Do you have boxes of family papers, photographs, and letters in your basement or attic? Learn how to organize and preserve these important family heirlooms for generations to come. In this lecture, our presenter will demonstrate how to apply techniques used by the American Ancestors archive to your own collection.
With all of the genealogical information at your fingertips today, it’s easy to become overwhelmed, go down research rabbit holes, and lose focus. In this first class, our genealogist will offer tips on how to make a research plan and stick to it! Using templates, worksheets, and other research tools available at AmericanAncestors.org, you’ll learn how to stay organized and get the most out of your research time.
Not sure what to do with that box of your great-aunt's research? Have you received binders of your parents' genealogy throughout the years? In this lecture, our genealogist will go over tips for sorting through inherited research—discussing how genealogical standards have shifted over time, assessing the credibility of the research, and organizing and preserving the materials.
While we might wish all our ancestors’ records were typed in a standard format and perfectly legible, that simply isn’t the case. Many of the records family historians turn to are handwritten and may be faded, use archaic terminology, unfamiliar abbreviations, or are just plain illegible. This lecture will provide practical strategies for approaching handwritten documents, understanding and deciphering hard-to-read handwriting from different time periods, so that you can make the most of these important resources in your family history research.
This lecture will provide tools for organizing your findings to help you interpret genealogical results, see patterns, and come to sound conclusions. In addition to tools for understanding your results, we will discuss how to compile a proof argument that organizes sometimes disparate findings into an easy-to-follow solution.
This lecture, suitable for beginners in Irish research, starts by having the Family Historian clarify what is being looked for and creating a plan for research. Next, an overview of Irish records is presented, followed by an identification of “Go-To” resources.
In researching your family history, you quickly become inundated with physical copies, email and other electronic files, handwritten notes, photographs, research logs, and more. We will discuss various systems on how to organize your files, so you can easily return to your work, find what you need on a particular person or family, and not duplicate your efforts.
Breaking through the 1870 brick wall to discover more about ancestors prior to the end of slavery can prove challenging. Changing surnames, families ripped apart, and identifying the former enslaver are just a few roadblocks when researching enslaved families. This session will dive deep into creating a research strategy and organizing the records uncovered. We will also provide tips for making sense of all the information unearthed in the search and constructing a proof argument when records are limited. Best suited for those with intermediate-advanced genealogical skills.
Whether you are just starting your research or wrapping up years of genealogical investigation, you’re probably thinking about how to share your findings with family, the greater genealogical community, and generations to come. Consider writing a book! This lecture will give a brief overview of the key steps to writing and publishing your family history.
This lecture introduces participants to the value and use of DNA in family history research. Basic DNA principles, types of tests, testing companies and key terminology will be introduced. Discussion includes interpreting your results and evaluating the matches found by the testing company. Organizing your results will also be covered.
