AmericanAncestors.org is FREE until April 13!

The New England Historic Genealogical Society has unlocked their online databases containing more than one billion searchable records. AmericanAncestors.org by NEHGS is one of the most widely used online genealogical resources in the world. Everyone who registers for a free account will have FREE access to all those records through April 13, 2016.

Visit the Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter for details or go to AmericanAncestors.org/free-billion to get started searching.

Bringing Genealogy Education into Your Home

Every year around this time, we start thinking about furthering our education. And every year we are given many opportunities to increase our knowledge and research skills for free, or nearly so. Here are some ways you can bring the classroom into your own home. Most of these webinars have a chat box available during the live broadcast for attendees to ask questions, making it seem almost like being in the room with the presenter.

Note: Times given below are in the hosting organization's time zone. To determine local time, visit the Time Zone Converter, enter the date and time of the broadcast, select the From Time Zone (for example, US/Central), select the To Time Zone (for example, US/Arizona), and click on the green "Convert Time Now" button.


Family History Library Webinars
Each month, the Family History Library hosts a number of free online family history webinars. The list of upcoming webinars are on the Family History Library Classes and Webinars wiki page. I counted 23 webinars scheduled for October and 6 for November. Topics range from researching in US church, cemetery and vital records to improving skills in citing sources, organizing your research, and solving tough research problems to international research techniques in England, Germany, Italy, and Portugal and much, much more. Most of the Latin America webinars are taught in Spanish. And that is only in the months of October and November!  Registration for these webinars is not necessary—simply go to the webinars wiki page 15 minutes before the webinar begins and click on the link next to the group teaching the webinar (US/Canada, British Isles, International/Scandinavian, or Latin America). You can also find recordings of past webinars on pretty much every country that same wiki page. Handouts for all upcoming and past webinars are at the Family History Library Class Handouts wiki page.


Legacy Family Tree Webinars
Every Wednesday is Webinar Wednesday at Legacy Family Tree Webinars. Prominent Genealogists give a free hour-long presentation every Wednesday at 12pm Mountain, except the second Wednesday which is at 7pm Mountain time. Once a month an additional webinar is offered on Friday, also at 12pm Mountain. The webinars are free, but pre-registration is required to attend the live session. Following the live webinar, the recording will be available to view for free for about a week. After that, you must be a paid member to view the recording. You also must be a member to download the handouts. Visit their website to see the schedule for the rest of this year and to register for webinars you wish to attend live.

Illinois State Genealogical Society (ISGS) Webinars
ISGS offers a webinar on the 2nd Tuesday of each month at 8pm Central time. These webinars cover topics on a wide range of research methodology and strategies relevant to all genealogists, not just Illinois and the Midwest. And the presenters are some of the best-known genealogy speakers. The live broadcasts are free and open to the public. After the live broadcast, the recording is available to ISGS members only. Visit their Upcoming Webinars page for the schedule for the rest of this year and to register for the live broadcast.

Southern California Genealogical Society (SCGS) Webinars
Live SCGS webinars are broadcast the first Saturday and third Wednesday of each month. Saturday sessions are held at 10am Pacific time and Wednesday sessions are held at 6pm Pacific time. The webinars are presented by professional genealogists and lecturers. The live broadcasts are free to the general public; the recordings are available only to SCGS members. To view the schedule for the rest of this year and to register for the webinars, visit the SCGS Webinar Series website.

BCG Webinars
The Board for Certification of Genealogists present occasional free webinars. There doesn't appear to be a schedule of those webinars, but they announce the a few days in advance on their blog SpringBoard News and Notes. To receive email notification of upcoming webinars, visit their blog and scroll down to the Email Notification area, enter your email address where indicated and click the Subscribe button. Pre-registration is required to attend the live viewing. BCG offers recordings of some of their past webinars, some are free but most are available for a fee. Previews and links to all videos are available on the BCG Webinars page.

New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) Online Classes
NEHGS offers online educational programs in the form of webinars, videos, and online classes. Most webinars are available for NEHGS members and Guests. Registration is required. Visit their Online Classes webpage for the schedule and to register. Archived webinars are available from their Learning Resources webpage and from the AmericanAncestors YouTube channel. Most of the webinars are about using the resources available at NEHGS and AmericanAncestors.org, but also give instruction on how to do research in the New England states and Canada. AmericanAncestors databases are free to patrons of the Tucson Family History Center.

As you can see, there are many options for furthering our education in genealogy. Take a look at what is offered between now and the end of the year and go for it! I promise that you won't be disappointed.

Do you know of any other options? Tell us about them in the comments below.

                                                                                                                                                                    

Image: Written by Meg, ePortfolio (Megan E. Ford) / CC BY-NC-ND 3.0

NEHGS Offers Free Access on AmericanAncestors.org for Labor Day Weekend

The New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) made the following announcement on their website:

Labor Day—the American Way: Working on Your Family History

Your ancestors worked hard to give you this extra day of rest—so spend it in tribute to them, uncovering more of your family history. In commemoration of Labor Day, American Ancestors and NEHGS offer a week to work FREE on your past, with FREE access to some of our most popular American Ancestors databases. In these resources containing census, tax, and voter list information, you might just find your ancestors diligently at work. Register as a FREE Guest User on AmericanAncestors.org and enjoy making new discoveries about your family history—where, unfortunately, the work is never done. Open now through Wednesday, September 9.

About Census, Tax, and Voter Lists

Census, Tax, and Voter Lists contains a range of resources to provide information about the families who resided in the New England states between the 18th and 20th centuries. Broader collections help to trace families as they moved to other areas of the United States. And a handful of European databases can assist researchers attempting to further document their family’s heritage.

Visit http://www.americanancestors.org/laborday to access these records through September 9.

Celebrate Independence Week Genealogy Style!

July 4, 1776, marks the day that the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence and is considered the birth of the United States of America. That day has been celebrated nearly every year since its first anniversary in 1777 (Wikipedia: "Independence Day (United States)").

Spirit of '76 by Archibald MacNeal Willard, 1875

This year, three genealogy websites are offering FREE access to some of their records in celebration of our Independence Day:

1. Fold3 is offering FREE access to the Revolutionary War Collection from July 1 to July 15. Visit the Fold3 HQ blog at http://blog.fold3.com/free-access-to-the-revolutionary-war-collection/ for details and links to their collection.
   
2. NEHGS is granting FREE access to all online searchable databases on AmericanAncestors.org related to the Great Migration from July 1 through July 8. You must sign up as a Guest User (also free) to take advantage of this offer. Visit their website at http://www.americanancestors.org/fourthofjuly for details and links to the collections.
   
3. Ancestry is offering FREE access to their 13 Colonies Collection from July 1 through July 5. Visit the 13 Colonies Collection page at http://search.ancestry.com/search/grouplist.aspx?group=thirteen_colonies for a full list of the records in this collection and to search all those records.

Take time between your picnics and fireworks to do some free research on your colonial ancestors.

Don't forget that there will be no PCGS meeting in July. Our next meeting will be held August 15 at the regular time, but we are meeting at a different location. Visit our website's calendar page at http://azpimagensoc.org/eventListings.php?nm=19&ec=7&tf=12 for the address and a map to our temporary location.

Stay cool!