Skip to main content

Road Trip to Springfield, MA: My Recap of the New England Regional Genealogical Consortium

This past week I attended the New England Regional Genealogical Consortium (http://www.nergc.org/) in Springfield, MA. It was my first solo road trip to Massachusetts and was overall a great conference.

Here are some highlights from each day:

Wednesday (Pre-Conference Day)
Springfield Genealogical Bus Tour - we visited the Forbes Library to see the presidential Calvin Coolidge collection, lunch at the new Irish Cultural Center, a visit to the Springfield Armory and then a quick drive by the Springfield cemetery. Very fun tour - only wish we had more time to see more.

NextGen Meetup - we had a happy hour meet and greet with a few members and discussed genealogy.

MOSH Reception - meet and greet reception at the Lyman & Merrie Wood Museum of Springfield History and Archives. There was also a tour of the local archives and library held at the museum.

Thursday 

Opening session with Mary Tedesco. She discussed how genealogy research has evolved over time from the earliest genealogical society to the GEDCOM file development.

Luncheon with speaker Thomas MacEntee - he discussed how we have more privacy today than our ancestors, where so many details were captured in newspapers

Death Records as a Starting Point by F. Warren Bittner - open discussion on different questions to ask when reviewing a very small death notice record

Genealogy Do-Over: A Year of Learning from Past Mistakes by Thomas MacEntee - this course discusses how to conduct a genealogy do-over and do a "reset" on your research

The Cemetery: A Valuable Resource for Genealogists by Brenda Sullivan (The Gravestone Girls) - this course discussed the different symbols used on headstones that tell more about an ancestors life (occupation, social memberships, etc).

Friday

Jewish Names and Eastern European Locations: Who the Heck is Ida Gerskill by Meredith Hoffman - discussed how to search for records using different Yiddish variations and Soundex techniques

Locating Famine Immigrants in Griffith's Valuation by Donna Moughty - excellent course on how to read Griffith's Valuation records

Mapping Irish Locations Online by Pamela Guye Holland - discussed the different locations and jurisdictions of Ireland and how to review each of the maps available.

Jumping the Pond: Finding the Origins of Your Irish Ancestor by Donna Moughty - discussed how to use records in the U.S. to get back to Ireland

Ukrainian Genealogy by Michelle Chubenko - this course had a lot of great information for conducting Eastern European research

Banquet with speaker Kenyatta Berry - she discussed some favorite moments behind the scenes of Genealogy Road Show

Saturday

NYC Municipal Archives: Undiscovered Collections & Vital Records - gave an overview of the types of records available at the NYC Municipal Archives with some samples from the NYG&B book on the NYC Municipal Archives

Using Online Resources to Find and Analyze the Law - this was an interesting approach that I haven't seen in other conferences about the different legal resources available to look at cases that involve your ancestors

Luncheon with speaker Jane Wilcox - she shared stories from her female ancestors and the types of artifacts left behind that tell more of their stories

Understanding Probate and Deed Records in New England by David Allan Lambert - a great overview of the different types of probate and land records available with most collections available at the New England Historical Genealogical Society

Family Clusters and Chain Migrations: Keys to Tracing Immigrant Ancestors by Shellee A. Morehead - discussed how to trace entire clusters of families, friends, neighbors that may come from the same area of Europe

Banquet with  speaker Thomas MacEntee - he discussed some tips on how to work with other genealogists and archivists

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mrs. McComb Went to Washington

 I recently returned from a work trip to Washington, D.C., where we led 27 genealogists on a research tour, which included the National Archives (Archives I) and the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) Library. It was an amazing week! It has been almost 20 years since I visited the DC area to visit the Smithsonian museums. I pulled a few files to review at the National Archives, which I will put towards existing and new lectures. Having the experience of doing the research onsite at the National Archives and the DAR Library will help me prepare other genealogists for this onsite work. I also left with a new project which I will be working on (more details to come in the future).  I did get some tourism in and went to many different sites, including the Vietnam Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, the World War I Memorial, the World War II Memorial, the Holocaust Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, the National Museum of African American History and Culture, Air and Space ...
2 comments
Read more

Memorial Day Honor Roll

Today is Memorial Day here in the United States. It is a day to commemorate those who were killed in action and who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. Memorial Day was originally known as Decoration Day, with the first national observance on May 30, 1890, to honor the Union soldiers who died during the Civil War. Other states had observed prior to 1890, with both Union and Confederate graves decorated. In 1968 Congress standardized the day it was observed to the last Monday in May and renamed it more broadly to Memorial Day. I've wanted to put together a roll of relatives in my family tree who I honor on Memorial Day. I use the tag feature on Ancestry.com to identify "Killed in Action" or "Died in Service". I have highlighted some in individual blog posts. Horace Joseph (age 26) - 2nd cousin 1x removed - Killed in action June 6, 1944 (D-Day) during World War II. He served in the U.S. Army as a paratrooped with the 307th Airforc...
1 comment
Read more

RootsTech 2025 Survival Guide

I am bringing this blog out of the "cemetery". It's almost time for RootsTech 2025, which is held annually in Salt Lake City, Utah. This event runs from Thursday, March 6th through 8th, and includes hundreds of classes, vendors, keynote speakers, and more! It's my favorite genealogy conference and what pushed me to become a professional genealogist when I first attended in person in 2017.  Classes There are so many different types of classes that you can choose from within the same time block. It's best to review via the mobile app for any class updates (including room changes, cancellations, etc.). You can also review a list of classes via the website at  https://www.familysearch.org/en/rootstech/schedule .   Yours truly is giving two in-person classes and a broadcast webinar (details below - all times are in Mountain Time) Escaping the Famine: Exploring Irish Settlements in Canada Thursday, March 6th at 3:00 PM - online only on www.rootstech.org (it should be r...
1 comment
Read more