Following is the selection of Topics and Speakers available through the Partner Society Webinar Series for 2021. Speakers and topics were selected to provide a wide variety of subjects from well-known speakers. For more information on scheduling and purchasing a topic for your society, please see https://www.txsgs.org/programs/webinar-series-partner-society/. These presentations will be available until December 31, 2021. TxSGS recommends that partner societies submit webinar requests at least two weeks in advance to allow sufficient processing time.
Information on this page can be copied for purposes of promoting a webinar as a society program.
“Creating a One Name Family Project,” by Henrietta Christmas
Topic Description: Have you ever considered starting your own Surname project? You’ll learn tips on working with records, preserving the research, analysis, publishing and preserving your work. The focus will be on tips, pitfalls and ways to publish.
About the Speaker: Henrietta Martinez Christmas, a native New Mexican, is a well-known genealogical and historical researcher; she descends from eleven of the soldiers that came with Oñate in 1598 to New Mexico, the earliest known European settlement in the US. Henrietta has written several books which relate to New Mexico’s small towns and history and over 180 articles about New Mexico’s Colonial Families. Her latest award-winning book The Genealogy Checklist won two awards in 2017. A past participant at the Texas Society Conference, she enjoys the Colonial families and all information pertaining to them.
“Restoring and Editing Family Photos,” by Sandra Crowley
Topic Description: Finding old family photos is like opening a treasure chest of the past. Often, however, they need a little TLC (tender loving care) before they can be used on your website, in your tree, or in a story. Learn now to bring those images to life while retaining the charm and vintage appeal of your family history.
About the Speaker: Sandra Crowley is an award-winning genealogist, author, and lecturer who has spoken at local, regional, and national events, including RootsTech and the Federation of Genealogical Societies. She currently serves as Director of Development for the Texas State Genealogical Society and co-editor of Stirpes, the Journal of the Texas State Genealogical Society. Sandra is the producer and editor for the North Carolina Genealogical Society’s Webinar Series and writes a blog as Genealogy Channel Editor for GroupWorks, Inc. She has served in leadership roles in several genealogical societies and is past president of the Dallas Genealogical Society and the Mid-Cities Genealogical Society. In 2020, she was recognized for her outstanding contribution to NCGS by a member and was awarded the honor of TxSGS Fellow.
“Underutilized Resources,” by Pat Gordon
Topic Description: Genealogists are taught to search for records where their ancestors lived. However, repositories around the country may have been recipients of special collection containing information about your ancestors as they migrated and settled in other areas. By broadening your search you may uncover a wealth of information in unexpected places. In this presentation, Pat discusses often overlooked and underutilized resources such as university archives and repositories, which may house records from areas far beyond their influence. She discusses Texas Tech, University of Texas Arlington, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, University of Texas at Commerce, and many others and shows how to research at those sites.
About the Speaker: Pat Gordon served two terms as president and one as vice president of the Fort Worth Genealogical Society. She was an original faculty member at Angelina College Genealogy Conference, where she frequently presented all-day lectures on Thursday and hour-long lectures on Friday and Saturday. She has also presented all day seminars at Odessa, Texas, and Norman, Oklahoma, as well as society lectures at Fort Worth, Mid-Cities, Grand Prairie, Plano, and Tyler, to name a few.
She is a retired journalism lecturer at the University of Texas at Arlington, where she still teaches an online writing class. She is also a former newspaper reporter with The Dallas Morning News. She holds a B.A. in Journalism from University of Texas at Arlington and a M.S. in Media Studies from Texas Christian University.
Pat recently published a laminated quick tip sheet on Masonic Research and is working on other topics. She can be reached at patg1@att.net or 817-293-3398.
Pat likes going beyond the names of ancestors to discover what their lives were like during the time period they lived in. Vacations are often spent in university and public libraries, cemeteries, and courthouses where she searches for glimpses into their personal lives.
“Using Social History to Enhance Family Stories,” by Susan Kaufman
Topic Description: This presentation will help you to find sources to help you understand the context in which your family lived, celebrated, cooked, listened to music, and other daily activities that help provide the stories that make our families come alive. Family history research, put in context, goes beyond just a name, date, and place on a pedigree chart. Social history helps us to better understand lives, provides a background to our research, adds interest to the pedigree chart, and can also lead to additional records.
About the Speaker: Susan Kaufman is the Senior Manager of the Houston (TX) Public Library’s Clayton Library Center for Genealogical Research in Houston. An Illinois native, Susan has more than 30 years of experience as a genealogy librarian, starting her career in Peoria, IL, then moving to the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and later moving to Texas in 2004.
