As the nation celebrates its 250th anniversary this year, a Lehigh Valley church is inviting people to look beyond the country’s well-known historical figures and events and instead explore the stories that began in their own families.
The Allentown FamilySearch Center, located at 1881 Van Buren Drive in Whitehall Township, is part of an effort by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to connect people with their family histories.
The church is collaborating with America250 campaign on initiatives involving service, family history and music. Through FamilySearch, people are encouraged to explore the lives of ancestors who immigrated to the United States, lived through important moments in the nation’s history and helped shape the country.
The center is open to the public, regardless of religious affiliation, and its services are free.
For Malva Snyder, the church’s communication director for nine local congregations, family history can help people better understand not only where they came from but also where they belong.
“There’s so much available here,” Snyder said. “It really helps you to feel that sense of belonging, that sense of community, and your self-worth, knowing what your ancestors did before you.”
Though it can be done from home, the FamilySearch Center offers computers with access to FamilySearch.org as well as a collection of historical books, records and other resources. Visitors also can access several subscription genealogy websites, including Ancestry, Findmypast and MyHeritage, at no cost while at the center.
The center also provides something an online search can’t always offer: people who can help researchers navigate the process and point them toward resources they might otherwise overlook.
Additionally, some historical records are available only through FamilySearch Centers because of agreements with the organizations that own them.
The Whitehall center has a collection of family history books focused on Lehigh and Berks counties, along with resources for researching German and Austro-Hungarian ancestry.
Ann Thompson, the center’s coordinator, said the resources can help people who may arrive with little more than a name or two and leave with a much deeper understanding of their family.
She recalled one visitor who came in knowing only the names of their grandparents. With the help of center resources, Thompson said, the person was able to trace their family back to the 1700s in about two hours.
“Our job is to show them how to do it,” Thompson said.
The process has changed significantly since Thompson began working with the center. When she arrived in 1989, researchers relied on microfiche and film. Today, much of that work can be done digitally, though some records still require researchers to visit a FamilySearch Center.
Thompson said the center’s resources are particularly useful for people researching ancestors from the Lehigh Valley and surrounding areas. Its collection includes local history books and older records that can be difficult to find elsewhere.
For Regina Sanders, who’s been researching her family history for more than two decades, the center became a gateway to a hobby that has taken her from researching ancestors in Poland to tracing her husband’s family back to the Mayflower.
A seminar at Bethlehem Area Public Library introduced Sanders to genealogy, she said. She was encouraged to visit the center and work with Thompson and other volunteers.
“I started my research with my family and did many years in Poland,” Sanders said. “And then I decided to jump into my husband’s family, which goes back to the Mayflower.”
Sanders said the center has helped guide her through difficult searches, including an ongoing effort to find ancestors on her Polish side who lived in an area that is now part of Ukraine.
Genealogy, she said, comes with its share of dead ends, but the process has become easier as more records have moved online.
“There are a lot of brick walls, and you just have to find ways to get around them,” Sanders said.
The center’s connection to America250 is intended to encourage more people to begin that process, particularly by recording their own stories alongside those of their ancestors.
FamilySearch’s America250 initiative encourages people to explore their family trees, preserve memories and learn how their ancestors fit into the broader story of the nation.
Snyder said that effort is especially meaningful in Pennsylvania, where she’s noticed many families have remained in the same communities for generations.
“I have found, in particular Pennsylvania, there are so many people here that have stayed here for generations and generations,” she said.
The center hopes the America250 celebration will help more people discover the resources available in their own backyard.
The Allentown FamilySearch Center is open 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesdays, 7-8:30 p.m. Wednesdays, and 9 a.m. to noon Thursdays and Saturdays. It’s closed on holidays.
The center is one of several FamilySearch locations serving the region, with additional centers in Reading and Pottstown.
A banner hanging above the center captures the spirit of the initiative in a simple message: “Celebrate your family’s place in history during America250.”