Columbia County Genealogy Conference: Many Lands Many People: Session Information

September 20, 2025
Session Information

Tracking Down Your Eastern European Ancestors, Parts I and II^*
In spite of the many wars, boundary changes, and political and natural catastrophes, an astonishing number of records exist for our Eastern European ancestors, both here and abroad.  We'll explore strategies for finding their places of origin, uncovering their original names, finding and requesting records, extracting and understanding their information, and dealing with foreign languages.

^*Please bring a laptop or tablet to these sessions

Jewish Genealogy: How Is This Research Different from All Other Research?
This class provides an overview of the unique aspects of Jewish culture and history that affect family history research.  Topics include history, geography, naming patterns, languages and alphabets, rabbinical genealogies, kehillah records, yizkor books, cemeteries, and other resources.

Using Finding Aids for Jewish Records to Help Non-Jewish Research
Even if you're not Jewish, you can still find useful information in many Jewish sources, or sources that are primarily focused on Jewish research.  This class shows examples of the kinds of information available that everyone can use to further their research.

Pinning Down Your Ancestors' Locations
Where did your ancestors come from?  Where did they disappear to?  Although finding locations can be the key to following our ancestors back in time, we often slam up against brick walls.  In this talk we'll explore practical strategies for tracking down our ancestors' whereabouts by using collateral research, gazetteers, the law, image searches, maps, and loads of unexpected and underused resources.

Introduction to Black American Genealogy
Researching Black American ancestry is in many respects like researching any other family history, but the unique aspects of the Black American experience affect that research.  Topics include methods, record types (particularly related to the institution of slavery), history, DNA, and genealogy sites.

Why They Left, Where They Went, and What Their Journeys Can Reveal
Why did our ancestors leave their homes?  Why did they settle where they did?  Using unexpected records, social history, the law, and more, we'll discover the secrets our ancestors’ migrations can reveal as we track them from place to place, across the ocean, across the country, even across town!  

Online Resources for Black American Genealogy Research
Many specialized online sources are unique to Black American genealogy research. Learn about the most useful of these sites, what information you can expect to find, and how you can use it to help advance your research.

Strapped For Cash: Records of Poor Ancestors and the Stories They Tell
Researching ancestors who had financial struggles often requires a strategic approach using unfamiliar records. Whether they were born poor or fell upon hard times, we'll explore their stories through town minutes, records of almshouses, sheriffs, apprenticeships, legal and financial documents, and more.  We'll also consider indirect evidence, such as changes in crop prices and payment ledgers that may suggest reasons for our ancestors' struggles.

Dual Citizenship and Right of Return
Most countries in the New World base a child's citizenship on place of birth, but most countries in Europe base it on parentage — what was the citizenship of your parents?  Many of those countries also offer citizenship by descent, or right of return, meaning that if you have ancestors who were citizens of that country two, three, or possibly more generations back, you might qualify for dual citizenship.  Two of the best known examples of countries that offer dual citizenship by right of return are Italy and Ireland.  In this presentation, we will discuss the requirements involved for these two countries, which involves gathering documentation, applying, and waiting.  We will also talk about how to find out generally if a country in which your ancestors lived offers citizenship by descent and whether you might be eligible.