My oldest son and I have been watching a popular TV show set in the 1980s. The show focuses on teenagers during an era when I, too, was a teenager. I've become the resident expert on all things 1980s, including the show's depiction of fashion, music, stores, cars, and just about everything.

Of course, my experience as a teenager in the 1980s will be specific to me, my family, and where I grew up. It will differ in some ways from a re-creation of that time period. But this show has allowed my sons to ask family history-related questions and get something more from the experience than just the entertainment value.

So many TV shows depict a specific time and place. Even watching older television shows (I'm binge-watching The Rockford Files right now) can be a catalyst for discussions of a particular time and place that you remember. (The Rockford Files has led to conversations about clothing, cars, food, and locations in Southern California in the 1970s and 1980s).

How can you use popular culture to interest your family in family history? Consider taking clues from that show to discuss:

• What you wore
• Your hairstyle
• What car/s you or your family drove
• Food that was popular
• Stores you shopped in
• What high school was like
• Popular slang for that time period
• Technology for that time period
• What songs you listened to
• What activities you took part in
• Did your work during high school? If so, what did you do?

So many times we think of family history as a pursuit back to much earlier times, but our story is also important. It can be difficult to start a conversation about your experiences, but commenting on the popular culture (television shows, movies, songs) can help start a story that will be remembered even after interest in the show goes away.

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.

 

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About the presenter

Janice Nickerson is a professional genealogist with over 35 years of genealogical research experience. She got an early start in the field when she became an avid family historian as a teenager. Her ancestral connections to Prince Edward County and the Hudson’s Bay fur trade inspired the topics of her academic theses, Women and Property in a Nineteenth Century Ontario County and Ethnic Identity among the Nineteenth Century Descendants of Hudson’s Bay Company Fur Traders. Her expertise includes Upper Canadian history, criminal justice records, turning bare bones genealogies into full-fledged family histories, and finding fun ways to share family history finds. In addition to helping her private clients discover the richness of their ancestral heritage, Janice does heir searching for provincial Public Trustees, writes and lectures on a variety of genealogical topics. Janice also did much of the genealogical research “behind the scenes” for the CBC’s television series, Who Do You Think You Are?, which aired from October 2007 to February 2008 and APTN’s television series, All Our Relations, airing Fall 2013. Another notable research project involved working with the City of Toronto Museum Services to create a Book of Remembrance to commemorate the York militia men (and their families) who died in the War of 1812. Her books, Crime and Punishment in Upper Canada: A Researcher’s Guide (2010), and York’s Sacrifice: Militia Casualties of the War of 1812 (2012) were published by the joint imprint of the Ontario Genealogical Society and Dundurn Press. Janice is a proud 8th-generation Canadian, with English, German, Irish, Welsh and First Nations ancestry.

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The webinar will be live on Friday, June 17, 2022 at:

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The recording of today's webinar, "Advanced Lightroom Techniques for Photo Editing" by Jared Hodges is now available to view at www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com for free for a limited time.

 

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About the presenter

Jared Hodges’ love for photography began in 1984 when his parents purchased his first camera out of a JC Penny’s catalog. During the last 30 years, capturing the important and beautiful things in life has been his passion. Jared has been published in many newspapers, magazines (including Sports Illustrated), and websites and knows what makes a great photograph. He has taught photography, graphic design, and publishing to high school students for the past fifteen years and has published five yearbooks as an adviser to the school’s yearbook program. He views every shoot as an opportunity to showcase the inherent light, beauty, and subtle humor in the world around us.

With our Google Calendar button, you will never forget our upcoming webinars. Simply click the button to add it to your calendar. You can then optionally embed the webinar events (and even turn them on and off) into your own personal calendar. If you have already added the calendar, you do not have to do it again - the new webinar events will automatically appear.

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The webinar will be live on Wednesday, June 15, 2022 at:

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Or use this Time Zone Converter.

