Call for Proposals

Forensic Genealogy Foundations 2024 

Online Genealogy Event - April 27th, 2024

Sponsored by the Council for the Advancement of Forensic Genealogy

The Council for the Advancement of Forensic Genealogy (https://www.forensicgenealogists.org) invites genealogy enthusiasts, researchers, and professionals to submit proposals for our upcoming online genealogy event, scheduled for April 27th, 2024. This event promises to be a dynamic exploration of cutting-edge topics in forensic genealogy, featuring practical applications and hands-on components to enhance participants' skill sets.

Event Date: April 27th, 2024

Submission Deadline: December 15th, 2023

Topics of Interest to our Members:

Heir Searching: Explore strategies, tools, and case studies in heir searching, highlighting the challenges and successes in locating rightful heirs to estates, assets, and legacies.

Adoption Research: Delve into the complexities of adoption research, including methodologies, legal considerations, and ethic in the world of adoption. Share success stories and innovative approaches to uncovering hidden family ties.

Military Repatriation: Examine the role of genealogy in military repatriation efforts. Discuss techniques for identifying and honoring fallen soldiers, tracing military lineage, and reuniting families with their military service members.

Investigative Genetic Genealogy: Navigate the rapidly evolving landscape of investigative genetic genealogy. Present case studies, ethical considerations, and best practices for leveraging DNA testing to solve mysteries and uncover familial connections to solve criminal and civil matters.

Quiet Title Actions in Real Estate: Explore the intersection of genealogy and real estate through quiet title actions. Discuss the role of genealogical research in resolving property ownership disputes and providing clear title histories.

Finding Living People: Address the challenges and techniques involved in locating living relatives, from distant cousins to immediate family members. Share innovative search strategies, online resources, and ethical considerations.

Other topics of interest are welcome if applicable to the study and practice of forensic genealogy.

Submission Guidelines:

Each proposal should include a clear and concise abstract (300 words maximum).

Each proposal should include a title not exceeding fifteen words. Additionally, a presentation summary not to exceed twenty-five words for the event brochure.

A one-time speaker biography should be included not to exceed twenty-five words. 

Emphasize a strong hands-on component to encourage audience participation and skill-building. Interactive elements may include case studies, live demonstrations, or practical exercises with the use of instructional technology.

Each Presentation is to last 50 minutes with 10 minutes at the end for questions.

How to Submit:

Email your proposal to board@forensicgenealogists.org by December 15th, 2023, with the subject line: "Genealogy Event Proposal - [Title of Presentation] [Your Last Name]."

Speakers who wish to submit lecture proposals may submit up to four proposals electronically. PDF format please.

Speaker's full name, mailing address, telephone, and email address.

Lecture outline, not to exceed 1500 words.

Speaker's recent lecture experience, including a listing of national or regional conferences where the speaker has presented in the last three years.

Selection Process:

Proposals will be reviewed by our board of directors, and selected presenters will be notified by January 20th, 2024. Preference will be given to members of the Council for the Advancement of Forensic Genealogy. 

Join us for a Day of Discovery:

This event promises to be a unique opportunity to share knowledge, engage with fellow genealogists, and advance the field of forensic genealogy. We look forward to receiving your proposals and creating a memorable and educational experience for all participants.

For inquiries and additional information, please contact  board@forensicgenealogists.org

The International African American Museum in Charleston, South Carolina, is home to one of the largest slave ports in the world. After opening its doors in early June, the institution now honors enslaved Africans by helping visitors connect with their family roots through advanced genealogy.

According to PBS News Hour, the museum has the broadest genealogical collection, with around 400 million records from before the 1870 census, which was the first to include African Americans by name. However, African Americans still struggle to trace their family history due to the lingering effects of slavery.

Malika Pryor-Martin, the museum’s chief learning and engagement officer, shared its mission to help families track their loved ones through state-of-the-art technology.

