2020 was the year of the webinar. Legacy Family Tree Webinars provided a safe place for genealogists throughout the world. A place to relax. A place to take our minds off of the world. A place to connect with other genealogists and learn how to find out ancestors. Thank you for being part of our webinar family. My family. While every single webinar was fantastic, here's the list of the top most-watched webinars in 2020.

The Top 10 for 2020

1. An Introduction to DNA Painter by Jonny Perl

2. Discover the new Legacy Family Tree 9 by Geoff Rasmussen

3. Organizing Your DNA Results (updated!) by Diahan Southard

4. Using DNA to Solve Adoption and Unknown Parentage Mysteries by Michelle Leonard

5. 'What are the Odds?' An online tool that can help solve DNA puzzles by Jonny Perl

6. 50 More Websites Every Genealogist Should Know by Gena Philibert-Ortega

7. Foundations in DNA 1 of 5: Genealogy and DNA by Blaine Bettinger, Ph.D., J.D.

8. 3 Genealogy DNA Case Studies and How I Solved Them by Roberta Estes

9. Effective Use of GENUKI: England’s Largest Free Genealogy website by Paul Milner

10. Case Studies in Gray: Identifying Shared Ancestries Through DNA and Genealogy by Nicka Smith

The Runner-Ups

11. Spreadsheets 101 - Excel-lence in Genealogy (BONUS webinar for subscribers) by Mary Kircher Roddy, CG

12. Mistakes I Have Made: Confessions of a Repentant Genealogist by Cheri Hudson Passey

13. More Than Just Names: Advanced US Census Research by Judy G. Russell, JD, CG, CGL

14. Advanced DNA Techniques: Deductive Chromosome Mapping by Blaine Bettinger, Ph.D., J.D.

15. Maintaining an Organized Computer by Cyndi Ingle

16. One Step to Remove that Photograph Scratch (TechZone) by Geoff Rasmussen

17. 3 Ways to Use Gmail Smarter (TechZone) by Marian Pierre-Louis

18. Using Chromosome Browsers, Segment Data and Triangulation by Michelle Leonard

19. Reconstructing Your Genetic Family Tree by Blaine Bettinger, Ph.D., J.D.

20. Turning dry facts into exciting narrative by Carol Baxter

The 2nd Runner-Ups

21. 10 Must-Have MyHeritage Databases by Gena Philibert-Ortega

22. Advanced Googling for Your Grandma by Cyndi Ingle

23. Need a Fillable Form? Word Has Your Back! (TechZone) by Amie Bowser Tennant

24. Ten Brick Wall Tips for Beginners by Marian Pierre-Louis

25. LucidChart and Other Tools for Genetic Genealogy by Blaine Bettinger, Ph.D., J.D.

26. Emigration via Hamburg by Andrea Bentschneider

27. New Tools and Ideas in Research by D. Joshua Taylor, MA, MLS

28. The Best Built-in Windows 10 Storage Hack by Marian Pierre-Louis

29. Sources and Citations Made Simple, Standard, and Powerful by Geoff Rasmussen

30. FAN + GPS + DNA: The Problem-Solver's Great Trifecta by Elizabeth Shown Mills, CG, CGL

Geoff's Personal Favorite

Although not in the top 30, my personal favorite this year was taught by webinar newcomer, Shannon Green, CG, Separating and Merging Identities of Same-named Men as part of the Board for Certification of Genealogists webinar series.

Access to classes in the Legacy Family Tree Webinar library are available with an webinar membership. Not a member? Become one! Or watch one of our free classes here.

The recording of today's webinar by Shannon Combs-Bennett, "Ten Databases You Need to Know About" is now available to view at www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com for free for a limited time.

Webinar Description

If you could not make it to the live event or just want to watch it again, the 1 hour 17 minute recording of "Ten Databases You Need to Know About" is now available to view in our webinar library for free for a limited time. If you have a webinar membership, it is available anytime.

Webinar Memberships/Subscriptions

Webinar Members get:

• On-demand access to the entire webinar archives (now 1,417 classes of genealogy education)
• On-demand access to the instructor handouts (now 5,428 pages)
• On-demand access to the live webinars' chat logs
• 5% off all products at www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com (must be logged in at checkout)
• Access to all future recordings for the duration of their membership
• Chance for a members-only door prize during each live webinar
• Access to register for bonus members-only webinars
• Ability to view which webinars you are registered for
• Use of the playlist, resume watching, and jump-to features

Introductory pricing:

• Annual membership: $49.95/year

Register for our upcoming webinars (free)

Print the 2020 webinar brochure here.

