Report from the FGS Conference

Maureen E. attended the FGS conference in Washington D.C. this month. Here's her report on the week.  Thanks for sharing, Maureen!

I attended the Federation of Genealogical Societies conference in Washington, D.C., August 20-24.

The FGS has joined with the National Genealogical Society so in the future there will only be a single national meeting of the two. The FGS does have one more meeting scheduled for September 2020 in Kansas City.

I thoroughly enjoyed this conference. There was a pre-conference day in which one could try guided research at one of DC's main repositories--NARA, LOC or DAR. I went to the Library of Congress--the ambience alone is a reason to visit. Having a LOC research card allows one access to all of Hathi Trust on line--another benefit if your visit is short.

Because the meeting itself was in DC, there was a Mid-Atlantic track that suited my interests very well. I learned about additional small repositories in the area as well as more obscure records in the main repositories, as well as historical perspectives of the area. Also, since this was the FGS there was a track for genealogy societies and their special issues. DNA, African American and other cultural issues were well covered.

I was able to get some additional input from Maureen Taylor regarding a photograph of my elusive Frederick, a promise of a final revolutionary war pension payment from a NARA archivist and a plan ($) for further DNA analysis for my Crittenden line.

All in all it was a very worthwhile experience.