“Help folks break down what we refer to in the genealogy world as that brick wall of 1870. It’s both myth and reality, because the myth, the records are there. The reality, access is tough. So, it’s natural to think about the kinds of records that you would search for people,” Pryor-Martin said.

He continued: “However, in an antebellum period, the overwhelming majority of people of African descent here in the United States or what becomes the United States are not people. They’re considered property. So we are really interested in investing in digitizing and working and partnering with other institutions to digitize them to make what they digitized available.”

You can read more in an article by Jahaura Michelle published in the Yahoo News web site at: https://news.yahoo.com/international-african-american-museum-honors-173927425.html. 

From an article in theconversation.com:

The Native Mounted Police operated in Queensland for 80 years, starting in 1849. It consisted of small groups of between six and 15 Aboriginal troopers under the command of white officers. The troopers were typically recruited from areas far from where they were sent to serve.

For seven years, we have been reconstructing the activities of the Native Mounted Police in order to help Queenslanders begin to understand this history.

In our research, we combed through archaeological work on Native Mounted Police camps and artefacts, examined historical documents (newspapers, colonial government documents, private diaries, hospital records and maps) from public archives and libraries, and conducted oral histories with a range of people, including descendants of Native Mounted Police officers and troopers, and descendants of massacre survivors.

We have organised all of our findings – nearly 20,000 documents in total – in an online database to shed light on the lives of the 450 officers and over 1,000 Aboriginal troopers who made up the Native Mounted Police, and the violence they administered.

Some people question why Aboriginal boys and men would enlist in a force whose job was to hunt down and kill other Aboriginal people. As we discuss at length in a research article, the reasons are varied and many. Some were directly or indirectly coerced through threats of violence or reduced prison sentences, but many seemingly “volunteered”. Many recruits may have had few, if any, other viable options - in essence, they were faced with a “choiceless choice”.

Like other native policing forces used by the British in Africa and India, the Queensland Native Mounted Police also deliberately exploited the fact that Indigenous people from one part of the country often regarded those from another as strangers, if not enemies.

You can read the full story at: https://tinyurl.com/3t8z32f5.

From an article by Sérgio Dávila published in the Google Blog:

Over 10,000 photographs showing landmark moments in history, culture and society by Folha de S.Paulo, the iconic Brazilian newspaper, now online for the first time.

For almost three decades, I have been working at Folha de S.Paulo, a São Paulo-based newspaper founded in 1921 that grew into one of the most influential and reliable sources of news in Brazil. Since 2019, I have led the newsroom as its editor-in-chief. Folha has covered all the most important moments in Brazilian history throughout the 20th century and we remain a trustworthy source of information for Brazilians by delivering high quality news every day, in real time.

In 2021, Folha celebrated its 100th anniversary and, throughout our history, we have built one of the most complete photographic archives in Brazil. This collection of photos, which helps us to understand the history of Brazil, is now available on Google Arts & Culture with over 10,000 images and 60 curated stories. The project offers a century-long perspective on Brazilian history and society, also serving as a unique view into world events from a Brazilian standpoint.

As we announce this project, we are proud to say that Folha is the first active newspaper to open up our archive on the platform through an immersive online experience where you can dive into our collection. You can explore stories from Brazilian cultural celebrations to historic sporting achievements and bold photographs that capture history in the making, along with the whimsical cartoons that graced our pages.

You can read more at: https://blog.google/outreach-initiatives/arts-culture/folha-de-spaulo-photos-brazil-history/. 

There'll be a hot time in the old town tonight.

152 years ago, a great fire roared through the city of Chicago. No one knows for sure whether a lantern-kicking cow of the O'Leary's was really responsible for starting the Great Chicago Fire on October 8, 1871. In fact, some believe the fire was started by a comet from outer space.

