Class Descriptions Russian empire / USSR Track

Classes available online and/or pre-recorded

Estonia and Latvia Research

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Classes available only to conference attendees in Salt Lake City

What's Different? Navigating Metrical Books from a Variety of Religions

Metrical books are one of the most powerful tools in genealogical research in the former Russian Empire. These records are relatively standardized in their contents, but some variation can be found between the different religious groups of the time. Come prepared to learn about what makes the records of Orthodox, Jews, Catholics, and Lutherans unique while also coming to recognize the consistencies you can rely on across this record type.

Online Tools for Russian Empire Research

Learn about online tools to help you in research in the countries of the former Russian Empire, including handwriting helps, dictionaries, gazetteers, maps, and other resources.

Revision Lists

Revision lists are one of the most important records for Russian research. Like the U.S. Census records, revision lists will help with validating family relationships, ages, and tracking the ancestral family through time.

1897 Census

This presentation provides instruction for using the 1897 all-Russia census for genealogical purposes.  A brief background to census is followed by step-by-step instructions in how to locate census records for specific Russian communities and how to interpret census returns for families and persons. Expected learning outcomes include the ability to identify census returns for relevant individuals and discovery age, religion, native language, literacy, place of residence and status within a family unit.

Introduction to Russian Empire Records

This class will provide an overview of the records available to researchers interested in Russian empire research.

Research in Ukraine

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Research in Belarus

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