Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society 37th Conference



afro-american-historical-and-genealogical-society-37th-conference-find-more-genealogy-blogs-at-familytree-comThe Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society (AAHGS) has announced that their 37th National Conference will be held in October of 2016. It is geared for beginning to advanced family researchers.

The AAHGS 37th National Conference will be held in the Westin Atlanta Airport in Atlanta, Georgia, on October 13-16, 2016. Registration is required. The theme of the conference is “Ancestors On My Mind: Discovering Our Ancestors, Our History, Ourselves – Together”.

The conference will have more than 30 sessions focused on resources, research methods, and historical events that will help build your family’s history. Sessions are for beginning, intermediate and advanced genealogists.

There will be networking opportunities at the conference. Venders will be selling genealogy software, selecting resource books, ethnic and cultural clothes and collectables.

Topics include:

Using the Virginia Slave Births Index – 1853-1865 Effectively – In 1853, the Commonwealth of Virginia began an annual registration of births and deaths, which was later transcribed by the Works Project Administration and recorded on microfilm. In 2003, staff and trained volunteers in Alexandria Library’s Special Collections branch began to transcribe the WPA microfilm. This created the Virginia Slave Birth Index, 1853 – 1865

Get Something in your Head, Child! The Education of African Americans in the Post-Civil War Mississippi – This presentation hopes to answer questions about what educational opportunities were available to your ancestors. What options were available to parents who wanted their children to have lives beyond the manual labor that previous generations had been relegated to?

Searching for the Living and Connecting with Slave Owner’s Descendant – This session will describe and discuss research strategies to connect with our living descentants and the possible slave owner’s descendant.

Helpful Tips and Tricks to use FamilySearch.org – This session will teach you helpful tricks and tips for using FamilySearch.

The Ancestors Await: Finding Your Ancestors through Archival Research – This session points out resources that might have information about your ancestors: libraries, plantation journals, wills, estate inventories, historical societies, and more.

Mapping the Freedmen’s Bureau: An Interactive Research Guide – A new free website, “Mapping the Freedmen’s Bureau” from Angela Walton-Raji and Toni Carrier makes identifying and accessing records of the Freedmen’s Bureau much easier for individual researchers.

The ABC’s of DNA: Getting Started with Genetic Genealogy – Participants will learn about the four types of DNA (Y-DNA, mitochondrial DNA, autosomal DNA, and X-DNA) used for genealogical purposes and the DNA tests currently on the market.

Related Articles at FamilyTree.com:

* Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture

* African-American Genealogy

* Four Million Freedman’s Bureau Records Released

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