The fire started in the cow barn at the rear of the Patrick O'Leary cottage at 137 DeKoven Street on Chicago's West Side. The blaze began about 9:00 p.m. on Sunday, October 8, 1871. By midnight the fire had jumped the river's south branch, and by 1:30 a.m. the business district was in flames. Shortly thereafter the fire raced northward across the main river. With the limited firefighting equipment of 1871, the city's fire department was helpless as the flames jumped from building to building. 

The waterworks were evacuated although the tower was not badly damaged and still stands. During Monday the fire burned as far as Fullerton Avenue. Rainfall started about midnight and helped put out the last of the flames. Three hundred Chicagoans were dead, 90,000 people (about 20 percent of the city's residents) were homeless, and the property loss was $200 million. Four square miles of the city burned to the ground.

Chicago quickly rebuilt, and by 1875, little evidence of the disaster remained. You can read more about this cataclysmic event on the Great Chicago Fire and the Web of Memory web site, sponsored by the Chicago Historical Society and Northwestern University. Look at https://www.greatchicagofire.org/. 

Other sites of interest include:

The official inquiry and the exoneration of Mrs. O'Leary: https://www.greatchicagofire.org/oleary-legend/

A photograph of the O'Leary house: https://greatchicagofire.org/landmarks/oleary-home/ 

While many of the neighboring residences (not to mention a third of the entire city of Chicago) went up in smoke, the home of the O'Learys escaped destruction. The infamous barn behind the house and most of the animals within it—a horse and the five cows that provided the milk that Catherine O’Leary sold locally—were not so fortunate (a calf was saved). 

Ironically, the Chicago Fire Academy now stands on the O'Leary property.

Finally, did a comet cause the Great Chicago Fire of 1871? Don't laugh. It seems that other fires occurred on the same day in Wisconsin and Michigan, burning an area the size of Connecticut and killing more than 2,000 people. Many of the deceased included people who showed no signs of being burned, consistent with either the absence of oxygen or the presence of carbon monoxide or carbon dioxide above lethal levels, both conditions that could happen in a comet strike. 

You can read more about the comet theory at https://rense.com/general69/comet.htm.

In a recent research letter published in the journal Nature Genetics, researchers performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) meta-analysis of prostate cancer.

Prostate cancer has been the most common non-skin cancer in males. The incidence of prostate cancer varies across populations, with the highest in African males, and its risk is highly influenced by genetics. GWASs have identified 278 prostate cancer risk variants, albeit most samples were from people of European ancestry. Multi-ancestry analyses have been suggested to improve risk prediction for prostate cancer.

The study and findings

The present study performed a GWAS meta-analysis of prostate cancer in people of multiple ancestry groups. The study included 122,188 European, 10,809 East Asian, 19,391 African, and 3,931 Hispanic prostate cancer cases. A fixed-effect meta-analysis was performed per ancestry group. In total, > 42.4 million variants with minor allele frequency (MAF) > 0.1% were assessed for associations with the risk of prostate cancer.

The team identified 451 risk variants, including 187 novel variants, with genome-wide significance. MAF of most risk variants (84% to 95% across ancestry groups) was > 1%. Of these, five (African), 19 (European), and three (Asian) risk variants were population-specific, with MAF ≤ 1% in other populations. There were 370 risk variants with MAF above 1% in all populations.

Of these, 125, 208, 247, and 369 were nominally significant in Hispanic, Asian, African, and European populations, respectively. The effect sizes for risk variants with MAF above 1% were correlated across populations. The heterogeneity in effect sizes was significant for 78 variants. Many lead risk variants were implicated in the expression of genes in prostate tissues and cell lines.

Next, they performed a permutation test controlling for linkage disequilibrium patterns and MAF to determine the extent to which risk variants exhibited prostate-specific regulatory function. Risk variants were enriched in regions of prostate-specific regulatory activity across candidate cis-regulatory elements and splicing (sQTLs) and expression (eQTLs) quantitative trait loci.

