austrian Galicia. He has Russian Partition relatives also who lived along the Vistula River north of Mielec. He has written columns on Polish genealogy for local publications as well as presented talks at local and regional genealogical events.

Tour of the Gale Family Library
2025-04-09 11:00 - 14:00
Our April Program Meeting will be a unique offering, held at the Gale Family Library in the Minnesota History Center, 345 W. Kellogg Blvd. in St. Paul.
The program will include a one hour orientation, and library staff will provide an overview of its collections, as well as a review of resources, equipment, and services. The presentation will focus on library use, archives catalog, online collections and other search tools for genealogical research. In addition, library staff will be available for assistance with individual requests.
Because of the location, there will be no Zoom component for this presentation. Orientation slides and links will be made available on the PGS-MN website after the visit. No registration is required – you can just show up if you are interested in attending. Note that the day (Wednesday) and time (11 AM) are different from our usual program time because PGS-MN will have sole use of the Library and its resources for the full three hours.
The Gale Library is on the second floor. We will meet in the lobby there – you should check in at the front desk when you arrive and you will be asked to present a photo ID. Food, liquids, bags and ink pens are not allowed in the library. Lockers are available for storing purses, bags, and other belongings.
For directions, parking and food service, contact the Minnesota History Center:
– Website: https://www.mnhs.org
– Phone: 651-259-3300
For questions, contact the PGS-MN Program Committee at pgsminnesota@gmail.com with title “Gale Family Library Visit.”
We hope to see you there!

Travel to Poland: Options for Every Traveler
2025-05-03 10:00
Speakers:
Laura Hunter, PGS-MN Member
Tom Losinski, PGS-MN Director at Large
Iwona Srienc, Polish Cultural Institute of MN (PACIM) Director

Have you always wanted to travel to Poland, but weren’t sure how to start planning? This program will consist of a panel of three speakers who will present their own travel experiences in Poland:

Laura participated in a 10-day organized Rick Steeves tour in May 2024
Tom traveled to Poland for two weeks in September 2024 with a neighborhood group
Iwona Srienc was born and raised in Warsaw, Poland

Both Tom and Laura visited Gdansk, Torun, Warsaw and Krakow. They will compare and contrast their types of travel, offer pros and cons of each, as well as share mementos and pictures from their travels. All three panel members look forward to an open exchange with the audience.
This program will be held in person at the Minnesota Genealogy Center, 1385 Mendota Heights Road, Mississippi Room, Mendota Heights, Minnesota 55120 as well as virtually by Zoom. A Zoom link will be sent to all PGS-MN members a few days before the program. Attendees (both Zoom and in-person) do not need to register in advance.
Not able to attend this event? No worries – the program will be recorded and available on the PGS-MN website (under Program Meeting Archives) about a week after the program is held.

About the Speakers:

Each of the panel member’s ancestors came from different areas of Poland.
Laura Hunter is a PGS-MN member and a casual genealogy researcher with Polish roots in Michigan and Milwaukee, WI. Her ancestors came from the Poznan and Gdansk areas of Poland.
Iwona Srienc is a Director on the PACIM Board. She was born and raised in Warsaw, Poland, which gives her a unique personal perspective on travel in Poland.
Tom Losinski has been a PGS-MN member since the 1990’s and is currently a PGS-MN Director at Large. He is a casual genealogy researcher, and has Polish roots in Pine Creek, WI and Winona, MN. Tom’s ancestors immigrated from the Kashubia area of Poland.

Uncovering Roots: A Journey into My Polish Heritage
2025-09-06 10:00 - 12:00
Speaker: Colleen Zenk, PGS-MN Member
Colleen Zenk began her search for her Polish ancestry with only fragments of family knowledge and a surname—Fiyol—that had long obscured her path. With encouragement and guidance from our community, she connected with a Polish genealogist and embarked on a remarkable journey of discovery. From the small town of Minnesota Lake, where her great-grandparents settled, she traced her lineage back to a village east of Kraków, Poland.
In this presentation, Colleen will share the story of uncovering her family’s past, the enduring legacy of resilient Polish women, and how their strength carried generations through times of hardship and change.
This program will be held in person at the Minnesota Genealogy Center, 1385 Mendota Heights Road, Mississippi Room, Mendota Heights, Minnesota 55120 as well as virtually by Zoom. A zoom link will be sent to all PGS-MN members a few days before the program. Attendees (both zoom and in-person) do not need to register in advance.
Not able to attend this event? The program will be recorded and available on the PGS-MN website (under Program Meeting Archives) about a week after the program is held.

