Our November Meeting

Sunday, November 15, 2020

Our next meeting is Sunday, November 15. Our speaker will be Jean Wilcox Hibben; her presentation is entitled Dead Language/Dead People: Translating Latin Records from the Catholic Church. The Zoom session will begin at 12:30 for social time, and Jean’s presentation will begin at 1:00.


About the Presentation

Dead Language/Dead People: Translating Latin Records from the Catholic Church

Latin has been the traditional language used for the records of the Catholic Church. Focusing on records written before the early 1900s, this lecture looks at how to decipher the basic terms and identify the types of records found. Using examples from German Catholic Churches in Germany and the United States, I will help the researcher discover how to find needed information on baptisms, marriages, and deaths. Because the examples come from German research, it is advisable to determine if the prospective audience has origins in that country. Although Latin records are also used in other locales and there is bound to be a relationship between the Latin examples given here and the records found in other areas (Italy, Mexico, etc.), the uniqueness of Gothic German handwriting makes this presentation most helpful for those who are working on records from that country.


About Jean Wilcox Hibben

Jean Wilcox Hibben; PhD, MA (DBA Circlemending), has been involved in family research for over 40 years. A former Board Certified genealogist, she is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), the National Genealogical Society (NGS), and is or has been on the following Boards: the California State Genealogical Alliance (now disbanded), the Genealogical Speakers Guild, the International Society of Family History Writers and Editors, the So. Calif. Chapter of the Assoc. of Professional Genealogists (current President and past APG board member), and the Corona Genealogical Society (former president & current 1st VP and webmaster). She writes the “Ask Aunty Jeff” column for the Jefferson County, NY, Genealogical Society Informer and maintains her own website with information about her presentations, CDs, articles, projects, etc.: www.circlemending.org.

Jean is associated with the Corona California Family History Center (former director, current staff trainer); she was the lead researcher for the 2013 Season of the PBS television program Genealogy Roadshow and did research for Follow Your Past, appearing on Travel Channel in 2016. A native of the Chicago suburbs and retired college speech professor, she holds a master’s degree in speech communication and doctorate in folklore. Jean is a national speaker known for her entertaining, as well as informative, presentations, and is a frequent writer for various genealogy publications. With Gena Philibert-Ortega and Sara Cochran, they form Genealogy Journeys®, hosting genealogy events and a series of podcasts (launched in 2016), dealing with Social History. Their blog is genaandjean.blogspot.com where information on both of these endeavors can be found. A former square dance caller, Jean has been playing guitar for about 50 years, learning a variety of other folk instruments along the way. She sees a connection between family history and music because, in learning about our forebears, we try to piece together the various elements of our ancestors’ lives in an effort to create a complete (or as complete as possible) picture of who they were in their homes, families, occupations, religions, and activities. Their musical interests/involvement should be considered part of this whole picture, or circle, of their lives and that is the primary focus of much of Jean’s writings.

Jean’s philosophy is that “who we are is a compilation of our experiences and associations as well as our biological connections. When we understand our ancestors, we can better understand ourselves. By doing this, we can complete our personal family circles.” This connects to her mission statement: “My goal is to assist others in their efforts to connect generations (past to present), completing the family circle.”