Kalamazoo Valley Genealogical Society
Kalamazoo Valley Genealogical Society -- Kalamazoo, MI

History of KVGS

 
Originally published in the June 2008 Kalamazoo Valley Heritage by Avis Keene and updated in 2018.
 
In the early 1950s Alexis Praus, then Museum Director, had the idea to form a group interested in genealogy, but decided the time was not right.  A few years later, Ethel Williams had the same idea. Together they talked about forming a group on genealogy and contacted Hazel Dean and Faith Jackson to plan a meeting for the public to be held in the museum in May 1958.  Seventy-two people attended. Ethel Williams gave a talk on “Introduction to Genealogy.”