A presenter at local, state, and national genealogy conferences and meetings, she also has held numerous genealogical society board positions in Illinois, Indiana, Texas, and at the national level.
Susan was awarded the National Genealogical Society’s P. William Filby award for outstanding service as a Genealogical Librarian in May of 2019. At the 2019 TxSGS Family History Conference, she was honored with the designation of TxSGS Fellow. Sue has also received the Lloyd Bockstruck Award from the Dallas Genealogical Society. Susan is past President of the Texas State Genealogical Society and currently serves as its Director of Education. She is a member of the Texas Library Association and the American Library Association.
“Techniques and Strategies for More Effective Online Searching,” by Bernard Meisner, PhD
Topic Description: As more genealogical material becomes available through the Internet, it is essential to formulate efficient searches to find the relevant information about your ancestors. This presentation will cover how to determine what information is available, where it is located, and how to use search tools such as filters, wildcards, relationships, and complementary data sources to improve the likelihood of finding the information you need to find that elusive ancestor.
About the Speaker: Bernard is a genealogist and lecturer based in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. He began researching his family over 30 years ago and enjoys sharing lessons learned from that experience, including his mistakes. Although he knew only one grandparent (his maternal grandfather) he has successfully identified all of his great-great grandparents, several triple- and quadruple-great grandparents, and his Meisner 8th great grandparents. He is a past president and current social media chair of the Mid-Cities Genealogical Society, and co-leader of the Dallas Genealogical Society’s German Genealogy Group of North Texas.
Bernard retired from the National Weather Service Southern Region Headquarters where he was the Chief of the Science & Training Branch. He is certified as a consulting meteorologist by the American Meteorological Society and has taught at the Universities of Texas, Oklahoma, and St. Thomas (Houston).
Bernard earned a B.S. in physics/German from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, and an M.S. and PhD in meteorology from the University of Hawaii. He has completed courses at the National Institute for Genealogical Studies and attended the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh each of the last five years, completing courses in Irish research, German research, Digital Research Skills, and Genetic Genealogy.
“Skirts & Skirmishes, Wars & Widows: Finding Service Records, Pensions, and More,” by Paula Perkins
Topic Description: Nearly all your ancestors were eligible for military service. Records, pensions, citizen files, enlistment, and draft registrations can easily be located in the digital age. Veterans, widows, and heirs made claims creating a wealth of information for genealogists. Migration patterns and children as well as births, deaths, and marriages can be proved. Exciting facts and discoveries are just waiting to be found in these records!
About the Speaker: Paula is a proud 6th generation Texan, and has been involved in family history research over thirty years. Her interest in family history began as a young girl when when her maternal grandmother shared stories and letters of family history and her parents took her to visit elderly “cousins.” She is a genealogical consultant, lecturer, and genetic genealogist. Currently serving as the TxSGS District I Representative, Paula volunteers as the Collin County Genealogical Society eNewsletter Editor. She is a Past President for both the Collin County and the Navarro County Genealogical societies.
Beyond her duties as a society officer, Paula is a FamilyTreeDNA volunteer administrator of the following projects: Orphan Train; Collin County Genealogical Society; plus the Perkins, Cook, Fitch, and Glaze DNA surname projects. In addition, she authored several articles published in genealogical and historical journals and appeared on radio and television. She has spoken at TxSGS annual conferences and presented educational genealogical topics across Texas and in multiple southern states.
Paula has served in many capacities for genealogical and historical societies as well as libraries: the Texas Heritage Online users group with the University of North Texas and the Texas State Library; Executive VP Lectures/Fundraising, Dallas Genealogical Society; Peters Colony Historical Society President; and Executive VP, Clayton Library Friends. She was appointed multiple terms to serve on a County Historical Commission’s Cemetery and Historical Marker committee. Paula is a TXGenWeb Project County website creator and Coordinator. She has successfully accomplished research in Northern, Southern, and National US repositories. A former Adjunct Instructor for the Genealogy Houston Community College, she has been a coordinator and presenter for the community outreach program of the Dallas, Texas, local PBS station in conjunction with the PBS series “Ancestors.”
