17 March 2022

VIRTUAL MEETING
 
Speaker: John Strasburg
Topic: Stop Battling with Military Records 
Plan on staying after the meeting for the online social; it doesn’t last that long and the last few months has been quite informative!

Brief description: Military records can be a rich source of genealogical information, but many researchers steer clear because they don’t feel confident working with them. Become more comfortable around military records by joining guest presenter John Strasburg as he describes the various records available and how to obtain them. Whether experienced with military records or just getting started, everybody will come away from this program with something new.  

Speaker Bio: John Strasburg is a genealogist who specializes in military records research and enjoys helping others discover their ancestral past. A retired U.S. Coast Guard commissioned officer, John holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from SUNY Stony Brook, a master’s degree in library & information science from the University of South Florida, and a certificate in genealogical research from Boston University’s Metropolitan School, Center for Professional Education. Originally from Western New York State, John currently resides in South Carolina’s Lowcountry with his wife, Luisa.

17 February 2022

VIRTUAL MEETING

Speaker: Karen Rhodes
Topic: Interpreting Old Handwriting
Plan on staying after the meeting for the online social; it doesn’t last that long and the last few months has been quite informative!

Brief Description: This presentation covers many aspects of paleography as it applies to the early Spanish settlements of Florida as well as British and Colonial America.  First is an overview of old handwriting (letter formation, abbreviations, punctuation – or the lack thereof, etc.) followed by a discussion of specifics of early Spanish Paleography and British and American Colonial Paleography.  Karen also includes hints for reading and interpreting old documents and translating them.

Speaker Bio: Karen Packard Rhodes went back to college at 60, earning two post-baccalaureate degrees in Spanish and History at the University of North Florida.  She then earned a Master of Liberal Arts in Florida Studies at the University of South Florida, St. Petersburg.  She has been the principal investigator for “St. Augustine, 1784 – 1821,” for the website La Florida: The Interactive Digital Archive of the Americas, and is the author of Non-Federal Censuses of Florida: A Guide to Sources (McFarland, 2010).  Karen is now retired but still loves family history!

20 November 2021

VIRTUAL MEETING

Speaker: C. Ann Staley, CG, CGL
Topic: It’s Coming! Getting Ready for the 1950 Population Census.

Brief Description: When this census is released in April 2022, it will be full of possibilities for extending your family knowledge. However – it will not be indexed, at least not for a few months. The major players in indexing haven’t said how it will be accomplished, but one entity has hinted at using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for the 1st scan. So, with over 150 million people enumerated and nothing indexed, how do you find who you are looking for? What do all the codes and lines mean? What does the form look like? How did the tabulators tamper with it? And what information does it tell us about the “Silent Generation” (those born from 1928-1945)?

Speaker Bio: Ann Staley, CG®, CGLSM, is an educator, consultant, and lecturer. She is on the faculty of the National Institute for Genealogical Studies; Education Chair, Jacksonville Genealogical Society, Inc.; Vice-President, Genealogical Speakers Guild; author of several articles for the NGS Magazine; and co-author of the NGS Research in the States Series-Florida. Her specialties are Methodology, Research Sources, Computer Resources, Vital Records and their Sources, Conference Planning, and assisted genealogy research trips.

17 July 2021

VIRTUAL MEETING

Speaker: Diane L. Richard
Topic: Freedmen’s Bureau Records – Invaluable to ALL Southern Research!

Description: This is a Recorded Archived FSGS Webinar presentation.
We overlook records that we think pertain to only one group of people. The Freedmen’s Bureau records cover more than freed slaves – they include ex-soldiers, impoverished widows, small children, and destitute parents. They include ration, school, court, marriage, military, and more records, along with incredibly personal correspondence regarding loved ones.

Presenter: Diane L Richard is the Principle of Mosaic Research and Project Management (MosaicRPM), www.mosaicrpm.com. She has M.E. and M.B.A. degrees from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). She has been doing genealogy research since 1987 and since 2004 professionally focused on the records of North Carolina, other Southern States and migration paths to the Mississippi River. She has researched NC roots for the popular TV show Who Do You Think You Are? and appeared on the Bryan Cranston episode. Since 2006 she has authored almost 300 articles on genealogy topics for such publications as Internet Genealogy, Your Genealogy Today (was Family Chronicle), NCGS Journal, and local WCGS publications (newsletters and journal). Since 2010 she has been the editor of Upfront with NGS, the blog of the National Genealogical Society and published over 1900 posts. She is currently editor of the North Carolina Genealogical Society (NCGS) journal and Wake Treasures, the journal of the Wake County Genealogical Society.

21 August 2021

VIRTUAL MEETING

Speaker: Kimberly Nagy, MD, PLCGS
Topic: “Dropsy, Quinsy, or Consumption: Just Exactly What Did My Ancestor Have?”

Description: Have you ever wondered what some of the medical terms found on old documents really mean? What is the modern term for those diseases? Was it treatable? Was it contagious? Was this an epidemic? This lecture discusses several commonly used terms for medical ailments.

Presenter: Kimberly Nagy, MD PLCGS has been researching her ancestry for over forty years.  Much of her experience predates the internet and she loves the smell of old books in libraries, courthouses and archives. Now retired from her career as a Trauma Surgeon, she can devote all of her time to her passion – Genealogy! She has extensive experience with Lineage Society applications and loves to lecture – both of these are reflected in her work as a Professional Genealogist.

18 September 2021

VIRTUAL MEETING

Speaker: Lisa A. Alzo
Topic: No Easy Button: Using Immersion Genealogy to Understand Your Ancestors

Description: Family history is so much more than just names, dates, and places, or boxes, lines, and charts. For 21st century genealogists, it is easy to limit our research to the documents or other facts we find online, or to what others tell us to be true. Learn how to take your research a step further to understand your ancestors’ lives through “immersion genealogy”—the process of discovering where they lived, worked, and worshipped, and experiencing those customs and traditions they passed down through the generations. Key resources, methodology, and tips for reaching out to relatives and repositories, and how to make the most out of a trip to your ancestor’s hometown (whether in North America or across the pond) will be discussed.

Presenter: Lisa grew up in Duquesne , Pennsylvania , and currently resides in Ithaca , New York. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Nutrition from West Virginia Wesleyan College in 1987 and a Master of Fine Arts degree in Nonfiction Writing from the University of Pittsburgh in 1997. Lisa began writing creatively in the fourth grade with an assignment entitled, “All About Me,” and went on to win several English/Writing awards in high school and college. Lisa has published articles in Ancestry Magazine, Discovering Family History Magazine, Family Chronicle , Family Tree Magazine , Genealogical Computing, Reunions Magazine, NGSNews Magazine, Reunions Magazine, Western Pennsylvania History Magazine, FEEFHS Journal and Rocenka: Journal of the Czechoslovak Genealogical Society International, The Association of Professional Genealogists Quarterly. An avid genealogist for 26 years, Lisa currently teaches online genealogy courses for Family Tree University and the National Institute for Genealogical Studies. She is the recipient of the 2002 Mary Zirin Prize given by the Association for Women in Slavic Studies to recognize the achievements of independent scholars, and is a frequently invited speaker for national conferences, genealogical and historical societies. She is the author of ten books