MyHeritage and FamilyTreeWebinars.com are pleased to announce that registration is now open for its 2021 Legacy Family Tree Webinars series, now in its 12th year. Choose from 120 classes from genealogy's leading educators on topics ranging from Prussia to Ireland to Samoa, from Zotero to WordPress, from The National Road to Angel Island to the 1890 census, and from the top 10 DNA do's and don'ts to the genealogy of your house. We are also introducing the brand new "African Diaspora" and "O Canada" series, PLUS we have increased the attendance capacity of live webinars to include up to 3,000 live viewers.

Click here to register (free).

African Diaspora series and O Canada series

The year 2021 brings the addition of two new series to our live broadcast lineup.

The African Diaspora series will broadcast live the first Friday of each month and will deliver educational webinars geared toward African-ancestored people in the United States and around the world. Speakers for the 2021 series include Angela Walton-Raji, Nicka Smith, Renate Yarborough Sanders, Brian Sheffey, Janice Lovelace, Bernice Bennett, Anita Wills, David W. Jackson, and Char McCargo Bah. Click here for the entire lineup.

The O Canada series will broadcast live the third Friday of each month and will present educational classes with a focus on the broad range of ancestries found in Canada. Speakers for the series include Lianne Kruger, Janice Nickerson, Paul Milner, Mags Gaulden, Kathryn Lake Hogan, Christine Woodcock, Tammy Priolo, and Natalie Bodle. Click here for the entire lineup.

We will continue to offer other unique classes.

We are proud to once again host the monthly webinar series for the Board for Certification of Genealogists where we will learn from the likes of Tom Jones, Pam Sayre, Rick Sayre, Ruth Randall, Nancy Peters, LaBrenda Garrett-Nelson, and six other board-certified genealogists. Click here for the entire lineup.

	And for the fifth year, we will be the host of the exclusive webinar series, MyHeritage Webinars, where we will learn about the upcoming Ethnicity Estimates, photo enhancing tools, the brand new genetic groups, DNA and much more. Click here for the entire lineup.
	The Down Under series continues into its third year! This series of webinars is designed for genealogists in Australia and New Zealand - at 12pm (noon) on the first Wednesday of each month (Sydney time). They'll have their very own Webinar Wednesday with convenient timing. Click here for the entire lineup.
	The TechZone features short, 10-minute or less video series, and will continue into its second year. The TechZone is a membership benefit where webinar members have free, anytime, unlimited access. New videos are released most Fridays on all of your favorite tech topics. And new for 2021 - a full-length members-only pre-recorded webinar on requested topics will be published the last Friday of each month. Click here for the TechZone.

Closed Captioning

Every webinar recording will be captioned in English for the hearing impaired. We really are striving to serve the entire world!

How to register

Sign up (it's FREE!) for one or for all of them today and you will receive a reminder email both one day and two hours prior to the live event.

Webinar Brochure

Print the webinar brochure to share with your friends, genealogy society, or Family History Center.

FamilyTreeWebinars.com memberships

All live webinars are free and their recordings are free to watch for the first 7 days. With a webinar membership you get these additional benefits:

• Access to 1) all the existing 1,400+ classes in the library, 2) plus the 120+ webinars that will be added during the 2021 season, 3) plus any additional bonus members-only webinars (hundreds of these so far), 4) plus the TechZone–all available for the duration of your membership
• Access to all 5,400+ pages of instructors' handouts plus the new handouts of the 2021 season
• Chat logs from the live webinars
• Additional 5% off anything at FamilyTreeWebinars.com
• Chance for a bonus subscribers-only door prize during each live webinar
• Playlist, resume watching, and jump-to features

It's just $49.95/year.

Nowhere else - on land, at sea, or online - will you find genealogy courses as comprehensive, diverse, or as numerous as you will find at FamilyTreeWebinars.com.

Add it to your Google Calendar

Click here to add the Legacy Family Tree Webinar Series to your Google Calendar.

2021 Speakers

Lots of brand new speakers join many of your favorites for 2021. One of them may be the one to help you break down your genealogical brick wall. Don't miss even one week! We welcome these new speakers to our webinar series:

• Michelle Patient
• Robyn Smith
• Lianne Kruger
• B.J. Jamieson
• Grant Din
• Elizabeth M. O'Neal
• Janice Nickerson
• Kinga Urbariska
• Rick Crume
• Suzanne Russo Adams, AG
• Nancy E. Loe
• Linda Harms Okazaki
• Deborah Kroopkin
• Yetunde Moronke Abiola
• Larry W. Thomas
• Brian Sheffey
• Elena Fowler
• Christine Woodcock
• Jeanie F. Glaser
• Cathie Sherwood
• Ellen Kowitt
• Tammy Priolo
• Kimberly Nagy
• Elizabeth Williams Gomoll,CG
• Anita Wills
• Nancy Gavin Koester
• Michelle Chubenko
• David W. Jackson
• Natalie Bodle
• Char McCargo Bah
• Marc McDermott
• Dana Ann Palmer

Click here to register.

