Genealogical Resources at the Godfrey Memorial Library

Darien Library and Middlesex Genealogical Society welcome Carol Ansel to discuss the genealogical resources at Godfrey Memorial Library.

The Godfrey Memorial Library was founded in 1947 by Fremont Rider, retired Head Librarian at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut who had a keen interest in genealogy. He started out by donating his own personal collection of materials, which amounted to over 800 books. The collection today comprises over 40,000 works.

In addition to genealogies and biographies, the library offers vital records, local town and county histories, city directories, military muster rolls, family Bible records, and unique collections like the Laput Cemetery Collection, with its data and photos for gravestones in over 1,000 Connecticut cemeteries.

Carol Ansel will introduce you to “The Scholar,” the online research element of the library, and show you how to search it effectively, with an emphasis on their unique collections.

An informal social hour will begin at 1 p.m.
Carol Ansel's lecture will begin at 2 p.m.

About the Presenter

Carol Ansel, Director of the Godfrey Memorial Library, earned her MLIS degree from the Graduate School of Information Science at the University of Rhode Island. When she got bitten by the genealogical research bug she took the genealogical certificate program at Boston University and soon thereafter landed a job at the Godfrey, a genealogy and local history library in Middletown, CT. The combination of running a library, helping others with their research, and writing genealogical reports is a dream job for her.