2021 Genealogy Webinar Series
In celebration of the Genealogical Society of New Jersey’s 100th Anniversary in 2021, GSNJ is introducing a virtual Webinar Series beginning in January 2021. The Webinar Series live virtual presentations are free and open to the public. Recordings of the presentations are available to members only for a limited time.
Schedule
Each webinar is scheduled for the third Wednesday of each month at 8 p.m. Eastern Standard or Daylight Savings time (depending on the date) for approximately one hour.
January 20 – Judy Russell – Idlers, Lewd Women and Sabbath Breakers: New Jersey’s Early Laws
The laws our ancestors lived by tell their own story of life in earlier times, and, from the very first colonial statutes to today, the choices made by New Jersey legislators about what laws were needed give a rich and deep context to family history. Using early state laws as genealogical resources, we are able to tell the stories of a time when the typical “big concerns” of the day were things like idlers, lewd women and sabbath breakers.
February 17 – Gary Saretzky – Preserving Family Photographs
Since the introduction of photographic portrait studios in 1840, photographs have been among the most treasured of family records but, while most are long-lasting when stored optimally in archives, in the home environment, they are all too often prone to fading and discoloration. In this slide lecture, Gary Saretzky will provide guidance on how the life of family photographs can be extended so that they can be passed down to future generations. The lecture includes examples of how old photographs can be enhanced or restored in the computer after digitization.
March 17 – Laura Cubbage-Draper – Using Historical Newspapers in Genealogical Research
Before Facebook and Twitter, the local paper was the place to get the scoop on your neighbors. Historical newspapers are indispensable to genealogy research and learning about your ancestors and their community. This program will highlight the importance of this resource as well as the range of details that can be discovered, including how and where to access digitized newspapers, plus search techniques and tips.
April 21 – Annette Burke Lyttle – New Jersey Quakers: Their History and the Records They Left
Quakers were among the earliest settlers in North America, and they settled in large numbers in New Jersey. Quakers were amazing record-keepers. Not only did they record births, marriages, and deaths, they kept extensive records on those who came into their local meetings and those who left. Transgressions by members of the community were publicly discussed and recorded, and as they came to believe that slavery was evil their records on Quakers who kept slaves became extensive. Learn about the history of these pioneering Americans and how to find the rich records they left behind.
May 19 – Michelle Tucker Chubenko – New Jersey State Censuses, 1855-1915
An overview of the evolution of the state census that began in 1855 and ended with the 1915 enumeration, including a review of the special schedules for agriculture, manufactures, mining, and commerce.
June 16 – Andy McCarthy – North Jersey Population Movements: Researching 20th Century Migration Routes Between Hudson County and Essex County
Located west of the lower Hudson River and Upper New York Bay, Northeast New Jersey – colloquially often referred to as “North Jersey” – has been heavily populated over the last 100 years as a result of immigration, and second and third generation local migration, either cross-county or out-of-state. Using genealogical and local history resources and research methods applied to Hudson and Essex Counties between the years 1900 and 2000, with particular emphasis on collections at New York Public Library, the demographics of North Jersey show a vivid pattern of ethnic migration, eventual social and civic integration, and a succession of new waves of racial and ethnic communities.
July 21 – Melissa Barker – Digging into Finding Aids: The Road Map to Any New Jersey Manuscript Collection
This presentation will help genealogists read, follow, and use Finding Aids in New Jersey archives.
August 18 – Susan Rogers – Breakthrough: How I Found the 10G Common Ancestor for Two of my Mitochondrial DNA Matches
For many years, my direct matrilineal line stopped at the unknown “Catherine,” my 4G grandmother and wife of Cyrenius Thompson of Monmouth County, New Jersey. Through mtDNA testing and researching over a few years, I was able to break through and identify this mothers-only line all the way back to my 10G grandmother. This case study tells that story, with lessons that apply to all genealogical work, not just DNA research.
September 15 – Joe Klett – Tracing Descendants through Land Records
Mr. Klett will discuss the use of land records in tracing families forward, drawing from family research he has done in Gloucester County. This includes mapping projects involving large colonial tracts in present-day Elk and Glassboro townships that were passed down and subdivided over multiple generations. He will also discuss the New Jersey Early Land Records Project and the expanded database now available through the State Archives. This lecture is co-sponsored by the Gloucester County Historical Society.