Every Friday we're pleased to offer Legacy Family Tree Webinar members a new short ten minute or less TechZone video just for them! This Friday enjoy "5 Chrome Extensions for Genealogists" by Cheri Hudson Passey.

5 Chrome Extensions for Genealogists

Learn about 5 Chrome browser extensions to make you more productive and organized with your genealogy research.

About the Presenter

What in the world of genealogy are you thankful for? Even in a pandemic year, there are things that the genealogist might be thankful for. When I think about my own list, towards the top are the volunteer efforts of those in the genealogical community and what they contribute to our collective research. Without individuals, groups, and society volunteers, researchers would not have the scope of free indexes, transcriptions, and records available to us.

You probably have some favorite volunteer projects that are your research go-to’s. Finding aids like Cyndi’s List and Linkpendium immediately come to my mind, but there are so many more resources to explore. Naming all those projects in a blog article is difficult since there are so many. The following are just a few I randomly selected that you might want to add to your resource list. 

The Ancestor Hunt is such an important resource if you are looking for United States and Canadian historical newspapers. Don’t forget to explore the links to other records such as Yearbooks and Directories or the More link at the end of the top toolbar that has a drop-down menu of all kinds of records that are easy to miss on the website.

Online Historical Directories is the work of genealogist Miriam Robbins who also hosts a sister website called Online Historical Newspapers. This work in progress provides links to directories (yes, city directories but others as well) for countries that include the US, Canada, and Ireland. Links include resources for free and fee-based websites.

Houston Suffragists Project. I’m so grateful to Nancy Loe of Sassy Jane Genealogy who posted about this project. In honor of the 19^th amendment the Houston Genealogical Forum “a small group of genealogists, to find and preserve the historical records of Houston women voting in 1920.” The suffrage centennial inspired this group to ask “Could we identify the newly enfranchised women in 1920?” From that research question, they set out to find those women in records. A fabulous project that helps tell the story of female ancestors from Houston. Peruse the List of Women to see if you recognize a name.

The Honor Roll Project is a project founded by genealogist Heather Wilkinson Rojo that encourages others to “transcribe and photograph military honor rolls. The transcribed names make the soldiers available for search engines, so that descendants, family members, and friends can find them on the internet.” If you have an honor roll plaque in your hometown (or a town you are visiting) consider adding those names to this project. The project currently encompasses the United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Germany, and the United Kingdom.

Olive Tree Genealogy. This work by Lorine McGinnis Schulze includes over 1,900 genealogy records in the categories of: “Passenger Lists, Immigration Tips, Canada, Military, Genealogy Guide, Loyalists, New Netherland, Native American, Palatine Genealogy, Photo Albums, Almshouse, Lunatic Records, Orphan Records, Huguenots, Mennonites, Quakers,” and more. In addition to transcribed records, you will find tutorials and genealogy guides. Do yourself a favor and spend some time perusing this website.

Online Searchable Death Indexes and Records. I’ve written before that I’m a big fan of Joe Beine. His websites are great finding aids for vital records and other genealogically relevant materials. His other websites can be found on his Professional Genealogy & Family History Research page . If you’re researching in the United States, do yourself a favor and check out his blog post on NARA’s Social Security Numident Files. His blog also provides updates about what links he has added to his websites.

Obviously, there are more projects than what I have listed including large collaborative projects like the USGenWeb. But my point was not to just give you some great links but to also get you thinking about the volunteer projects you use and love.

Thank you!

Thank you to all who have a project, big or small, that makes the difference to family history researchers. It’s a lot of work and dedication and although it’s not said enough, it is appreciated.

Do you volunteer on a project that provides resources and records to family historians? Do you know of a website that you rely on that is volunteer-driven? Please share it in the comments below.

Gena Philibert-Ortega is an author, instructor, and researcher. She blogs at Gena's Genealogy and Food.Family.Ephemera. You can find her presentations on the Legacy Family Tree Webinars website.

Every Friday we're pleased to offer Legacy Family Tree Webinar members a new, short ten minute or less TechZone video just for them! This Friday enjoy "Connection Requests at 23andMe" by Michelle Leonard.

Connection Requests at 23andMe

Connection requests for connecting with your DNA matches are unique to 23andMe. Learn what they are and best practices for using them.

