The Arizona Genealogical Advisory Board

and the

Arizona State Library, Archives, and Public Records

present a free, virtual event:

4th Annual

Arizona Genealogy Day

Saturday, February 24, 2024
 

Important Details

• Registration is FREE!
• Registration is limited to 1000 participants.
• The presentations will be on Zoom.
• To view select past recordings from this and other genealogy events from the State of Arizona Research Library, click here. 
• Please note that this event will be recorded and recordings made available to registrants for a specified amount of time. More information and links will be shared a couple of days after the event.
• You do not need to be an Arizona resident to attend. Everyone is welcome!
• If you have any questions, please contact us at https://azsos.libanswers.com/form

Schedule (all times listed are Mountain Standard Time)

8:30 am - 8:55 am      Virtual doors will open at 8:30 am

8:55 am - 9:00 am      Welcome messages from AzGAB President, State Librarian, and Arizona Secretary of State

9:00 am - 10:00 am   Leslie Carney

"More than Just a Mark: Livestock Branding"

Locating livestock branding records can tell you where your ancestors, male or female, were located at in a particular time and place. It can also differentiate between same name ancestors.

10:00 am - 10:10 am   Break

10:10 am - 10:15 am Special Introduction by Arizona Secretary of State, Adrian Fontes about researching family history at the State of Arizona Research Library and the Arizona State Archives

10:15 am - 11:15 am   Asa Espanto, MLIS and Mary Feeney, MLIS

"Finding Your Family in Historical Newspapers”

Learn how to use historical newspapers to find information about family members and their communities! This presentation showcases historical Arizona newspapers that are made available through the National Digital Newspaper Program and how their content can support genealogical research.

11:15 am - 11:30 am   Break

11:30 am - 12:30 pm   Duane Roen, PhD

"Weaving Cultural History into Our Family History Writing"

Sometimes family historians have only names, dates, and places for ancestors. But the more we gather names, dates, and other genealogical facts, the more we yearn for more personal connections to and understanding of those who came before us, found in stories about their lives and accounts of their daily struggles, hopes, and dreams. How can we enrich the stories that we write about our ancestors if we have relatively few details about their lives? Duane Roen will talk about using cultural/social history to flesh out the stories that we write about ancestors. Such history can give us a better understanding of what our ancestors experienced.

12:30 pm - 12:45 pm   Break

12:45 pm - 1:45 pm     Deborah A. Abbott, PhD

"Strategies & Techniques: African American Slave Research"

The most difficult part of genealogical research for African Americans is finding and identifying slave ancestors and their enslavers. As difficult as this might seem, it is not impossible. For many people tracing African American history, the experience can become overwhelming. Using a case study, this lecture will focus on the clues, resources and methods needed to recreate an African American family’s journey from freedom to slavery. Attendees will learn the importance of carefully analyzing census records, using collateral/cluster line methods, manuscript collections, etc. In addition, understanding the importance of researching the family records of the potential enslaver(s) will also be emphasized.

1:45 pm - 2:00 pm       Break

2:00 pm - 3:00 pm       Thomas MacEntee

"Mind Mapping: Your Genealogy Research Plan and Results"
Do you have trouble planning a genealogy research strategy? What if you had an automated way to lay out concepts, variables and actions? Mind mapping can help you create an effective research plan as well as help you connect data points once the research is completed. Mind mapping is a process of creating a diagram or flowchart of ideas and concepts. Learn about automated mind mapping tools that let you see your research data in a new light.

Speaker Bios

Leslie Carney is a professional genealogist, specializing in Southwestern United States, New Mexico, Texas, Native American Indian and Sonora Mexico. Leslie has always lived in sunny Tucson, Arizona. She has been searching since 1992 with the first question "Where in Mexico was Great Grandma born?" Family ties in Arizona since the early 1800's resulted in renaming a mountain peak in the family name. She has experience researching and documenting family history in various repositories and archives. A Speaker who enjoys educating others and the understanding of social history and promoting the interest in genealogy. Leslie is a graduate of Boston University with a certificate in genealogical studies and a graduate of professional genealogy study group, ProGen. She has attended weeklong institutes and genealogical conferences to futher her education. She loves to present live and recorded lectures on various topics for societies and conferences.  

Asa Espanto, MLIS has a background in linguistics, art history, and fashion and textile history. She is a multilingual Latina librarian who has an interest in expanding research options to communities who have not historically been able to find information on family, community, and social history.

Mary Feeney, MLIS is the News Research Librarian and Liaison Librarian for History, Journalism, and Gender & Women’s Studies at the University of Arizona Libraries, where she provides instruction and research consultations for faculty and students. Mary is Co-Project Director on an NEH National Digital Newspaper Program grant, through which hundreds of thousands of pages of historical Arizona newspapers have been digitized for the Library of Congress’ Chronicling America, and she is also Project Director on a Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources grant. Mary has published and presented nationally and internationally about researchers’ use of newspapers, newspaper digitization, and teaching with primary sources. She has also been an active genealogical researcher for her own family history for many years.

Duane Roen, has been tracing his roots since his teenage years, building a database with more than 32,000 ancestors. He and his wife, Maureen Roen, have also been recording their family history since 1978 by writing more than 19,000 daily journal entries on their children and other family members. Combining his professional and personal interests, Duane worked with colleagues to establish courses on writing and recording family history at Arizona State University. He also is founding coordinator of the Project for Writing and Recording Family History in the College of Integrative Sciences and Arts at ASU.

Deborah A Abbott, PhD, is a professional genealogist specializing in genealogical methodology, manuscript collections, and African American family research.  Dr. Abbott is coordinator of both the African American Track at the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research (IGHR) in Athens, Georgia, and the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh (GRIP). She teaches at the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy (SLIG) and the Texas Institute of Genealogical Research (TIGR). She holds both the BS and MEd degrees from Tuskegee University and the PhD degree from Kent State University.

Thomas MacEntee is a professional genealogist specializing in the use of technology and social media to improve genealogical research and as a means of interacting with others in the family history community.

This program is supported by the Arizona State Library, Archives & Public Records, a division of the Secretary of State, with federal funds from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.