Classes will be
presented in
four concurrent sessions throughout the day and will cover a wide variety
of
research topics. Click on a topic to find out more about the
class and its presenter. For times, see the
Agenda page.
Getting Started:
Software:
Internet:
National Archives:
Locality-Based:
CLASS DESCRIPTIONS:
Getting Started in
Genealogy and Family History
[description to be filled in]
Presenter: Mindy Stillion
Mindy Stillion has been lecturing and teaching in the
genealogical community since 1998. She has taken classes at Brigham Young
University in Family History as well as classes at the Family History Library in
Salt Lake City, but considers most of her know-how has come from hands-on
research - lots of it. She is a past volunteer at a local Family History
Center, and is currently working with Special Projects in BYU's Family History
Dept. as well as consulting beginning researchers from Maryland to California on
how to do their own research. Ms. Stillion is both humorous and
knowledgeable.
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Reviewing Documents and Artifacts
This class will review the methodology for finding family
facts hidden in documents and artifacts. We'll have items to practice
will, but bring your own and will offer suggestions to you. Additionally,
we'll discuss a seminar on 25 alternate sources for genealogical information.
Two handouts will be available during class.
Presenter: Leslie Edmunds
Leslie Edmunds, born in
Milwaukee, Wisconsin has lived in Washington State for 17 years with her husband
Darryl. Ms. Edmunds received a Master’s Degree in Accounting and Financial Audit
from Brigham Young University. She currently works for Nintendo of America Inc.
as an Assistant Controller. Her hobbies include puzzles of all types, quilts of
all shapes and historical scrapbooks.
Ms. Edmunds has been researching her family history since her teenage years when
pen, paper and snail mail were the only tools at her fingertips. Plagued by
insomnia, she jumped into the technology age and turned the wee hours of the
morning into a gold mine for family history research. While she focuses on
putting the leaves on the family tree, her brother, Kevin Kelly focuses on
building trunks and branches. Together this year, they have filled in
information on more than a thousand cousins and reached back six more
generations on several family lines.
She has taught classes at various Family History Centers and Expo's around the
area. Her areas of "expertise" include US Research from 2000 to 1800, census
research, online sourcing, ancestor profiling, data compilation and next-step
evaluation. Ms. Edmunds has worked on many others' family trees and pedigree
projects. She enjoys helping others catch the family history bug.
Her can-do attitude has helped her develop several methods for break-through
research knocking down those brick-wall ancestors. Fun, exciting and easy to
follow, you won't be sleeping through her classes.
Back
to top
Writing Your Personal History
LifeStories by Design is
an interactive discussion presentation designed to assist the writer on how to
prepare creative and entertaining memoirs to be passed on to children,
grandchildren, family members or others - or a written history of your
experiences by and for yourself. The series focuses on developing an interesting
and readable document instead of limiting it to a chronological listing of
factual experiences. In this workshop, I hope to share the process and some of
the information from the class I teach on the subject:
• Writing, Why, How and
What to include in writing,
• Organizing your thoughts and the story material by the use of computer
• Enhancing the project by adding poems, pictures, recipes, etc.
• Editing, Finishing and Follow-up
 |
|
Presenter: Delores Davis
Delores Davis is a
retired Medical Social Worker from the University of Washington
hospital, where she worked for more than 20 years. Ms. Davis began
working with computers after retirement. She has been teaching computer
classes for more than ten years at SeniorNet of Puget Sound in Bellevue
and the for the past six years at Mercer Island Community Center in
Mercer. She has worked with other non-profit agencies in the community
in the past (Central Area Senior Center) as well as private
consultation.
Ms. Davis has created several family books, the primary audience being
her children and their children. These books include “The Male
Connection,” “God’s blessing to me” (1995), her personal autobiography
“Turning Stumbling Blocks into Stepping Stones” (2000), and an
inspirational book of quotes, sayings and humor “A Book of Entertaining
and Enlightening Words.” Ms. Davis, the mother of six children and
grandmother of 20, gave her autobiography to her children, which is
where she developed the idea of creating a class to work with others
wishing to do the same thing. That class is still being taught through
the organization SeniorNet of Puget Sound in Bellevue. She has also done
many presentations in the community since that time.