October 20 – Alec Ferretti – Reclaim the Records – Feature Presentation for GSNJ’s 100th Annual Meeting
Learn about the activism being undertaken by a ragtag group of genealogists, historians, and attorneys who seek to wrangle public records from the government. By using the power of freedom of information laws, Reclaim the Records has managed to secure millions of never-before-seen records from New York and New Jersey, and is working on many new and bigger projects across the United States!
November 17 – Alan Delozier – Catholic Records – Researching Church History in a Time of Uncertainty
Traditional Sacramental records associated with the Church are seen as the foundation of any faith-based genealogy project. However, there are many other aspects of Catholic Church research that can benefit the genealogist including the rituals of Mass, Holy Days of Obligation, and activities that the faithful may have participated in at their respective parish of choice. A parish community within the broader Church is an extension of an individual identity in many cases and often constitutes a distinctive connection that can last several generations within a family unit. The actual practice of religious faith is often a personal matter and unless they share information, a myriad of different record searching possibilities beyond the aforementioned Church Sacrament records alone and such traditional ones as event photographs for Baptismal, First Communion, Confirmation, etc. can also include many other written and image-based examples. In this new climate of Church record-keeping, the existence and availability of Catholic records has taken on a more serious and careful approach. The traditional and contemporary issues for the Catholic family history genealogist will be explored within this presentation. Relevant primary and/or secondary source leads alike will be presented for all points referenced within this lecture. More detail will be placed on the sections related to finding records in particular.
December 15 – Melissa Johnson – Reconstructing the Murphy Family Using DNA and Documentary Evidence
DNA can often be used along with documentary evidence to break through brick walls and resolve questions of relationship. Learn how an early nineteenth-century English immigrant’s family is reconstructed through a combination of documentary evidence and DNA test results.
Note: The schedule and speakers are subject to change.
Registration and System Requirements
The Zoom platform will be used for the webinars. A working internet connection is required to access the webinars.
Click on the Click Here to Register button for each webinar to register. You may register for each webinar until the webinar ends.
Each attendee will receive an email with the webinar link. A reminder will be sent prior to the webinar. To cancel, click on the cancellation link provided in the email received at the time of registration.
Handouts
The handout for each webinar will be provided during the webinar.
Speaker Biographies
Melissa Barker is a Certified Archives Manager and Public Historian currently working at the Houston County, Tennessee Archives. She lectures, teaches and writes about the genealogy research process, researching in archives and records preservation. She conducts virtual webinar presentations across the United States for genealogical and historical societies. She writes a popular blog entitled A Genealogist in the Archives and is a well-known genealogy Book Reviewer. She writes a bi-weekly advice column entitled The Archive Lady published at Genealogy Bargains. She writes history pieces for her local newspaper The Houston County Herald called From the Archives. She is a Professional Genealogist with expertise in Tennessee records. She has been researching her own family history for the past 30 years.
Annette Burke Lyttle owns Heritage Detective, LLC, providing professional genealogical services in research, education, and writing. She speaks on a variety of genealogical topics at the national, state, and local levels and loves helping people uncover and share their family stories. She was a faculty member for “Exploring Quaker Records in America” at the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh in June 2020 and is course coordinator for “From Sea to Shining Sea: Researching Our Ancestors’ Migrations in America” for the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy in January 2021. Annette is a member of the board of directors of the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG).
Michelle Tucker Chubenko is a Research Team Lead and professional genealogist with Legacy Tree Genealogists based in Salt Lake City, Utah. With 30 years’ experience researching her paternal ancestral roots in colonial America and her maternal Eastern European ancestry (Ukrainian and Hungarian), she specializes in New Jersey and Eastern European research. She is active in local history organizations, has attended GRIP, IGHR, and SLIG, and is a ProGen17 graduate. Michelle is a founding member and former President of the New Jersey APG Chapter and has served as the Chapter Representative for the NY-Metro APG Chapter and Trustee for the Genealogical Society of New Jersey. Currently, she serves as the co-coordinator for the Ukrainian History & Education Center’s Nashi Predky Family History Group.