Here's how to attend:

1. Register at www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com today. It's free!
2. You will receive a confirmation email containing a link to the webinar.
3. You will receive a reminder email both 1 day and 1 hour prior to the live webinar.
4. Calculate your time zone by clicking here.
5. Check your GoToWebinar connection here.
6. Click on the webinar link (found in confirmation and reminder emails) prior to the start of the webinar. Arrive early as the room size is limited to the first 1,000 arrivals that day.
7. Listen via headset (USB headsets work best), your computer speakers, or by phone. 

We look forward to seeing you all there!

The recording of today's webinar, "Identifying Common Ancestors with DNA" by MyHeritage's Shahar Tenenbaum is now available to view at www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com for free.

 

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Shahar Tenenbaum is a Quality Assurance Automation Engineer in the DNA team at MyHeritage. As part of the DNA team, his job entails working on the visual aspects of the DNA pages, where he took part in the very successful Genetic Groups and DNA Labels, along with working on DNA analysis and algorithms, which break down the raw results from the DNA lab, and turn them into the Ethnicity Estimate, DNA Matches and other features that are available on MyHeritage. Shahar has a B.A in Cognitive Science and Psychology from the Ben Gurion University, and is a loving husband and a besotted father.

With our Google Calendar button, you will never forget our upcoming webinars. Simply click the button to add it to your calendar. You can then optionally embed the webinar events (and even turn them on and off) into your own personal calendar. If you have already added the calendar, you do not have to do it again - the new webinar events will automatically appear.

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The webinar will be live on Tuesday, June 14, 2022 at:

• 2pm Eastern (U.S.)
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Or use this Time Zone Converter.

Here's how to attend:

1. Register at www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com today. It's free!
2. You will receive a confirmation email containing a link to the webinar.
3. You will receive a reminder email both 1 day and 1 hour prior to the live webinar.
4. Calculate your time zone by clicking here.
5. Check your GoToWebinar connection here.
6. Click on the webinar link (found in confirmation and reminder emails) prior to the start of the webinar. Arrive early as the room size is limited to the first 1,000 arrivals that day.
7. Listen via headset (USB headsets work best), your computer speakers, or by phone. 

We look forward to seeing you all there!

The recording of Wednesday's webinar, "Documents + DNA + Method + a little bit of Luck: Combining Tools to Find Biological Family" by Elizabeth Williams Gomoll, CG is now available to view at www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com for free for a limited time.

 

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About the presenter

Elizabeth Williams Gomoll, CG, is co-editor of the Minnesota Genealogist quarterly journal. She is immediate past president of the Association for Professional Genealogists Northland Chapter and has served three terms on the Minnesota Genealogical Society Board of Directors. She currently chairs two MGS committees and is a member of several national and ethnic genealogy societies. Liz has published two books: a collection of WWI letters and photographs titled With Love to All, and co-authored a guide called Husförhörslängder, Swedish Household Examination Records. She researches and lectures professionally as Red Bird Genealogy Services (www.RedBirdGen.com). In addition, Liz plays flute and piccolo professionally, holds a private pilot’s license, and is “Nana” to eleven grandchildren.

With our Google Calendar button, you will never forget our upcoming webinars. Simply click the button to add it to your calendar. You can then optionally embed the webinar events (and even turn them on and off) into your own personal calendar. If you have already added the calendar, you do not have to do it again - the new webinar events will automatically appear.

Webinar time

The webinar will be live on Wednesday, June 8, 2022 at:

• 8pm Eastern (U.S.)
• 7pm Central
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Or use this Time Zone Converter.

Here's how to attend:

1. Register at www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com today. It's free!
2. You will receive a confirmation email containing a link to the webinar.
3. You will receive a reminder email both 1 day and 1 hour prior to the live webinar.
4. Calculate your time zone by clicking here.
5. Check your GoToWebinar connection here.
6. Click on the webinar link (found in confirmation and reminder emails) prior to the start of the webinar. Arrive early as the room size is limited to the first 1,000 arrivals that day.
7. Listen via headset (USB headsets work best), your computer speakers, or by phone. 

We look forward to seeing you all there!

The recording of today's webinar, "Government Gazettes as a Genealogical Resource" by Helen V. Smith is now available to view at www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com for free for a limited time.