“My interest in writing started when my youngest child told me he didn’t
remember his father ever working. His father, my husband, had his first
heart attack when my son was 4, became disabled, and died when this son
was 6. My husband and I had worked very hard and I needed to let this
boy know this and needed to tell him before I forgot MYSELF.”
Contact Delores at Delor6@msn.com. |
|
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Enter Your Data Right the First Time
[description to be added]
Presenter: Mary Slawson
Mary Slawson is a research specialist for Ireland and the
Netherlands. She also chairs the Human Family Project, a fully referenced
compilation of family histories of Dutch and Irish immigrants to America between
1600 and 1850. She recently published the book, Getting It Right, The
Definite Guide to Recording Family History Accurately. Mary lives in
Redmond, Washington with her husband and two children.
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Tracing Elusive Female Ancestors
[description to be added]
Presenter: Sarah Thorson Little
Sarah Thorson Little is a
Professional Genealogist. She has been a lead instructor at the University of
Washington in the Certificate Program in Genealogy & Family History since 1989.
She is an instructor in family history at North & South Seattle Community
Colleges. Ms. Thorson Little has specialized research expertise in Northwest
Native Americans, Norwegian, 19th & 20th Century U.S. research and Washington
State. She is a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists.
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Molecular (DNA) Genealogy
[description to be filled in]
Presenter: Sacha Masek
Sacha Masek is the Project Administrator for the Molecular
Genealogy Research Project, Salt Lake City, UT.
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Origins of Surnames
[description to be added]
Presenter: Mary Slawson
Mary Slawson is a research specialist for Ireland and the
Netherlands. She also chairs the Human Family Project, a fully referenced
compilation of family histories of Dutch and Irish immigrants to America between
1600 and 1850. She recently published the book, Getting It Right, The
Definite Guide to Recording Family History Accurately. Mary lives in
Redmond, Washington with her husband and two children.
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Personal Ancestral File &
PAF Companion
The PAF class is for both beginning and intermediate
genealogists. We will cover downloading, input, editing, back-up, restore,
match-merge, sort, reports, import, export, customized layouts, global
changes, and more. Bring your own database (PAF, gedcom, zip, backup) and we
will enhance it.
Presenter: Denney Pugmire
Denney Pugmire has an advanced accounting degree from BYU.
He has completed some 1500 hours of research in the last two years and has a
database of 100,000, all in PAF.
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Introduction to Legacy 5.0
Software
This class will cover the basics of getting started with
Legacy Family Tree. We will discuss how to start a family file, how to
enter and edit data, sources, pictures, To-Do list and how to create basic
reports.
Presenter: Dave Berdan
[bio to be filled in]
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Advanced Features of Legacy
5.0 Software
We will cover some of the more advanced features of Legacy,
including merging, IntelliShare, searching, editing Master Lists, tagging,
deleting, focus groups and creating web pages.
Presenter: Dave Berdan
[bio to be filled in]
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Understanding TempleReady
The TempleReady class will describe the use of the Windows
TempleReady program to clear names for temple ordinances by LDS Church members.
It will also include the use of the FamilySearch Internet and the IGI to view
temple ordinances before using TempleReady.
Presenter: Bob Mullen
Bob Mullen is a past president of the Eastside Genealogical
Society, and is currently the director for the Bellevue Family History Center
for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He has been involved
with American genealogy research for 40 years. He has spoken to senior
groups, Rotary Clubs, the Eastside Genealogical Society, and the Jewish
Genealogical Society of Washington.
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Using E-Mail in Genealogy
[description to be filled in]
Presenter: John Overbaugh
John Overbaugh lives in Redmond, WA with his wife, Holly,
and their three sons. He is employed in the software industry. Mr.
Overbaugh has been researching his genealogy for more than 11 years, using the
Internet for research during much of that time. Over the past four years,
he has taught numerous workshops about using the Internet in genealogical
research.
