Finding and Using Manuscript and Special Collections Repositories with Paula Stuart-Warren.

 So you have checked census, probate, church, naturalization, and other records. The obituaries, marriage, birth, and death records have also been located or don’t exist for the time periods or relatives you seek. You still have too many blank spaces on your family group sheets or in the genealogy software. You still don’t have enough of the story about some ancestors to really know who they were. Your next step might be using manuscripts and checking out special collections in various repositories. The treasures which might be found are too often neglected.  Should you check in the ancestral localities? Of course, but manuscripts may end up anywhere.  Fortunately, more and more FREE finding aids are available to help us find a manuscript which might pertain to an ancestral locality or person many states away from where they lived. These collections also may yield you some humorous or poignant finds.

Paula is an internationally recognized genealogical educator, researcher, and consultant focusing on unusual resources, manuscripts, methodology, and analyzing records. She also specializes in railroads, the WPA, and Native American records. She has spent extensive research time at libraries, courthouses, libraries, state archives, historical societies, and at various locations of the U.S. National Archives. She is currently a coordinator and instructor for the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh, has presented courses for several other institutes and academies, and continues presenting virtual seminars and webinars across the U.S. and in Canada. She is a former member of the Board of Directors of the Federation of Genealogical Societies, the Minnesota Genealogical Society, and the Association of Professional Genealogists.

She is descended from eight ancestral countries and has researched family connections across the U.S. and Canada. She currently has her own educational website and blog at http://genealogybypaula.com and is enthusiastic about sharing knowledge and continuing education.

For those members who prefer not to attend in person, we are also broadcasting our meetings via Zoom. Members will be sent a link prior to the meeting date.