Joy D. Reisinger (1934-2013)

We are pleased to once again host the Joy Reisinger Lecture Series for the Board for Certification of Genealogists (BCG) on Friday, October 7, 2022. The six classes will be taught live at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City and will be simultaneously broadcast via our webinar platform. See the full announcement and registration link below.

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The Board for Certification of Genealogists (BCG) will host six live webinars, free and available to the public, as this year’s Reisinger Memorial Lecture Series on 7 October 2022. The hour-long webinars begin at 9:00 a.m. MDT (11:00 a.m. EDT and 4:00 p.m. GMT) and continue throughout the day. Six leading genealogists will speak on topics related to the Genealogical Proof Standard, solving genealogical problems by discovering and using a wide variety of appropriate sources, and immigration. The webinars are part of the Joy Reisinger Memorial Lecture Series and are presented in conjunction with Legacy Family Tree Webinars. To register for the Reisinger Memorial Lecture series, use this link: https://familytreewebinars.com/reisinger/.
 
The lecture series is presented annually in memory of BCG’s former trustee and vice president, Joy Reisinger, who began this lecture series for Family History Library staff during BCG’s fall board meetings. Joy was an advocate for open records access, a lecturer on research methods, and an expert on Canadian resources, especially those of Quebec.
 
The schedule for the lectures is:
 

• 9 a.m. MDT. "When Wrong is Actually Right: Constructing Proof Arguments for Counterintuitive Conflicts," Meryl Schumacker, CG
  Name changes, enumerator errors, and terrible informants can combine to create major inconsistencies in documentation. Records that, at first glance, appear to be major mismatches can later turn out to be correct. Researching non-English-speaking immigrant families requires a comfort level with these layered conflicts-upon-conflicts. This session demonstrates how to use logic to confirm that a wrong-name, wrong-age, wrong-everything record can actually be right, with an emphasis on immigrant families. Participants will learn how to transfer that logic to a written proof argument.

• 10:15 a.m. MDT. "Peeling the Onion: Getting to the Original Sources," Gary Ball-Kilbourne, PhD, CG
  Genealogy Standards 38 and 58 strongly express a preference for using original sources. Diligent researching and a few tricks of the trade enable genealogists to find original sources that underlie authored narratives and derivative sources.

• 11:30 a.m. MDT. "The Hub of the Wheel: How Tracing a Brother with no Children Connected Ten Siblings," Mary Kircher Roddy, CG
  A family from Ireland emigrated in a chain migration scheme to western Pennsylvania between 1825 and 1845.  See how using the standards for researching connected the siblings and their descendants and led to their origins in County Tyrone. 

• 1:30 p.m. MDT. "Consult via…Explore with…Discover through…Literature Reviews," Jan Joyce, CG, CGL
  What if you could consult with genealogical experts each time your work slows? Together you could explore options for new paths of discovery. The right approach to a literature review allows you to do that. Other experts have encountered the same challenges that you do, and they have written about them even if not overtly. These challenges could range from beginning work in a new geography to parrying with a difficult brick wall. Learn how to conduct a targeted literature review, cull the information you need, and advance your research. A case study on use of negative evidence will highlight the methodology.

• 2:45 p.m. MDT. "Finding Henrietta: Reconciling Conflicting Evidence to Reveal a Woman’s Identity," Nicole Gilkison LaRue, CG
  Henrietta Dixon was never enumerated with individuals identified as her parents in a federal census. Records revealing her family members, including her father, are often conflicting and open up new questions. Additionally, multiple marriages further obscure her identity. This case study uncovers Henrietta's maiden name and emphasizes the importance of a focused research question when attempting to meet the Genealogical Proof Standard.

• 4:00 p.m. MDT. "Hidden Stories: Using Analysis to Explore the Unexpected in Family History Research" Jennifer Zinck, CG                Tales of illegitimacy, divorce, and desertion aren't limited to soap operas and modern reality television. Discovering trails that lead to unanticipated events can be shocking, confusing, and exciting all at the same time. This session will explore how genealogists can utilize the law, conflict resolution, and tools like date calculators and timelines to help build a clearer understanding of some potentially challenging historical situations.