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Using the Internet for Genealogy
[description to be filled in]
Presenter: John Overbaugh
John Overbaugh lives in Redmond, WA with his wife, Holly,
and their three sons. He is employed in the software industry. Mr.
Overbaugh has been researching his genealogy for more than 11 years, using the
Internet for research during much of that time. Over the past four years,
he has taught numerous workshops about using the Internet in genealogical
research.
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Navigating the FamilySearch
Internet Site
Virtually all genealogists make frequent use of the web
site www.FamilySearch.org to either
search the catalog or look up ancestors in the IGI. Yet, few know of the
many other features and tools contained in this rich and fascinating site.
This slide-show presentation explores some of these lesser-known features of FamilySearch.org as
well as giving a pictorial "virtual tour" of the fabulous Family History Library
in Salt Lake City.
Presenters: Godfrey and Merry Ellis
Mr. Ellis earned a BA in French and an MA in Family
Relations from BYU and a Ph.D. in Family Sociology and Social Psychology from
WSU. Currently the Director of the masters program in Counseling
Psychology at St. Martin's College in Lacey, WA, Dr. Ellis has worked as a
professor of Family Relations and/or Psychology and as a marriage and family
therapist for 25 years. He has been tracing his genealogy and English
family roots, off and on, since adolescence. He and his wife, Merry, spend
the majority of their breaks between semesters engaged in the addiction we call
family history. They visit the Family History Library in Salt Lake City at
least two times a year and pursue family history research in England every other
year. Dr. Ellis has also been lecturing on cruise ships - he and his wife
Merry have sailed in the Caribbean, up to Alaska, and to Hawaii giving family
history presentations. He currently serves as Stake Family History
Consultant in the Lacey, Washington Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints.
Merry Ellis has been fascinated with her family history for
many years. Related to the same Mayflower pilgrim fathers as Joseph Smith
and Winston Churchill, she has lines extended to England, France, Germany, and
French-Canada. She has spent many days conducting research on these lines
in the family history library in Salt Lake City and has visited England several
times for purposes of learning more about her and her husband's family
histories. Along with her husband Godfrey Ellis, she has also lectured on
genealogy on a cruise to Alaska and serves as co-Stake Family History Consultant
in the Lacey, Washington Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints.
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US Census Research Online
In "US Census Research Online", you will learn how easy it
is to access on the Internet a wealth of information, much of it for free, about
ancestors who lived in the US in the period 1790-1930. You will learn how
to use a number of online databases, and hear interesting facts that may affect
your research. Handouts will be available.
Presenter: Dave Thaler
Dave Thaler is the historian for the Thaler family
organization, and has published a book "The Thaler Family in Germany and North
America, 1655-1995", containing the ancestors and descendants of the family that
immigrated to Canada in 1830. He has traveled to Germany the visit the
areas the family came from, and has been a Family History Center librarian for
several years. He also maintains a web site publishing a number of royal
lines. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in 1998 and
is currently employed as an Architect at Microsoft.
Back
to top
USGenWeb.org and Google.com
Free gold in them 'thar websites! Strike gold
globally using these Internet tools. During class we will explore state
and county searchable indexes and databases available at your fingertips.
We'll practice using search engines to find private websites with family history
data. This research technique can be used for all periods of time and
locations. However, these techniques are particularly prosperous for U.S.
research between 1780 - 1940. Bring your names, dates, and places and we
will use your data during class. Two handouts are available during class.
Presenter: Leslie Edmunds
Leslie Edmunds, born in
Milwaukee, Wisconsin has lived in Washington State for 17 years with her husband
Darryl. Ms. Edmunds received a Master’s Degree in Accounting and Financial Audit
from Brigham Young University. She currently works for Nintendo of America Inc.
as an Assistant Controller. Her hobbies include puzzles of all types, quilts of
all shapes and historical scrapbooks.