Further, proteome- (PWAS) and transcriptome-wide association studies (TWAS) were performed to explore the molecular mechanisms of prostate cancer risk. This revealed 746 associations across 230 genomic regions and 528 genes, with the highest contribution (47%) from expression in normal prostate. Of the 451 GWAS genomic risk regions, 237 co-localized within 250 kilobases (kb) of proteome- or transcriptome-wide significant associations.

You can read more in an article by Tarun Sai Lomte published in the news-medical.net web site at: https://tinyurl.com/yv7wvucp.

The Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library at Emory University is home to collections of archives and papers created by some of the most studied authors and poets of the past century, including many of Ireland’s most inspiring writers. This globally significant collection — with papers from Seamus Heaney, W. B. Yeats, Michael Longley, Derek Mahon, Paul Muldoon, Ciaran Carson, Rita Ann Higgins, Edna O’Brien, Thomas Kinsella and Medbh McGuckian — is one of the Rose Library’s best-known collections.

The Irish holdings are also why the Rose Library staff has begun work on a virtual reading room to expand access to its collections. Their work is supported by a $250,000 planning grant from the Mellon Foundation to develop a technical and policy framework for a virtual reading room.

Currently, researchers and students must visit the Rose Library in person to use many of the collections, as with most literary archives. In-person use is a challenge for researchers who are not on campus — and especially for the hundreds who travel across the U.S. and the world to use the materials.

A virtual reading room would help make it possible for researchers to access collections without requiring travel.

You can read more in an article in Emory’s web site at: https://news.emory.edu/stories/2023/11/er_mellon_grant_02-11-2023/story.html 

The following is a press release from the Society of Genealogists:

The Society of Genealogists is delighted to announce the opening of their new home at 40 Wharf Road N1 7GS. From Wednesday 13^th to Friday 22^nd December 2023, they’ll be hosting an exclusive Member Only opening, with access to Non-Members beginning Wednesday 3^rd January 2024.

Created by genealogists, for genealogists, the Society of Genealogists is the perfect place to come to research your family history, whether you are a beginner or a seasoned expert. The Society’s new Research Hub encompasses an archive, library, and computers with access to a wide range of genealogical sites. An established FamilySearch Affiliate Library, Wharf Road offers a fantastic friendly space for exploring your family history in the company of fellow genealogists and expert staff. Located in the heart of the historic canal landscape of North London, and easily accessible from a variety of tube stations and bus routes, please see their website https://www.sog.org.uk/visit-us for full details on how best to plan your visit.

We also have an organisational update for you: 

After a year as Interim CEO and overseeing our soon to be opening new home at Wharf Road, Patrick Barker is waving a fond farewell to the Society of Genealogists in December.

Existing SoG team members, Rebecca Gregory and Natalie Pithers are delighted to announce they will be stepping into Interim Co-CEO roles. Natalie, previously responsible for Project and Communications Management, has been an avid genealogist since her teenage years. Rebecca has been a member of the SoG team for 3 years as Head of Membership and has overseen many developments in our membership packages and services. Both Rebecca and Natalie are excited to be a part of both SoG’s history and future.

“I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time at the Society of Genealogists. The Staff and Members alike have made me feel extremely welcome, and their passion for the past has been contagious! Whilst I am sad to be leaving, I am thrilled to be handing over the reins to two people so dedicated to the SoG’s mission to help people discover and explore their heritage”. – Patrick Barker.

Here we have new papers from the North Carolina Collection that have never been microfilmed! The North Carolina Collection originated in 1844 and is the largest traditional collection of library materials for any state. Learn more about the NCC here!