“The Organizational Power of Timelines,” by Diane L Richard
Topic Description: Hit a brick wall? Wondering why your ancestors did what they did? Need to separate several same-named contemporaries? Learn about timelines and how they might help you solve your puzzles. Creating a chronological multi-columned matrix can help you focus on missing gaps, clarify seemingly contradictory information, discover previously invisible relationships, and identify paths to future discoveries. Color-coding or other distinguishing methods can also highlight locale or surname overlaps, related records, and more. These are not the timelines you learned to make in school. This visual representation presents complex information in an easy-to-see format. Timelines are dynamic tools you will never regret making. They are as unique as each project you undertake
About the Speaker: Diane L. Richard, Mosaic Research and Project Management (MosaicRPM), www.mosaicrpm.com, has been researching genealogy since 1987 and since 2004 has professionally focused on the records of North Carolina and southern states. She regularly contributes to Internet Genealogy and Your Genealogy Today. She has authored over 500 articles on genealogy topics. In 2019 she published Tracing Your Ancestors — African American Research: A Practical Guide via Moorshead Publications. Since 2016, she has been editor of the North Carolina Genealogical Society (NCGS) Journal.
As a speaker, Diane has delivered webinars and in-person talks about the availability and richness of records documenting Southerners, pursuing formerly enslaved ancestors and their descendants, genealogical research tips, techniques, tools and strategies, under-utilized resource collections [online and on-the-ground], and much more. She has appeared on Who Do You Think You Are? (Bryan Cranston episode) and The Dead Files (Detox episode).
She is co-leader of Tar Heel Discoveries, www.tarheeldiscoveries.com, started in 2018, which offers guided North Carolina genealogical research programs that provide participants with targeted, focused, research assistance leading to new family discoveries.
“Beyond the Census: What Else is Out There? NARA Records Online ,” by Jenny Sweeny
Topic Description: Ever wonder what the National Archives has to offer besides the federal population census? Digitization has changed the way we research and more records are available at our fingertips than ever before. Learn where the most current digitized records can be found and what interesting records are out there waiting to be explored!
About the Speaker: Jenny McMillen Sweeney holds a master’s degree in public history with a certificate in archival administration from the University of Texas at Arlington and an undergraduate degree in anthropology from Texas Tech University. While working on her graduate degree, Sweeney completed her internship experience at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, as part of the Frank and Peggy Steele Internship for Youth Leadership program. Prior to coming to the National Archives at Fort Worth, Sweeney was the Education and Tour Programs Manager at the Legends of the Game Baseball Museum at the Ballpark in Arlington, Texas.
Sweeney began her career at the National Archives at Fort Worth in 2007 as an Education Specialist. Many of her duties included conducting teacher workshops, presenting public programs and distance learning programs, and assisting educators and students in finding archival materials for research purposes and classroom needs. Sweeney along with two of her education colleagues authored Baseball: The National Pastime in the National Archives, which is a free eBook.
In February 2020, Sweeney became the newest archivist at the National Archives at Fort Worth. However, unfortunately, because of COVID-19 she has yet to get her feet wet as much as she would like! She will be ready to dive in and help researchers once the building reopens.
“Early Texan DNA Project,” by Debbie Parker Wayne, CG®
Topic Description: This session will cover the current status of the TxSGS Early Texans DNA Database and plans for the future. The long-term goal is for the database to be a prime resource for Texas lineages with linked source documents and photos.
About the Speaker: Debbie Parker Wayne is a board-certified genealogist experienced using DNA analysis and traditional techniques for family history research. Debbie edited the book and authored one chapter of Advanced Genetic Genealogy: Techniques and Case Studies; coauthored the award-winning DNA workbook, Genetic Genealogy in Practice; and developed the online, self-paced course Continuing Genealogical Studies: Autosomal DNA, offered by National Genealogical Society (NGS). She is the DNA Project Chair for the Texas State Genealogical Society and the Early Texans DNA Project. Her publications include a column on using DNA analysis for genealogical research in NGS Magazine and in the Stirpes journal of Texas. Debbie was the course coordinator for the first beginner and intermediate DNA courses offered at four major US genealogy institutes. See http://debbiewayne.com/ for more information and for archived versions of many of her articles.
The words Certified Genealogist and letters CG are registered certification marks, and the designations CGL and Certified Genealogical Lecturer are service marks of the Board for Certification of Genealogists®, used under license by board certificants after periodic evaluation.
“Reconstructing Communities Using Census Records, Sanborn Maps, and City Directories,” by Ari Wilkins
Topic Description: Recreating communities can provide rich and insightful details about an ancestor’s life and surroundings. This lecture will demonstrate ways to combine data from census records, Sanborn maps and city directories.
About the Speaker: Ari Wilkins, a graduate of Louisiana State University, has been actively researching family history since 1998. Ms. Wilkins has spoken nationally at the National Genealogical Society, Federation of Genealogical Societies, Texas State Genealogical Society, Ohio Genealogical Society, Institute of Genealogical and Historical Research, Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy, American Library Association, RootsTech, and a multitude of local societies.
Ari has been a Library Associate at Dallas Public Library since 2007. She teaches a series of basic research classes using popular genealogical websites. She specializes in African American research.