Ms. Edmunds has been researching her family history since her teenage years when
pen, paper and snail mail were the only tools at her fingertips. Plagued by
insomnia, she jumped into the technology age and turned the wee hours of the
morning into a gold mine for family history research. While she focuses on
putting the leaves on the family tree, her brother, Kevin Kelly focuses on
building trunks and branches. Together this year, they have filled in
information on more than a thousand cousins and reached back six more
generations on several family lines.
She has taught classes at various Family History Centers and Expo's around the
area. Her areas of "expertise" include US Research from 2000 to 1800, census
research, online sourcing, ancestor profiling, data compilation and next-step
evaluation. Ms. Edmunds has worked on many others' family trees and pedigree
projects. She enjoys helping others catch the family history bug.
Her can-do attitude has helped her develop several methods for break-through
research knocking down those brick-wall ancestors. Fun, exciting and easy to
follow, you won't be sleeping through her classes.
Back
to top
Researching Military & Other Records at the National Archives
Patty McNamee will present
an overview of federal records found in the National Archives and Records
Administration’s (NARA) holdings on both the national and local level with an
emphasis on military records.
 |
Presenter:
Patty McNamee
|
Patty
McNamee started her professional career 180-degrees from where
she is today – going from a graphic artist in an advertising
agency to an Archives Specialist at the National Archives in
Seattle. When Ms. McNamee got involved in genealogy, she changed
her career very quickly. She first joined the National Archives
in Laguna Niguel, Calif., working there for eight years before
moving to Seattle. She joined the National Archives in Seattle,
where she has been for three and half years. Along with her
duties, she is also the volunteer coordinator at the National
Archives. She has been addicted to genealogy for more than 12
years. |
|
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Immigration Records at
the National Archives
[description to be filled in]
Presenter: Karen Sipe
Karen V. Sipe received her Bachelors of Education from
Western Washington University. She has been doing genealogical research
since 1972. Her genealogical knowledge comes through National Conferences,
the Genealogical Institute, and classes from BYU Research at many research sites
around the country and England. Karen is a past president of the Whatcom
Genealogical Society. During these years she has taught beginning classes
in Whatcom County, as well as for the Lake Forest Park Community School.
As a volunteer for the National Archives, she has taught classes on numerous
subjects.
Besides several articles published by Heritage Quest and
one by the National Genealogical Society in their newsletter, Karen has
published a book on beginning genealogy and compiled several other publications.
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Maritime Records at the
National Archives
[description to be filled in]
Presenter: Karen Sipe
Karen V. Sipe received her Bachelors of Education from
Western Washington University. She has been doing genealogical research
since 1972. Her genealogical knowledge comes through National Conferences,
the Genealogical Institute, and classes from BYU Research at many research sites
around the country and England. Karen is a past president of the Whatcom
Genealogical Society. During these years she has taught beginning classes
in Whatcom County, as well as for the Lake Forest Park Community School.
As a volunteer for the National Archives, she has taught classes on numerous
subjects.
Besides several articles published by Heritage Quest and
one by the National Genealogical Society in their newsletter, Karen has
published a book on beginning genealogy and compiled several other publications.
Back
to top
Introduction to Research in England
This slide-show presentation emphasizes tools available for family history
research in England using the Internet. It presents websites for modern or
period British maps; the use of English church records; FreeBMD searches of the
Civil Reg.; GENUKI & IGI batch searches; on-line access to the British census;
websites to search for wills and monumental inscriptions; help through English
email listserves; and the on-line Booth Poverty Maps of London.
Presenters: Godfrey and Merry Ellis
Mr. Ellis earned a BA in French and an MA in Family
Relations from BYU and a Ph.D. in Family Sociology and Social Psychology from
WSU. Currently the Director of the masters program in Counseling
Psychology at St. Martin's College in Lacey, WA, Dr. Ellis has worked as a
professor of Family Relations and/or Psychology and as a marriage and family
therapist for 25 years. He has been tracing his genealogy and English
family roots, off and on, since adolescence. He and his wife, Merry, spend
the majority of their breaks between semesters engaged in the addiction we call
family history. They visit the Family History Library in Salt Lake City at
least two times a year and pursue family history research in England every other
year. Dr. Ellis has also been lecturing on cruise ships - he and his wife
Merry have sailed in the Caribbean, up to Alaska, and to Hawaii giving family
history presentations. He currently serves as Stake Family History
Consultant in the Lacey, Washington Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints.
