Class Descriptions General / Resources Track
Classes available online and/or pre-recorded (in-person classes are listed further down)
East European Sources on FamilySearch
Discover the sources listed on FamilySearch that relate to your East European ancestry. Learn the search techniques to find those sources.
East European Sources on Ancestry.com
Discover the sources listed on Ancestry.com that relate to your East European ancestry. Learn the search techniques to find those sources.
Research Like a Pro, Think as a Local or How to Research Your Ancestors Online/Onsite in Eastern Europe
[Class description was not provided]
The Early 20th Century Experience of Polish Immigrants in Schenectady, New York
What was it like for immigrants from Poland arriving in New York around the turn of the century? This talk will provide an overview of the new life that newcomers faced and in particular from the context of a specific location - Schenectady, New York.
It Takes a Village
Have you thought about what you might be missing when you make genealogy research just about YOUR relatives? Or are you bumping against brick walls for lack of information? For a long time, Edie Adam had no records for her relatives. But she found she could learn a lot about the people who lived in the same village and thereby about her family. Spoiler alert: Holy cow! the things she learned. Edie will share examples from her work to encourage you to look outside your family for potentially new details and perspectives.
Unearthing Your Ancestor’s Stories in Historical Newspapers
Finding mention of your ancestors in a historical newspaper collection is striking genealogy gold. The articles, obituaries, and advertisements in newspapers can teach you about your relatives’ professions, passions, and connections within the community — fascinating details that you won’t find anywhere else. You may even be lucky enough to find a photo! In this session, Daniel will introduce you to techniques and best practices that can help you find your ancestors’ stories in historical newspaper collections — even if previous attempts you’ve made have come up dry.
Update on Acquisitions in Ukraine
Are you interested which archive collections are presently digitized in Ukraine? Or what comes next? Sasha will provide the answer to these questions.
FamilySearch Acquisitions in Eastern Europe
Update on the latest acquisitions done by FamilySearch, except for Ukraine.
How to Work with Archives and Libraries in the Eastern Europe: overview of resources, access to data, data protection laws and other limitations
[Class description was not provided]
Research Like a Pro: Ukraine, Moldova, Romania
[Class description was not provided]
Don't Trust Everything You Find On The Internet
Ah, the Internet, the Word Wide Web, the information superhighway (made out of a series of tubes!) where genealogy is the second most popular thing to do. Sites like Ancestry and MyHeritage try to help you build your family tree by automatically matching you to records or to other people's trees. Or maybe you've found someone else's tree with your own family on it. Can you attach it all to your own tree? Should you? Banai will show you a collection of bad suggestions and mistakes she's seen over the years to teach you what to look for before copying someone else's tree into your own or attaching a record that doesn't really belong to your family.
Search as an Art
Now is a great time to be a genealogist. In the past, genealogists had to sift through microfilm or old books, mostly in local archives, or snail mail requests for records and hope for replies. But now, there are so many web sites with indexes and record images that a lot of research can be done without ever leaving your home. But even with such easy access, sometimes the records are still elusive. What happens if your ancestor's name was spelled wrong? What if the handwriting was so bad that the indexer couldn't read it? What if the indexer just got it wrong? With her experience as a professional genealogist finding elusive records, and her computer programming experience, Banai will teach you some of the techniques she uses to try to find the elusive records.
MyHeritage Photo Features: A Whole New Way to Tell Your Family's Story
MyHeritage has introduced a number of groundbreaking features that give you a whole new way to tell your family stories. In this session, Daniel will show you how to document, preserve, and share your most treasured family tales using MyHeritage technology. You’ll learn to record the stories behind your photos with Photo Storyteller™, animate photos with Deep Nostalgia™, and make the people in your photos speak and tell their own stories using DeepStory. These cutting-edge features will bring your family history to life in a way that can be enjoyed by family members of all ages.
Genealogy in Your Pocket: Using the MyHeritage Mobile App
Sometimes our best genealogy work is done out “in the field” and far away from our desks. Thanks to the MyHeritage Mobile App, you can continue documenting and researching your family history on the go. Learn to build your tree, search billions of historical records from all over the world, find new relatives, capture and share family photos, audio, and memories right from your mobile device. Discover the unique features of the app, such as the Photo Storyteller™, which allows you to record the story behind a photo, or the built-in photo and document scanner.
Classes available only to conference attendees in Salt Lake City
Researching East European Ancestors in U.S. Archives & Libraries
There are many ethnic archives as well as East European collections in mainstream archives and libraries in the United States. Find out about these repositories that may hold records pertaining to your ancestors.
East European Immigrants in the U.S. & Their Participation During World War I
Historical context and resources for finding information about the victims, survivors, displaced persons, concentration & labor camps, and those in villages who died by bullets, will be presented. These resources also include non-Jews.