The “Who Do You Think You Are?” television series returns this week on TLC, airing at 9 p.m. Tuesdays.
Included will be eight new episodes featuring celebrities exploring their genealogies, with their family trees researched by professional genealogists. The Lisa Kudrow-produced series’ new season features Christina Applegate, Kelly Clarkson, Cindy Crawford, Zooey Deschanel, Chelsea Handler, Chris O’Donnell, Jim Parsons and Trisha Yearwood. Some of the episodes will feature links to Georgia.
“Who Do You Think You Are?” first aired in 2010 and ran for three seasons on NBC. Now it has been given a rebirth on cable. As in previous seasons, the program gives great tips on how to go about researching your family, starting with what your family knows and then verifying the information based on existing sources. In the television series, the researchers pick one of the celebrity’s lines to concentrate on, often leading overseas. See www.tlc.com for further information.
Anyone wanting to start tracing their own genealogy should consider attending meetings of some of the local genealogical societies that offer monthly or quarterly lectures on different aspects of research. You also can meet people there who can help you get started.
Among these groups are the Cobb County Genealogical Society (www.cobbgagensoc.org), which meets in Marietta; the Georgia Genealogical Society (www.gagensociety.org), which holds quarterly meetings in March, May, October and December; and the Atlanta History Center (www.atlantahistorycenter.com), which offers frequent classes. Free monthly Lunch and Learn seminars are also available at the Atlanta branch of the National Archives and the Georgia Archives, both in Morrow.
Do you need an app?
You can find free genealogy apps for mobile devices (smartphone, tablet) at the iTunes App Store or Google Play Store. Those available with a genealogy theme or useful for research include Ancestry, Billion Graves, Flipboard, Library Locator, MyHeritage, RootsMagic, RootsTech and YouTube, where there are interviews with genealogy experts.
Brick wall help
To get free help and read some great essays, including on how to breach a genealogy brick wall, you can subscribe to the free online newsletter of the Genealogical Publishing Co.
Genealogy Pointers includes articles written by genealogy experts. Go to www.genealogical.com to sign up. Their archive of previous articles has no apparent index, but it does feature a few special topics, including Irish research.
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