Upcoming
Speaking Engagements:
Are you looking to have a LIVE VIRTUAL speaker? Please contact us to see if this option might help your society or club. Every talk comes with a handout for your membership, along with saving the costs of travel.
STAY TUNED for more events being added in 2023!
Date: 7 March 2023 (via Zoom)
Time: 7:00pm – 8:00pm ET
Description: “Genealogy: the U.S. Census.” Join Genealogist Margaret M. McMahon, Ph.D., for using U.S. Census records to learn about your ancestors’ professions, immigration, and vital details and to structure research about your ancestors’ lives. Hosted by the Odenton Library. Register to receive a link to the Zoom meeting.
Host: Anne Arundel County Public Library. Registration can be found here.
Date: Wednesday, 22 March 2023 (via Zoom)
Time: 7:30pm – 9:00pm ET
Description: “First Steps in Irish Research.” Get started on your quest for Irish ancestors. This talk covers what is important to know for researching Irish ancestors, where to look in the US for that information and what important Irish records and resources are online.
Host: Montgomery County Genealogical Society. More information can be found here.
To find recorded classes click on Dr. McMahon’s RootsTech sessions
Date: 3 – 5 February 2022 (available for 3 years)
Time: Prerecorded Class.
Description: “Researching Ancestors in the US Military: Online and in Military Archives – Part 1.”
Military service may have greatly defined or influenced an ancestor’s life, and during their service an ancestor may also have been part of shaping history. This can make researching their time in the military a potentially exciting project. This is the first part of a three-part class. It begins with an introduction to the events that occur during an ancestor’s military service to show which kinds of records would be generated. Example documents are discussed, showing what information can be found in them.
Place: RootsTech Connect 2022! Link to presentation and handout.
Date: 3 – 5 February 2022 (available for 3 years)
Time: Prerecorded Class.
Description: “Researching Ancestors in the US Military: Online and in Military Archives – Part 2.”
Military service may have greatly defined or influenced an ancestor’s life, and during their service an ancestor may also have been part of shaping history. This can make researching their time in the military a potentially exciting project. In this second part of a three-part class, we use online database services, such FamilySearch, then seek out information on national and state archives and other resources. This class contains short “Take a minute” exercises.
Place: RootsTech Connect 2022! Link to presentation and handout.
Date: 3 – 5 February 2022 (available for 3 years)
Time: Prerecorded Class.
Description: “Researching Ancestors in the US Military: Online and in Military Archives – Part 3.”
Military service may have greatly defined or influenced an ancestor’s life, and during their service an ancestor may also have been part of shaping history. This can make researching their time in the military a potentially exciting project. In this third and final part of a three-part class, the military archives available are described and discusses how to locate online materials and how to contact them.
Place: RootsTech Connect 2022! Link to presentation and handout.
Date: 25 – 27 February 2021 (available for 3 years)
Time: Prerecorded Class.
Description: “Write Their Story: From Timeline to Young Readers Book (Part 1 of 2).”
Part 1 of this 2-video series introduces what a Young Readers Book is, and the decisions to make before beginning your book. The first step is to choose the focus of the book. It can be the story of an immigrant family, one ancestor’s military service, or any other significant person or time period in your family’s history. Then, construct a timeline by collecting the events, dates and places captured from your research effort. The importance of adding depth to a story using contextual information from books, diaries and newspapers to the story is covered. Finally, get ready to write the book!
Place: RootsTech Connect 2021! Link to presentation and handout.
Date: 25 – 27 February 2021 (available for 3 years)
Time: Prerecorded Class.
Description: “Write Their Story: From Timeline to Young Readers Book (Part 1 of 2).” Be inspired by a simple process to write a Young Readers Book that shares your ancestor’s stories! Bringing research reports to family gatherings prompts yawns; writing a full-length book feels overwhelming. A Young Readers Book is in the “Goldilocks Zone” between those two extremes. This kind of book is a non-intimidating way to write and read a story.
Part 1 of this 2-video series introduces what a Young Readers Book is, and the decisions to make before beginning your book. The first step is to choose the focus of the book. It can be the story of an immigrant family, one ancestor’s military service, or any other significant person or time period in your family’s history. Then, construct a timeline by collecting the events, dates and places captured from your research effort. The importance of adding depth to a story using contextual information from books, diaries and newspapers to the story is covered. Finally, get ready to write the book!
Place: RootsTech Connect 2021! Link to presentation and handout.
Date: 25 – 27 February 2021 (available for 3 years)
Time: Prerecorded Class.
Description: “Write Their Story: From Timeline to Young Readers Book (Part 2 of 2).” In Part 2 of this 2-video series, the method to use the timeline for building pages one-by-one is demonstrated. As each page is built, the story weaves together timeline events with the context of historical events and contemporary images into the fabric of an illustrated narrative. This process can help uncover holes in your research, and can also expanded to the full-length book you have been wanting to write.
Place: RootsTech Connect 2021! Link to presentation and handout.
Date: 25 – 27 February 2021 (available for 3 years)
Time: Prerecorded Tip.
Description: “Learning from US Military Records That Did Not Burn.” Although 80% of the individual personnel files for US Army soldiers in World War I (and World War II) did burn, the original records that were used to build these personnel files still exist! Get tips about what records to use to research your ancestor’s military service. This video tip features Michael T. Mentley
Place: RootsTech Connect 2021! Link to tip.
STAY TUNED for more events in 2023!