Merry Ellis has been fascinated with her family history for
many years. Related to the same Mayflower pilgrim fathers as Joseph Smith
and Winston Churchill, she has lines extended to England, France, Germany, and
French-Canada. She has spent many days conducting research on these lines
in the family history library in Salt Lake City and has visited England several
times for purposes of learning more about her and her husband's family
histories. Along with her husband Godfrey Ellis, she has also lectured on
genealogy on a cruise to Alaska and serves as co-Stake Family History Consultant
in the Lacey, Washington Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints.
Back
to top
New England Research
[description to be filled in]
Presenter: Gary Zimmerman
Gary Zimmerman is a fourth-generation resident of Seattle,
and officer in the Pioneer Association of the State of Washington and the
President of the Fiske Genealogical Foundation. He is retired from a
professional career as a university administrator, with thirty-three years of
service to Seattle University and Antioch University Seattle. He also was
involved in local politics for many years, serving as Mayor of Bellevue in the
1970's and chairman of Seattle METRO from 1980 to 1990. He currently
serves on the board of the Public Development Authority that runs PacMed Clinics
and on the board of the Chief Seattle Council, Boy Scouts.
Gary's work in genealogy began with a 5th grade assignment
and his exploration of family history has been continuous since that time.
In the early 1960's he began teaching other people how to do genealogy. In
the 1980's, he began to consult with lawyers and title companies on how to use
genealogical techniques to resolve land ownership and "living heir" problems.
Today, most of his work is through the instructional programs of the Fiske
Foundation and in supervising the responses to genealogical questions asked of
the Pioneer Hall organizations.
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Norwegian and Other
Scandinavian Research
[description to be filled in]
Presenter: Sarah Thorson Little
Sarah Thorson Little is a
Professional Genealogist. She has been a lead instructor at the University of
Washington in the Certificate Program in Genealogy & Family History since 1989.
She is an instructor in family history at North & South Seattle Community
Colleges. Ms. Thorson Little has specialized research expertise in Northwest
Native Americans, Norwegian, 19th & 20th Century U.S. research and Washington
State. She is a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists.
Back
to top
German Research
This class on German Research will begin with a brief
overview of several key resources available at the Family History Library.
We will then proceed to cover, in detail, two specific areas critical to
beginning research in Germany: reading German handwriting, and using
Family Registers. Handouts will be available.
Presenter: Dave Thaler
Dave Thaler is the historian for the Thaler family
organization, and has published a book "The Thaler Family in Germany and North
America, 1655-1995", containing the ancestors and descendants of the family that
immigrated to Canada in 1830. He has traveled to Germany the visit the
areas the family came from, and has been a Family History Center librarian for
several years. He also maintains a web site publishing a number of royal
lines. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in 1998 and
is currently employed as an Architect at Microsoft.
Back
to top
Searching
for African American Ancestors in Louisiana
This class will cover the
basic steps needed to begin researching your family roots in Louisiana. Mr.
Jacquet-Acea will provide the ins and outs of research techniques, secrets,
clues and advice for finding that difficult and lost information about both
Negro slave ancestors and Caucasian ancestors who fathered mixed race children.
 |
Presenter: Russell Jacquet-Acea
|
Russell
Jacquet-Acea was born and raised in the Harlem district of New
York City. From 1975 to 1979, he studied music and astronomy at
the State University of New York at Oswego, and California State
University at Northridge. He then went on to complete a Master’s
degree in physical education at Montana State University in
1991. Mr. Jacquet-Acea currently teaches astronomy and coaches
track and field for the Seattle School District. In the past he
has taught music and physical education, and he coached
basketball for the Seattle School District since 1992.
