Introduction to Heraldry for Genealogists 2021

Welcome!

Thank you for registering for the online course, Introduction to Heraldry for Genealogists!

Heraldry is an ancient and compelling visual expression of personal and family identity. Heraldry can also be a useful lens through which to view or research family history.

In this three-week course, you will gain a systematic historical, visual, and textual introduction to heraldry and a coat of arms; a familiarity with the most important types of heraldic art, artifacts, and evidence coming from different heraldic traditions; and specific research tools and methods for evaluating heraldic evidence in the context of family history.

Instructors Joseph McMillan and Nathaniel Taylor are members of the Committee on Heraldry of American Ancestors, a group of specialist staff and volunteers concerned with the study of heraldry since 1864.

This course includes three 90-minute classes; exclusive access to handouts and recordings of each presentation; and in-depth Q&A sessions with the instructors. This program will be hosted via Zoom. Access information will be sent to participants prior to the first broadcast.

 

ZOOM ACCESS INFORMATION

Join Zoom Webinar: https://zoom.us/j/91881375399

Webinar ID: 918 8137 5399

 

COURSE HANDOUTS

Class 1 Handout

Class 1 Slides Worksheet

Class 1 Slides (large)

Class 2 Handout

Class 2 Slides Worksheet

Class 2 Slides (large)

Class 3 Handout

Class 3 Slides Worksheet

Class 3 Slides (large)

 

COURSE SCHEDULE 

 

CLASS RECORDINGS

 

Class 1: What is heraldry?

Presented by: Joseph McMillan and Nathaniel Lane Taylor

Running Time: 1:57:05

Live Broadcast: November 3, 2021

 

Class 2: The Geography and Diversity of Heraldry

Presented by: Joseph McMillan and Nathaniel Lane Taylor

Running Time: 1:50:00

Live Broadcast: November 10, 2021

Class 3: Using a Coat of Arms in Genealogy

Presented by: Joseph McMillan and Nathaniel Lane Taylor

Running Time: 1:48:13

Live Broadcast: November 17, 2021

 

INSTRUCTOR BIOS

Joseph McMillan, AIH is a retired senior civil servant with the Department of Defense and past president of the American Heraldry Society. He has published extensively on subjects related to heraldry, flags, and orders and decorations with a focus on the use of coats of arms in the North American colonies and the early period following independence. He has a special interest in the linkages among political and social evolution and the use of heraldic devices. He was elected an associate member of the Académie Internationale d’Héraldique in 2016 and joined the American Ancestors Committee on Heraldry in 2017.

Nathaniel Lane Taylor, FASG is the Editor and Publisher of The American Genealogist and a specialist in Medieval Europe. He taught medieval and modern history at Harvard and elsewhere for fifteen years, including the social, political, and military origins of heraldry at the time of the Crusades. His genealogical research spans from medieval Spain, France, and Britain to colonial New England and Virginia. He has been on the American Ancestors Committee on Heraldry since 2006, and is now its Registrar. He was elected a Fellow of the American Society of Genealogists in 2011.

 

RESOURCES

Subject Guide: Heraldry in America

Archived Webinar: Introduction to Heraldry in America

Archived Webinar: The College of Arms in the 18th Century

Committee on Heraldry at American Ancestors