Laura Cubbage-Draper is a genealogical researcher, lecturer, volunteer and the owner of LCD Genealogy Services in Metuchen, New Jersey. She currently serves as a Trustee of the Genealogical Society of New Jersey, the Treasurer of the New Jersey Chapter of the Association of Professional Genealogists, and a volunteer with the Metuchen-Edison Historical Society. Laura holds a certificate in Genealogical Research from Boston University, is a graduate of ProGen 40, and has completed several courses at the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh (GRIP).
Alan Delozier, D. Litt. is the University Archivist and Educational Programs Coordinator for Special Collections, Seton Hall University and Executive Director of the New Jersey Catholic Historical Commission. He earned his doctorate in Irish Studies from Drew University (2015) and a Certificate in History of Family and Genealogical Methods from Limerick University [Ollscoil Luimnigh] Ireland in 2019.
Alec Ferretti serves on the Board of Reclaim the Records, a non-profit which seeks to restore public access to records which have been illegally withheld by the government. He works for the Wells Fargo Family & Business History Center providing family histories to high net worth clients and is the President of the NY Genealogy and Technology Group, an informal organization which meets bi-monthly to discuss genealogy topics. He specializes in Italian Genealogy and 20th century genealogy.
Melissa Johnson, CG, is a professional genealogist, writer and editor. She has expertise in researching families with origins in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and England, and works on forensic cases, dual citizenship matters, and lineage society applications. She is also proficient in using DNA test results to break through ancestral brick walls. Melissa serves on the board of the Genealogical Society of New Jersey and the International Society of British Genealogy and Family History. She is the President of the New Jersey APG Chapter. Her work has been published in the National Genealogical Society Quarterly, New York Genealogical & Biographical Record, NGS Magazine, Association of Professional Genealogists Quarterly, Genealogical Magazine of New Jersey, and numerous other publications. Melissa is currently the Program Director for Boston University’s genealogy studies programs, and teaches at various genealogy institutes nationwide.
Joseph R. Klett is Executive Director of the New Jersey State Archives in Trenton, and a long-time trustee and officer of GSNJ. He is a past editor of both the Genealogical Magazine of New Jersey and the GSNJ Newsletter. In 2014, Joe authored the award-winning special issue of GMNJ commemorating New Jersey’s 350th anniversary year, on the subject “Understanding New Jersey’s Geography in the Proprietary Period.” Joe has been a genealogist since the age of 12, and has traced his direct ancestry back to most of New Jersey’s counties.
Andy McCarthy is a reference librarian in the Irma and Paul Milstein Division of U.S. History, Local History, and Genealogy at New York Public Library. A former news researcher at ABC News, McCarthy also worked 8 years as a New York City double-decker bus tour guide, conducting about 3,000 tours for 90,000 passengers.
Susan Rogers is a member and past newsletter editor of the Nevada County (California) Genealogical Society (NCGS) and is co-administrator of the “McFadden Genealogy – County Cavan, Ireland” Facebook Group. Her research has enabled her to identify and meet distant cousins in Germany and Northern Ireland. Susan has been a presenter for NCGS and other Sierra foothills genealogy societies, and she presently teaches online (Zoom) genealogy classes for the Sierra College OLLI (adult-ed) program. She is semi-retired from a 40-year career in marketing communications and public relations.
Judy G. Russell, JD, CG, CGL, the Legal Genealogist, is a genealogist with a law degree who writes and lectures on topics ranging from using court records in family history to understanding DNA testing. On the faculty of numerous genealogy institutes, she is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Board for Certification of Genealogists®, from which she holds credentials as a Certified Genealogist® and Certified Genealogical Lecturer℠. Her award-winning blog is at https://www.legalgenealogist.com.
Gary D. Saretzky, archivist, educator, and photographer, worked as an archivist for more than fifty years at the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Educational Testing Service, and the Monmouth County Archives, where he was County Archivist, 1994-2019. A member of the Photographic Materials Group of the American Institute for Conservation, Saretzky taught the history of photography at Mercer County Community College, 1977-2012. He has published more than 100 articles and reviews on the history of photography, photographic conservation, and other topics, including “Nineteenth-Century New Jersey Photographers,” in the journal, New Jersey History, Fall/Winter 2004.
Contact
If you have any questions, please contact GSNJ at programs@gsnj.org or 973-768-2815.
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