About the Presenter

It’s that time of the year when we think about memories of family. Part of those memories revolves around food. Thanksgiving dinners, Christmas and Hannukah meals, New Years' celebrations. As we say goodbye to 2020, you may be remembering and wishing for big dinners served with family favorites.

I’ve been presenting, teaching, and posting about family food history for years. I think it’s one aspect of family history that gets overlooked even though it’s something that is meaningful to the non-genealogists in our families. Family history is so much more than just names and dates.

Are you looking to document or tell the story of your family’s food history? Not sure where to start? It’s a huge topic that would take a month-long course to unpack but in lieu of that, there are some books that can provide you with ideas and help. They are good examples of how to tell your family’s food history or how other people have done it.

1. The Lost Ravioli Recipe of Hoboken by Laura Schenone. I love this book because it’s the story of a food writer who has questions about her great-grandmother's ravioli recipe and so she researches it. It’s her quest for the history of a recipe and her family. She traces her family from New Jersey to Italy and not only learns more about her ancestry she also figures out why her ancestral ravioli recipe has a rather “unique” ingredient. It’s a great example of family food history, immigration, and understanding our ancestors in time and place.
   
   
2. Preserving Family Recipes. How to Save and Celebrate Your Food Traditions by Valerie J Frey. The publisher’s website provides the tagline, “A step-by-step guide for the family food genealogist.” This is a great book to help you as you put together your family’s food history. “This book is a guide for gathering, adjusting, supplementing, and safely preserving family recipes and for interviewing relatives, collecting oral histories, and conducting kitchen visits to document family food traditions from the everyday to special occasions. It blends commonsense tips with sound archival principles, helping you achieve effective results while avoiding unnecessary pitfalls.”
   
   
3. The Cooking Gene by Michael W Twitty. “A renowned culinary historian offers a fresh perspective on our most divisive cultural issue, race, in this illuminating memoir of Southern cuisine and food culture that traces his ancestry—both black and white—through food, from Africa to America and slavery to freedom.” Twitty combines his family history with Southern food history. His website provides additional information and I recommend his FAQs to understand his passion behind food and family history.
   
   
4. When French Women Cook. A Gastronomic Memoir by Madeleine M. Kamman. Have you ever picked up a book, read a few pages, and fell in love? That’s how I feel about this book. I had never heard of it when I picked it up at my local Friends of the Library bookstore. Published in 1976 each chapter tells the story of a woman accompanied by recipes. This is the story of the author’s life but also the amazing women she knew. One of the things Kamman was concerned with was how women get written out of food history. Their recipes are used and published by chefs but not attributed, especially when the woman is "just a housewife." This book seeks to show how women and what they offered to their family and friends could be documented. I’d love to see a genealogist do something similar with their family history. Although my copy of the book is the original, you can buy a more recent edition.
   
   
5. My last recommendation is Dianne Jacob’s Will Write for Food. The Complete Guide to Writing Cookbooks, Blogs, Memoir, Recipes and More. This book is meant for people who want to write professionally about food. However, it’s perfect for anyone interested in how to write a book (including family cookbooks), how to write recipes, write food history published on blogs, memoirs and more. Essentially it’s a great all-around book for those interested in writing. I highly recommend it and it’s written in a way that you can skip the chapters that don't relate to your project. And yes, there is a right and wrong way to write recipes and that’s essential to know as you pass along your family’s food history. I also recommend the author’s newsletter for more tips and links to what she is reading about food history. You can sign up for it on her blog.

There are so many great examples of books that combine family and food history. I have bookshelves of them but the above list is a good starting point to consider as you document your family’s food memories, recipes, and document food-related heirlooms. You could even consider my book, From the Family Kitchen.

Now’s a great time to consider documenting your family’s food history. Consider adding this history to your family history.

Gena Philibert-Ortega is an author, instructor, and researcher. She blogs at Gena's Genealogy and Food.Family.Ephemera. You can find her presentations on the Legacy Family Tree Webinars website.

The recording of today's webinar by Lisa Alzo, "Ten Best Sources for Determining Your Immigrant Ancestor's Town of Origin" is now available to view at www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com for free.

Webinar Description

If you could not make it to the live event or just want to watch it again, the 1 hour 30 minute recording of "Ten Best Sources for Determining Your Immigrant Ancestor's Town of Origin" is now available to view in our webinar library for free for a limited time. If you have a webinar membership, it is available anytime.