These additions include:

• The Courier (Asheboro, N.C.) – 1917-1918
• The Randolph Herald (Asheborough, N.C.) – 1848
• The Daily Advance (Asheville, N.C.) – 1884
• The Mountain Voice (Bakersville, N.C.) – 1881
• Our Fatherless Ones (Barium Springs, N.C.) – 1903-1912
• The Blowing Rocket (Blowing Rock, N.C.) – 1942
• The Chapel Hillian (Chapel Hill, N.C.) – 1890-1891
• The Clarkton Express (Clarkton, N.C.) – 1907
• Recorder and North Carolina Tobacco Journal (Durham, N.C.) – 1883
• The Daily News (Goldsboro, N.C.) – 1865
• Goldsboro Daily Argus (Goldsboro, N.C.) – 1889-1892
• The Eastern Reflector (Greenville, N.C.) – 1898
• The Henderson Times (Hendersonville, N.C.) – 1863
• The Western North Carolina Times (Hendersonville, N.C.) – 1896
• The Daily Free Press (Kinston, N.C.) – 1908-1909
• The Laurinburg Enterprise (Laurinburg, N.C.) – 1881
• The Monroe Enquirer (Monroe, N.C.) – 1875-1881
• Ocracoke Island Beacon (Ocracoke, N.C.) – 1941
• The Orphans’ Friend and Masonic Journal (Oxford, N.C.) – 1881-1912
• The Church Intelligencer (Raleigh, N.C.) – 1862-1865
• The Menagerie (Raleigh, N.C.) – 1857
• The Farmer and Mechanic (Raleigh, N.C.) – 1877
• The Friend and Templar (Raleigh, N.C.) – 1880
• Semi-Weekly Standard (Raleigh, N.C.) – 1865
• The Star, and North-Carolina State Gazette (Raleigh, N.C.) – 1818
• The Reidsville Times (Reidsville, N.C.) – 1882
• The Roanoke-Chowan Times (Rich Square, N.C.) – 1907-1910
• The Rockingham Rocket (Rockingham, N.C.) – 1887
• Salisbury Evening Post (Salisbury, N.C.) – 1906
• The Daily Union Banner (Salisbury, N.C.) – 1866
• Shelby Review (Shelby, N.C.) – 1893
• The Sandhill Citizen (Southern Pines, N.C.) – 1917
• The Daily Landmark (Statesville, N.C.) – 1879
• The Wadesboro Intelligencer (Wadesboro, N.C.) – 1886
• The Dew Drop (Wadesborough, N.C.) – 1853
• The Colonist (Warm Springs, N.C.) – 1870-1871
• The Morning Star (Wilmington, N.C.) – 1908
• Wilmington Chronicle (Wilmington, N.C.) – 1849
• The Wilmington Herald (Wilmington, N.C.) – 1854-1855
• Wilmington Journal (Wilmington, N.C.) – 1880-1894

The following is an announcement written by the Hartford History Center:

The Hartford History Center at Hartford Public Library was recently awarded an $18,830 National Film Preservation Foundation grant to restore and digitize a collection of early 20th-century films by radio pioneer, inventor, and Hartford resident Hiram Percy Maxim.

The films, which will be available on the Connecticut Digital Archive within the next year, feature Maxim and his wife, along with their family and friends.

Hartford is recorded in many ways, including footage of flooding in November 1927 and the view from the city’s first air mail plane. Maxim, according to the website ConnecticutHistory.org, “earned patents for his inventions in automotive design, noise abatement, and other fields. Also a passionate hobbyist, he left his mark on early aviation and wireless radio.”

Maxim’s broadly recognized achievements, ConnecticutHistory.org points out, “brought fame to Hartford, where he made his home from 1899 until his death in 1936.”  Among his noteworthy achievements was a role in the start of the American Radio Relay League, the national association for amateur radio, which to this day has its national headquarters in nearby Newington.

Maxim was born in Brooklyn, New York, and first came to Hartford in the 1890’s to work for the Pope Manufacturing Company, helping design the Columbia electric motor carriage. He later founded his own firm, creating the Maxim Silencer for firearms and adapting the technology to be used in early automobile mufflers.

The Hartford History Center at the Downtown Library, is located at 500 Main Street, Hartford. (The Downtown Library is temporarily closed due to water damage.)