From Treaty to Trenches: Poland’s Path to Sovereignty (1918–1921)
2025-10-04 10:00 - 12:00
Photo Courtesy of Wikipedia.

Speaker: Professor Gordon Pueschner – MFA
Century College, White Bear Lake, MN
This presentation will cover what happened after the 1919 Paris Peace Accords, focusing on the rebirth of Poland and the challenges it faced in the years that followed. We’ll look at how the Treaty of Versailles helped restore Polish independence after more than a century of partition but left many questions—especially about Poland’s eastern borders—unresolved. Along the way, we’ll look at the often-overlooked Polish-Ukrainian War of 1918–1919 and how it set the stage for Poland’s bigger showdown with Soviet Russia in 1920. From diplomatic efforts to military conflicts like the Battle of Warsaw, this presentation will show how Poland fought to secure its place in a changing Europe—and how those early struggles shaped the region and laid the groundwork for future instability.”
This program will be held in person at the Minnesota Genealogy Center, 1385 Mendota Heights Road, Mississippi Room, Mendota Heights, Minnesota 55120 as well as virtually by Zoom. A Zoom link will be sent to all PGS-MN members a few days before the program. Attendees (both Zoom and in-person) do not need to register in advance.
Not able to attend this event? The program will be recorded and available on the PGS-MN website (under Program Meeting Archives) about a week after the program is held.

Emigration between Countries and Pommern Ship History
2025-11-01 10:00 - 14:00
This is a joint program between the Polish Genealogical Society of MN and the Pommern Regional Group of MN.

Morning Program (10 AM – 12 PM)
Imigracja między krajami (Immigration Between Countries)
Speakers:
Alicia Byzewski, Member, PGS-MN
Jim Warzonek, President, PGS-MN
10 AM – 12 PM
The speakers will provide an overview of the experience of Polish immigration to America in the late 1800s and early 1900s. There will be examples of advertisements that promoted the journey by ship, as well as questionnaires and forms that Polish emigrants were required to complete before starting their journey. It will include the cost and course of travel by ship, as well as the routes taken once they arrived in the United States.
In addition, the speakers will address what is involved for a United States citizen to become a Polish citizen. They will cover the required forms, cost, and language needs to obtain Polish dual citizenship for individuals with Polish ancestry.

There will be a lunch break from 12 PM – 12:45 PM
For those attending in person, a light lunch will be provided.

Afternoon Program (12:45 PM – 1:45 PM)
Dar Pomorza (Gift of Pommern)
Speaker:
Jim Neuenfeldt, President, Pommern Regional Group of MN (PRG)
Pommern – The translations refer to “The People by the Sea” to “Land South of the Baltic.” No matter which interpretation is used, Pommern’s relationship to the sea makes it appropriate to name ships related to Pommern-Pomerania.
One of the legendary ships is the Dar Pomorza – “Gift of Pommern,” Poland’s greatest sailing ship. The speaker will cover the different ships named after Pommern, with focus on the Dar Pomorza, its historic stories, and how it is still used today.

This program will be held in person at the Minnesota Genealogy Center, 1385 Mendota Heights Road, Mississippi Room, Mendota Heights, Minnesota 55120 as well as virtually by Zoom. A Zoom link will be sent to all PGS-MN members a few days before the program.This program is free – attendees (both by Zoom and in-person) do not need to register in advance.
Not able to attend this event? The program will be recorded and available on the PGS-MN website (under Program Meeting Archives) about a week after the program is held.
We hope you will join us!

2026 Program Meetings
2025-12-01 - 2026-12-31
Below are the titles for the 2026 Program Meetings. Keep checking back for more details.

