GSBC 2017 Seminar—Your Family Roots and Branches with Jim Beidler

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Saturday, 18 November 2017, 9:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Ridgewood Public Library Auditorium, 125 N. Maple Avenue, Ridgewood, NJ 07450

Program—Four Lectures with Something for Everyone

9:00 a.m. — Doors Open

Headlines to Bylines: Using ALL the Newspaper in Your Genealogy
Everyone turns to newspapers to find obituaries of their ancestors but every section can be valuable in your genealogical search. Learn how news briefs, advertisements, even editorials, and “letters to the editor” might add to your knowledge of your ancestors and their lives.

Secondary Uses for Primary Sources
Learning how to use whole data sets rather than individual records can blast open genealogical roadblocks by exploring the interrelationships of a whole community. Case studies show how this works.

Success Story: Finding a European Village of Origin
The case study of Johannes Dinius, a 1765 immigrant to Pennsylvania, is used to show how scraps of evidence properly deployed can lead to the discovery of a European hometown.

The Lighter Side of Genealogy
Anecdotes and cautionary tales of the people and situations one encounters during three decades of searching for roots on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.

Wrap-Up with a Q&A Session

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About James M. Beidler

James M. Beidler is the author of The Family Tree German Genealogy Book as well as writes “Roots & Branches,” an award-winning weekly newspaper column on genealogy that is the only syndicated feature on that topic in Pennsylvania. He is also a columnist for German Life magazine and is editor of Der Kurier, the quarterly journal of the Mid-Atlantic Germanic Society. He is also an instructor for online Family Tree University.

He was the President of the International Society of Family History Writers and Editors (ISFHWE) from 2010 to 2012, and is the former Executive Director for the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania. He served as national co-chairman for the 2008 Federation of Genealogical Societies conference in Philadelphia.