In 1989 he made a surprise visit to his older sister in Los
Angeles, where he un-expectedly walked into a family reunion.
When he left L.A., he was enthusiastic about the possibility of
finding out the rest of the story – the unknown names and untold
tales about the history of the Jacquet family from Louisiana.
That inquisitiveness and desire to know his history was the fuel
that led to the writing of his book, “The Sons and Daughters of
Jean Baptiste Jacquet: A History of the Black Jacquets in
Louisiana.”
With ancestral roots in Louisiana, Ecuador, the Caribbean,
France as well as Africa, Mr. Jacquet-Acea has spent time
traveling to both domestic and foreign lands in search of his
family history. Since 1989, he has made an annual trip to
Louisiana, where his paternal ancestors were both enslaved and
slave owners. He researches the parish courthouses, churches,
libraries, state archives, and he has conducted countless
interviews with family relatives to collect genealogy
information. With thousands of Jacquet relatives linked on a
family tree diagram, Mr. Jacquet-Acea has shown that all of the
black Jacquets in America are related. |
|
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Unearthing Your Quaker Roots
[description to be filled in]
Presenter: Gary Zimmerman
Gary Zimmerman is a fourth-generation resident of Seattle,
and officer in the Pioneer Association of the State of Washington and the
President of the Fiske Genealogical Foundation. He is retired from a
professional career as a university administrator, with thirty-three years of
service to Seattle University and Antioch University Seattle. He also was
involved in local politics for many years, serving as Mayor of Bellevue in the
1970's and chairman of Seattle METRO from 1980 to 1990. He currently
serves on the board of the Public Development Authority that runs PacMed Clinics
and on the board of the Chief Seattle Council, Boy Scouts.
Gary's work in genealogy began with a 5th grade assignment
and his exploration of family history has been continuous since that time.
In the early 1960's he began teaching other people how to do genealogy. In
the 1980's, he began to consult with lawyers and title companies on how to use
genealogical techniques to resolve land ownership and "living heir" problems.
Today, most of his work is through the instructional programs of the Fiske
Foundation and in supervising the responses to genealogical questions asked of
the Pioneer Hall organizations.
Back
to top
U.S. Research in the 1800's
Coordinating information from multiple sources and making
informed guesses is the key to finding your ancestors in the US from 1800 to the
present day. The class is divided into 2 sections to give you the tools
necessary to be successful: Section 1) Ancestor profiling (a method to
focus your research and cut down on time) and Section 2) Sources and Other
Sources (what sources provide what information and how to glean the extra info
from a document and sources specifically designed for US 1900's and 1800's
research. Bring names and dates and gossip and we may use your ancestor in
the class workshop.
Presenter: Leslie Edmunds
Leslie Edmunds, born in
Milwaukee, Wisconsin has lived in Washington State for 17 years with her husband
Darryl. Ms. Edmunds received a Master’s Degree in Accounting and Financial Audit
from Brigham Young University. She currently works for Nintendo of America Inc.
as an Assistant Controller. Her hobbies include puzzles of all types, quilts of
all shapes and historical scrapbooks.
Ms. Edmunds has been researching her family history since her teenage years when
pen, paper and snail mail were the only tools at her fingertips. Plagued by
insomnia, she jumped into the technology age and turned the wee hours of the
morning into a gold mine for family history research. While she focuses on
putting the leaves on the family tree, her brother, Kevin Kelly focuses on
building trunks and branches. Together this year, they have filled in
information on more than a thousand cousins and reached back six more
generations on several family lines.
She has taught classes at various Family History Centers and Expos around the
area. Her areas of "expertise" include US Research from 2000 to 1800, census
research, online sourcing, ancestor profiling, data compilation and next-step
evaluation. Ms. Edmunds has worked on many others' family trees and pedigree
projects. She enjoys helping others catch the family history bug.
Her can-do attitude has helped her develop several methods for break-through
research knocking down those brick-wall ancestors. Fun, exciting and easy to
follow, you won't be sleeping through her classes.
Back
to top