Got Ancestors?! 2023

Well we’re in the final countdown to Got Ancestors?! Are They Who You Think They Are? on Friday night and Saturday with Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak.

It’s still not too late to register for either event – we still have space available. Please use the online registration system to let us know that you’re coming, and if possible pay by PayPal. If you want to pay by cheque or cash, by all means choose that option on the payment page, but please DO NOT mail your cheque – instead bring it with you on Friday if you’re coming to Friday evening’s Michelle Obama’s Roots session or on Saturday if you’re only coming to Are They Who You Think They Are?.

tick tock tick tock tick tock…

Don and Roger appeared on eightWest this morning to talk to Terri and Rachael about genealogy and our upcoming Got Ancestors?! Are They Who You Think They Are? Seminar.

The video of this is below – Enjoy 🙂

We forgot to mention that Friday night’s presentation of Michelle Obama’s Roots is in association with the Southwest Michigan Black Heritage Society

Here’s a post written by Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak that appeared on The Huffington Post website today.

“Born twenty years to the day after John Lennon and married the day before 9/11, I need no calendars or tickler systems to remind me of the milestone birthdays and anniversaries in my life. The media does it for me. So I was well aware of the approach of my half-century mark. Still, I had made no special plans for that particular day, which is probably just as well since I found myself attending a funeral.”

Click here to read the entire article.

Maybe she’ll explain more about why she has 2 same last names at the upcoming Seminar – click the link to the right to register online now.

You can view Megan’s Huffington Post profile here

Today is our Speaker Megan’s Birthday.

♩ Happy Birthday To You
♫ Happy Birthday To You
♬ Happy Birthday Dear Megan
♪ Happy Birthday To You

See you on 5th and 6th November 🙂

The video here is from the CBS Early Show on 8 October 2009. Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak appeared with Harry Smith discussing the just published article in The New York Times discussing Michelle Obama’s Roots. This is the basis of what we will be hearing on Friday evening 6 November.

Enjoy.

See you on 5 and 6 November!!

An update on what Megan Smolenyak Smolyenak is doing in these weeks prior to coming to west Michigan to speak at our Annual Seminar in November.

She’s one of five world-class speakers that have been lined up for the 6th Annual Genealogy Conference and Cruise starting tomorrow, September 18th. This week-long conference hosted by  Wholly Genes, Inc. (publishers of the computer programme – The Master Genealogist) has earned the reputation as the largest family history conference on the seas and is nearly always sold out. Someday I want to go!

Megan is presenting some lectures during the cruise that sound interesting: “Neglected History” and “Cold Cases: Genealogists, Coroners and the FBI”. For more information, you can read about the conference at the Wholly Genes website – www.whollygenes.com.

Good luck to Megan and we hope you rest well on your Caribbean cruise and don’t work too hard. We are looking forward to your visit in Michigan in November! www.gotancestors.com

And remember – it’s neither too soon nor too late to register to attend our Annual Seminar – click here or the link on the right “Click Here to Register“.

IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak

Michelle Obama’s Roots Researcher Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak Comes to West Michigan

August 27, 2010 – Grand Rapids, Michigan

The Western Michigan Genealogical Society (WMGS) announces its GotAncestors?! Annual Seminar for 2010 entitled Are They Who You Think They Are? The seminar is Friday and Saturday, November 5^th and 6^th at the Prince Conference Center in Grand Rapids. Featured speaker is nationally known lecturer, author and researcher Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak in her first public appearance in Michigan. She presents Michelle Obama’s Roots on Friday evening. Megan will give four additional talks on Saturday including the discovery of the “real” Annie Moore, the first immigrant to come through Ellis Island.

The cost for the Michelle Obama’s Roots event on Friday is $15.00. Seminar Registration is $49.00 for Saturday only or $59.00 for the two-day program if registered by October 8th. Space is limited. Detailed information and online registration is available at www.gotancestors.com.

This is the third consecutive year the WMGS GotAncestors?! Seminar will be at the Prince Conference Center, 1800 East Beltline SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan on the campus of Calvin College. The facility is handicap accessible and smoke-free.

Read The Full Entry »

The online registration system for Got Ancestors?! Are They Who You Think They Are? is now up and running. Click here to register for this highly anticipated event.

A Seminar flyer and registration form can be downloaded from here (but please register online even if you’re going to mail a cheque as it makes things easier for us).

Here is the list of topics we’ve chosen to have on Saturday.

Reverse Genealogy

• Although genealogy is at its heart the study of long-deceased ancestors, connecting with living relatives has become almost as important to many family historians. Some seek living kin in an effort to track down family photos; others do it to find family history playmates or DNA project participants. A few pioneers have begun exercising their skills to save lives – to locate potential donors or warn of possible medical dangers. Whatever the motivation, one of the most addicting aspects of genealogy is the thrill of finding distant cousins, or in some cases, parents, children, or siblings. But this “reverse genealogy” (working from the past to the present) has its own special challenges and requires the researcher to be part genealogist and part private investigator. This presentation covers proven techniques for tracing 20th century friends and relatives from the past to the present.

Tracing Your Roots with DNA – an extended edition

• With amazing swiftness, “genetealogy” (the marriage of genetics and genealogy) is graduating from pioneering research to standard practice. But what is it exactly and how can we use it to further our genealogical endeavors? Come hear one of the co-authors of Trace Your Roots with DNA discuss her own and others’ experience launching and managing a DNA project, including such considerations as test and vendor selection factors, privacy, and convincing others to participate. (Short and long versions available: one-hour version covers Y-DNA/surname testing only, while the extended 1.5-2 hour version also includes other types of testing, such as mtDNA, BioGeographical, etc. Also available for non-genealogical audiences.)

Right Annie, Wrong Annie

• An Irish lass, Annie Moore, tripped down a gangplank and into the pages of history in 1892 when she became the first immigrant to arrive at Ellis Island. But less than a century later, an Illinois-born Annie Moore had somehow taken her place and was celebrated in song, statue and literature. That all ended when some stubborn genealogists decided to use their sleuthing skills to seek out the right Annie. Come learn how she and her true descendants reclaimed their rightful place in history when their reunion was featured on the front page of the New York Times.

Cases That Made My Brain Hurt

• How could brothers also be uncle and nephew? How could the 1853 death of a toddler in Scotland help solve a Civil War history-mystery? And could there be any families with a pair of centenarians who knew each other and lived in four centuries between the two of them? Come and hear!