05-23-22 to 05-28-22 First Live Genealogy Conference Since Covid

California Genealogical Society (CGS) was the host society for this year’s National Genealogical Society Conference (NGS) in Sacramento, CA. This year’s conference was live, the first one since the pandemic hit. We had over 100 volunteers from our society including me. My friend Lisa and I drove to Sacramento after our writing class on Monday. We stayed at the Hyatt Regency right across from the SAFE Credit Union Conference center.

Our accommodations at the Hyatt were nice, and the beds comfy. Our room was on the ninth floor, and we had a great view of the IMAX Theatre across the walkway. Parking was expensive at $25 a day. Conference attendees were either staying at the Hyatt or across the walkway at the Sheraton.

NGS was covid safe in that all attendees had to show proof of vaccinations the first time you enter the conference center and receive a lime green band that was worn all week. In addition, you had to wear a mask at all times when indoors. I didn’t see one person without their masks all week. The rooms were set up so that everyone sat in every other seat when possible. Registration was about half of what it normally is. This was great because the lines at the restrooms were non-existence. All in all, I felt covid safe. Hopefully I haven’t jinxed myself.

I attended classes and a few events Tuesday through Saturday. Below I’ve listed the sessions I attended and tried to list at least one take away from each session.

05-22-22 Tuesday

Tuesday was my day of volunteering. I helped in the registration booth from 7:00AM to noon. It was a day of bus tours, special sessions, and a few other topics. Most people registering were either attending one of the bus or walking tours, the BCG track or the Society Day classes. Everyone seemed so happy to be at the conference and actually see people in person and not as a zoom chiclet. Late in the afternoon I was room monitor for one of the Society Day classes, Duty of Care with Booking Speakers Presented by Kathleen Kadis. I thought this would be a session I needed to attend since I’m now booking speakers for CGS.

Takeaway: Posting a slide before each speaker session stating, no photos, no videos.

05-23-22 Wednesday

• America’s Westward Expansion: 25 Events in Fifty Minutes

Presented by Katherine R. Wilson

Takeaway: January 1848 gold discovered in California; this was nine days BEFORE Mexico succeeded land to us. If Mexico knew I’m sure we would not be the California we are today. The other cool thing about this lecture is she used a United States Map and showed the new states or territory boundaries each time an event affected this.

• Restructuring Communities Using Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, Census Records, and City Directories

Presented by Ari Wilkins.

Takeaway: Most of the communities Sanborn had mapped by the 1950’s.

• What’s Online at the National Archives

Presented by Marisa Louie Lee.

Takeaway: NARA has a goal to digitize 500 million pages by 2024. When using Ancestry.com or FamilySearch look for National Archives Identifiers (NAID) and plug them into the National Archives catalog for more descriptive information.

• Beyond Dry Facts: How to Examine Records for Information That Leads to Great Stories

Presented by Laura Hedgecock and Cheri Hudson Passay.

Takeaway: Look at pension files with some skepticism. People will put down what they feel is needed to get their pension application approved.

• Evening Social Event was a wine tasing event down the street. It was in an open area surrounded by a white picket fence. The temperature was in the high nineties and uncomfortable. I ended up in the AIR-CONDITIONED room upstairs. I think I stayed there for about an hour. I tasted chardonnay and sauvignon blanc. The hors d’oeuvre were tasty, especially the bacon wrapped dates.

05-24-22 Thursday

• Document Analysis: Digging into the Details

Presented by Angela Packer McGhie

Takeaway: Information is all about the informant.

• Your DNA Match list: Overcome the Overwhelm by Organizing Them

Presented by Diahan Southard

Takeaway: Autosomal DNA will only help locate 3x grandparents or closer.

• From California to Virginia: Confirming the Emigrant Ancestor with a Paper Trail and Y-DNA

Presented by Diana Elder

Takeaway: When a family has many children, check if the birth states change. If so do research in that state.

• Organizing and Diagramming your DNA Matches to Solve Research Problems

Presented by Julie Stoddard

Takeaway: DNA segments >10 may be false matches.

• Recreating Your Ancestor’s World

Presented by Mary Kircher Roddy

Takeaway: Research your ancestors world they live in, newspapers, what they can buy, churches they attend, service organizations. This will help us understand their choices.

05-25-22 Friday

• Trails West: Crossing the Continent 1840-1869

Presented by Mary Kircher Roddy

Takeaway: As Mary was listing all the supplies a person on a wagon train needed, I kept thinking about the TV series 1863. I think they got it historically correct.

• In Their Own Voices: Nineteenth-Century Women on the American Frontier

Presented by Katherine R. Wilson

Takeaway: 1869 was the start of the transcontinental train routes to the pacific.

• Seeking Maps for Context and Analysis in Urban Genealogical Research

Presented by Melinda Kashuba

Takeaway: David Rumsey Historical Map Collection contains over 80,000 high-resolution digital maps and features georeferenced for Boston, New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.

• Her Piece of the Prairie: Women Homesteaders of the West

Presented by Rebecca Koford

Takeaway: About 10% of the Homestead Act land went to women. Homestead act ended in 1986.

• Far East Deep South (movie)

Presented by Baldwin Chiu and Larissa Lam

A very moving story. Brought me to tears at times. If you get a chance to see this on PBS, please do so.

05-26-22 Saturday

• Irish Miners Across America

Presented by David E. Rencher

Takeaway: Different types of mining required certain skills and miners moved around based on their skills.

• Getting Things Done and Family History: Productivity Tips and Tools

Presented by Diana Elder

Takeaway: Should a project be done now or later. Think about it.

• Becoming a Genealogical Thinker Instead of a Genealogical Collector

Presented by Michael D. Lacopo

Takeaway: Think logical. After all logical is part of the genea”logical” process.

• Death or Bigamy? Tracking an Elusive Man Across the United States

Presented by Trich Nicola

Takeaway: No takeaway. I need to review the handout.

• Linking Generations: Using Court and Land Records

Presented by Judy G. Russell

Takeaway: In her talk, Judy spoke about using jury lists. These my help tell the difference between same name persons in the area.

Dinner - Lisa, Judy G. Russel, Nikki LaRue, and I went to Maya's Kitchen by Chef Ramiro

for dinner. Lisa had tacos and the rest of us had chicken enchiladas with green sauce. The enchiladas were the best tasting ones I have had. We all loved them and ate everything on our plate.... I can taste them now. Also, the margaritas were lip-smacking. I cannot recommend this place enough. Don’t pass up a chance to eat AND drink her if you’re in Sacramento. We had a great conversation about all sorts of subjects.

We left on Sunday. A very busy week between attending classes, volunteering and learning a bunch from some incredible genealogist. Thank you NGS for a great conference.

SOME OF OUR VOLUNTEERS