Webinar Memberships/Subscriptions

Webinar Members get:

• On-demand access to the entire webinar archives (now 1,411 classes of genealogy education)
• On-demand access to the instructor handouts (now 5,425 pages)
• On-demand access to the live webinars' chat logs
• 5% off all products at www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com (must be logged in at checkout)
• Access to all future recordings for the duration of their membership
• Chance for a members-only door prize during each live webinar
• Access to register for bonus members-only webinars
• Ability to view which webinars you are registered for
• Use of the playlist, resume watching, and jump-to features

Introductory pricing:

• Annual membership: $49.95/year

Register for our upcoming webinars (free)

Print the 2020 webinar brochure here.

The recording of today's webinar by Judy G. Russell, CG, "From the 18th to the 21st: The Records of Prohibition" is now available to view at www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com for free for a limited time.

Webinar Description

If you could not make it to the live event or just want to watch it again, the 1 hour 19 minute recording of "From the 18th to the 21st: The Records of Prohibition" is now available to view in our webinar library for free for a limited time. If you have a webinar membership, it is available anytime.

Webinar Memberships/Subscriptions

Webinar Members get:

• On-demand access to the entire webinar archives (now 1,410 classes of genealogy education)
• On-demand access to the instructor handouts (now 5,425 pages)
• On-demand access to the live webinars' chat logs
• 5% off all products at www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com (must be logged in at checkout)
• Access to all future recordings for the duration of their membership
• Chance for a members-only door prize during each live webinar
• Access to register for bonus members-only webinars
• Ability to view which webinars you are registered for
• Use of the playlist, resume watching, and jump-to features

Introductory pricing:

• Annual membership: $49.95/year

Register for our upcoming webinars (free)

Print the 2020 webinar brochure here.

It's almost mid-December, and I'm still staring at an unopened box of Christmas cards that I have the good intention of filling out and sending to family and friends. As the days fly by I worry that I'm never going to find the time. I love getting Christmas cards and I love everything about them from the newsy family letters to the cards that are handmade works of art. Receiving a Christmas card is special because it means someone has remembered me at a busy, hectic time of the year.

Christmas cards are used to convey all types of information aside from the standard seasonal greeting. Duncan Hines, popularly known today as a boxed cake brand, was a real person who worked as a traveling salesman. His 1935 Christmas cards included restaurant reviews based on his travel. What started as a way to share his love of good food with family and friends evolved into a booklet, Adventures in Good Eating, that eventually was published in 46 editions.[1]

The annual greeting card is more than just a sign of the holidays. The Christmas card is the perfect vehicle for passing on family history to the non-genealogists in our families. Cards can provide a taste of family history at a time of the year when people are feeling especially nostalgic. The holidays, starting with Thanksgiving, are when people harken back to their childhood, remembering those family members who are gone and their living extended family. While eyes may roll when you try to recount your genealogical adventures at family gatherings, the humble Christmas card can provide a great alternative. Cards allow you to share information in small "bite-sized" chunks during a season when family members are most receptive.

I had a cousin who was passionate about genealogy for a few decades. Her Christmas cards included an annual letter detailing her latest family history discoveries, repositories she had visited, and what she hoped to find next. As an adult, I remembered those letters and they helped me locate her and eventually inherit her research.

So how can you add family history to your holiday greetings? Here are seven ideas:

1. Write a family letter that includes information about your genealogical interest. What surnames are you researching? What do you have that you can share?
2. Share a family story that you've learned from your research or that you know and should be shared.
3. Include a vintage family photo that you want to make sure everyone has. Maybe a grandparent's wedding photo, a family reunion group shot, or mom's yearbook photo.
4. Add a newspaper article about your shared ancestor.
5. Tell the story of a family heirloom and then encourage others to document their inherited heirlooms.
6. Provide the URL of your family history website, blog, or Facebook page. Encourage everyone to check it out and share their memories and photos.
7. Include a photocopy of a family history document that provides information about an ancestor and then explain what it is.

Your enhanced family history-Christmas card doesn't need to include a lot of information. You know why some people like Twitter? It allows the writer to express succinct thoughts that take less than a minute to read. Consider that as you share family history in your cards.

I know it comes as no surprise when I explain to family history audiences that not everyone loves genealogy. But you know what? That's ok that not everyone loves genealogy. You do. And you never know when something you say or provide will influence someone in the future. Send out those holiday greeting cards but create something that is more than just a pretty card with well-wishes. Take a few minutes to provide a piece of family history that will be treasured long after the decorations are put away.

[1] Voss, Kimberly Wilmot. The Food Section. Newspaper Women and the Culinary Community. Lanham, Maryland: Rawman & Littlefield, 2014. P. 136

Gena Philibert-Ortega is an author, instructor, and researcher. She blogs at Gena's Genealogy and Food.Family.Ephemera. You can find her presentations on the Legacy Family Tree Webinars website.