Our Heritage: Atlanta’s Family History Conference will be held from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. May 18 at the Atlanta History Center.
This free conference, staged in conjunction with Familysearch.org/Family Tree and the Atlanta Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, will help attendees climb the branches of their family trees through a variety of lectures.
The conference will cover how to get started, there will be workshops on DNA and conducting oral history interviews, and tours of the Kenan Research Center’s genealogical resources will be offered. There will be lectures on African-American genealogy techniques as well as sessions on genealogy courses for youth and help with the Boy Scout genealogy merit badge. There also will be free admission to the history center’s exhibits, including “Slavery at Jefferson’s Monticello.”
An update on the status of the digitizing of the Franklin Garrett Necrology Collection, which covered men over 21 who died in the Atlanta area between 1857 and 1931 as well as their family members, also will be provided.
Reservations are required, as seating is limited. To register, go to www.atlantahistorycenter.com/ourheritage. For further information, call 404-814-4042.
Atlanta Historical Computing Society
If you have lost some valuable genealogical and historical writing when a personal computer bit the dust, as I did, you might find the members of the Atlanta Historical Computing Society worth contacting.
Members have earlier computers of various makes and models that still operate, and they can try to help you salvage material and put it into modern computer programs. Their website is www.atlhcs.org and they are on Facebook. You can email them at ATLHCS@Outlook.com.
Free or not?
While some of the most important genealogical sites, such as Ancestry.com, GenealogyBank or Fold3, require a subscription, there are a great many free sites.
The May/June issue of Family Tree Magazine covers a lot of these in “Family History Freebies,” an article by Lisa Cooke. She discusses the various free apps you can get for your smartphone, tablet or mobile device, as well as where to go for free charts, including Marthastewart.com or one with kid appeal in www.zapthegrandmagap.com. There are a lot of places for free historical photographs, World War II posters, and even some free genealogy software.
This issue is available on newsstands and at bookstores or at www.familytreemagazine.com. The same issue has a long article about the 40 best genealogy blogs that is, as always, well-researched and worth reading.
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