March 7, 2026 – The Poznan Project and FamilySearch Marriage Records (Speaker: Terry Kita) – Now Available in the Program Meeting Archives
April 11, 2026 – Polish American Cultural Institute (PACIM) and Columbia Heights Sister City Program
May 2, 2026 – Forged in Iron – A Minnesota Rusyn Immigrants Tale (Speaker: Mary Soroko)
September 12, 2026 – Operation Vistula (Speaker: Marge Runnako)
October 3, 2026 – Polish Food
November 7, 2026 – Kowalski Family (Speaker: Janet Mitchell)

Previous programs can be found in the Program Meeting Archives in the Members Only section of our website. We encourage you to watch the ones that interest you at your convenience.

The Poznan Project and FamilySearch Marriage Records
2026-03-07 10:00 - 11:30
Speaker: Terry Kita, PGS-MN Past President
This program will combine information from two free online marriage record resources: The Poznan Project, and FamilySearch.
The Poznan Project originated in 2015, and is a compilation of all marriages between 1800-1899 in the Prussian Province of Poznan. Data includes parish name, date, names of groom and bride, and occasionally names of parents. Data was obtained from church books, and from civil records after a certain date.
FamilySearch records to be discussed are also digitized marriage records from Poznan. The records were written by the presiding priests, usually in Latin. The format of the records can vary from paragraph to tabular form. The speaker will also address ways to reveal additional family members through the FamilySearch site.
This program will be held in person at the Minnesota Genealogy Center, 1385 Mendota Heights Road, Mississippi Room, Mendota Heights, Minnesota 55120 as well as virtually by Zoom. A Zoom link will be sent to all PGS-MN members a few days before the program. Attendees (both Zoom and in-person) do not need to register in advance.
Not able to attend this event? The program will be recorded and available on the PGS-MN website (under Program Meeting Archives) about a week after the program is held.

Introduction to PACIM and Columbia Heights Sister City Organizations
2026-04-11 10:00 - 12:00
PACIM (Polish American Cultural Institute of Minnesota) is a Polish-American cultural and language organization that has served Minnesota for over 40 years and is currently based at Landmark Center in St. Paul. It provides meaningful programming that promotes Polish culture, language, and history, and builds connections across the Polish-American community through membership and partnerships with other cultural organizations, schools, churches, and individuals.
Columbia Heights Sister City organization is based in Columbia Heights, MN. Its origin can be traced to the story of a Polish-American air force pilot who lost his life in WWII near the Polish city of Lomianki. The connection between the two cities has existed since 1991, and involves cultural, historical, as well as civic ties and exchanges.
This program will be held in person at the Minnesota Genealogy Center, 1385 Mendota Heights Road, Mississippi Room, Mendota Heights, Minnesota 55120 as well as virtually by Zoom. A Zoom link will be sent to all PGS-MN members a few days before the program. Attendees (both Zoom and in-person) do not need to register in advance.
Not able to attend this event? The program will be recorded and available on the PGS-MN website (under Program Meeting Archives) about a week after the program is held.

Forged in Iron - A Minnesota Rusyn Immigrant’s Tale
2026-05-02 10:00 - 12:00
Speaker: Dr. Mary Soroko,
Retired College Educator and Consultant –
In 2015, the research staff of the MN Discovery Center in Chisholm, MN, asked the speaker for information on the Soroko family. The Center had just received the Soroko “location” home as a donation for their Glenn Location exhibit. Unlike the majority of these properties, the Soroko home survived because it was used as a hunting shack. The speaker knew very little about the family history and what began as an inquiry became a full-fledged research project, and eventually a book.
This program will be held in person at the Minnesota Genealogy Center, 1385 Mendota Heights Road, Mississippi Room, Mendota Heights, Minnesota 55120 as well as virtually by Zoom. A Zoom link will be sent to all PGS-MN members a few days before the program. Attendees (both Zoom and in-person) do not need to register in advance.
Not able to attend this event? The program will be recorded and available on the PGS-MN website (under Program Meeting Archives) about a week after the program is held.
